Shin (Hebrew)

Shin or Sin (שין) is the twenty-first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It has the numerical value 300. Originally, the Shin probably denoted a sound that stood between [ʃ], [θ], and [ɕ]. In Hebrew, the sign stands for the two sounds [ʃ] and [s]. A dot on the right above the letter marks it as Shin (שׁ, pronunciation: ʃ), a dot on the left as Sin (שׂ, pronunciation: voiceless s as in Snob). In Unicode, the two dots have the codes U+05C1 (right for Shin) and U+05C2 (left for Sin). These diacritical dots belong to the Tibiensian system of punctuation and are therefore absent in unvocalized texts, as is common in modern Iwrit. The two phonetic values of Shin/Sin are treated as the same in alphabetical sorting, but otherwise behave like different consonants: If a word has the pronunciation Shin or Sin, all word forms and related words have the same sound. The differences between the same words are also found in other Semitic languages, but with different sound values:

Hebrew Shin and Sin correspond to the three ursemitic consonants š (1st line), ṯ (2nd line) and ś (3rd line). The first two (š and ṯ) have merged in Hebrew to form Shin (š). Sin was probably pronounced similarly in Hebrew at first, but under Aramaic influence became similar in pronunciation to Samech (voiceless s), which goes back to another ursemitic consonant (s) (4th line). In Aramaic, ursemitic ṯ and t have coincided. In contrast, in Arabic, ursemitic ṯ was preserved (Tha), ursemitic ś became Shin (Arabic), and ursemitic š and s coincided Sin (Arabic). Therefore, although the Arabic letters Sin and Shin have the same phonetic value as the respective Hebrew letters of the same name, they are often used just the other way around (1st/3rd line). In addition, however, Arabic Sin can also correspond to Hebrew Samech, which is identical in pronunciation, if it goes back to ursemitic s (4th line).

In the dialect of the tribe of Ephraim, the Shin was apparently pronounced similarly to the Samech (→ Shibboleth). The ancient Hebrew tribal name Issachar is written in the Masoretic text of the Bible with two Sin, the first doubled and the second not pronounced and therefore written without a period.

Sin is a consonant whose written form in the Phoenician alphabet goes back to the stylized representation of a tooth. Schen (שן) means 'tooth' in Hebrew. The Greek sigma, the Cyrillic Ш (Sha) and the Latin S all trace back to the same origin.

Examples

• שרה - Sara (Princess)
• שטן - Satan (opponent, adversary)
• שבת - Shabbat: Sabbath (Latinized).
• שלמה - Shəlomo: Solomon (in modern Iwrit: "Shlomo").
• שם - Schem: Sem
• שמש - Shemesh: Sun
• שמעון - Shim'on: Simon ("He [God] has heard").
• שמשון - Shimshon: Samson
• שמואל - Shmu'el: Samuel
• שושנה - Shoshanna: Susanna (lily, transl. rose).

Character encoding