Gershayim (
Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם, without niqqud גרשיים), also occasionally grashayim[1] (גְּרָשַׁיִם), can refer to either of two distinct
typographical marks in the
Hebrew language. The name literally means "double
geresh".
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 a
Hebrew 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]
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/ "being 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.
Gershayim is a disjunctive
cantillation accent in the
Tanakh (Jewish bible) - ◌֞. 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.