Shin (letter)
From Freepedia
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Shin or Sin is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Sigma (Σ), Latin S, and Cyrillic letters Es (С) and Sha (Ш), and may have inspired the form of the letter Sha in the Glagolitic alphabet.
The letter represents two different sounds: an alveolar sibilant, IPA [s] like English s in "sing" and a palato-alveolar sibilant, IPA [ʃ] like English sh in "shoe". The two are distinguished by a dot above the left-hand side of the letter for [s] and above the right-hand side for [ʃ]. The [s] version is thought to have originated from a lateral fricative sound [ɬ], like Welsh Ll in "Llandudno".
In Jewish tradition the letter Shin is inscribed on the Mezuzah, a vessel which houses a scroll of parchment with Biblical text written on it which is situated upon all the doorframes in a home or establishment. The letter stands for the word Shaddai; a name for God.
In the Sefer Yetzirah the letter Shin is King over Fire, forms Heaven in the universe, Hot in the year, and the Head in the soul. It is given the numerical value of 300.
