Resh is the twentieth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician rēš 𐤓, Hebrew rēš ר, Aramaic rēš 𐡓‎, Syriac rēš ܪ, and Arabic rāʾ ر. Its sound value is one of a number of rhotic consonants: usually [r] or [ɾ], but also [ʁ] or [ʀ] in Hebrew and North Mesopotamian Arabic.

Quick Facts ← QophShin →, Phoenician ...

← Qoph Resh Shin →
Phoenician
Hebrew	ר
Aramaic
Syriac	ܪ
Arabic	ر
Phonemic representation	r (ɾ, ʁ, ʀ)
Position in alphabet	20
Numerical value	200
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician
Greek	Ρ
Latin	R
Cyrillic	Р

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In most Semitic alphabets, the letter resh (and its equivalents) is quite similar to the letter dalet (and its equivalents). In the Syriac alphabet, the letters became so similar that now they are only distinguished by a dot: resh has a dot above the letter, and the otherwise identical dalet has a dot below the letter. In the Arabic alphabet, rāʼ has a longer tail than dāl. In the Aramaic and Hebrew square alphabet, resh is a rounded single stroke while dalet is a right-angle of two strokes.

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek rho (Ρ/ρ), Etruscan , Latin R, and Cyrillic Р.

The word resh is usually assumed to have come from a pictogram of a head, ultimately reflecting Proto-Semitic *raʾ(i)š-. The word's East Semitic cognate, rēš-, was one possible phonetic reading of the Sumerian cuneiform sign for "head" (SAG 𒊕, ) in Akkadian.

The letter is named rāʾ راء in Arabic. It is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:

It ranges between an alveolar trill [r], an alveolar flap [ɾ], and a uvular trill [ʀ] (the last of which is only found in a few modern varieties). It is pronounced as a postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠] in the traditional dialect of Fes.^[1]

More information Orthographic variants, Various print fonts ...

Orthographic variants
Various print fonts			Cursive Hebrew	Rashi script
Serif	Sans-serif	Monospaced
ר	ר	ר

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Hebrew spelling: רֵישׁ

In Hebrew, Resh (רֵישׁ‎) represents a rhotic consonant that has different realizations for different dialects:

• In Modern Hebrew, the most common pronunciation is the voiced uvular fricative [ʁ].
• Ashkenazi use sometimes a uvular trill [ʀ] or an alveolar trill [r]. Native English-speakers replace it sometimes with an alveolar approximant [ɹ], as in English.
• Sephardic and Mizrahi use an alveolar trill [r], an alveolar flap [ɾ] or uvular trill [ʀ].

As a general rule, Resh, along with Ayin, Aleph, He, and Het, do not receive a dagesh. There are a handful of exception to this rule.^[3] In the Yemenite tradition, Resh is treated as most other consonants in that it can receive a dagesh hazak under certain circumstances. In the most widely accepted version of the Hebrew Bible, there are 17 instances of Resh being marked with a dagesh.^[4] The list is: 1 Samuel 1:6, 1 Samuel 10:24, 1 Samuel 17:25, 2 Kings 6:32, Jeremiah 39:12, Ezekiel 16:4 [×2], Habakkuk 3:13, Psalms 52:5, Proverbs 3:8, Proverbs 11:21, Proverbs 14:10, Proverbs 15:1, Job 39:9 (?^[5]), Song of Songs 5:2, Ezra 9:6, 2 Chronicles 26:10 (?^[6])

In gematria, Resh represents the number 200.