Mem

Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Hebrew mēm מ, Aramaic mem 𐡌, Syriac mīm ܡ, Arabic mīm م and Phoenician mēm 𐤌. Its sound value is [m].

Mem
PhoenicianMem
Hebrew
מם
AramaicMem
Syriac
ܡ
Arabic
م
Phonemic representationm
Position in alphabet13
Numerical value40
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician
GreekΜ
LatinM
CyrillicМ

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek mu (Μ), Etruscan M, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.

Origins

Mem is believed to derive from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water,

N35

which had been simplified by the Phoenicians and named after their word for "water", mem (), ultimately coming from Proto-Semitic *may-.

Hebrew Mem

Orthographic variants of non-final form
Various print fonts Cursive
Hebrew
Rashi
script
SerifSans-serifMonospaced
מ מ מ

Hebrew spelling: מֵם

Hebrew pronunciation

Mem represents a bilabial nasal [m].

Variations on written form/pronunciation

Orthographic variants of final form
Various Print Fonts Cursive
Hebrew
Rashi
Script
SerifSans-serifMonospaced
ם ם ם

In Hebrew, Mem, like Kaph, Nun, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words: its shape changes from מ to ם.

Significance

In gematria, Mem represents the number 40 in both the Standard and Mispar Gadol Methods of Gematria; However, (mem sofit) final mem's value is 40 in the Standard Method and 600 in the Mispar Gadol method. The Standard Method adds the values of Tav and Resh (400+200) to denote the value of mem sofit.

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.

As an abbreviation, it stands for metre. In the Israeli army it can also stand for mefaked, commander. In Hebrew religious texts, it can stand for the name of God Makom, the Place.

Mem and Tarot

Mem is associated with The Hanged Man (Atu XII), the element of water and the path between Geburah and Hod on the Tree of Life.

Arabic Mīm

Mīm
م
Usage
Writing systemArabic script
TypeAbjad
Language of originArabic language
Phonetic usage[m]
Unicode codepointU+0645 م ARABIC LETTER MEEM
History
Development
  • م
Other
Writing directionRight-to-left

The letter is named mīm, and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:

Position in word Isolated Final Medial Initial
Glyph form:
(Help)
م ـم ـمـ مـ

Some examples on its uses in Modern Standard Arabic:

Mīm is used in the creation of ism words (i.e. nouns and adjectives; they are treated fundamentally the same in Arabic grammar). Specifically, mīm is used in the creation of the masdar (verbal noun) of Stem III verbs (the masdar of verbs on the pattern fāʿala is mufāʿala), of subject and object nouns for verbs of Stems II-X (using the example of Stem II, subject nounscalled fāʿil words because of their form in Stem Iare mufaʿʿil for verbs of Stems II-X, and object nounscalled mafʿūl also because of their Stem I formtake the form mufaʿʿal for verbs of Stems II-X). Place-nouns are also created with mīm; the pattern mafʿal is used to create maktab "office" from the triliteral k-t-b (to write) and maṣnaʿ "factory" from ṣ-n-ʿ (to make).

Syriac Mim

Position in word Isolated Final Medial Initial
Glyph form:
(Help)
ܡ ـܡ ـܡـ ܡـ

Character encodings

Character information
Previewמםمܡ
Unicode name HEBREW LETTER MEM HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM ARABIC LETTER MEEM SYRIAC LETTER MIM SAMARITAN LETTER MIM HEBREW LETTER WIDE FINAL MEM HEBREW LETTER MEM WITH DAGESH
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode1502U+05DE1501U+05DD1605U+06451825U+07212060U+080C64294U+FB2664318U+FB3E
UTF-8215 158D7 9E215 157D7 9D217 133D9 85220 161DC A1224 160 140E0 A0 8C239 172 166EF AC A6239 172 190EF AC BE
Numeric character referenceממםםممܡܡࠌࠌﬦﬦמּמּ
Character information
Preview𐎎𐡌𐤌
Unicode name UGARITIC LETTER MEM IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER MEM PHOENICIAN LETTER MEM
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode66446U+1038E67660U+1084C67852U+1090C
UTF-8240 144 142 142F0 90 8E 8E240 144 161 140F0 90 A1 8C240 144 164 140F0 90 A4 8C
UTF-1655296 57230D800 DF8E55298 56396D802 DC4C55298 56588D802 DD0C
Numeric character reference𐎎𐎎𐡌𐡌𐤌𐤌

See also

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