Resh (ר)

Twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps so called because the shape of the letter in the Phenician alphabet (see Alphabet) resembles the form of a head (Hebr. "rosh"; Aramaic, "resh"). In pronunciation it is a palatal liquid substantially identical with the English "r." It is allied to ל and נ, and sometimes interchanges with them (thus, in later Old Testament books "Nebuchadnezzar" is found instead of the proper form, "Nebuchadrezzar"). It is occasionally employed to form quadriliterals from triliterals; but it has no other formative use. In Aramaic it sometimes represents the resolution of a dagesh forte, as in  for . With rare exceptions it does not receive dagesh forte. As a numeral, it has, in later times, the value 200.

T. I. Br.