Table of Contents
Dagesh Lene
The Weak Dagesh
See Types of Dagesh.
בּגּדּכּפּרּתּ
In the Double Letters (BeGaD KiPoReT)
Dagesh Qal (the Hebrew term), the “Weak Dagesh”, or Dagesh Lene (the Latin term, more common in grammars) is a dot that appears within one of the BGD KPRT consonants to indicate the harder (plosive) form of the double letter, in preference to the fricative (spirantized) form. The double letters are:
bet, gimel, dalet, kaf, peh, resh, tav.
Resh is only sometimes treated as a double letter, anciently in a few rare circumstances in Bible manuscripts, and in medieval mystical texts.
In modern Hebrew, only bet, kaf, and peh retain a distinction in pronunciation.
A Dagesh Lene will usually appear when one of the double letters begins a word, or when it begins a new syllable (usually after a closed syllable ending in a silent shewa)
The Dagesh Lene can also appear as the second of a two-consonant cluster of a closed syllable at the end of a word, when both it and the preceding consonant include a silent shewa. (Example: שָׁמַרְתְּ, sha-mar-t)