Hebrew maqaf

It joins adjacent words into one reading or spelling unit.

In a pointed Biblical Hebrew verse, this Hebrew hyphen is a joining sign. The first word loses its separate accent and follows the stress and chant of the next. Vowel and cantillation marks help readers phrase and chant the verse aloud.

The joining convention changed across writing traditions. In an earlier Palestinian notation, a dot between words could show they belonged together; a Palestinian manuscript records a separate maqqef sign. The Tiberian tradition uses the familiar stroke for that joining function.

What does maqaf do in modern Hebrew?

It marks parts of a prefix or compound as joined.

In Modern Hebrew, maqaf marks parts that read or function together. In אי־הבנה (“misunderstanding”) and דו־לשוני (“bilingual”), it attaches a prefix to the following word; בית־ספר (“school”) is a compound.

Spelling varies: compounds appear with maqaf, as two spaced words, or as one closed word. Some bound-prefix series keep the mark in careful writing. As of 2022, casual Hebrew typing often used an ordinary hyphen as a stand-in.

Why does maqaf shift in mixed Hebrew and English?

Text direction can change where punctuation appears.

In mixed Hebrew and English, punctuation can seem to shift because Hebrew runs right to left and English left to right; display rules position maqaf using nearby text and paragraph direction. If it looks out of place, check text direction before changing it.