Rafe — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Diacritical mark used in Hebrew}} {{About|the Hebrew diacritic|people and fictional characters with the given name|Rafe (name)|the Syrian footballer|Raja Rafe}} {| align="right" class="wikitable" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |'''Rafe''' |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:100px"|ֿ |- | Similar appearance | style="background:white" | macron |- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Example |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:50px"|פֿיש |- | colspan="2" style="width:250px;background:white; text-align:center;" | The word for fish in Yiddish, ''fish''. The first diacritic (the line over the pei) is a rafe. |- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Other Niqqud |- | colspan="2" style="width:250px;background:white; text-align:center;"| Shva{{·}}Hiriq{{·}}Zeire{{·}}Segol{{·}}Patach{{·}}Kamatz{{·}}Holam{{·}}Dagesh{{·}}Mappiq{{·}}Shuruk{{·}}Kubutz{{·}}Rafe{{·}}Sin/Shin Dot |}

thumb|265px|Typefaces of the word {{lang|he|rtl=yes|אחריך}} (''’aḥăreḵā,'', Songs {{bibleverse-nb|Song of Solomon|1:4a|HE}}) in the two Masoretic Codices and four Hebrew Bible print editions. The ''rafe'' diacritic is mostly omitted in print editions.

In Hebrew orthography the '''rafe''' or '''raphe''' ({{langx|he|רָפֶה}}, {{IPA|he|ʁaˈfe|pron}}, meaning "weak, limp") is a diacritic ({{angle bracket|<big>{{Script/Hebrew|◌ֿ}}</big>}}), a subtle horizontal overbar placed above certain letters to indicate that they are to be pronounced as fricatives.

It originated with the Tiberian Masoretes as part of the extended system of ''niqqud'' (vowel points), and has the opposite meaning of ''dagesh'', showing that one of the letters {{Script|Hebr|בגדכפת}} is to be pronounced as a fricative and not as a plosive, or (sometimes) that a consonant is not geminated; or, as the opposite to a ''mappiq'', to show that the letters {{Script|Hebr|ה}} or {{Script|Hebr|א}} are silent (''mater lectionis'').

The rafe generally fell out of use for Hebrew with the coming of printing, although according to Gesenius (1813) at that time it could still be found in a few places in printed Hebrew Bibles, where the absence of a ''dagesh'' or a ''mappiq'' was noticeable.<ref>{{Cite GHG|14}}</ref> (e.g. Exodus 20:13,14,15; Deuteronomy 5:13,17,18,19; 2 Samuel 11:1; Isaiah 22:10; Jeremiah 20:17; Psalm 119:99; Zechariah 5:11)

In some siddurs (e.g. those printed by ArtScroll) a diacritical symbol, typographically the same as the rafe, but utterly unrelated, is used to mark instances of "moving sheva" (''Shva Na'').<ref>Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, ''Siddur Kol Yaakov/The Complete ArtScroll Siddur—Nusach Ashkenaz'', 3rd Edition, Eighteenth Impression, Mesorah Publications Ltd., July 2003. {{ISBN|0-89906-650-X}}. Preface, p. IX.</ref>

The rafe is similar in function to the ''buailte'' (dot above, denoting lenition) in the old-style Irish alphabet.

==Yiddish== In standard Yiddish orthography, the rafe ({{Langx|yi|רפֿה|rofe}}; colloquially also {{Lang|yi|דעכעלע}} ''dekhele'' {{Gloss|little roof}}) distinguishes {{script/Hebrew|פּ}} {{IPAslink|p}} from {{script/Hebrew|פֿ}} {{IPAslink|f}} and in words of Semitic origin also {{script/Hebrew|ב}} {{IPAslink|b}} from {{script/Hebrew|בֿ}} {{IPAslink|v}}.

{| class="wikitable" |- !! colspan=1 | Name !! colspan=1 | Symbol !! colspan=1 | IPA !! colspan=1 | Transliteration !! colspan=1 | Example |- | ''pey'' | align=center | {{Script/Hebrew|פּ}} | align="center" | {{IPAslink|p}} | align="center" | p | align="center" | '''p'''an |- | ''fey'' | align=center | {{Script/Hebrew|פֿ}} | align="center" | {{IPAslink|f}} | align="center" | f | align="center" | '''f'''an |- |}

==Ladino== [[File:Salmo 138.1-2 en la lingua Sefaradit.png|thumb|320px|Text from a 19th-century printing of {{Bibleverse|Psalm|138|HE}} in Ladino language, showing use of the curved “varrica” ''rafe'' atop letters written in Rashi script (titles/headings are in block print).]] In Ladino the rafe, called a ''varrica'' (“little crossbar”), looks more like a breve-shaped diacritic (ﬞ ) on top of the letter (◌ﬞ). When written in the square form, or when unable to apply the varrica rafe diacritic to a letter, it is replaced by a geresh ({{Script|Hebr|׳}}) immediately after the letter as a substitute to effect the same change in pronunciation. For example, {{Script|Hebr|גﬞ}} is equivalent to {{Script|Hebr|ג׳}} in altering the sound from the voiced velar stop [g] to the voiced postalveolar affricate [d͡ʒ], known in English as "soft g".

In Ladino, as in Tiberian Hebrew, the rafe changes {{Script|Hebr|ב}} [b] into {{Script|Hebr|בﬞ}} [v], {{Script|Hebr|ד}} [d] into {{Script|Hebr|דﬞ}} [ð], and {{Script|Hebr|פ}} [p] into {{Script|Hebr|פﬞ}} [f]. Unlike in Hebrew, the rafe also changes {{Script|Hebr|ג}} [g] into {{Script|Hebr|גﬞ}} ([d͡ʒ] or [t͡ʃ]), {{Script|Hebr|ז}} [z] into {{Script|Hebr|זﬞ}} [ʒ], and in words of Semitic origin also {{Script|Hebr|ש}} ([s] or [ʃ]) into {{Script|Hebr|שﬞ}} [ʃ]. In words of Romance origin, [s] is spelled as {{Script|Hebr|ס}}, freeing up {{Script|Hebr|ש}} for the voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] without the need for a rafe to disambiguate.

Note Ladino orthography is far less standardized than Yiddish; original Ladino works may be written in Rashi script (using rafe), Hebrew block print (using geresh), or in the Latin alphabet (e.g. the 1553 Ferrara Bible).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan="10" align=center | Ladino letters formed using a 'varrica' ''rafe'' <ref>{{cite web |title = Sefarađizo: Ladino: Alefbet: Tabla |url = http://www.sefaradizo.org/ladino/alefbet/alefbet_ladino-tabla-es.html |date = 2021-09-16 |archiveurl = https://archive.today/20210916192938/http://www.sefaradizo.org/ladino/alefbet/alefbet_ladino-tabla-es.html |archivedate = 2021-09-16 |access-date = 2021-09-16 |url-status = live }}</ref> |- !! colspan="4" | Without ''Rafe'' !! colspan="4" | With ''Rafe'' (equivalent with geresh) |- ! Symbol !! Translit. !! IPA !!Example !! Symbol !! Translit. !! IPA!!Example |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ב}} | b | {{IPAblink|b}} | '''b'''oy | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ב׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|בﬞ}} | v | {{IPAblink|v}}~{{IPAblink|β̞}} | '''v'''oyage |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ג}} | g | {{IPAblink|ɡ}} | '''g'''ap | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ג׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|גﬞ}} | dj, ǧ, or ch, č | {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}~{{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} | '''J'''upiter, '''G'''eorge, '''ch'''ip |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ד}} | d | {{IPAblink|d̪}} | '''d'''ay | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ד׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|דﬞ}} | dh, th, ḏ, đ | {{IPAblink|ð̞}} | '''th'''ey |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ז}} | z | {{IPAblink|z}} | '''z'''oo | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ז׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|זﬞ}} | j, g, zh, ž | {{IPAblink|ʒ}} | '''J'''acques, bei'''g'''e, vi'''s'''ion |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ט}} | t | {{IPAblink|t̪}} | '''t'''oy | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ט׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|טﬞ}} | th | {{IPAblink|θ}} | '''th'''irty |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|כ}} | c, k | {{IPAblink|k}} | '''c'''are, '''k'''ing | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|כ׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|כﬞ}} | ch, kh, k | {{IPAblink|x}}~{{IPAblink|χ}} | lo'''ch''', Ba'''ch''' |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|פ}} | p | {{IPAblink|p}} | '''p'''ast | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|פ׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|פﬞ}} | f | {{IPAblink|f}} | '''f'''ast |- | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |{{Script/Hebr|ש}} | s, ç | {{IPAblink|s}} | '''s'''in, '''c'''ent | align="center" style="font-size: 150%" |({{Script/Hebr|ש׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|שﬞ}} | sh, š | {{IPAblink|ʃ}} | '''sh'''in |- |}

==Unicode== "Hebrew Point Rafe" is encoded in the Unicode standard as U+05BF.

== See also == * Dagesh * Hebrew alphabet * Hebrew phonology * Macron * Mappiq * Yiddish orthography

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Niqqud