Hebrew Accent Zarqa

Put U+0598 after a Hebrew base letter. It is a combining cantillation mark, also called a trope or taam, so it attaches to a letter instead of standing alone. In a Unicode-aware source string, write \u0598 after the letter.

On its own, it can float or align oddly; its placement depends on the base letter and font. Judge it beside Hebrew text.

What does Zarqa do in a Hebrew verse?

It guides the chant and phrase divisions. Cantillation marks show how a Hebrew Bible passage is traditionally recited and how words group into phrases.

Tiberian Masoretes—scholars who recorded Hebrew reading traditions—wrote down an older oral tradition in the late first millennium CE, alongside Babylonian and Palestinian systems. Tiberian notation later became the dominant written convention.

In prose-book cantillation, Zarqa marks a break in the Zarqa–Segolta pattern; ֒ is the distinct Segolta mark. In Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, the corresponding accent is called Tsinor. Jewish reading traditions use different melodies for the same written accents.

Why is U+0598 not the usual Zarqa?

The code point follows placement, not just the familiar name. U+0598 ֘ represents Zarqa or Tsinor when centered above, and it also represents Tsinnorit, a separate mark placed over a letter. U+05AE ֮ represents Zarqa or Tsinor when placed above-left.

Choose between the two by the intended position: the Unicode name alone does not tell the whole story.