Dagesh and Mappiq דָּגֵשׁ dagesh
A dot placed inside a Hebrew letter is called a dagesh. It has one shape but three jobs: the weak dagesh hardens the sound of ב ג ד כ פ ת; the strong dagesh makes a letter read twice; and the mappiq, inside a final ה, says “this ה is a sounded consonant.” The dot inside ו (וּ) is the vowel “u.” This page shows how to tell them apart in real words from Genesis 1–2.
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What the dagesh is
A dagesh is a dot in the middle of a letter (בּ שּׁ לּ). The same dot serves three purposes.
(1) Weak dagesh (dagesh lene; Hebrew דָּגֵשׁ קַל dagesh qal, “light dagesh”) — only in the six letters ב ג ד כ פ ת, marking the hard, not the soft, sound: בּ b · ב v.
(2) Strong dagesh (dagesh forte; Hebrew דָּגֵשׁ חָזָק dagesh ḥazaq, “strong dagesh”) — in almost any letter, meaning “read this letter twice” (doubling): הַשָּׁמַיִם = hash-shamayim.
(3) Mappiq (מַפִּיק) — in a final ה, showing that the ה is a sounded consonant, not a vowel letter: לְמִינָהּ (after its kind).
2Where the names come from — דָּגֵשׁ dagesh · מַפִּיק mappiq
דָּגֵשׁ (dagesh) is a term of the Masoretes, of Aramaic background; its original meaning is uncertain. The names of the two kinds are clear: קַל (qal, “light”) and חָזָק (ḥazaq, “strong”). Lene and forte are their Latin renderings.
מַפִּיק (mappiq) is explained from the root פ-ו-ק “bring out”: “that which brings (the sound) out.” A final ה is normally silent; the mappiq makes it heard.
The six letters ב ג ד כ פ ת are remembered together as בְּגַדְכְּפַת (begadkefat).
3At a glance — what is this dot?
- 1. A dot in a final ה → mappiqIf ה is the last letter and has a dot, it is a mappiq — לְמִינָהּ (1:24).
- 2. A dot in ו with no other vowel → shuruq “u”וּ is a vowel, not a dagesh — תֹהוּ (1:2).
- 3. A vowel right before the dot → strong dageshAfter a vowel, the dot doubles the letter — הַשָּׁמַיִם (1:1): שּׁ after the vowel ַ.
- 4. ב ג ד כ פ ת at the start or after a silent sheva → weak dageshWith no vowel before, nothing can be doubled; it only marks the hard sound — בָּרָא (1:1) · וַיַּבְדֵּל (1:4).
- 5. Gutturals א ה ח ע and ר → no dotThey cannot be doubled, so they refuse the strong dagesh (see Gutturals).
4Weak dagesh — the six בְּגַדְכְּפַת letters
With the dot, the mouth closes and releases (a hard sound); without it, breath slips through (a soft sound).
| Letter | With dot (hard) | Without dot (soft) | Genesis 1–2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ב bet | בּ b | ב v | בָּרָא bara (1:1) · וָבֹהוּ vavohu (1:2) |
| ג gimel | גּ g | ג g (thought to have differed once) | גַּן gan (2:8) |
| ד dalet | דּ d | ד d (thought to have differed once) | וַיַּבְדֵּל (1:4) |
| כ kaf | כּ k | כ kh | כִּי ki (1:4) · כֵן khen (1:7) |
| פ pe | פּ p | פ f | פְּנֵי pene (1:2) · לִפְנֵי lifne (6:11) |
| ת tav | תּ t | ת t (thought to have differed once) | תְהוֹם tehom (1:2) |
One rule: a vowel sound right before → no dot; none → dot. “None” means (1) the very start of speech, (2) after a syllable closed by a silent sheva, (3) after a pause from the previous word.
5Weak dagesh — when the dot appears
No vowel sound comes right before the colored letter.
bara — (he) created
The first letter of a word read after a pause from בְּרֵאשִׁית, so it takes the dot: b. This dot is not doubling — with no vowel before it, nothing can be doubled.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
ki — that, because
A dot in the first letter כּ: k. Without it, it would read kh.
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
vayyavdel — and (he) separated
The בְ right before דּ closes its syllable with a silent sheva (“yav”). So ד starts a new syllable and takes the dot. בְ itself follows the vowel ַ, so it has no dot and reads v.
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
vayyishbot — and (he) ceased
The שְׁ before בּ is a silent sheva closing “yish,” so ב takes the dot: b. The noun “shabbat” comes from this verb ש-ב-ת.
YLVAnd God finished on the seventh day his work which he had made, and he shabbatted on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
6Weak dagesh — when the dot drops
A vowel sound comes right before the colored begadkefat letter, so it is read soft.
vavohu — and empty
Right after the vowel “a” of וָ, so ב has no dot: v. Standing alone it would be בֹּהוּ with b.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
tehom — the deep
A first letter, yet no dot. The previous word פְּנֵי ends in the vowel “e,” and the two words are read together without a break (a joining accent). The rule “a vowel just before → no dot” reaches across word boundaries.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
voqer — morning
The previous word וַיְהִי ends in “i” and is read together with it, so ב has no dot: v. “There was evening and there was morning.”
YLVAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
7Same word, dot or no dot — joined to the previous word or not
The same phrase בִּדְגַת הַיָּם (over the fish of the sea) appears in 1:26 and 1:28. In both, the previous word ends in the vowel “u,” yet only one has the dot.
vidgat — over the fish of
The previous word וְיִרְדּוּ (let them rule) carries a joining accent, so the two words are read as one. The “u” runs on into ב, and the dot drops: v.
YLVAnd God said, "Let us make man (adam) in our image, after our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
bidgat — over the fish of
The previous word וּרְדוּ (rule!) carries a dividing accent, so there is a short pause. After a pause the first letter has “no vowel before it” and takes the dot: b. Same meaning, different flow.
YLVAnd God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing (chai) that creeps upon the earth."
8Why the dot appears and drops
- 1. The old soundsב ג ד כ פ ת are basically hard sounds (b g d k p t).
- 2. Softened after vowelsComing straight out of a vowel with the mouth open, the speaker does not fully close it, and breath slips through: b → v, k → kh, p → f.
- 3. Dot = hard soundThe Masoretes put a dot where the hard sound is read. So a dot means “no vowel before (or doubled),” and no dot means “a vowel before.”
- 4. The dot as evidenceThe dot also shows whether a preceding sheva is sounded (see Sheva). The בּ of וַיִּשְׁבֹּת shows a silent sheva before it; the ב of הַשְּׁבִיעִי shows a sounded one.
9Strong dagesh — the letter is read twice
A vowel comes right before the colored letter. The letter is read twice — once closing the syllable before, once opening the next.
hashshamayim — the heavens
After the article הַ the first letter is doubled: hash-shamayim. The article is הַ plus doubling of the next letter (see Article).
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
vayyar’ — and (he) saw
After the wayyiqtol וַ the prefix letter י is doubled: vay-yar’. It is the mark of the narrative form “and he did” (see Wayyiqtol).
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
mittaḥat — from under
The preposition מִן (from) + תַּחַת (under). The closing נ of מִן assimilates to ת, and the doubling remains as a dot: min-taḥat → mit-taḥat (the same thing that happens to the Niphal נ).
YLVAnd God made the firmament, and divided between the waters which were under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
vayqaddesh — and (he) sanctified
The Piel doubles the middle root letter: the middle ד of ק-ד-שׁ has the dot: qad-desh. ד is a begadkefat letter, but with the vowel ַ before it this is a strong, not a weak, dagesh (see Piel).
YLVAnd God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he shabbatted from all his work which God created to make.
haggan — the garden
In גַּן (2:8) the dot is a weak dagesh at the start of the word. Here in הַגָּן, after the vowel of the article הַ, it is a strong dagesh: hag-gan. Same letter, same dot — told apart by whether a vowel comes before.
YLVAnd YHWH God made to sprout from the ground (adamah) every tree pleasant to sight and good for food, and the tree of life (chai) in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10Why letters double — five reasons
(1) The article הַ + doubling — הַשָּׁמַיִם הַגָּן. (2) The wayyiqtol וַ + doubling — וַיַּרְא וַיִּקְרָא (1:5). (3) An assimilated נ — מִתַּחַת (מִן + תַּחַת), the Niphal imperfect יִקָּרֵא (2:23).
(4) A stem mark — the Piel, Pual and Hithpael double the middle root letter (וַיְקַדֵּשׁ וַיְכֻלּוּ). (5) Doubling in the word itself — two identical letters in the root (geminate verbs and the like).
So when you see a strong dagesh, ask “what is doubled — the article, the wayyiqtol, a merged נ, or the stem?” and the grammar opens up.
11Mappiq — making a final ה a sounded consonant
A final ה is normally a silent vowel letter. With a dot inside (mappiq) it is a consonant with an “h” sound — usually the ending “her, its.”
leminah — according to its kind
לְ (according to) + מִין (kind) + הּ (her = its). The subject “the earth” is feminine, so the ending is “her.” The dot in the final הּ is the mappiq. Compare לְמִינוֹ (after his kind) in 1:11 — only the ending differs.
YLVAnd God said, "Let the earth bring forth a living soul (nephesh) after its kind, beast and creeping thing and living thing (chai) of the earth after its kind"; and it was so.
le‘ovdah — to work it
לְ (to) + the infinitive construct עָבְד (serve — root ע-ב-ד) + הּ (it, a feminine ending). The infinitive’s vowels change when the ending is added. The same verse has וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ (to keep it) with the same mappiq.
YLVAnd YHWH God took Adam and put him in the garden of Eden to work (avad) it and to keep it.
laylah — night
Contrast: the final ה has no dot. This ה is only a vowel letter marking the “a” before it and is silent: laylah.
YLVAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
12The dot in ו — the vowel “u” or doubling
tohu — formless
וּ is shuruq, the vowel “u.” This ו has no other vowel and serves as the vowel of ה before it. It is not a dagesh.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
uven — and between
A וּ at the very start of a word is “and” (u) by itself. After that vowel “u,” ב has no dot: v. Compare בֵּין (ben) earlier in the verse.
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
tsivvitikha — I commanded you
Here the dot in וִּ comes with a separate vowel ִ (i). So this ו is a consonant and the dot is doubling (strong dagesh): tsiv-vitikha. The Piel of צ-ו-ה (command) doubles the middle ו.
YLVAnd he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded (tzivvah) you not to eat of it?"
13When a doubling has no dot
Gutturals and ר cannot be doubled and refuse the dot. Instead the vowel before lengthens (הָאָרֶץ 1:1 — the article is הָ, not הַ), or the vowel stays and only the doubling drops (הַחֹשֶׁךְ 1:4). In the Piel וַיְבָרֶךְ (2:3, and he blessed), the middle ר cannot double, so the vowel of ב before it lengthens to ָ (see Gutturals).
Some letters with a sheva often drop the doubling dot — especially the יְ of the wayyiqtol: the יְ in וַיְהִי (1:3) and וַיְכֻלּוּ (2:1) has no dot. It is a doubling position, but the dot is omitted with the sheva.
14Easy to confuse
A dot in a begadkefat letter is not always weak. After a vowel it is strong (הַגָּן hag-gan, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ qad-desh). Look at what comes before.
וּ is not always a dagesh. With no other vowel it is the vowel “u” (shuruq). Only with a separate vowel, as in וִּ, is it doubling.
Mappiq and strong dagesh: ה is a guttural and is not doubled, so a dot in a final הּ is always a mappiq.
The dot of שׁ and the dagesh: שּׁ has two dots — the upper right marks shin, the inner one is the dagesh (הַשָּׁמַיִם).