U+0819 "࠙" Samaritan Mark Dagesh Unicode Character

U+0819 "࠙" Samaritan Mark Dagesh is a diacritical mark used in the Samaritan script, an ancient writing system descended from the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet and still employed by the Samaritan community for liturgical and scholarly texts. This mark functions similarly to the Hebrew dagesh, indicating that the consonant it accompanies is pronounced with gemination, or a doubled or strengthened sound, rather than a simple single articulation. It is specifically classified as a point in the Unicode standard, appearing as a small dot typically placed within or near a consonant letter to modify its phonetic value. By providing this phonetic nuance, the Samaritan Mark Dagesh helps preserve the correct oral reading and traditional pronunciation of Samaritan Hebrew and Aramaic texts, distinguishing it from the standard Hebrew pointing system used in Jewish Masoretic manuscripts.