Mem
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MEM : Mem
| Mem | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Syriac | Hebrew | Aramaic | Phoenician |
| ﻡ | ܡܡ | מ,ם |
|
|
| Pronunciation (IPA): | ||||
| Position in alphabet: | 13 | |||
| Gematria/Abjad value: | 40 | |||
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Mu (Μ), Etruscan 
𐌌, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.
Contents
Origins of Mem:
Mem is usually assumed to come from a pictogram of water (mayim in modern Hebrew, mye in modern Arabic).Mem in Hebrew
| Hebrew alphabet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| א | ב | ג | ד | ||
| ה | ו | ז | ח | ט | י |
| כך | ל | מם | נן | ס | ע |
| פף | צץ | ק | ר | ש | ת |
| History · Transliteration Niqqud · Dagesh · Gematria Cantillation · Numeration | |||||
| The Arabic alphabet | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History · Transliteration Diacritics · hamza {{ar Numerals · Numeration | ||||||
| Syriac alphabet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleph (letter)>ܐ | Beth (letter)>ܒ | Gimel (letter)>ܓ | Dalet>ܕ | ||
| He (letter)>ܗ | Waw (letter)>ܘ | Zayin>ܙ | Heth (letter)>ܚ | Teth>ܛ | Yodh>ܝ |
| Kaph>ܟܟ | Lamedh>ܠ | Mem>ܡܡ | Nun (letter)>ܢܢ | Samekh>ܣ | Ayin>ܥ |
| Pe (letter)>ܦ | Tsade>ܨ | Qoph>ܩ | Resh>ܪ | Shin (letter)>ܫ | Taw (letter)>ܬ |
Hebrew Pronunciation
Mem is pronounced as a bilabial nasal stop, (IPA:/m/), like the English M.Variations on Written form/Pronunciation
In Hebrew, Mem, like Kaph, Nun, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words. Its shape changes from this: מ to this: ם. The pronunciation is not changed.Significance of Mem
In gematria, Mem represents the number 40. Its final form represents 600 but this is rarely used, Tav and Resh (400+200) being used instead.In the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Mem is King over Water, Formed Earth in the Universe, Cold in the Year, and the Belly in the Soul.
The final form of Mem is used in the middle of a word only once in the Bible. In Isaiah 9:6, he says:
- לםרבה (לְמַרְבֵּה) הַמִּשְׂרָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם אֵין-קֵץ.
- That the rule may be increased, and of peace there be no end.
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