Hebrew alphabet
Alphabet of the Hebrew language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי,[a] Alefbet ivri), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Persian. In modern Hebrew, vowels are increasingly introduced. It is also used informally in Israel to write Levantine Arabic, especially among Druze.[2][3][4] It is an offshoot of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, which flourished during the Achaemenid Empire and which itself derives from the Phoenician alphabet.
| Hebrew alphabet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 2nd–1st century BCE to present[1] |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Languages | Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Mozarabic, Levantine Arabic, Aramaic, other Jewish languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | |
Sister systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Hebr (125), Hebrew |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hebrew |
| |
Historically, a different abjad script was used to write Hebrew: the original, old Hebrew script, now known as the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, has been largely preserved in a variant form as the Samaritan alphabet, and is still used by the Samaritans. The present "Jewish script" or "square script", on the contrary, is a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet and was technically known by Jewish sages as Ashurit (lit. "Assyrian script"), since its origins were known to be from Assyria (Mesopotamia).[5]
Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the Jewish script letters described in this article also exist, including a variety of cursive Hebrew styles. In the remainder of this article, the term "Hebrew alphabet" refers to the square script unless otherwise indicated.
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. It does not have case. Five letters have different forms when used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written from right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants, but is now considered an "impure abjad". As with other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, during its centuries-long use scribes devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, the letters י ו ה א can also function as matres lectionis, which is when certain consonants are used to indicate vowels. There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as "full spelling".
The Yiddish alphabet, a modified version of the Hebrew alphabet used to write Yiddish, is a true alphabet, with all vowels rendered in the spelling, except in the case of inherited Hebrew words, which typically retain their Hebrew consonant-only spellings.
The Arabic and Hebrew alphabets have similarities because they are both derived from the Aramaic alphabet, which in turn derives either from paleo-Hebrew or the Phoenician alphabet, both being slight regional variations of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet used in ancient times to write the various Canaanite languages (including Hebrew, Moabite, Phoenician, Punic, et cetera).
The Canaanite dialects were largely indistinguishable before around 1000 BCE.[6] An example of related early Semitic inscriptions from the area include the tenth-century Gezer calendar over which scholars are divided as to whether its language is Hebrew or Phoenician and whether the script is Proto-Canaanite or paleo-Hebrew.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
A Hebrew variant of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, called the paleo-Hebrew alphabet by scholars, began to emerge around 800 BCE.[13] An example is the Siloam inscription (c. 700 BCE).[14]
The paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Following the Babylonian exile of the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BCE, Jews began using a form of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, another offshoot of the same family of scripts, which flourished during the Achaemenid Empire. The Samaritans, who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. During the 3rd century BCE, Jews began to use a stylized, "square" form of the Aramaic alphabet that was used by the Persian Empire (and which in turn had been adopted from the Assyrians),[15] while the Samaritans continued to use a form of the paleo-Hebrew script called the Samaritan alphabet. After the fall of the Persian Empire in 330 BCE, Jews used both scripts before settling on the square Assyrian form.
The square Hebrew alphabet was later adapted and used for writing languages of the Jewish diaspora – such as Karaim, the Judeo-Arabic languages, Judaeo-Spanish, and Yiddish. The Hebrew alphabet continued in use for scholarly writing in Hebrew and came again into everyday use with the rebirth of the Hebrew language as a spoken language in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in Israel.
General
In the traditional form, the Hebrew alphabet is an abjad consisting only of consonants, written from right to left. It has 22 letters, five of which use different forms at the end of a word.
Vowels
In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak consonants Aleph (א), He (ה), Waw/Vav (ו), or Yodh (י) serving as vowel letters, or matres lectionis: the letter is combined with a previous vowel and becomes silent, or by imitation of such cases in the spelling of other forms. Also, a system of vowel points to indicate vowels (diacritics), called niqqud, was developed. In modern forms of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish and to some extent Modern Hebrew, vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward full spelling with the weak letters acting as true vowels.
When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using certain letters, either with niqqud diacritics (e.g. אָ or יִ) or without (e.g. ע or י), except for Hebrew words, which in Yiddish are written in their Hebrew spelling.
To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalization and diacritical symbols called nequdot (נקודות, literally "points"). One of these, the Tiberian system, eventually prevailed. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, and his family for several generations, are credited for refining and maintaining the system. These points are normally used only for special purposes, such as Biblical books intended for study, in poetry or when teaching the language to children. The Tiberian system also includes a set of cantillation marks, called trope or te'amim, used to indicate how scriptural passages should be chanted in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear in the scrolls). In everyday writing of modern Hebrew, niqqud are absent; however, patterns of how words are derived from Hebrew roots (called shorashim or "triliterals") allow Hebrew speakers to determine the vowel-structure of a given word from its consonants based on the word's context and part of speech.
Alphabet
Unlike the Paleo-Hebrew writing script, the modern Hebrew script has five letters that have special final forms,[c] called sofit (Hebrew: סופית, meaning in this context "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in the Greek or in the Arabic and Mandaic alphabets.[b] These are shown below the normal form in the following table (letter names are Unicode standard[16][17]). Although Hebrew is read and written from right to left, the following table shows the letters in order from left to right:
Order
As far back as the 13th century BCE, ancient Hebrew abecedaries indicate a slightly different ordering of the alphabet. The Zayit Stone,[18] Izbet Sartah ostracon,[19] and one inscription from Kuntillet Ajrud[20] each contain a number of reverse letter orders; such as vav-he, chet-zayin, pe-ayin, etc.
A reversal to pe-ayin can be clearly seen in the Book of Lamentations, whose first four chapters are ordered as alphabetical acrostics. In the Masoretic text, the first chapter has the now-usual ayin-pe ordering, and the second, third and fourth chapters exhibit pe-ayin.[21] In the Dead Sea Scrolls version (4QLam/4Q111), reversed ordering also appears in the first chapter (i.e. in all the first four chapters).[22] The fact that these chapters follows the pre-exilic pe-ayin order is evidence for them being written shortly after the events described, rather than being later, post-exilic compositions.[23][24][25]
Alphabet
The descriptions that follow are based on the pronunciation of modern standard Israeli Hebrew.
| letter | IPA | Name of letter | Pronunciation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unicode[16][17] | Hebrew[26] | Modern Hebrew pronunciation |
Yiddish / Ashkenazi pronunciation |
Sephardi pronunciation |
Yemenite
pronunciation |
Approximate western European equivalent[27] | ||
| א | [∅], [ʔ] | Alef | אָלֶף | /alɛf/ | /ʔaləf/ | /ʔalɛf/ | /ˈɔlæf/ | When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔˈbɔɹd] |
| בּ | [b] | Bet | בֵּית | /bet/ | /bɛɪs/, /bɛɪz/ | /bɛt/ | /be̞θ/ | b as in black |
| ב | [v] | בֵית | /vet/ | /vɛɪs/, /vɛɪz/ | /vɛt/ | /ve̞θ/ | v as in vogue | |
| גּ | [ɡ] | Gimel | גִּימֵל | /ˈɡimel/ | /ˈɡɪməl/ | /ˈɡimɛl/ | /ˈdʒime̞l/ | g as in gourd |
| ג | [ɣ] | גִימֵל | /ˈɣɪmεl/ | /ˈɣime̞l/ | gh as in Arabic ghoul | |||
| דּ | [d] | Dalet | דָּלֶת | /ˈdalɛt/, /ˈdalɛd/ | /ˈdaləd/, /ˈdaləs/ | /ˈdalɛt/ | /ˈdɔle̞θ/ | d as in doll |
| ד | [ð] | דָלֶת | /ˈðalεt/ | /ˈðɔle̞θ/ | th as in that | |||
| ה | [h] | He | הֵא | /he/, /hej/ | /hɛɪ/ | /he/ | /he̞/ | h as in hold |
| ו | [v] | Vav | וָו | /vav/ | /vɔv/ | /vav/ | /wɔw/ | v as in vogue |
| ז | [z] | Zayin | זַיִן | /ˈzajin/, /ˈza.in/ | /ˈzajɪn/ | /ˈzajin/ | /ˈzajin/ | z as in zoo |
| ח | [χ] | Chet | חֵית | /χet/ | /χɛs/ | /ħɛt/ | /ħe̞θ/ | ch as in Bach |
| ט | [t] | Tet | טֵית | /tet/ | /tɛs/ | /tɛt/ | /tˤe̞θ/ | t as in tool |
| י | [j] | Yod | יוֹד | /jod/, /jud/ | /jʊd/ | /jud/ | /jœð/ | y as in yolk |
| כּ | [k] | Kaf | כַּף | /kaf/ | /kɔf/ | /kaf/ | /kaf/ | k as in king |
| כ | [χ] | כַף | /χaf/ | /χɔf/ | /χaf/ | /xaf/ | ch as in bach | |
| ךּ | [k] | כַּף סוֹפִית | /kaf sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə kɔf/ | /kaf sofit/ | /kaf sœˈfiθ/ | k as in king | |
| ך | [x]~[χ] | כַף סוֹפִית | /χaf sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə χɔf/ | /χaf sofit/ | /xaf sœˈfiθ/ | ch as in bach | |
| ל | [l] | Lamed | לָמֶד | /ˈlamɛd/ | /ˈlaməd/ | /ˈlamɛd/ | /ˈlɔme̞ð/ | l as in luck |
| מ | [m] | Mem | מֵם | /mem/ | /mɛm/ | /mɛm/ | /me̞m/ | m as in mother |
| ם | מֵם סוֹפִית | /mem sofit/ | /ˈʃlɔs mɛm/ | /mɛm sofit/ | /me̞m sœˈfiθ/ | |||
| נ | [n] | Nun | נוּן | /nun/ | /nʊn/ | /nun/ | /nun/ | n as in night |
| ן | נוּן סוֹפִית | /nun sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə nʊn/ | /nun sofit/ | /nun sœˈfiθ/ | |||
| ס | [s] | Samekh | ְסָמֶךְ | /ˈsamɛχ/ | /ˈsaməχ/ | /ˈsamɛχ/ | /ˈsɔme̞x/ | s as in sight |
| ע | [ʔ]~[ʕ], [∅] | Ayin | עַיִן | /ajin/, /ʔa.in/ | /ajɪn/ | /ajin/ | /ˈʕajin/ | When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔˈbɔɹd]. When ʕ, no English equivalent. |
| פּ | [p] | Pe | פֵּא | /pe/, /pej/ | /pɛɪ/ | /pe/ | /pe̞/ | p as in pool |
| פ | [f] | פֵא | /fe/, /fej/ | /fɛɪ/ | /fe/ | /fe̞/ | f as in full | |
| ףּ | [p] | פֵּא סוֹפִית | /pe sofit/, /pej sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə pɛɪ/ | /pe sofit/ | /pe̞ sœˈfiθ/ | p as in pool | |
| ף | [f] | פֵא סוֹפִית | /fe sofit/, /fej sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə fɛɪ/ | /fe sofit/ | /fe̞ sœˈfiθ/ | f as in full | |
| צ | [ts] | Tsadi | צָדִי | /ˈtsadi/ | /ˈtsadi/, /ˈtsadɪk/ | /ˈtsadik/ | /ˈsˤɔði/ | ts as in cats |
| ץ | צָדִי סוֹפִית | /ˈtsadi sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadɪk/, /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadək/ | /ˈtsadik sofit/ | /ˈsˤɔði sœˈfiθ/ | |||
| ק | [k] | Qof | קוֹף | /kuf/, /kof/ | /kʊf/ | /kuf/ | /gœf/ | k as in king |
| ר | [ʁ] | Resh | רֵישׁ | /ʁeʃ/ | /ʁɛɪʃ/ | /reʃ/ | /re̞ʃ/ | r as in French "r" |
| שׁ | [ʃ] | Shin | שִׁין | /ʃin/ | /ʃɪn/ | /ʃin/ | /ʃin/ | sh as in shop |
| שׂ | [s] | שִׂין | /sin/ | /sɪn/ | /sin/ | /sin/ | s as in sight | |
| תּ | [t] | Tav | תָּו | /tav/, /taf/ | /tɔv/, /tɔf/ | /tav/ | /tɔw/ | t as in tool |
| ת | [θ] | תָו | /sɔv/, /sɔf/ | /θav/ | /θɔw/ | th as in thin | ||
By analogy with the other dotted/dotless pairs, dotless tav, ת, would be expected to be pronounced /θ/ (voiceless dental fricative), and dotless dalet ד as /ð/ (voiced dental fricative), but these were lost among most Jews due to these sounds not existing in the countries where they lived (such as in nearly all of Eastern Europe). Yiddish modified /θ/ to /s/ (cf. seseo in Spanish), but in modern Israeli Hebrew, it is simply pronounced /t/. Likewise, historical /ð/ is simply pronounced /d/.
Shin and sin
Shin and sin are represented by the same letter, ש, but are two separate phonemes. When vowel diacritics are used, the two phonemes are differentiated with a shin-dot or sin-dot; the shin-dot is above the upper-right side of the letter, and the sin-dot is above the upper-left side of the letter.
| Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שׁ (right dot) | shin | sh | /ʃ/ | shower |
| שׂ (left dot) | sin | s | /s/ | sour |
Historically, left-dot-sin corresponds to Proto-Semitic *ś, which in biblical-Judaic-Hebrew corresponded to the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/ (or /ś/).[28]
Dagesh
Historically, the consonants ב bet, ג gimmel, ד daleth, כ kaf, פ pe and ת tav each had two sounds: one hard (plosive), and one soft (fricative), depending on the position of the letter and other factors. When vowel diacritics are used, the hard sounds are indicated by a central dot called dagesh (דגש), while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In modern Hebrew, however, the dagesh only changes the pronunciation of ב bet, כ kaf, and פ pe, and does not affect the name of the letter. The differences are as follows:
In other dialects (mainly liturgical) there are variations from this pattern.
- In some Sephardi and Mizrahi dialects, bet without dagesh is pronounced [b], like bet with dagesh
- In Syrian and Yemenite Hebrew, gimel without dagesh is pronounced [ɣ].
- In Yemenite Hebrew, and in the Iraqi pronunciation of the word "Adonai", dalet without dagesh is pronounced [ð] as in "these"
- In Ashkenazi Hebrew, as well as Krymchaki Hebrew, tav without dagesh is pronounced [s] as in "silk"
- In Iraqi and Yemenite Hebrew, and formerly in some other dialects, tav without dagesh is pronounced [θ] as in "thick"
Sounds represented with diacritic geresh
The sounds [t͡ʃ], [d͡ʒ], [ʒ], written ⟨צ׳⟩, ⟨ג׳⟩, ⟨ז׳⟩, and [w], non-standardly sometimes transliterated ⟨וו⟩, are often found in slang and loanwords that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary. The symbol resembling an apostrophe after the Hebrew letter modifies the pronunciation of the letter and is called a geresh.
| Hebrew slang and loanwords | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Symbol | IPA | Transliteration | Example | ||
| Gimel with a geresh | ג׳ | [d͡ʒ] | ǧ[30] | ǧáḥnun | [ˈd͡ʒaχnun] | גַּ׳חְנוּן |
| Zayin with a geresh | ז׳ | [ʒ] | ž[30] | koláž | [koˈlaʒ] | קוֹלַאז׳ |
| Tsadi with a geresh | צ׳ | [t͡ʃ] | č[30] | čupár (treat) | [t͡ʃuˈpar] | צ׳וּפָּר |
| Vav with a geresh or double Vav |
וו or ו׳ (non standard)[] | [w] | w | awánta (boastful act) | [aˈwanta] | אַוַונְטַה |
The pronunciation of the following letters can also be modified with the geresh diacritic. The represented sounds are however foreign to Hebrew phonology, i.e., these symbols mainly represent sounds in foreign words or names when transliterated with the Hebrew alphabet, and not loanwords.
| Transliteration of non-native sounds | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Symbol | IPA | Arabic letter | Example | Comment | |
| Dalet with a geresh | ד׳ | [ð] | Dhāl (ذ) Voiced th |
Dhū al-Ḥijjah (ذو الحجة) | ד׳ו אל־חיג׳ה |
|
| Tav with a geresh | ת׳ | [θ] | Thāʼ (ﺙ) Voiceless th |
Thurston | ת׳רסטון | |
| Chet with a geresh | ח׳ | [χ] | Khāʼ (خ) | Sheikh (شيخ) | שייח׳ | Unlike the other sounds in this table, the sound [χ] represented by ח׳ is indeed a native sound in Hebrew; the geresh is however used only when transliteration must distinguish between [χ] and [ħ], in which case ח׳ transliterates the former and ח the latter, whereas in everyday usage ח without geresh is pronounced [ħ] only dialectically but [χ] commonly. |
| Ayin with a geresh or Resh with a geresh |
ע׳ or ר׳ |
[ʁ] | Ghayn (غ) | Ghajar (غجر); Ghalib (غالب) |
ע׳ג׳ר ר׳אלב |
The guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language prefer Resh with a geresh (ר׳); however, this guideline is not universally followed |
Geresh is also used to denote an abbreviation consisting of a single Hebrew letter, while gershayim (a doubled geresh) are used to denote acronyms pronounced as a string of letters; geresh and gershayim are also used to denote Hebrew numerals consisting of a single Hebrew letter or of multiple Hebrew letters, respectively. Geresh is also the name of a cantillation mark used for Torah recitation, though its visual appearance and function are different in that context.
Identical pronunciation
In much of Israel's general population, especially where Ashkenazic pronunciation is prevalent, many letters have the same pronunciation. They are as follows:
| Letters | Transliteration | Pronunciation (IPA) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| א Alef* |
ע Ayin* |
not transliterated |
Usually when in medial word position: /./ (separation of vowels in a hiatus) | ||
| In initial, final, or sometimes medial word position: silent | |||||
| alternatingly | |||||
| ʼ | /ʔ/ (glottal plosive) | ||||
| ב Bet (without dagesh) Vet |
ו Vav |
v | /v/ | ||
| ח Chet* |
כ Kaf (without dagesh) Khaf* |
kh/ch/h | /χ/ | ||
| ט Tet |
תּ Tav |
t | /t/ | ||
| כּ Kaf (with dagesh) |
ק Qof |
k | /k/ | ||
| ס Samekh |
שׂ Sin (with left dot) |
s | /s/ | ||
| צ Tsadi* |
תס Tav-Samekh* |
and | תשׂ Tav-Sin* |
ts/tz | /ts/ |
| צ׳ Tsadi (with geresh) |
טשׁ Tet-Shin* |
and | תשׁ Tav-Shin* |
ch/tsh (chair) | /tʃ/ |
* Varyingly
Ancient Hebrew pronunciation
Some of the variations in sound mentioned above are due to a systematic feature of Ancient Hebrew. The six consonants /b ɡ d k p t/ were pronounced differently depending on their position. These letters were also called BeGeD KeFeT letters /ˌbeɪɡɛdˈkɛfɛt/. The full details are very complex; this summary omits some points. They were pronounced as plosives [b ɡ d k p t] at the beginning of a syllable, or when doubled. They were pronounced as fricatives [v ɣ ð x f θ] when preceded by a vowel (commonly indicated with a macron, ḇ ḡ ḏ ḵ p̄ ṯ). The plosive and double pronunciations were indicated by the dagesh. In Modern Hebrew the sounds ḏ and ḡ have reverted to [d] and [ɡ], respectively, and ṯ has become [t], so only the remaining three consonants /b k p/ show variation. ר resh may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReT. (Sefer Yetzirah, 4:1)
- ח chet and ע ayin represented the pharyngeal fricatives /ħ/ and /ʕ/, respectively, צ tsadi represented the emphatic consonant /sˤ/, ט tet represented the emphatic consonant /tˤ/, and ק qof represented the uvular plosive /q/. All these are common Semitic consonants.
- שׂ sin (the /s/ variant of ש shin) was originally different from both שׁ shin and ס samekh, but had become /s/ the same as ס samekh by the time the vowel pointing was devised. Because of cognates with other Semitic languages, this phoneme is known to have originally been a lateral consonant, most likely the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/ (the sound of modern Welsh ll) or the voiceless alveolar lateral affricate /tɬ/ (like Náhuatl tl).
Regional and historical variation
The following table contains the pronunciation of the Hebrew letters in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The apostrophe-looking symbol after some letters is not a yud but a geresh. It is used for loanwords with non-native Hebrew sounds. The dot in the middle of some of the letters, called a "dagesh kal", also modifies the sounds of the letters ב, כ and פ in modern Hebrew (in some forms of Hebrew it modifies also the sounds of the letters ג, ד and/or ת; the "dagesh chazak" – orthographically indistinguishable from the "dagesh kal" – designates gemination, which today is realized only rarely – e.g. in biblical recitations or when using Arabic loanwords).
| Symbol | Pronunciation | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Israeli | Ashkenazi | Sephardi | Yemenite | Reconstructed | Arabic equivalent | ||||
| Tiberian | Mishnaic | Biblical | |||||||
| א | [ʔ, -] | [ – ] | [ʔ, -] | [ʔ, -] | [ʔ, -] | [ʔ, -] | [ʔ] | ا / ء | |
| בּ | [b] | [b] | [b] | [b] | [b] | [b] | [b] | ب | |
| ב | [v] | [v~v̥] | [b~β~v] | [β] | [v] | [β] | [β] | ﭪ | |
| גּ | [ɡ] | [ɡ~ɡ̊] | [ɡ] | [dʒ] | [ɡ] | [ɡ] | [ɡ] | ج | |
| ג | [ɡ~ɣ] | [ɣ] | [ɣ] | [ɣ] | [ɣ] | غ | |||
| דּ | [d] | [d~d̥] | [d̪] | [d̪] | [d̪] | [d̪] | [d̪] | د | |
| ד | [d̪~ð] | [ð] | [ð] | [ð] | [ð] | ذ | |||
| ה | [h~ʔ, -] | [h, -] | [h, -] | [h, -] | [h, -] | [h, -] | [h] | ه | |
| ו | [v] | [v~v̥] | [v] | [w] | [w] | [w] | [w] | و | |
| וּ | [uː] | [uː] | [uː] | [əw] | ? | ? | ? | ـُو | |
| וֹ | [o̞ː] | [əʊ, ɐʊ] | [oː] | [œː] | ? | ? | ? | ـو | |
| ז | [z] | [z~z̥] | [z] | [z] | [z] | [z] | [z] | ز | |
| ח | [x~χ] | [x] | [ħ] | [ħ] | [ħ] | [ħ] | [ħ, χ] | ح | |
| ט | [t] | [t] | [t̪] | [t̴̪] (1) | [t̴̪] | [t̪ˤ] (2) | [t̪ʼ] (3) | ط | |
| י | [j] | [j] | [j] | [j] | [j] | [j] | [j] | ي | |
| ִי | [iː] | [iː] | [iː] | [iː] | ? | ? | ? | ـِي | |
| כּ ךּ | [k] | [k] | [k] | [k] | [k] | [k] | [kʰ] | ك | |
| כ ך | [x~χ] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | خ | |
| ל | [l] | [l~ɫ] | [l] | [l] | [l] | [l] | [l] | ل | |
| מ ם | [m] | [m] | [m] | [m] | [m] | [m] | [m] | م | |
| נ ן | [n] | [n] | [n̪] | [n̪] | [n̪] | [n̪] | [n̪] | ن | |
| ס | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | ص⟨ṣ⟩ [sˤ] /
س | |
| ע | [ʕ, - ] | [ – ] | [ʕ, ŋ, - ] | [ʕ] | [ʕ] | [ʕ] | [ʕ, ʁ] | ع | |
| פּ ףּ | [p] | [p] | [p] | [p] | [p] | [p] | [p] | پ | |
| פ ף | [f] | [f] | [f] | [f] | [f] | [ɸ] | [ɸ] | ف | |
| צ ץ | [t͡s] | [t͡s] | [t͡s] | [s̴] (1) | [s̴] | [sˤ] (2) | [sˤ] | ض⟨ḍ⟩[d̪ˤ][a] | |
| ק | [k] | [k] | [k] | [ɡ], [ɢ], [q] | [q] | [q] | [q] | ق | |
| ר | [ɣ~ʁ] | [ɹ]~[ʀ] | [r]~[ɾ] | [r]~[ɾ] | [ʀ] | [r] | [ɾ] | ر | |
| שׁ | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | [ʃ] | ش | |
| שׂ | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [s] | [ɬ] | س | |
| תּ | [t] | [t] | [t] | [t̪] | [t̪] | [t̪] | [t̪] | ت | |
| ת | [s] | [θ] | [θ] | [θ] | [θ] | ث | |||
- velarized or pharyngealized
- pharyngealized
- sometimes said to be ejective but more likely glottalized.
Vowels
Matres lectionis
א alef, ע ayin, ו waw/vav and י yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be, respectively, /ʔ/, /ʕ/, /v/ and /j/). When they do, ו and י are considered to constitute part of the vowel designation in combination with a niqqud symbol – a vowel diacritic (whether or not the diacritic is marked), whereas א and ע are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.
| Letter | Name of letter | Consonant indicated when letter consonantal | Vowel designation | Name of vowel designation | Indicated Vowel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| א | alef | /ʔ/ | — | — | ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô |
| ע | ayin | /ʔ/ or /ʕ/ | — | — | ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô |
| ו | waw/vav | /w/ or /v/ | וֹ | ḥolám malé | ô |
| וּ | shurúq | û | |||
| י | yud | /j/ | ִ י | ḥiríq malé | î |
| ֵ י | tseré malé | ê, ệ |
Vowel points
Niqqud is the system of dots that help determine vowels and consonants. In Hebrew, all forms of niqqud are often omitted in writing, except for children's books, prayer books, poetry, foreign words, and words which would be ambiguous to pronounce. Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, /i e a o u/, but many more written symbols for them:
| Name | Symbol | Written Position | Israeli Hebrew | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Transliteration | English example | |||
| Hiriq |  |
vowel written below consonant | [i] | i | meet |
| Tsere |  |
vowel written below consonant | [e̞], ([e̞j] with succeeding yod) |
eh (precise pronunciation); ei (imprecise due to modern pronunciation, even if with succeeding yod – see Note 2) | bed, penguin |
| Segol |  |
vowel written below consonant | [e̞] | e | men |
| Patach |  |
vowel written below consonant | [ä] | a | father |
| Kamatz |  |
vowel written below consonant | [ä], (or [o̞]) | ah, (or oh) | father, loɡin |
| Holam Haser |  |
vowel written above consonant | [o̞] | o | home |
| Holam Male | וֹ | isolated vowel written on its own | |||
| Shuruk | וּ | isolated vowel written on its own | [u] | u | food |
| Kubutz |  |
vowel written below consonant | |||
Note 1: The circle represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
Note 2: The pronunciation of tsere and sometimes segol – with or without the letter yod – is sometimes ei in Modern Hebrew. This is not correct in the normative pronunciation and not consistent in the spoken language.[31]
Note 3: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different functions, even though they look the same.
Note 4: The letter ו (waw/vav) is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
Meteg
By adding a vertical line (called Meteg) underneath the letter and to the left of the vowel point, the vowel is made long. The meteg is only used in Biblical Hebrew, not Modern Hebrew.
Sh'va
By adding two vertical dots (called Sh'va) underneath the letter, the vowel is made very short. When sh'va is placed on the first letter of the word, mostly it is "è" (but in some instances, it makes the first letter silent without a vowel (vowel-less): e.g. וְ wè to "w")
| Name | Symbol | Israeli Hebrew | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
| Shva |  |
[e̞] or ∅ | apostrophe, e, or silent |
met or silent |
| Reduced Segol |  |
[e̞] | e | met |
| Reduced Patach |  |
[ä] | a | cat |
| Reduced Kamatz |  |
[o̞] | o | on |
Comparison table
| Vowel length (phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew) |
IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long | Short | Very Short | |||
| ָ | ַ | ֲ | [ä] | a | fall |
| ֵ | ֶ | ֱ | [e̞] | e | men |
| וֹ | ֹ | ֳ | [o̞] | o | joke |
| וּ | ֻ | [u] | u | duty | |
| ִ י | ִ | [i] | i | media | |
| Note I: | By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) ְ the vowel is made very short. | ||||
| Note II: | The short o and long a have the same niqqud. | ||||
| Note III: | The short o is usually promoted to a long o in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | ||||
| Note IV: | The short u is usually promoted to a long u in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | ||||
Gershayim
The symbol ״ is called a gershayim and is a punctuation mark used in the Hebrew language to denote acronyms. It is written before the last letter in the acronym, e.g. ר״ת. Gershayim is also the name of a cantillation mark in the reading of the Torah, printed above the accented letter, e.g. א֞.
The following table displays typographic and chirographic variants of each letter. For the five letters that have a different final form used at the end of words, the final forms are displayed beneath the regular form.
The block (square, or "print" type) and cursive ("handwritten" type) are the only variants in widespread contemporary use. Rashi is also used, for historical reasons, in a handful of standard texts.
| Letter name (Unicode) |
Variants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contemporary | Early modern | Ancestral | |||||
| Block serif | Block sans-serif | Cursive | Rashi | Phoenician | Paleo-Hebrew | Aramaic | |
| Alef | א | א |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤀 |  |
 |
| Bet | ב | ב |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤁 |  |
 |
| Gimel | ג | ג |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤂 |  |
 |
| Dalet | ד | ד |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤃 |  |
 |
| He | ה | ה |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤄 |  |
 |
| Vav (Unicode)[16] / Waw | ו | ו |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤅 |  |
 |
| Zayin | ז | ז |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤆 |  |
 |
| Chet | ח | ח |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤇 |  |
 |
| Tet | ט | ט |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤈 |  |
 |
| Yod | י | י |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤉 |  |
 |
| Kaf | כ | כ |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤊 |  |
 |
| Final Kaf | ך | ך |  |
.svg){kind=small} | |||
| Lamed | ל | ל |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤋 |  |
 |
| Mem | מ | מ |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤌 |  |
 |
| Final Mem | ם | ם |  |
.svg){kind=small} | |||
| Nun | נ | נ |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤍 |  |
 |
| Final Nun | ן | ן |  |
.svg){kind=small} | |||
| Samekh | ס | ס |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤎 |  |
 |
| Ayin | ע | ע |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤏 |  |
 |
| Pe | פ | פ |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤐 |  |
 |
| Final Pe | ף | ף |  |
.svg){kind=small} | |||
| Tsadi | צ | צ |  |
.svg){kind=small} |
𐤑 |  |
 ,  |
| Final Tsadi | ץ | ץ | |||||
