Mazalogy · Hebrew letter reference in English
Shin: Hebrew letter forms and values
Identify Shin ש, compare standard, ordinal and reduced-letter values, and check שמים in its cited Hebrew source.
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The dot distinguishes Shin and Sin readings
| Form | Character | Unicode code point | Unicode 17.0 name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary Shin | ש | U+05E9 | HEBREW LETTER SHIN |
Shin; Sin names the left-dot reading. Reading cue: sh with the right dot; s with the left dot.
Compare שׁ and שׂ. Unicode represents each as base ש followed by a separate dot: U+05C1 for the right-hand shin dot, U+05C2 for the left-hand sin dot. Both use the same twenty-first base-letter position.
In שמים, the pointed source shows the right dot. The word starts with Shin and ends with final Mem, with ordinary Mem and Yod between them. Follow all four letters instead of treating the two Mem shapes as unrelated alphabet identities.
One letter, three explicit values
| Standard | Ordinal | Reduced letters |
|---|---|---|
| 300 | 21 | 3 |
The two dot choices do not change Shin’s standard 300, ordinal 21 or reduced 3 in these methods. Samekh can also have an s cue, but it is another base letter with values 60, 15 and 6. Removing a point and replacing a base letter are therefore different changes.
שמים: heaven / sky
Pointed source form: שָׁמָיִם · reading cue: shamayim. Genesis 1:8 · Mechon Mamre.
This occurrence is the unprefixed word. Its vowel points retain this edition’s verse-end form. It is not the longer השמים written elsewhere; an attached article would add an actual Heh to the calculation.
| Reading position | Written letter | Base letter | Standard | Ordinal | Reduced letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ש | ש | 300 | 21 | 3 |
| 2 | מ | מ | 40 | 13 | 4 |
| 3 | י | י | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| 4 | ם | מ | 40 | 13 | 4 |
| Word total | 390 | 57 | 12 | ||
Standard: 300 + 40 + 10 + 40 = 390 · Ordinal: 21 + 13 + 10 + 13 = 57 · Reduced letters: 3 + 4 + 1 + 4 = 12
Its group in the Gra version of Sefer Yetzirah
Shin ש is among the three mothers listed in Gra 3:1: אמש. Keep this textual classification distinct from the alphabet position and the arithmetic columns above.
Study the source in a guided introduction · Read about textual versions
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Sources, dates and conventions
Prepared by Mazalogy with AI assistance. Characters, source-word spellings and calculation rules were checked against the sources and the calculator on . Reading cues introduce the cited chart; pronunciation varies by community. Source attribution does not imply outside review or endorsement.
- Unicode 17.0 · Hebrew, section 9.1: direction, points and final forms
- Unicode 17.0 · NamesList: Hebrew character names and code points
- Chabad · The Hebrew Alphabet: letter chart, sounds and values
- GalEinai · Four Methods for Doing Gematria: distinguish counting conventions
- Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version 3:1, the three mothers
- Mechon Mamre · Genesis 1:8, Hebrew text with JPS 1917 English
English reference edition. Numerical examples retain final forms and actual vowel letters while ignoring pronunciation marks. Final forms keep base-letter values in all three methods. Reduced letters are added without reducing the completed word total again.