Dagesh(Forte & Lene), Shuruq and Mappiq

Question 1

Dagesh Forte Need-to-Knows

What are they?

Answer 1

-Signals a doubled consonant
-Never appears in gutturals
-Always follows a vowel

Question 2

Dagesh Forte (For-te)

Aka Dagesh Chazaq/Ḥazaq
which means Strong Dagesh

What does it do?

Answer 2

The Dagesh Forte tells you that a letter will be doubled when it’s pronounced.

Example: המּלך
Pronounced: Ham-melekh
Meaning: The King/Sovereign

So, instead of putting two mems, in Hebrew we just put a Dagesh Forte.

Question 3

Dagesh Lene Need-to-Knows

What are they?

Answer 3

-Only appears in “BeGaDKeFaTH” letters
-Signifies a hardened sound

Question 4

Dagesh Lene (lay-nay)

Aka Dagesh Qal
which means Light/Weak Dagesh

What does it do?

Answer 4

The Dagesh Lene tells you the letter it’s in will have the hardened sound.
(Refer to the 6 Hebrew letters that have a hard sound or soft sound known as the “BeGaDKeFaTH” letters)

Example: בּרךְ
Pronounced: Barakh
Meaning: (To Bless)
Hard Sound: בּ = B
Soft Sound: ב = V

Question 5

Shuruq Need-to-Knows

What are they?

Answer 5

-Vav with a dot at start or end of a word
-Signifies an “oo” sound
-Always follows a consonant

Question 6

Shuruq

What does it do?

Answer 6

The Shuruq tells you that the Vav will have an “oo” sound, when at the beginning or ending of a word

Example: ויאמרוּ
Pronounced: VaYomroo
Meaning: And They Said

Question 7

Mappiq Need-to-Knows

What are they?

Answer 7

-Hey with a dot at end of a word
-Signifies a possessive ending

Question 8

Mappiq

What does it do?

Answer 8

The Mappiq inside of the letter Hey(ה) at the end of a word tells you that it’s a possessive Hey instead of the word having a feminine ending

Without Mappiq
Example: אישׁה
Pronounced: eeshah
Meaning: Woman

With Mappiq
Example: אישׁהּ
Pronounced: eeshah
Meaning: Her Man