When spelling the name Adam in Hebrew, does one need to include the diacritical marks that look like capital T

Question

I have seen "Adam" spelled just "aleph dalet mem" without any additional markings, and with little subscript marks under the aleph and dalet that each look like tiny a uppercase "T."

Which is correct? I would hate to use the wrong one and change the meaning by mistake.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Both forms are fine.

This little "T" mark is called "kamatz", and it is one of the Hebrew vowel marks ("nikkud") that were developed in the 8th-10th centuries in Tiberias.
Hebrew has a consonantal alphabet, so the name Adam is actually written 'dm [aleph, dalet, mem]. The kamatz under the letters aleph and dalet indicates that they should be read with the vowel "a" after them ('a-da-m).

Nikkud is very helpful but it is not necessary. Nowadays we use it only in children books and in special cases (like when it comes to foreign names, or transliterations), and of course- in our ancient scripts.

Both אדם and אָדָם are correct.

Answer 2

We do not use those other marks when writing hebrew.