The Dagesh & Letter Classifications
Understanding the Dot That Changes Everything
What Is the Dagesh?
The dagesh is a small dot placed inside a Hebrew letter. Though it looks simple, this single dot serves three distinct functions depending on context: it can harden a letter's pronunciation, it can signal a grammatical doubling of the consonant, or it can mark the assimilation of a dropped weak letter—serving as a forensic trace that a consonant was once present in the word. Mastering the dagesh is essential for reading Hebrew accurately.
Terminology You May Encounter
Hebrew grammars use two naming systems interchangeably. The Hebrew names (Qal / Chazaq) and the Latin names (Lene / Forte) mean the same thing:
• Dagesh Qal = Dagesh Lene (light / gentle) — changes pronunciation
• Dagesh Chazaq = Dagesh Forte (strong) — doubles the letter
• Dagesh Forte Conjunctivum / Compensatory Dagesh — special cases (see below)
Dagesh Qal (דָּגֵשׁ קַל)
- Changes pronunciation only
- Found only in the 6 BeGaD KePhaT letters
- Changes a fricative (soft) sound to a plosive (hard) sound
- Example: ב = [v] → בּ = [b]
Dagesh Chazaq (דָּגֵשׁ חָזָק)
- Doubles the consonant (gemination) — the consonant is pronounced twice
- Can appear in almost any letter (except gutturals and Resh)
- The Dagesh Chazaq can signal several different grammatical situations:
1. Verb-stem doubling — marks the intensive Piel, Pual, and Hitpael stems
דִּבֵּר dibber (he spoke) — the בּ is doubled as a Piel marker
2. Assimilated letter — a weak consonant (usually Nun) drops out and merges into the next letter, which then doubles
נָתַן → יִתֵּן yitten (he will give) — the Nun merges into Tav
3. Definite article — the prefix הַ triggers doubling of the following letter
הַמֶּלֶךְ ham-melekh (the king) — Mem is doubled after the article
4. Wayyiqtol (Vav consecutive) — the narrative-past prefix וַ doubles the following prefix letter
וַיִּתֵּן wayyitten (and he gave) — the Yod is doubled by the Vav consecutive, and the Tav is doubled by Nun assimilation
Dagesh Forte Conjunctivum (Compensatory Dagesh)
When a guttural letter or Resh should receive a Dagesh Chazaq (Forte) but cannot (because gutturals reject doubling), the preceding vowel is often lengthened to compensate for the missing doubling. This is called compensatory lengthening.
In some grammars, when a word is closely joined to the next word (conjunctive accent), a dagesh may appear in the first letter of the following word to strengthen the connection. This is called a Dagesh Forte Conjunctivum — it marks phonetic linking between words rather than doubling within a word.
Example of compensatory lengthening: The definite article הַ normally triggers a Dagesh Chazaq in the next letter (e.g., הַמֶּלֶךְ, ham-melekh). But before a guttural, the dagesh is rejected and the Patach vowel lengthens to Qamats:
The vowel under ה lengthens from Patach ַ to Qamats ָ to compensate for the doubling that the guttural Aleph cannot accept.
The BeGaD KePhaT Letters
The name BeGaD KePhaT (בֶּגֶד כֶּפֶת) is a mnemonic for the six letters that change pronunciation with a Dagesh Qal. The mnemonic itself means "garment of silver" — a beautiful image of letters clothed in different sounds.
| Letter | Name | Without Dagesh (Fricative / Soft) |
With Dagesh (Plosive / Hard) |
Example Without | Example With |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| בּ / ב | Bet / Vet | [v] as in "vine" | [b] as in "boy" |
אָב av (father) |
בַּיִת bayit (house) |
| גּ / ג | Gimel | [ɣ] (soft g)* | [g] as in "go" |
גָּדוֹל gadol (great) *In modern Hebrew, Gimel is always [g] |
|
| דּ / ד | Dalet | [ð] as in "this" | [d] as in "door" |
דָּבָר davar (word) *In modern Hebrew, Dalet is always [d] |
|
| כּ / כ | Kaf / Khaf | [x/kh] as in "Bach" | [k] as in "king" |
מֶלֶךְ melekh (king) |
כֹּל kol (all) |
| פּ / פ | Pe / Fe | [f] as in "for" | [p] as in "park" |
סוֹפֵר sofer (scribe) |
פָּנִים panim (face) |
| תּ / ת | Tav | [θ] as in "think" | [t] as in "top" |
שַׁבָּת Shabbat |
תּוֹרָה Torah *In modern Hebrew, Tav is always [t] |
Note: In modern Israeli Hebrew, only three of the six still have audible sound changes: Bet/Vet, Kaf/Khaf, and Pe/Fe. The other three (Gimel, Dalet, Tav) have lost their fricative forms in everyday speech, though the Masoretic tradition preserves them.
Hebrew Letter Classifications
Hebrew letters are grouped into categories based on where and how they are pronounced. Understanding these groups helps with reading, grammar, and appreciating the dagesh system.
Guttural Letters
- Letters: Aleph (א), He (ה), Chet (ח), Ayin (ע)
- Produced in the throat (guttur = throat in Latin)
- These letters cannot take a Dagesh Chazaq (they cannot be doubled)
- They prefer A-class vowels (Patach / Chataf Patach) — called "patach furtivum"
- Gutturals reject a simple sheva (שְׁ). Instead they take a chataf (חֲטָף, "snatched") — a compound sheva that pairs the sheva with a short vowel:
חֲ Chataf Patach — sheva + patach (ultra-short "a") — e.g. אֲנִי ani (I)These are sometimes called "half shevas" because they combine the reduced sheva mark with a vowel sign, giving the guttural a brief but audible vowel color.
חֱ Chataf Segol — sheva + segol (ultra-short "e") — e.g. אֱלֹהִים Elohim (God)
חֳ Chataf Qamats — sheva + qamats qatan (ultra-short "o") — e.g. חֳלִי choli (sickness)
Weak Letters (Assimilating Consonants)
- These letters tend to "drop out" of a word under certain grammatical conditions — and when they do, they frequently leave behind a Dagesh Forte in the following letter as a trace of their presence
- Nun (נ) is the most common assimilating letter. When Nun closes a syllable before another consonant, it drops out and doubles the next letter:
נָתַן natan (he gave) → יִתֵּן yitten (he will give) — the Nun drops, Tav gets Dagesh Forte
מִן + מִקְדָּשׁ → מִמִּקְדָּשׁ mimmikdash — the Nun of min drops, Mem gets Dagesh Forte - Yod (י) and Vav (ו) are weak as root letters — they may drop, contract, or change form in verb conjugations, often triggering a dagesh in an adjacent letter
- Aleph (א) and He (ה) can become quiescent (silent) at the end of roots, effectively disappearing from pronunciation
- Key principle: When you see a Dagesh Forte and no obvious reason for doubling, ask: "Did a weak letter drop out here?" The dagesh is often the only clue that a letter was once present
Resh
- Behaves like a guttural in most grammatical respects
- Cannot take Dagesh Chazaq (no doubling)
- Sometimes called a "semi-guttural"
- Produced as a trill or flap (not a throat sound, but shares guttural grammar rules)
BeGaD KePhaT Letters
- The 6 letters that change pronunciation with Dagesh Qal
- Hard (plosive) with dagesh, soft (fricative) without
- These also can take Dagesh Chazaq (which doubles them AND hardens them)
Sibilants / Regular Letters
- All remaining letters behave regularly
- Can take Dagesh Chazaq (doubling)
- Pronunciation does not change with or without dagesh
- Includes: Zayin (ז), Samekh (ס), Shin/Sin (שׁ/שׂ), Tsade (צ), and others
How to Tell: Dagesh Qal vs. Dagesh Chazaq
Since Dagesh Qal (Lene) and Dagesh Chazaq (Forte) look identical — both are a dot inside the letter — how do you tell them apart? Follow these steps:
→ If NO, it must be Dagesh Chazaq. Only the six BG"D KP"T letters can take a Dagesh Qal. Any other letter with a dot inside has a Dagesh Chazaq (doubling).
→ Dagesh Qal (hardening the initial sound). A BG"D KP"T letter at the start of a word almost always has a Dagesh Qal.
→ Dagesh Qal. When the preceding syllable ends with a consonant (a "closed" syllable), the BG"D KP"T letter hardens.
→ Could be either — context and grammar determine. In this case, you need to analyze the word's morphology to decide.
Rule of Thumb: If the letter is being doubled (you can hear it repeated), it is Chazaq / Forte. If it is just hardened (changing from a soft to a hard sound), it is Qal / Lene. If a guttural should be doubled but can't, look for compensatory vowel lengthening instead.
Dagesh in Scripture — This Week's Examples
Here are examples from this week's reading (Genesis 6–11) that illustrate the dagesh in action. Notice how the same-looking dot serves different purposes in different words.
Hardens to [t] (hard T sound)
Remains soft [v] (vet sound)
At word start; hardens to [b]
Final letter, no hardening needed
At word start; hardens to [b]
Final form, remains soft [kh]
Doubled: pronounced "mm"
Doubled AND hardened: pronounced "bb"
The Shin Dot — A Special Case
The letter Shin (שׁ) and Sin (שׂ) are distinguished by a dot placed over the top of the letter. This dot is not a dagesh — it is a separate diacritical mark that distinguishes two different letters that share the same base form.
Shin
Sin
Remember: The shin/sin dot sits above the letter on one of its branches. A dagesh, by contrast, sits inside the body of the letter. A Shin can actually have both a shin dot (on the right branch) and a dagesh (inside the letter body) at the same time — for example: שּׁ, where the dot on the right marks it as Shin [sh] and the dot in the center is a Dagesh Chazaq (doubling).
