Hebrew letter alef with mapiq

It marks consonantal alef; Tiberian readers also treat it as doubled.

In pointed Hebrew—a text marked with dots for vowels and reading cues—the point helps keep the consonant from blending into a neighboring vowel.

In the four biblical passages containing this alef, the Tiberian reading tradition treats it as doubled: hold the consonant longer, rather than read another letter. Other vocalization traditions give the same-looking point a different role.

Why do Hebrew traditions read it differently?

The same point belongs to several Hebrew vocalization systems.

The Palestinian system of dots and marks for reading Hebrew was used in the Land of Israel from the eighth to eleventh centuries. Palestinian, Babylonian, and Tiberian manuscripts place and interpret these marks differently.

The point can keep a consonantal alef from disappearing where adjacent vowels might run together. A 2020 scholarly account describes Aleppo, Baghdad, and Yemen reading traditions that preserve a doubled-alef reading in these biblical passages.

Why does the dot shift on screen?

A font positions the combining point.

אּ is a single precomposed character. The same text can also be represented as alef א followed by the Hebrew combining point ּ, using two characters. That changes the character count, not the intended reading.

The point follows alef in text order, while a Hebrew-capable font and shaping engine decide where it appears. If it moves, collides, or disappears, the display is failing; the mark still belongs to the text.