Tsade

Tsade is the eighteenth letter of many ancient and modern Semitic writing systems. These systems include Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Ge'ez, and Arabic. It looks different in each system: 𐤑 in Phoenician, צ‎ in Hebrew, ܨ in Syriac, ጸ in Ge'ez, and ص‎ in Arabic. Tsade is related to letters in other ancient languages like Ancient North Arabian, South Arabian, and Ugaritic.

We do not know the exact original sound of Tsade. But it stands for a group of special sounds called "emphatic consonants" from an early language called Proto-Semitic. Arabic kept these sounds separate. In Aramaic and Hebrew, they mixed with other letters. For example, the Hebrew word ארץ (earth) becomes ארע‎ in Aramaic.

The Phoenician form of Tsade influenced later alphabets. It affected the Greek letters san (Ϻ) and possibly sampi (Ϡ), as well as the Etruscan letter 𐌑 Ś. It may also have inspired the letter tse in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets. In Yiddish, the letter is called "tsadek." This name likely comes from saying the alphabet quickly and was influenced by the Hebrew word for a "righteous person."

Origins

The origin of ṣade is not fully known. It might have come from an old writing system called Proto-Sinaitic. Some think it looked like a picture of a plant, maybe a papyrus plant, or even a fish hook. In modern languages like Hebrew and Arabic, related words can mean "he hunted" or "a side".

Arabic ṣād

See also: the derived letter ().

The Arabic letter ṣād is named after its sound, which is like /sˤ/ in modern standard Arabic. It can look different depending on where it appears in a word.

One of the chapters of the Quran, called Chapter 38, starts with this letter. In some other languages like Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu, this sound does not exist naturally. When these languages use Arabic words, they often say it like the sound /s/ or /θ/.

Hebrew tsadi

In Hebrew, the letter tsadi is written as צָדִי or צָדֵי.

The name of this letter can be tsadi or ṣadi, depending on how it is said in modern Israeli Hebrew or older Tiberian Hebrew. Sometimes it is also called tsadik or ṣadik, spelled צָדִּיק.

Like some other letters, tsadi has a special shape at the end of words, changing from צ‎ to ץ‎.

In modern Hebrew, tsadi makes the “ts” sound, like in “cats.” In some older styles of speaking Hebrew, it had a different sound, and it can still be said differently by some groups today.

In a special system of adding numbers to letters, tsadi stands for the number 90. Its ending form stands for 900, but people usually use other letters for that number.

Tsadi is one of seven letters that get special decorations when written in important religious books.

Syriac sade

The Syriac letter ṣāḏē is written as ܨ. It is part of the Syriac alphabet, which is used for writing the Syriac language. This letter is similar to others in Semitic alphabets, linking the traditions of many old writing systems.

Character encodings

The letter Tsade is used in ancient writing systems of Semitic peoples. You can find it in scripts such as Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Ge'ez, and Arabic. Tsade is also linked to early scripts from Ancient North Arabia and South Arabia. Each of these scripts has its own form of the Tsade letter, showing how writing changed over time in many cultures and languages.