Help:IPA/Hebrew

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Biblical and Modern Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hebrew on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hebrew in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Shortcut H:IPA-HEH:IPA-HE

Since Modern Hebrew has different pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Biblical Hebrew phonology and Modern Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.

Consonants

BH	MH	Letter(s)	Romanization	English approximation
b		בּ‎ (Beť dǝgušah)	b	bet
d		דּ‎ (Daleť dǝgušah)	d	dark
ð	d	ד‎ (Ďaleť rafah)	BH: ḏ MH: d	BH: this MH: dark
	dʒ[1][2]	ג׳‎ (Gimel with geresh)	j	joy
ɸ	f	פ ף‎ (Fei rafah)	BH: p̄ MH: f	fool
ɡ		גּ‎ (Gimel dǝgušah)	g	go
ɣ	ɡ	ג‎ (Ǧimel rafah)	BH: ḡ MH: g	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic Ghayn (غ‎‎‎) MH: go
h		ה‎ (He), הּ‎ (He mappiq)	h	hen
ħ	χ (ħ)[3]	ח‎ (Ḥeť)	BH: ḥ MH: h or ch/kh	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ḥāʾ (ح‎‎) MH: Scottish loch
j		י‎ (Yoď)	y	yes
k		כּ ךּ‎ (Kaf dǝgušah)	k	skin
l		ל‎ (Lameď)	l	left
ɬ	s	שׂ‎ (Sin semalith)	BH: ś MH: s	BH: No English equivalent; Welsh llwyd MH: see
m		מ ם‎ (Mem)	m	man
n		נ ן‎ (Nun)	n	no
p		פּ‎ (Pei dǝgušah)	p	spin
q	k	ק‎ (Qof)	BH: q MH: k	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic qāf (ق‎‎‎). MH: skin.
r	ʁ (r)[4]	ר‎ (Resh)	r	BH: trilled or tapped run. MH: French rouge
s		ס‎ (Samekh)	s	see
sˤ	ts[1]	צ ץ‎ (Ṣadi)	BH: ṣ MH: ts/tz	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ṣād (ص‎) MH: cats
ʃ		שׁ‎ (Šin Yemanit)	BH: š MH: sh	she
t		תּ‎ (Taw)	t	sting
tˤ	t	ט‎ (Ṭeť)	BH: ṭ MH: t	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ṭāʾ (ط‎) MH: sting
θ		ת‎ (Ťaw)	BH: ṯ MH: t	BH: thing MH: sting
	tʃ[1]	צ׳ ץ׳‎ (Tsade with geresh)	ch	chair
β	v	ב‎ (Veť rafah)	BH: ḇ MH: v	voice
w	v	ו‎ (Vav)	BH: w MH: v	BH: would MH: voice
	w[5]	וו‎ (double Vav) or ו‎ (single Vav)	w	we
x	χ	כ ך‎ (Ḵaf rafah)	BH: ḵ MH: ch/kh	Scottish loch
		ח׳‎[6] (Heth with geresh)	kh
z		ז‎ (Zayin)	z	zoo
	ʒ[2]	ז׳‎ (Zayin with geresh)	zh	beige
ʕ	ʔ (ʕ)[3]	ע‎ (Ayin)	BH: ʿ MH: '	BH: No English equivalent; Arabic 'ayn (ع) MH: uh-(ʔ)oh
ʔ		א‎ (Alef)	BH: ʾ MH:'	uh-(ʔ)oh

Marginal consonants of Modern Hebrew in transliteration and loanwords (used only by some speakers)

IPA	Usual pronunciation	Letter(s)	Romanisation	English
ð	d / z	ד׳‎ (Dalet with geresh)	dh	the
ɣ	ʁ / ɡ	ע׳‎[7] (Ayin with geresh) or ר׳‎[7] (Resh with geresh)	gh	No English equivalent; Arabic Ghayn (غ‎‎‎)
ŋ	ŋɡ	נג‎ (Nun-Gimel)	ng	ring
θ	t / s	ת׳‎[8] (Tav with geresh)	th	thing

Vowels

TH	MH	Letter(s)	Romanization	English approximation
a		(Patach),  (Hataf Patach)	TH: a, ă MH: a	Scottish bath
eː	ej (e)[9]	י‎(Tzere-Yodh),  (Zeire)	TH: ē MH: e or ei/ey	TH: Scottish bay MH: bay
	e̞			Scottish bay
ɛ		(Segol),  (Hataf Segol)	TH: e, ĕ MH: e	bed
ə	e̞ (e)[9]	(Shva)	TH: e/ĕ MH: e or unwritten	TH: comma MH: bed
	∅[10]			TH: comma MH: silent
i		(Hiriq)	i	see
iː	i	י‎(Hiriq-Yud)	TH: ī MH: i
oː	o	(Holam alone), וֹ‎ (with any mater lectionis)	TH: ō MH: o	story
ɔ		(Kamatz katan),  (Hataf Kamatz)	TH: o, ŏ MH: o	TH: off MH: story
ɔː	a	(Kamatz)	TH: ā MH: a	TH: off MH: Scottish bath
u		(Kubutz)	u	cool
uː	u	וּ‎ (Vav with shuruk)	TH: ū MH: u

Diphthongs in Modern Hebrew (used in transliteration and loanwords)

IPA	Letter(s)	Romanization	English approximation
ao	אוֹ‎ (Patach-Holam), אוֹ‎ (Kamatz-Holam)	ao	cow
au	אוּ‎ (Patach-Shuruk), אוּ‎ (Kamatz-Shuruk)	au
eu	אוּ‎ (Segol-Shuruk), אוּ‎ (Tzere-Shuruk)	eu	no (some dialects[11])
ou	וֹאוּ‎ (Holam-Shuruk)	ou	goal

Other symbols

IPA	Explanation
ˈ	Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל‎ ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל‏‎ ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/
ˌ	Secondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם?‎ ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/
ː	Long vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד‎ /jɔːð/ in absolute state and יַד־‎ /jað/ in construct state.[12] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב‎ ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/