Gershayim

Gershayim (Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם‎, without niqqud גרשיים‎), also occasionally grashayim[1] (Hebrew: גְּרָשַׁיִם‎), is 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"

Hebrew punctuation
Hebrew-specific marks orthographically similar marks maqaf ־‎ -‎ hyphen geresh ֜‎ ֝‎ ׳‎ ' apostrophe gershayim ֞‎ ״‎ " quotation mark meteg ֽ‎   , comma inverted nun ׆ [ bracket cantillation cantillation Sof passuk ׃   paseq ׀ etnachta ֑   segol ֒ shalshelet ֓   zaqef qatan ֔ zaqef gadol ֕   tifcha ֖ rivia ֗   zarqa ֘ pashta ֙   yetiv ֚ tevir ֛   geresh ֜ geresh muqdam ֝   gershayim ֞ qarney para ֟   telisha gedola ֠ pazer ֡   atnah hafukh ֢ munach ֣   mahapakh ֤ merkha ֥   merkha kefula ֦ darga ֧   qadma ֨ telisha qetana ֩   yerah ben yomo ֪ ole ֫   illuy ֬ dehi ֭   zinor ֮

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 is used in the following ways:

• To indicate an 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] (Single-digit numerals are indicated with a following geresh.)
• 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/ "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.

Cantillation mark

Gershayim is a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh - ◌֞. It is placed above the stressed syllable, as in וַיִּקַּ֞ח (Genesis 22:3).[1]

Computer encoding

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

See also

• Hebrew acronyms
• Hebrew alphabet
• Hebrew diacritics
• Hebrew punctuation

References

1.  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §15f.
2. Hebrew punctuation guidelines, § 31, Academy of the Hebrew Language Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
3.  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §5k ff.