Hebrew spelling: or .
Name In
Hebrew, the letter's name is
tsadi or
ṣadi, depending on whether the letter is transliterated as Modern Israeli "ts" or Tiberian "ṣ". Alternatively, it can be called
tsadik or
ṣadik, spelled צָדִּיק, influenced by its Yiddish name
tsadek and the Hebrew word
tzadik.
Variations , like
kaph,
mem,
pe, and
nun, has a final form, used at the end of words. Its shape changes from to .
Pronunciation In
Modern Hebrew, tsade represents a
voiceless alveolar affricate . This is the same in
Yiddish. Historically, it represented either a
pharyngealized or an affricate such as the Modern Hebrew pronunciation or
Geʽez ; which became in
Ashkenazi Hebrew. A
geresh can also be placed after tsade (), which is pronounced (or, in a
hypercorrected pronunciation, a pharyngealized ), e.g. chips. Ṣade appears as in
Yemenite Hebrew and other Jews from the
Middle East, and sometimes appears in the Modern Hebrew pronunciation of Yemenite Jews.
Sephardi Hebrew pronounces like a regular
s, and this is the sound value it has in
Judaeo-Spanish, as in "masa" (
matzo) or "sadik" (
tzadik), and rarely appears in this form in the Modern Hebrew pronunciation of Sephardic Jews.
Significance In
gematria, represents the number 90. Its final form represents 900, but this is rarely used,
taw, taw, and
qof (400+400+100) being used instead. As an abbreviation, it stands for
ṣafon, north. is also one of the seven letters that receive special crowns (called
tagin) when written in a
Sefer Torah. See
shin,
‘ayin, ,
nun,
zayin, and
gimmel.
In relation with Arabic Hebrew corresponds to the letters , , and in Arabic ; Examples: • : the word for "thirst" in Classical Arabic is and in Hebrew. • : the word for "Egypt" in Classical Arabic is and in Hebrew. • : the word for "egg" in Classical Arabic is and in Hebrew. When representing this sound in transliteration of Arabic into Hebrew, it is written as or samekh with a geresh. ==Syriac sade==