dagesh

There are two kinds of dageshim:  more here or this video

dagesh lene    video
dagesh forte    video
A dagesh lene makes the pronunciation of a BGDKFT letter hard; e.g. a ב is pronounced “v”.  A בּ is pronounced “b”. A dagesh forte doubles the pronunciation of a letter.
Only occurs in BGDKFT letters. Can be in any letter except a guttural.
Never preceded by a full vowel. Always preceded by a full vowel.
Does not affect a syllable being open or closed. A letter with a dagesh forte in it closes the syllable.
Note #1: letters with a sheva for their vowel will often lose the dagesh.

Note #2: the dagesh in a vav-conversive will never appear in the first letter of the verb root.

2 thoughts on “dagesh”

  1. Trying to learn something every day regarding the written and spoken ancient Hebrew language and these distinctions between dagesh lene and dagesh forte are very helpful.

    Helpful. Very helpful, thanks!

    (please, consider fixing the broken links describing ‘full vowel.’ Neither are operational. I’d like to know what is meant by ‘full vowel.’)

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