Shin (letter)

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Shin (also written Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter of the Semitic alphabets, appearing in Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic. It is related to two Arabic letters: Sīn (س, /s/) and Shīn (ش, /ʃ/). In Hebrew, Shin is usually /ʃ/ (as in “sh”); Sin (שׂ) is /s/ and is written with the dot on the left, while Shin (שׁ) has the dot on the right.

Origins and where it shows up
- Phoenician form: 𐤔, called šīn, which gave rise to other scripts.
- It later became the Greek Sigma (Σ), the Latin S, and the Cyrillic S (С). A similar form is seen in Glagolitic and Cyrillic Ш.
- The Arabic letter Shīn (ش) has three dots above and is a distinct letter from Sīn (س).

Sound and shape
- In many Semitic languages, Shin represents a sibilant sound. Hebrew Shin usually stands for /ʃ/ (like “sh” in ship); Hebrew Sin stands for /s/.
- In Arabic, there are two letters: Sīn (س) for /s/ and Shīn (ش) for /ʃ/. Shīn is the only Arabic letter written with three dots above.

Value and position
- Shin has the numeric value 300 in Hebrew gematria.
- In the Phoenician/Abjad order, Shin is the 21st letter (and the second-to-last in that sequence). In Hebrew it remains the 21st letter, with Tav as the 22nd.

Uses and meaning
- In Hebrew, Shin is common in words and also appears as a prefix related to “that/which” or “who,” often pronounced “sheh-” in those contexts.
- It is one of the seven letters that carry decorative crowns (tagin) on a Torah scroll.
- Shaddai (a name of God) is traditionally associated with the Shin.
- The famous Shibboleth story comes from a time when Ephraimites mispronounced Shin as Sin, revealing them to enemies.

Cultural notes
- The Shin gesture used by priests (forms with the hands) influenced the Star Trek Vulcan salute, when Leonard Nimoy adapted a two-handed Shin blessing into a one-handed gesture for his character, Mr. Spock.
- The letter appears on mezuzah cases and in Torah texts as a symbol with religious significance.

In short
Shin is a key Semitic letter tied to the sounds /ʃ/ and /s/ in different languages, with a distinctive three-dots form in Arabic (Shīn), a long history across many alphabets, a numerical value of 300, and rich religious and cultural associations.