|
|
|
| ֿ | |
| Similar appearance | macron |
|
|
|
| פֿיש | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In Hebrew orthography the rafe, also raphe (Hebrew: רפה, pronounced [ʀaˈfe], meaning "weak, limp"), is a diacritic ֿ : a short horizontal overbar placed above certain letters to indicate that they are to be pronounced as fricatives.
It originated with the Tiberian Masoretes as part of the extended system of niqqud (vowel points), and has the opposite meaning to dagesh qal, showing that one of the letters בגדכפת is to be pronounced as a fricative and not as a plosive, or (sometimes) that a consonant is single and not double; or, as the opposite to a mappiq, to show that the letters ה or א are silent (mater lectionis).
The rafe generally fell out of use for Hebrew with the coming of printing, although according to Gesenius (1813) at that time it could still be found in a few places in printed Hebrew Bibles, where the absence of a dagesh or a mappiq was particularly to be noted.[1]
Yiddish/Ladino
It retained some currency in Yiddish and Ladino, particularly to distinguish /p/ (פּ, pey) from /f/ (פֿ, fey), and to mark non-pronounced consonants.
| Name | Symbol | IPA | Transliteration | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pey | פ | /p/ | p | pan |
| Fey | פֿ | /f/ | f | fan |
See also
References
- ^ p.52, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, 14th ed, translated by T.J. Conant. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1853. Available online at Google books.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This writing system-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
