The twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its name is connected with "taw" = "sign" ( see Alphabet). "Taw" has a twofold pronunciation: (1) a soft, lisping sound uttered with a gentle expiration, like the Greek "theta" and the English "th" in "thin," and (2) a hard, attenuated sound without expiration, like the English "t"; the latter pronunciation is indicated by a "dagesh lene" in the letter. In the classification of letters (consonants) as it is found for the first time in "Sefer Yeẓirah" (4:3), the "taw" is included in the group of linguals which are formed at the upper edge of the tongue. According to modern phonetic terminology, "taw" is a surd mute dental, corresponding to which is the sonant dental "d." "Taw" sometimes interchanges with the lingual "ṭet" and the dental "shin." It occurs both as a radical and as a formative element. As a numeral "taw" has (in the later period) the value 400.