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| IPA | b, g, d, k, p, t |
| Transliteration | b, g, d, k, p, t |
| Same appearance | mappiq, shuruk |
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| דָּגֵשׁ | |
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The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ) is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to the Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points). It takes the form of a dot placed inside a Hebrew letter and has the effect of modifying the sound in one of two ways.
An identical mark called mappiq, carrying a different phonetic function, may be applied to different consonants; the same mark is also employed in the vowel shuruq.
Dagesh and mappiq symbols are often omitted in writing. For instance, בּ is often written as ב. The use or omission of such marks is usually consistent throughout any given context. The two functions of dagesh are distinguished as either kal (light) or hazak (strong).
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Dagesh Kal or Dagesh Qal (דגש קל, or דגש קשיין, frequently also referred to as "dagesh lene" = "weak dagesh," or in other words "weak dot" as opposed to "strong dot" in the next section) may be placed inside the consonants ב bet, ג gimel, ד dalet, כ kaf, פ pe and ת tav. Historically, each had two sounds: one hard (plosive consonant), and one soft (fricative consonant), depending on the position of the letter and other factors. When vowel diacritics are used, the hard sounds are indicated by a central dot called dagesh, while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In Modern Hebrew, however, the dagesh only changes the pronunciation of ב bet, כ kaf, and פ pe (traditional Ashkenazic pronunciation also varies the pronunciation of ת tav, and some traditional Middle Eastern pronunciations carry alternate forms for ד dalet).
| With dagesh | Without dagesh | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example | Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example |
| בּ | bet | b | /b/ | bun | ב | vet | v | /v/ | van |
| [1]כּ ךּ | kaph | k | /k/ | kangaroo | כ ך | khaph | kh/ch/k | /χ/ | loch |
| פּ | pe | p | /p/ | pass | פ ף | phe | ph/f | /f/ | find |
| תּ | tav | t | /t/ | talent | ת | sav* | s | /s/ | sale |
* Only in Ashkenazi pronunciation. Tav without a dagesh is assumed to have been pronounced [θ] at the time niqqud was introduced. In Modern Hebrew, it is always pronounced [t].
** The letters gimmel (ג) and dalet (ד) may also contain a dagesh kal. This is believed to have indicated an allophonic variation of the phonemes /ɡ/ and /d/ at the time niqqud was introduced, a variation which no longer exists in modern Hebrew pronunciation. The variations are believed to have been: גּ=[ɡ], ג=[ɣ] or [ʝ], דּ=[d], ד=[ð].
The Hebrew spoken by the Jews of Yemen still has unique phonemes for these letters with and without a dagesh.[2]
In Israel's general population, the pronunciation of some of the above letters has become identical to the pronunciation of others:
| Letter(s) | pronounced like | Letter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ב vet |
(without dagesh) like | ו vav |
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| כ khaf |
(without dagesh) like | ח chet |
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| תּ tav |
or | ת tav |
(with or without dagesh) like | ט tet |
| כּ kaf |
(with dagesh) like | ק qof |
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This is much too curt and does not include all the details of the Beged Kefeth rules, nor does it include Temani versions.
Dagesh Hazak or Dagesh Hazaq (דגש חזק, "strong dot" – i.e. gemination dagesh, or דגש כפלן, often referred to as "dagesh forte") may be placed in almost any letter, this indicated a gemination (doubling) of that letter in pronunciation in forms of Hebrew earlier than modern Hebrew. This phonemic variation is not adhered to in Modern Hebrew and is only used by current speakers of Hebrew in situations for careful pronunciation, such as reading of scriptures in a synagogue service, recitations of biblical or traditional texts or on ceremonious occasions, and then only by very precise readers.
The following letters, the gutturals, almost never have a dagesh: aleph א, he ה, chet ח, ayin ע, resh ר. (A few instances of resh with dagesh are Masoretically recorded in the Hebrew Bible, as well as a few cases of aleph with a dagesh, such as in Leviticus 23:17.)
The presence of a dagesh hazak or consonant-doubling in a word may be entirely morphological, or, as is often the case, is a lengthening to compensate for a deleted consonant. A dagesh hazak may be placed in letters for one of the following reasons:
In Masoretic manuscripts the opposite of a dagesh would be indicated by a rafe, a small line on top of the letter. This is no longer found in Hebrew, but may still sometimes be seen in Yiddish and Ladino.
Israeli linguist Vadim Cherny argues that both dagesh kal and hazak represent the same phenomenon, namely a stop. In his theory, dagesh hazak is post-tonic stop that produces gemination of trailing consonants, and dagesh kal prevents consonantal clustering and thus blurring. Cherny asserts that dagesh kal is only pronounceable in cantillation, and the Masoretes intended it as a cantillation mark.
In computer typography there are two ways to use a dagesh with Hebrew text. Here are Unicode examples:
bet + dagesh: בּ בּ = U+05D1 U+05BC kaf + dagesh: כּ כּ = U+05DB U+05BC pe + dagesh: פּ פּ = U+05E4 U+05BC
bet with dagesh: בּ בּ = U+FB31 kaf with dagesh: כּ כּ = U+FB3B pe with dagesh: פּ פּ = U+FB44
Some fonts, character sets, encodings, and operating systems may support neither, one, or both methods.
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