Editing Dagesh (section)

{{Short description|Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox grapheme
|name=Dagesh
|letter={{Script/Hebrew|&#x5BC;}}
|script=[[Hebrew alphabet]]
|type=[[Abjad]]
|language=[[Hebrew]]
|phonemes={{ubl|'''[[Biblical Hebrew|Biblical]]'''|{{lang|he-Latn|ḥazaq}}: {{IPA|[ː]}} ([[gemination]]), {{lang|he-Latn|qal}}: {{IPA|[β]→[b], [ɣ]→[ɡ], [ð]→[d], [x]→[k], [ɸ]→[p], [θ]→[t]}}|'''[[Modern Hebrew|Modern]]'''|{{IPA|[v]→[b], [x]~[χ]→[k], [f]→[p]}}}}
|equivalents={{ubl|'''Biblical'''|{{lang|he-Latn|ḥazaq}}: doubled consonant, {{lang|he-Latn|qal}}: none{{efn|group=lower-alpha|[[Society of Biblical Literature|SBL]] transliteration system<ref name="SBL">{{Cite web |title=Transliteration Standards of the SBL |url=http://www.viceregency.com/Translit.htm |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=www.viceregency.com}}</ref>}}|'''Modern'''|v{{arrow}}b, kh{{arrow}}k, f{{arrow}}p}}
|unicode=U+05BC
|sisters=[[Mappiq]], [[shuruq]] dot
|associates= {{Script/Hebrew|ב}} [[Bet (letter)|bet]], {{Script/Hebrew|ג}} [[gimel]], {{Script/Hebrew|ד}} [[dalet]], {{Script/Hebrew|כ}} [[Kaph|kaf]], {{Script/Hebrew|פ}} [[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]], {{Script/Hebrew|ת}} [[taw|tav]]
}}
[[File:Dagesh_header.png|class=skin-invert-image|alt=Dagesh in Hebrew. The red dot on the rightmost character (the letter dalet) is a dagesh.|thumb|200x200px|The word {{lang|he-Latn|dagesh}} in [[Hebrew]]. The red dot on the rightmost character (the letter [[dalet]]) is a dagesh.]]

The '''dagesh''' ({{langx|he|דָּגֵשׁ|translit=dagésh}}) is a [[diacritic]] that is used in the [[Hebrew alphabet]]. It takes the form of a dot placed inside a consonant. A dagesh can either indicate a "hard" [[plosive]] version of the consonant (known as {{lang|he-Latn|dagesh qal}}, literally 'light dot') or that the consonant is [[geminated]] (known as {{lang|he-Latn|dagesh ḥazaq}}, literally 'hard dot'), although the latter is rarely used in [[Modern Hebrew]].

The dagesh was added to [[Hebrew orthography]] at the same time as the [[Masoretic vocalization|Masoretic]] system of [[niqqud]] (vowel points).

Two other diacritics with different functions, the [[mappiq]] and the [[shuruq]] dot, are visually identical to the dagesh but are only used with [[Mater lectionis|vowel letters]].

The dagesh and mappiq symbols are often omitted when writing niqqud (e.g. {{Script/Hebrew|בּ}} is written as {{Script/Hebrew|ב}}). In these cases, dagesh may be added to help readers resolve the ambiguity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hebrew-academy.org.il/topic/hahlatot/missingvocalizationspelling/#target-21611 |title=הכתיב המלא |trans-title=The Complete Spelling |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231210135900/https://hebrew-academy.org.il/topic/hahlatot/missingvocalizationspelling/%23target-21611 |archive-date=10 December 2023 |language=he |access-date=10 December 2023}}</ref> The use or omission of such marks is usually consistent throughout any given context.