View source for Samekh

{{Short description|Semitic abjad}}
{{Phoenician glyph
|letname=Samekh
|previouslink=Nun (letter)
|previousletter=Nun
|nextlink=Ayin
|nextletter=Ayin
|archar=
|sychar=ܣ
|hechar=ס
|amchar=𐡎
|gechar=
|phchar=𐤎
|grchar=[[Ξ]]
|lachar=
|cychar=[[Ѯ]]
|ipa={{IPAlink|s}}
|num=15
|gem=60
}}
'''Samekh''' or '''samech''' is the fifteenth [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of the [[Semitic abjads]], including [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] ''sāmek'' 𐤎, [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] ''sāmeḵ'' {{Script|Hebr|ס}}, [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] ''samek'' 𐡎, and [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] ''semkaṯ'' ܣ. Samekh is the only letter of the Semitic abjad that has no surviving descendant in the [[Arabic alphabet]]; however, it was present in the [[Nabataean alphabet]], the Arabic alphabet's immediate predecessor, as the letter ''simkath'' [[File:15_sin.svg|16x16px]], which was related to the [[Ancient North Arabian]] 𐪏‎‎‎ and [[Ancient South Arabian script|South Arabian]] {{lang|sem-x-oldsoara|𐩯}}. The [[gematria|numerical value]] of samekh is 60.

Samekh represents a [[voiceless alveolar fricative]] {{IPAslink|s}}. In the Hebrew language, the samekh {{Script|Hebr|ס}} has the same pronunciation as the left-dotted [[Shin (letter)#Hebrew shin/sin|shin]] {{script|Hebrew|שׂ}}.

In Arabic, ''samekh'' is replaced by the letter ''[[Sin (letter)|sīn]]'' ({{Script|Arab|س}}, {{IPA|/s/}}) which is the 15th letter in the common Abjadi order, and the 12th letter in the Hija'i order, it has the same [[Abjad numerals|numerical (abjad) value]] of 60 in the common Abjadi order.

== Origin ==
The Phoenician letter may continue a glyph from the [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets]], possibly based on a [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]] for a tent peg or support, such as the  ''[[djed]]'' "pillar" hieroglyph 𓊽<ref name="Betro">{{cite book |last= Betro|first= M. C. |title= Hieroglyphics|url= https://archive.org/details/hieroglyphicswri0000betr|url-access= registration|year= 1996|publisher= Abbeyville Press, NY, p. 209}}</ref>
(cf. Hebrew root סמך s-m-kh 'support', סֶמֶךְ semekh 'support, rest', סוֹמֵךְ somekh 'support peg, post', סוֹמְכָה somkha 'armrest', סָמוֹכָה smokha 'stake, support', indirectly ''[[Semikhah|s'mikhah]]'' {{lang|he|סמיכה}}; Aramaic סַמְכָא samkha 'socket, base', סְמַךְ smakh 'support, help'; Syriac [[:wikt:ܣܡܟܐ| ܣܡܟܐ ]] semkha 'support', Arabic سَمَكَ 'to raise, to elevate').

The shape of samek undergoes complicated developments. 
In archaic scripts, the vertical stroke can be drawn either across or below the three horizontal strokes.
The closed form of Hebrew samek is developed only in the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean period]].<ref name=Cross30>Frank Moore Cross, ''Leaves from an Epigrapher's Notebook: Collected Papers in Hebrew and West Semitic Palaeography and Epigraphy'' (2018), [https://books.google.com/books?id=wN6mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 p. 30] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903112544/https://books.google.com/books?id=wN6mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |date=2023-09-03 }}.</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|- "overflow:visible;"
! Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew<br/> (c. 1000 BC)
! [[Aramaic alphabet|Imperial Aramaic]]<br/> (c. 800 BC)
! [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[Xi (letter)]](750 BC)
! [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]]<br/> (from ca. 350 BC)
|- align="center"
| [[File:Phoenician samekh.svg|30px|]] [[File:Moabite samek.svg|30px|]]
| [[File:Samekh.svg|30px|]]
| [[File:Xi uc lc.svg|100x100px]]
| [[File:The Sefaria Project.svg|30px|]]
|}

<!-- {{Script|Phnx|𐤎}} -->

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[Xi (letter)|xi]] (Ξ),<ref name="Muss-Arnolt">{{cite book |last= Muss-Arnolt|first= W.|title= On Semitic Words in Greek and Latin|year= 1892|publisher= Transactions of the American Philological Association v. 23, p. 35-156. The Johns Hopkins University Press}}</ref> whereas its name may also be reflected in the name of the otherwise unrelated Greek letter [[sigma]].<ref name="jeffery25">{{cite book|last=Jeffery|first=Lilian H.|title=The local scripts of archaic Greece|place=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon|year=1961|pages=25–27}}</ref>

The archaic "grid" shape of Western Greek ''xi'' ([[File:Greek Xi archaic grid.svg|20px|]]) was adopted in the early [[Etruscan alphabet]] (𐌎 ''esh''), but was never included in the [[history of the Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet]]. The letter samekh is currently the only letter of the Semitic abjad that has no surviving descendant in the Arabic alphabet, and the letter {{lang|ar|س}} corresponds exclusively to {{lang|he|ש}} rather than {{lang|he|ס}}.

The history of the letters expressing sibilants in the various Semitic alphabets is somewhat complicated, due to different mergers between [[Proto-Semitic]] phonemes. As usually reconstructed, there are four plain [[Proto-Semitic language|Proto-Semitic]] [[Coronal consonant|coronal]] [[Voicelessness|voiceless]] [[Fricative consonant|fricative]] phonemes (not counting [[Emphatic consonant|emphatic]] ones) that evolved into the various voiceless sibilants of its daughter languages, as follows:
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="16" |Voiceless consonants<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schneider |first=Roey |date=2024 |title=The Semitic Sibilants |url=https://www.academia.edu/87823763/The_Semitic_Sibilants |journal=The Semitic Sibilants |pages=31, 33, 36}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2" |Proto-Semitic
![[Old South Arabian|Old South<br/>Arabian]]
![[Ancient North Arabian|Old North<br/>Arabian]] 
![[Modern South Arabian languages|Modern South<br/>Arabian]] <sup>1, 2</sup>
! colspan="2" |[[Modern Standard Arabic|Standard<br/>Arabic]]
! colspan="2" |[[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]
! colspan="2" |[[Modern Hebrew|Modern<br/>Hebrew]]
! colspan="2" |[[Geʽez|Ge'ez]]
! colspan="2" |[[Phoenician language|Phoenician]]
! [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]
|-
!s₃ (s)
! {{IPA|[s] / [ts]}}
|{{script|Sarb|𐩯}}
|𐪏
|{{IPA|/s/}}
| rowspan="2" |<big>{{script|Arab|س|label=none}}</big>
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/s/}}
|{{script|Hebrew|ס}}
|s
| {{script|Hebrew|ס}} || {{IPA|/s/}}
| rowspan="3" | {{script|Ethi|ሰ}} || rowspan="3" |  s
| {{script|Phnx|𐤎}} || s
| s
|-
!s₁ (š)
! {{IPA|[ʃ] / [s]}}
|{{script|Sarb|𐩪}}
|𐪊
|{{IPA|/ʃ/}}, <small>sometimes</small> {{IPA|/h/}}
|{{script|Hebrew|ש}}
|š
| rowspan="2" | {{script|Hebrew|שׁ}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
| rowspan="3" | {{script|Phnx|𐤔}} || rowspan="3" |  š
| rowspan="3" | š
|-
!ṯ 
! {{IPA|[θ]}}
|{{script|Sarb|𐩻}}
|𐪛
|{{IPA|/θ/}}
|<big>{{Script|Arab|ث|label=none}}</big>
|{{IPA|/θ/}}
|{{script|Hebrew|ש}}, <small>later</small> {{script|Hebrew|ת}}
|*ṯ, š,<br /><small>later</small> t
|-
!s₂ (ś)
! {{IPA|[ɬ]}}
|{{script|Sarb|𐩦}}
|𐪆
|{{IPA|/ɬ/}}
|<big>{{script|Arab|ش|label=none}}</big>
|{{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|{{script|Hebrew|ש}}, <small>later</small> {{script|Hebrew|ס}}
|*ś, s
| {{script|Hebrew|שׂ}} || {{IPA|/s/}}
| {{script|Ethi|ሠ}} || ś
|-
| colspan="16" |
# s₁ (š) is {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, <small>sometimes</small> {{IPA|[h]}} and {{IPA|[j<sup>ɦ</sup>]}} (in [[Soqotri language|Soqotri]]) - {{IPA|[ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[ɕ<sup>w</sup>]}} (for some speakers of [[Shehri language|Jibbali]])
# ṯ {{IPA|[θ]}}, ḏ {{IPA|[ð]}} and ṯ̣ {{IPA|[θʼ]}} merge with {{IPA|[t]}}, {{IPA|[d]}}, and {{IPA|[tʼ]}} in Soqotri
|}
Note: Hebrew {{script|Hebrew|ש}} represents both {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, when distinguishing is required, they can be distinguished  a dot above the left-hand side of the letter for {{IPAslink|s}} {{script|Hebrew|שׂ}} and above the right-hand side for {{IPAslink|ʃ}} {{script|Hebrew|שׁ}}.

== Hebrew samekh ==
Hebrew ''Samekh'' develops a closed cursive form in the middle [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean period]] (1st century BC). This becomes the standard form in early [[Herodian dynasty|Herodian]] hands.<ref name=Cross30/>

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
!colspan=5|<small>[[Orthography|Orthographic]] variants</small>
|-
!colspan=3|<small>Various print fonts</small>
!rowspan=2|<small>[[Cursive Hebrew|Cursive<br/>Hebrew]]</small>
!rowspan=2|<small>[[Rashi script|Rashi<br/>script]]</small>
|-
!|<small>Serif</small> !! <small>[[Sans-serif]]</small> !! <small>[[Monospaced]]</small>
|-
|width=20%|<span style="font:30pt 'Times New Roman', 'SBL Hebrew', David, Narkisim, 'New Peninim MT', 'Taamey Frank CLM', serif;">ס</span>
|width=20%|<span style="font:28pt Arial, 'DejaVu Sans Condensed', 'DejaVu Sans', Tahoma, 'Noto Sans Hebrew', Alef, sans-serif;">ס</span>
|width=20%|<span style="font:30pt 'Courier New', 'Miriam Fixed', 'Miriam Mono CLM', FreeMono, monospace;">ס</span>
|width=20%|[[File:Hebrew letter Samekh handwriting.svg|30px]]
|width=20%|[[File:Samekh (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|30px]]
|}

=== Talmudic legend ===
In Talmudic legend, samekh is said to have been a miracle of the [[Ten Commandments]]. {{bibleverse|Exodus||32:15|HE}} records that the tablets "were written on both their sides." The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] interprets this as meaning that the inscription went through the full thickness of the tablets. The stone in the center parts of the letters [[ayin]] and [[teth]] should have fallen out, as these letters are closed in the [[Ktav Ivri|ktav ivri]] script and would not be connected to the rest of the tablet, but miraculously remained in place. The [[Babylonian Talmud]] (tractate Shabbat 104a) also cites the opinion that these closed letters included samekh, attributed to [[Rav Chisda]] (d. ca. 320).<ref>''The William Davidson Talmud '', [https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.104a?lang=bi Shabbat 104a] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003022517/https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.104a?lang=bi |date=2020-10-03 }}.</ref>
<!-- so? this is just a random word beginning in samek
Samekh and [[mem]] can be combined to form the abbreviation ס<nowiki>''</nowiki>ם, known as ''samekh-mem'', a euphemism used for the name of the angel [[Samael]] to avoid speaking his name aloud and thereby attracting his attention.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: Second Edition|last=Dennis|first=Geoffrey. W|publisher=Llewellyn|year=2016|isbn=978-0738745916|pages=370}}</ref> It also stands for centimeter.
-->

== Syriac semkat ==
The Syriac letter ''semkaṯ'' {{lang|syr|ܣܡܟܬ}} develops from the Imperial Aramaic "hook" shape {{lang|arc|𐡎}}
into a rounded form by the 1st century. The Old Syriac form further develops into a connected cursive both in the Eastern and Western script variants.

{|class = wikitable
|-style="text-align:center;"
!Aramaic
!Old Syriac
!Eastern
!Western
|-
|[[File:Samekh.svg|30px|]]
|[[File:Syriac Estrangela semkat.svg|40px]]
|[[File:Syriac Eastern semkat.svg|40px]]
|[[File:Syriac Serta semkat.svg|40px]]
|}
{{Arabic alphabet shapes|ܣ‎}}

== Character encodings ==
{{charmap
|05E1|name1=Hebrew Letter Samekh
|0723|name2=Syriac Letter Semkath
|0724|name3=Syriac Letter Final Semkath
|080E|name4=Samaritan Letter Singaat
}}

{{charmap
|10392|name1=Ugaritic Letter Samka
|1084E|name2=Imperial Aramaic Letter Samekh
|1090E|name3=Phoenician Letter Semka
|10896|name4=Nabataean Letter Samekh
}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{commons category|Samekh (letter)}}
{{reflist}}{{Arabic language}}{{Hebrew language}}
{{Northwest Semitic abjad}}
[[Category:Phoenician alphabet]]
[[Category:Hebrew letters]]