Dalet

What is Dalet?

Dalet is a special letter used in many ancient languages. It makes the “d” sound, like in the word “door”. You can find Dalet in languages such as Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic.

Where Did Dalet Come From?

The shape of Dalet started from an old writing style called the Proto-Sinaitic script. People used a picture of a door to show this letter. In modern Hebrew, a door is called “delet”. Over time, this picture turned into the letter we now know as Dalet.

Dalet in Different Languages

Dalet appears in many old alphabets, like Ancient North Arabian, South Arabian, and Ge'ez. This shows how different writing systems share similar beginnings.

In Arabic, Dalet is called dāl and it looks different depending on where it appears in a word. It still makes the “d” sound, like in the word “dog”.

The Phoenician letter dālet helped create other important letters, such as the Greek letter delta, the Latin letter D, and the Cyrillic letter Д.

In Hebrew, Dalet is written as ד‎ and sounds like the English letter D. It can change its sound a little, depending on how it is written.

In the Syriac alphabet, Dalet is called dolath or daleth. It can make two different sounds and is often used at the start of many words.