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Yodh

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Orthographic Orthography The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Orthography is derived from Greek language ????? orth?s and ???fe?? gr?phein .... variants
	Yodh
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	Topics Yodh Topic Home Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic Semitic In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages.... alphabets History of the alphabet The history of the alphabet begins in Ancient Egypt, more than a millennium into the history of writing. The first pure alphabet emerged around 2000 BCE to represent the language of Semitic workers in Egypt , and was derived from the alphabetic principles of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.... , including Phoenician, Aramaic Aramaic language Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship.... , Hebrew Hebrew language Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world.... Yud , Syriac Syriac alphabet The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the Semitic languages abjads directly descending from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, and Hebrew alphabet alphabets.... and Arabic Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet is the writing system used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic language, Persian language, and Urdu language.... (in abjadi order, 28th in modern order). Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as a long vowel Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one such as in Australian English.... , representing . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th century BC or early 8th century BCE.... Iota Iota Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 10. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet Yodh .... , Latin Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumae alphabet, and was initially developed by the Ancient Romes to write the Latin.... I I I is the ninth Letter of the Latin alphabet. Its English language name is i .... , Cyrillic Cyrillic alphabet The Cyrillic alphabet is a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by five Slavic languages national languages as well as non-Slavic . It is also used by many other languages of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia and other languages in the past.... ? ? or is a letter derived from the Latin alphabet. Both glyphs of the majuscule and Lower case forms of this letter are based on the rotated form of a minuscule e; a similar letter with identical minuscule is used in the Pan-Nigerian Alphabet, but has the capital form majuscule , based on a horizontally flipped majuscule E.... , Coptic Coptic alphabet The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the Greek alphabet augmented by letters borrowed from the Demotic and is first Alphabetic Script used for the Egyptian Language.... iauda and Gothic Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabetic writing system attributed by Philostorgius to Ulfilas , used exclusively for writing the ancient Gothic language.... eis EIS EIS may refer to:* Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne, a group of schools in Australia* EIS , an Electronic Arts studio* Educational Institute of Scotland, a Scottish teachers' trade union... . v> le class=prettytable style="text-align:center;">
Various Print Fonts			Cursive Hebrew	Rashi Script Rashi script Rashi script is a semi-Hebrew cursive typeface for the Hebrew alphabet, in which Rashi#Works are printed both in the Talmud and Tanakh . This does not mean that Rashi himself used such a script: the typeface is based on a 15th century Sephardi Jews semi-cursive hand and was called by the Ashkenazic Rishonim - the Hachmei Provence script....
Serif	Sans-serif Sans-serif In typography, a sans-serif or sans serif typeface is one that does not have the small features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. The term comes from the French word sans, meaning "without"....	Monospaced	Cursive Hebrew
?	?	?

oth Biblical and modern Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
, Yud represents a palatal approximant

Palatal approximant

The 'palatal approximant' is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ....
.

is a mater lectionis

Mater lectionis

In the spelling of Hebrew language and some other Semitic languages, matres lectionis , refers to the use of certain consonants to indicate a vowel....
, like Aleph

Aleph

* Aleph or Alef is the first letter of the Semitic abjads descended from Proto-Canaanite alphabet, Arabic alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet....
, He

He (letter)

He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet , Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet , Syriac alphabet and Arabic alphabet ....
, and Vav

Waw (letter)

Waw is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet, and Arabic alphabet ....
.

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Encyclopedia

Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic

Semitic

In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages....
alphabets

History of the alphabet

The history of the alphabet begins in Ancient Egypt, more than a millennium into the history of writing. The first pure alphabet emerged around 2000 BCE to represent the language of Semitic workers in Egypt , and was derived from the alphabetic principles of the Egyptian hieroglyphs....
, including Phoenician, Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
, Hebrew

Hebrew language

Syriac alphabet

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the Semitic languages abjads directly descending from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, and Hebrew alphabet alphabets....
and Arabic

Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is the writing system used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic language, Persian language, and Urdu language....
(in abjadi order, 28th in modern order). Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as a long vowel

Vowel length

In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one such as in Australian English....
, representing .

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek

Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th century BC or early 8th century BCE....
Iota

Iota

Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 10. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet Yodh ....
, Latin

Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumae alphabet, and was initially developed by the Ancient Romes to write the Latin....
I

I is the ninth Letter of the Latin alphabet. Its English language name is i ....
, Cyrillic

Cyrillic alphabet

The Cyrillic alphabet is a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by five Slavic languages national languages as well as non-Slavic . It is also used by many other languages of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia and other languages in the past....
?

or is a letter derived from the Latin alphabet. Both glyphs of the majuscule and Lower case forms of this letter are based on the rotated form of a minuscule e; a similar letter with identical minuscule is used in the Pan-Nigerian Alphabet, but has the capital form majuscule , based on a horizontally flipped majuscule E....
, Coptic

Coptic alphabet

The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the Greek alphabet augmented by letters borrowed from the Demotic and is first Alphabetic Script used for the Egyptian Language....
iauda and Gothic

Gothic alphabet

The Gothic alphabet is an alphabetic writing system attributed by Philostorgius to Ulfilas , used exclusively for writing the ancient Gothic language....
eis

EIS

EIS may refer to:* Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne, a group of schools in Australia* EIS , an Electronic Arts studio* Educational Institute of Scotland, a Scottish teachers' trade union...
.

Origins

Hebrew Yud

Orthographic Orthography The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Orthography is derived from Greek language ????? orth?s and ???fe?? gr?phein .... variants
Various Print Fonts			Cursive Hebrew	Rashi Script Rashi script Rashi script is a semi-Hebrew cursive typeface for the Hebrew alphabet, in which Rashi#Works are printed both in the Talmud and Tanakh . This does not mean that Rashi himself used such a script: the typeface is based on a 15th century Sephardi Jews semi-cursive hand and was called by the Ashkenazic Rishonim - the Hachmei Provence script....
Serif	Sans-serif Sans-serif In typography, a sans-serif or sans serif typeface is one that does not have the small features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. The term comes from the French word sans, meaning "without"....	Monospaced	Cursive Hebrew
?	?	?

Pronunciation

In both Biblical and modern Hebrew

Hebrew language

Palatal approximant

The 'palatal approximant' is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ....
.

Variations

Yud is a mater lectionis

Mater lectionis

In the spelling of Hebrew language and some other Semitic languages, matres lectionis , refers to the use of certain consonants to indicate a vowel....
, like Aleph

Aleph

* Aleph or Alef is the first letter of the Semitic abjads descended from Proto-Canaanite alphabet, Arabic alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet....
, He

He (letter)

He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet , Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet , Syriac alphabet and Arabic alphabet ....
, and Vav

Waw (letter)

Waw is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet, and Arabic alphabet ....
. At the end of words with a vowel, it represents the formation of a diphthong

Diphthong

In phonetics, a diphthong, or , is a contour vowel?that is, a unitary vowel that changes vowel quality during its pronunciation, or "glides", with a glissando of the tongue from one articulation to another, as in the English words eye, boy, and cow. This contrasts with "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, where the tongue is held s...
, such as , , or .

Significance

In gematria

Gematria

Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning number to an alphabet. The word "gematria" is generally held to derive from Greek geometria, "geometry", which was used a translation of gema?riya....
, Yud represents the number ten.

As a prefix, it designates the third person singular (or plural, with a Vav

Waw (letter)

Waw is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet, and Arabic alphabet ....
as a suffix

Suffix

In grammar, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the grammatical conjugation of verbs....
) in the future tense.

As a suffix

Suffix

In Judaism

Two Yuds in a row designate the name of God Adonai

Names of God in Judaism

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people....
and in pointed texts are written with the vowels of Adonai; this is done as well with the Tetragrammaton

Tetragrammaton

Tetragrammaton The letters, properly read from right to left , are:|-! Hebrew !! Letter name !! Pronunciation|-valign=top| ?'...
.

As Yud is the smallest letter, much kabbalistic

Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
and mystical significance is attached to it. According to the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a synoptic gospel. It narrates an account of the New Testament view on Jesus' life and Ministry of Jesus of Jesus of Nazareth....
Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
mentioned it during the Antithesis of the Law when he says: "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Jot, or iota, refers to the letter Yud; it was often overlooked by scribes because of its size and position as a mater lectionis

Mater lectionis

In the spelling of Hebrew language and some other Semitic languages, matres lectionis , refers to the use of certain consonants to indicate a vowel....
. In modern Hebrew, the phrase "tip of the Yud" refers to a small and insignificant thing, and someone who "worries about the tip of a Yud" is someone who is picky and meticulous about small details.

Much kabbalistic

Kabbalah

Arabic ya'

The letter ? is named ya' (???), and is written is several ways depending in its position in the word:

Ya' is pronounced in three ways.

As a consonant, it is pronounced as a palatal approximant
Palatal approximant

The 'palatal approximant' is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ....
, typically at the beginnings of words in front of short or long vowels.
In the middle and end of words, the ya' usually (though not always) becomes a long
Vowel length

In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one such as in Australian English....
close front unrounded vowel
Close front unrounded vowel

The close front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is i....
. In this case it has no diacritic, but could be marked with a sukun in some traditions.
A diphthong
Diphthong

In phonetics, a diphthong, or , is a contour vowel?that is, a unitary vowel that changes vowel quality during its pronunciation, or "glides", with a glissando of the tongue from one articulation to another, as in the English words eye, boy, and cow. This contrasts with "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, where the tongue is held s...
, . In this case it has no diacritic, but could be marked with a sukun in some traditions. The preceding consonant could either have no diacritic or have fat?a sign, hinting to the first vowel in the diphthong, i.e. . In some dialects, the diphthong may be reduced to the long monophthong
Monophthong

A monophthong is a "pure" vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not semivowel towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong....

As a vowel, ya' can serve as the "seat" of the hamza

Hamza

Hamza is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters, and owes its existence to historical orthographical inconsistencies in early Islamic times....
: ?.

Ya' serves several functions in the Arabic language. Ya' with a shadda

Shadda

Shadda , is one of the diacritics used with the Arabic alphabet, marking a long consonant . It is functionally equivalent to writing a consonant twice in the orthographies of languages like Latin, Italian language, Swedish language, and Ancient Greek, and is thus rendered in Latin script in most schemes of Arabic transliteration, e.g....
is particularly used to turn a noun into an adjective,called ????. For instance ??? Mi?r (Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
) ? ???? Mi?riyy (Egyptian). The transformation can be more abstract; for instance, ????? mawdu` (matter, object) ? ?????? mawdu`iyy (objective). Still other uses of this function can be a bit further from the root: ?????? ishtirak (cooperation) ? ??????? ishtirakiyy (socialist

Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
); this is often used for creation of native terms for political philosophies: ?urr (free) becomes ?urriyy (liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
); mu?afa?a (guarding, preservation) becomes mu?afa?iyy (conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante....
).

A form similar to but distinguished from ya' is the ?alif maq?ura (????? ????????) (broken alif

Aleph

* Aleph or Alef is the first letter of the Semitic abjads descended from Proto-Canaanite alphabet, Arabic alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet....
), with the form ?. It indicates a final long open front unrounded vowel

Open front unrounded vowel

The open front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is a....
.

Typically, Egyptians do not use dots under final ya' (i.e. write the form ? where it should be ?), both in handwriting and in print, resulting in substantial confusion with ?alif maq?ura to those not accustomed to the practice

Persian ye

In the Persian alphabet "Yodh" is written and pronounced a bit different from Arabic and has a different code in Unicode

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate Character expressed in most of the world's writing systems....
. Yodh in Persian

Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
is called ye; in its final form, the letter does not have dots (?), similar to but distinguished from the Arabic ?alif maq?ura.