Gershayim - Punctuation Mark

Punctuation Mark

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's used in the following ways:

• To indicate an acronym. 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: ח״י represents 18. Single-digit numerals are indicated with a following geresh.

• To indicate the names of Hebrew letters, differentiating them from any homographs. Compare הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִן "he sketched an eye" with הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִ״ן "he sketched an ayin".

• To indicate Hebrew word roots. 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/ "becoming 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.