resh

Resh is the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It represents the consonant sound r, and in Modern Hebrew its pronunciation can vary between a voiced uvular fricative and an alveolar approximant depending on the speaker. Unlike some other Hebrew letters, resh does not have a distinct final form; it uses the same shape in all positions within a word.

Origin and name: Resh descends from the Phoenician letter resh, which resembled a head and is linked to the same ancient symbol that influenced the Greek rho and the Latin R. The name of the letter is traditionally associated with the Semitic root meaning “head,” reflecting its historical placement near the start of the alphabet and its symbolic associations in some traditions.

Numerical value and usage: In Hebrew gematria, resh is valued at 200. It appears in many Hebrew words, including rosh (head), where resh is the initial consonant, illustrating its role in forming common vocabulary as well as specialized terminology in religious, literary, and everyday texts.

Character and encoding: Resh is a standard, non-final letter in the Hebrew alphabet. In Unicode it is encoded as U+05E8. In transliteration, resh is typically represented by the letter r, and it is used across Hebrew writing, including liturgical, academic, and modern communication.