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Gershayim (Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם, without niqqud גרשיים), also occasionally grashayim[1] (גְּרָשַׁיִם), can refer to either of two distinct typographical marks in the Hebrew language. The name literally means "double geresh".
| Gershayim | ||
|---|---|---|
| punctuation mark | ״ | פַּרְדֵּ״ס |
| cantillation mark | ֞ | וּרְד֞וּ |
| compare with quotation marks | ||
| "פַּרְדֵּ״ס", "וּרְד֞וּ" | ||
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Gershayim most commonly refers to the punctuation mark ⟨״⟩. It is always written before the last letter of the non-inflected form of a word or numeral. It is used in the following ways:
- To indicate a Hebrew acronym.[2] For example: דּוּ״חַ (singular), דּוּ״חוֹת (plural), "report" represents דין וחשבון; and מ״כ (masculine), מַ״כִּית (feminine), "squad commander" represents מפקד כיתה.
- To indicate a multi-digit Hebrew numeral. For example: י״ח represents 18.[3]
- To indicate the names of Hebrew letters, differentiating them from any homographs.[2] Compare הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִן "he sketched an eye" with הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִ״ן "he sketched an ayin".
- To indicate Hebrew word roots.[2] For example: the root of תַּשְׁבֵּצִים/taʃbeˈtsim/ "crossword puzzles" is שב״צ (š—b—ṣ); the root of לְהַטּוֹת /lehaˈtot/ "to tilt, to conjugate" is נט״ה (n—ṭ—h); and the root of הִסְתַּנְכְּרְנוּת /histankreˈnut/ "being synchronized" is סנכר״נ (s–n–k–r–n).
- In older texts, to indicate the transliteration of a foreign word. This use corresponds to English's use of italics. For example, in printed works of Rashi, the town of Rashi's birth, Troyes, is spelled טרוי״ש.
Gershayim is a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh (Jewish bible) - ◌֞. It is placed above the stressed syllable, as in וַיִּקַּ֞ח (Genesis 22:3).[1]
Most keyboards do not have a key for the gershayim. As a result, a quotation mark is often substituted for it.
| Appearance | Code Points | Name |
|---|---|---|
| ״ | U+05F4 | Hebrew Punctuation Gershayim |
| ֞ | U+059E | Hebrew Accent Gershayim |
Look up ״ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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