Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the

Semitic abjads An abjad ( or abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving the vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels. The term was introd ...

, including

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

''mēm'' ,

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

''mem'' 𐡌, Syriac ''mīm'' ܡ,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''mīm'' , and Phoenician ''mēm'' 𐤌. Its sound value is . It is also related to the

Ancient North Arabian Languages and scripts in the 1st Century Arabia Ancient North Arabian (ANA) is a collection of scripts and a language or family of languages under the North Arabian languages branch along with Old Arabic that were used in north and central Ara ...

𐪃‎‎‎, South Arabian , and Ge'ez . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

mu (Μ), Etruscan EtruscanM-01

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

M, and

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

М.

Origins

Mem is believed to derive from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water, N35 which had been simplified by the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns and named after their word for "water", '' mem'' ( Phoenician mem

), ultimately coming from

Proto-Semitic Proto-Semitic is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Semitic languages. There is no consensus regarding the location of the linguistic homeland for Proto-Semitic: scholars hypothesize that it may have originated in the Levant, the Sahara, ...

''*may-''.

Arabic mīm

The letter is named ', and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word: Some examples on its uses in

Modern Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA) is the variety of Standard language, standardized, Literary language, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in some usages al ...

: ''Mīm'' is used in the creation of ''ism'' words (i.e.

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

s and

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

s; they are treated fundamentally the same in

Arabic grammar Arabic grammar () is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic languages, Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the Semitic languages#Grammar, grammar of other Semitic languages. Classical Arabic and Modern St ...

). Specifically, ' 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 nouns—called ''fāʿil'' words because of their form in Stem I—are ''mufaʿʿil'' for verbs of Stems II-X, and object nouns—called ''mafʿūl'' also because of their Stem I form—take the form ''mufaʿʿal'' for verbs of Stems II-X). Place-nouns are also created with '; the pattern ''mafʿal'' is used to create ''maktab'' "office" from the

triliteral The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowel ...

''k-t-b'' (to write) and ''maṣnaʿ'' "factory" from ''ṣ-n-ʿ'' (to make). Nastaliq Painting-Caligraphy the letter Mim

Hebrew mem

Hebrew spelling:

Hebrew pronunciation

Mem represents a bilabial nasal .

Variations on written form/pronunciation

In Hebrew, Mem, like

Kaph Kaph (also spelled kaf) is the eleventh letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ''kāp'' 𐤊, Hebrew ''kāp̄'' , Aramaic ''kāp'' 𐡊, Syriac ''kāp̄'' ܟ, and Arabic ''kāf'' (in abjadi order). It is also related to the Anc ...

Nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words: its shape changes from to .

Significance

gematria In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standar ...

, 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 Resh is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician ''rēš'' 𐤓, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ''rēš'' , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic ''rēš'' 𐡓‎, Syriac alphabet, Syriac ''rēš'' � ...

(400+200) to denote the value of mem sofit. In the

Sefer Yetzirah ''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is a work of Jewish mysticism. Early commentaries, such as the ''Kuzari'', treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory, as opposed t ...

, 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 Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

. 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.

Syriac mim

Character encodings

External links

{{Northwest Semitic abjad Phoenician alphabet Arabic letters Hebrew letters Urdu letters Letters with final form