Hebrew alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPlease read:

A personal appeal from

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales [Hide][Show]Wikipedia Forever Our shared
knowledge. Our shared treasure. Help us protect it. [Show]Wikipedia Forever Our
shared knowledge. Our shared treasure. Help us protect it. Hebrew alphabet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For Hebrew diacritical marks, see Hebrew diacritics.
This article contains Hebrew text. Without proper rendering support, you
may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.
Hebrew alphabet
TypeAbjad
Spoken languagesHebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic (see Jewish
languages)
Time period3rd century BCE to present
Parent systemsEgyptian hieroglyphs
Proto-Sinaitic
Proto-Canaanite alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
Aramaic alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
Sister systemsNabataean
Syriac
Palmyrenean
Mandaic
Brhm
Pahlavi
Sogdian
Unicode rangeU+0590 to U+05FF,
U+FB1D to U+FB40
ISO 15924Hebr
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.
[show]History of the alphabet
Middle Bronze Age 19 c. BCE
Ugaritic 15 c. BCE
Proto-Canaanite 15 c. BCE
Phoenician 12 c. BCE
Paleo-Hebrew 10 c. BCE
Samaritan 6 c. BCE
Aramaic 8 c. BCE
Kharoh 6 c. BCE
Brhm & Indic 6 c. BCE
Brahmic abugidas
Devanagari 13 c. CE
Hebrew 3 c. BCE
Thaana 4 c. BCE
Pahlavi 3 c. BCE
Avestan 4 c. CE
Palmyrene 2 c. BCE
Syriac 2 c. BCE
Sogdian 2 c. BCE
Orkhon (Old Turkic) 6 c. CE
Old Hungarian ca. 650
Old Uyghur
Mongolian 1204
Nabataean 2 c. BCE

Arabic 4 c. CE
Mandaic 2 c. CE
Greek 8 c. BCE
Etruscan 8 c. BCE
Latin 7 c. BCE
Runic 2 c. CE
Coptic 3 c. CE
Gothic 3 c. CE
Armenian 405
Georgian (disputed) ca. 430 CE
Glagolitic 862
Cyrillic ca. 940
Paleohispanic 7 c. BCE
Epigraphic South Arabian 9 c. BCE
Geez 56 c. BCE
Meroitic 3 c. BCE
Ogham 4 c. CE
Hangul 1443
Zhuyin (Bopomofo) 1913
Complete writing systems genealogy
This box: view talk edit
This article is about the alphabet derived from the Aramaic alphabet. For the
alphabet derived from the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, see Samaritan script.
The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: - ,[1] Alephbet Ivri), known
variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, and
because of its place of origin, the Assyrian script[2] (not to be confused with
the Syriac alphabet) is the better-known of two script standards used to write
the Hebrew language the other being the Samaritan script. In adapted forms, is
also used for writing other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and
Judeo-Arabic. The Hebrew alphabet is written from right to left. It has 22
letters, 5 of which have different final form.
The Hebrew word for "alphabet" is alephbet (), and it is derived from the
first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet; Aleph and Bet. However, Hebrew is not
a true alphabet, but in fact an abjad, having letters only for consonants. Like
other abjads such as the Arabic alphabet, means were later devised to indicate
vowels by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew,
the consonant letters are used as matres lectionis to represent vowels.
According to contemporary scholars, the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of
the Aramaic alphabet, from which it descends and evolved from during the 3rd
century BCE.[2] Prior to this, Hebrew was written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
by the ancient Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans, and as still used by the
Samaritans in the form of the Samaritan script.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 In Jewish Religion
3 Description
4 Pronunciation of letter names
5 Orthographic variants
5.1 Yiddish symbols
6 Numeric values of letters
7 Transliterations and Transcriptions of Hebrew Letters
8 Pronunciation

8.1 Shin and sin

8.2 Dagesh
8.3 Identical pronunciation
8.4 Ancient Hebrew pronunciation
9 Vowels
9.1 Matres lectionis
9.2 Vowel points
9.2.1 Sh va
9.2.2 Comparison table
10 Gershayim
11 Sounds represented with diacritic geresh
12 Unicode and HTML
13 See also
14 References
15 Bibliography
16 External links
[edit] History
Main article: History of the Hebrew alphabet
Aleppo Codex: 10th century CE Hebrew Bible with Masoretic pointing. Text of
Joshua 1:1According to contemporary scholars, the original Hebrew script
developed alongside others in the region during the course of the late second
and first millennia BCE; it is closely related to the Phoenician script, which
itself probably gave rise to the use of alphabetic writing in Greece (Greek). It
is sometimes claimed that a distinct Hebrew variant, the original "Hebrew
script", emerged around the 10th century BCE,[3] and was widely used in the
ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah until they fell in the 8th and 6th
centuries BCE, respectively. But it is not straightforward to distinguish
IsraeliteJudahite scripts from others which were in use in the immediate area,
most notably by the Moabites and Ammonites.
Following the Babylonian exile, Jews gradually stopped using the original Hebrew
script, and instead adopted the Aramaic script, which was another offshoot of
the same family of scripts. The Samaritan script, used for writing Hebrew by the
Samaritans, is descended directly from the original Hebrew script. The Aramaic
script, as used for writing Hebrew by Jews, later evolved into the Jewish, or
"square" script, that is still used and known today as the "Hebrew alphabet".
Closely related scripts were in use all over the Middle East for several hundred
years, but following the rise of Christianity (and later, the rise of Islam),
they gave way to the Roman and Arabic alphabets, respectively.
The Hebrew alphabet was later adapted in order to write the languages of the
Jewish diaspora (Karaim, Judo-Arabic, Ladino, Yiddish, etc.). The Hebrew
alphabet was retained as the alphabet used for writing the Hebrew language
during its rebirth in the 18th to 19th century.
[edit] In Jewish Religion
The letters of the Hebrew alphabet have played varied roles in Jewish religious
literature over the centuries, primarily in mystical texts. Some sources in
classical rabbinical literature seem to acknowledge the historical provenence of
the currently-used Hebrew alphabet and deal with them as a mundane subject (the
Jerusalem Talmud, for example, records that "the Israelites took for themselves
square calligraphy", and that the letters "came with the Israelites from Ashur
[Assyria]"[4]); others attribute mystical significance to the letters,
connecting them with the process of creation or the redemption. In mystical
conceptions, the alphabet is considered eternal, pre-existent to the Earth, and

the letters themselves are seen as having holiness and power, sometimes to such
an extent that several stories from the Talmud illustrate the idea that they
cannot be destroyed.[5]
The idea of the letters creative power finds its greatest vehicle in the Sefer
Yezirah, or Book of Creation, a mystical text of uncertain origin which
describes a story of creation highly divergent from that in the Book of Genesis,
largely through exposition on the powers of the letters of the alphabet. The
supposed creative powers of the letters are also referenced in the Talmud and
Zohar.[6][7]
The four-pronged Shin.Another book, the thirteenth-century Kabbalistic text
Sefer HaTemunah, holds that a single letter of unknown pronunciation, held by
some to be the four-pronged shin on one side of the teffilin box, is missing
from the current alphabet. The world s flaws, the book teaches, are related to
the absence of this letter, the eventual revelation of which will repair the
universe.[8] Another example of messianic significance attached to the letters
is the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer that the five letters of the alphabet with
final forms hold the "secret of redemption".[8]
In addition, the letters occasionally feature in aggadic portions of
non-mystical rabbinic literature. In such aggada the letters are often given
anthropomorphic qualities and depicted as speaking to God. Commonly their shapes
are used in parables to illustrate points of ethics or theology. An example from
the Babylonian Talmud (a parable intended to discourage speculation about the
universe before creation):
Why does the story of creation begin with bet?... In the same manner that
the letter bet is closed on all sides and only open in front, similarly
you are not permitted to inquire into what is before or what was behind,
but only from the actual time of Creation.
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, 77c
Extensive instructions about the proper methods of forming the letters are found
in Mishnat Soferim, within Mishna Berura of Yisrael Meir Kagan.
[edit] Description
Pseudo-Hebrew script on the bustier of Jan van Scorel s Maria Magdalena, 1530.In
its traditional usage in Hebrew (as opposed to Yiddish and to some extent modern
Israeli Hebrew), the Hebrew alphabet is an abjad: vowels are normally not
indicated. Where they are, it is because a weak consonant such as aleph,
hey, vav, or yod has combined with a previous vowel and become silent, or by
imitation of such cases in the spelling of other forms. When used to write
Yiddish, all vowels are indicated, using certain letters, either with or without
niqqud-diacritics (e.g., respectively: "", " "or "", "", see Yiddish
orthography), 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 vocalisation and diacritical symbols called niqqud (, literally
"applying 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 used to indicate how scriptural passages should be chanted,

used in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear

in the scrolls), called "trope". In everyday writing of modern Hebrew, niqqud
are absent; however, patterns of how words are derived from Hebrew roots (called
shorashim, or triliteral roots) 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.
Both the old Hebrew script and the modern Hebrew script have only one case, but
some letters have special final forms, called sofit (Heb. , meaning in this
case "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in
the Arabic and Mandaic alphabets.[9] As can be seen in the tables given here,
only five letters have a sofit form: ( kaph and khaph), ( mem),
(nun), ( pe and phe), ( tsadi or tsade).[10] These are shown below the
normal form, in the following table (letter names are Unicode standard; see
variants of names and their pronunciation below).
AlefBetGimelDaletHeVavZayinHetTetYodKaf

LamedMemNunSamekhAyinPeTsadiQofReshShinTav

Note: The chart reads from right to left.

[edit] Pronunciation of letter names
See Hebrew phonology and Yiddish phonology for phonetic guides to the phonemic
transcriptions.
letterName of letterEstablished pronunciation
in English[11]standard Israeli
pronunciationcolloquial Israeli
pronunciation (if differing)Yiddish / Ashkenazi
pronunciation
MW[11]Unicode
AlephAlef/lf/, /lf//alef/ /alf/
BethBet/b/, /bet//bet/ /bs/
/vs/
GimelGimel/ml//imel/ /iml/
DalethDalet/dl/, /dlt//dalet//daled//dald/
HeHe/he//he//hej//h/
WawVav/vv//vav/ /vv/
ZayinZayin/za.n//zajin//za.in//zajin/
HethHet/h/, /xet//et//et// s/
TethTet/t/, /tet//tet/ /ts/
YodYod/jd//jod//jud//jud/
KaphKaf/kf//kaf/ /kf/
/f/
Final Kaf /kaf sofit/ /la f/
LamedLamed/lmd//lamed/ /lamd/
MemMem/mm//mem/ /mm/
Final Mem /mem sofit/ /ls mm/
NunNun/nun//nun/ /nun/
Final Nun /nun sofit/ /la nun/
SamekhSamekh/smk//same/ /sam/
AyinAyin/a.n//ajin//a.in//ajin/
PePe/pe//pe//pej//p/
/f/
Final Pe /pe sofit//pej sofit//la f/
SadheTsadi/sd/, /sdi//tsadi//tsadik//tsdi/, /tsdik/,
/tsadk/
Final Tsadi /tsadi sofit//tsadik sofit//la tsadk/
QophQof/kf//kof//kuf//kuf/

ReshResh/r/, /re//re//rej//r/
ShinShin/in/, /n//in/ /in, sin/
TavTav/tf/, /tv//tav//taf//tv/, /tf/
/sv/, /sf/
[edit] Orthographic variants
Further information: Square hebrew, Cursive Hebrew, Rashi script, Ashuri
alphabet
The following table displays orthographic 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 three lettering variants currently in use are block, cursive and Rashi.
Block and Rashi are used in books. Block lettering dominates, with Rashi
lettering typically used for certain editorial inserts (as in the glosses of
Isserles to the Shulchan Aruch) or biblical commentaries (as in the commentary
of Rashi) in various standard literary works. Cursive is used almost exclusively
when handwriting, unless block lettering is desired for stylistic purposes (as
in signage).
For additional ancestral scripts, see Ancestral scripts and script variants.
Letter
name
(Unicode)Variants
Modern HebrewAncestral
SerifSansserifMonospacedCursiveRashiPhoenicianPaleo-HebrewAramaic
Alef
Bet
Gimel
Dalet
He
Vav
Zayin
Het
Tet
Yod
Kaf
Final Kaf
Lamed
Mem
Final Mem
Nun
Final Nun
Samekh
Ayin
Pe
Final Pe
Tsadi,
Final Tsadi
Qof
Resh
Shin
Tav
[edit] Yiddish symbols
SymbolExplanation
These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew[12].
See: Yiddish orthography.
The rafe ( )niqqud is no longer used in Hebrew. It is still seen in

Yiddish. In masoretic manuscripts, the soft fricative consonants are

indicated by a small line on top of the letter. Its use has been largely
discontinued in printed texts.
[edit] Numeric values of letters
Main article: Hebrew numerals
Hebrew letters are also used to denote numbers, nowadays used only in specific
contexts, e.g. denoting dates in the Hebrew calendar, denoting grades of school
in Israel, other listings (e.g. , " phase a, phase b"), commonly
in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a practice known as gematria, and often in
religious contexts.
letternumeric valueletternumeric valueletternumeric value
110100
220200
330300
440400
550500
660600
770700
880800
990900
The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 are often represented by the
juxtapositions , , , , and respectively. Adding a geresh (")"
to a letter multiplies its value by one thousand, for example, the year 5769 is
portrayed as , where represents 5000, and represents 769.
[edit] Transliterations and Transcriptions of Hebrew Letters
Main articles: Romanization of Hebrew, Hebrew phonology
The following table lists transliterations and transcriptions of Hebrew letters
used in Modern Hebrew. For Hebrew vowel diacritics, see niqqud; for the
phonology of Biblical Hebrew, see Biblical Hebrew; for the Yiddish language, see
Yiddish orthography and Yiddish phonology.
Clarifications:
For some letters, the Academy of the Hebrew Language offers a precise
transliteration which differs from the regular standard it has set. When
omitted, no such precise alternative exists and the regular standard applies.
The IPA phonemic transcription is specified whenever it uses a different
symbol than the one used for the regular standard Israeli transliteration.
The IPA phonetic transcription is specified whenever it differs from IPA
phonemic transcription.
Note: SBL s transliteration system, recommended in its Handbook of Style[13],
differs slightly from the 2006 precise transliteration system of the Academy of
the Hebrew Language; for " "SBL uses "v" ( AHL "w"), for " "SBL uses "" (
AHL ""), and for with no dagesh, SBL uses the same symbols as for
with dagesh (i.e. "b", "g", "d", "k", "f", "t").
[show]Click "show" to view extended table including examples.
Hebrew letterexampleTranslationStandard
Israeli
transliteration
regular[14]examplestandard
Israeli
transliteration
precise[14]exampleIPA phonemic
transcriptionexampleIPA phonetic
transcriptionexample

consonantal, in
initial word
positionsifnone(1)im[][im]


consonantal, in
non initial word
positionsasked sha lshal///aal/

silentfirstnone(1)rishn
sonbben
goodvtov
roofggaggga

roach(2) [15]uk/d//duk/
boilerddudddu

consonantalechohhed

silentherenone(1)po

consonantalhookvvavwwaw
heuhu
to himolo[o] or [][lo, l]
thiszze
jargon(2) [15]argn///aron/
hot (3)amam/x/ or ///xam/[][am]
diale
ti
al
[][am]
tinytkatka

consonantalseayyam/j//jam/

part of hirik male

(/i/ vowel)in meibi

part of tsere male

(/e/ vowel or
/ei/ diphthong)informationemedmd/e/ or /ej//meda/ or /mejda/
, (4)sokko
, branch-roofingkh (3)skhakhsa/x/ or ///sxax/[][sa]
to melli
, defectmmum
, great-grandsonnnin
endssof

in initial or final
word positionsPurim-paradenone(1)adloydaadloydaonly in
initial
word position
[][ adlojada]
dialectical
/// adlojada/

in medial
word positionsuseful mo lmol///moil/
dialectical
///moil/
(5)tipptip
, missedffisfs
, budtstsitsi/ts//tsits/
, zip(2) [15]rra/t//ritrat/
soundkkolqqol

cityrir[] or [][i] or [i]

thereshshamam///am/
putssamam
strawberryttutttu

(1)In transliterations of modern Israeli Hebrew, initial and final ( in

regular transliteration), silent or initial , and silent are not
transliterated. To the eye of readers orientating themselves on Latin (or
similar) alphabets, these letters might seem to be transliterated as vowel
letters; however, these are in fact transliterations of the vowel
diacritics niqqud (or are representations of the spoken vowels). E.g.,
in "( if", [im]), "( mother", [em]) and "( nut", [om]), the
letter always represents the same consonant: [] (glottal stop), whereas
the vowels /i/, /e/ and /o/ respectively represent the spoken vowel,
whether it is orthographically denoted by diacritics or not. Since the
Academy of the Hebrew Language ascertains that in initial position is
not transliterated, the symbol for the glottal stop is omitted from
the transliteration, and only the subsequent vowels are transliterated
(whether or not their corresponding vowel diacritics appeared in the text
being transliterated), resulting in "im", "em" and "om", respectively.
(2) The diacritic geresh " "is used with some other letters as well
(, , , , , , see geresh), but only to transliterate from other
lanaguages to Hebrew never to spell Hebrew words; therefore they were
not included in this table (correctly translating a Hebrew text with these
letters would require using the spelling in the language from which the
transliteration to Hebrew was originally made). The non-standard (i.e.,
inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew
Language) " "and " "are sometimes used to represent /w/, which like
/d/, // and /t/ appears in Hebrew slang and loanwords. However, the
guidelines of the Academy of the Hebrew Language specify that /w/ and /v/
be indistinguishably represented by "( "vav); see Hebrew Vav for the
orthographic variants of vav.
(3)The Sound // (as "
h" in lo
h) is often trans
ribed "
h",
in
onsistently with the guidelines spe
ified by the A
ademy of the Hebrew
Language: "
ham"; "s
ha
h".
(4)"( "final kaf with dagesh) is rare but exists, e.g. last word in
Deuteronomy 7 1 ( ) in the word "["16]
(5)When representing /p/, pe is always written in its regular, not final,
form "", even when in final word position, which occurs with loanwords
(e.g. /op/ "shop"), foreign names (e.g. /filip/
"Philip") and some slang (e.g. /arap/ "slept deeply").
[hide]Hebrew letterStandard
Israeli
transliteration
regular[14]standard
Israeli
transliteration
precise[14]IPA phonemic
transcriptionIPA phonetic
transcription

consonantal, in
initial word
positionsnone(1)[]

consonantal, in
non initial word
positions //


silentnone(1)
b
v
gg

(2) [15]/d/
dd

consonantalh

silentnone(1)

consonantalvw
u
o[o] or []
z
(2) [15]//
(3)/x/ or //[]
diale
ti
al
[]
t

consonantaly/j/

part of hirik male

(/i/ vowel)i

part of tsere male

(/e/ vowel or
/ei/ diphthong)e/e/ or /ej/
, (4)k
, kh/x/ or //[]
l
, m
, n
s

in initial or final
word positionsnone(1)only in initial
word position
[]
dialectical
//

in medial
word positions //
dialectical
//
(5)p
, f
, ts/ts/
, (2) [15]/t/
kq
r[] or []
sh//
s
tt

(1)In transliterations of modern Israeli Hebrew, initial and final ( in regular

transliteration), silent or initial , and silent are not transliterated. To
the eye of readers orientating themselves on Latin (or similar) alphabets, these
letters might seem to be transliterated as vowel letters; however, these are in
fact transliterations of the vowel diacritics niqqud (or are representations
of the spoken vowels). E.g., in "( if", [im]), "( mother", [em]) and
"( nut", [om]), the letter always represents the same consonant: []
(glottal stop), whereas the vowels /i/, /e/ and /o/ respectively represent the
spoken vowel, whether it is orthographically denoted by diacritics or not. Since
the Academy of the Hebrew Language ascertains that in initial position is not
transliterated, the symbol for the glottal stop is omitted from the
transliteration, and only the subsequent vowels are transliterated (whether or
not their corresponding vowel diacritics appeared in the text being
transliterated), resulting in "im", "em" and "om", respectively.
(2) The diacritic geresh " "is used with some other letters as well (,
, , , , , see geresh), but only to transliterate from other languages
to Hebrew never to spell Hebrew words; therefore they were not included in
this table (correctly translating a Hebrew text with these letters would require
using the spelling in the language from which the transliteration to Hebrew was
originally made). The non-standard (i.e., inconsistently with the guidelines
specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language) " "and " "are sometimes
used to represent /w/, which like /d/, // and /t/ appears in Hebrew slang
and loanwords. However, the guidelines of the Academy of the Hebrew Language
specify that /w/ and /v/ be indistinguishably represented by "( "vav); see
Hebrew Vav for the orthographic variants of vav.
(3)The Sound // (as "
h" in lo
h) is often trans
ribed "
h", in
onsistently
with the guidelines spe
ified by the A
ademy of the Hebrew Language: "
ham";
"s
ha
h".
(4)"( "final kaf with dagesh) is rare but exists, e.g. last word in
Deuteronomy 7 1 ( ) in the word "["16]
(5)When representing /p/, pe is always written in its regular, not final, form
"", even when in final word position, which occurs with loanwords (e.g.
/op/ "shop"), foreign names (e.g. /filip/ "Philip") and some slang
(e.g. /arap/ "slept deeply").
[edit] Pronunciation
Further information: Hebrew phonology and Help:IPA for Hebrew
The descriptions that follow are based on the pronunciation of modern standard
Israeli Hebrew. For a concise summary, see the article International Phonetic
Alphabet for Hebrew. For further information on regional and historical
variations in pronunciation, see Hebrew phonology.
Letters ,
(non-standard)[17]
IPA[], [b][v][g][d][d][][h~], [v][u][o][w][z][][]~[][t][j]
Letters
IPA[i][k][][l][m][n][s][]~[], [p][f][ts][t][k][][][s][t][]
[edit] Shin and sin
Further information: Shin (letter)
Shin and sin are represented by the same letter, , but are two separate
phonemes. They are not mutually allophonic. 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.
SymbolNameTransliterationIPAExample
( left dot)sins/s/sour
( right dot)shinsh//shop

Historically, left-dot-sin, corresponds to Proto-Semitic *, which in

biblical-Judaic-Hebrew corresponded to a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
//, as is evident in Greek transliteration of Hebrew words such as Balsam
(()the ls - ) as is evident in the Targum Onkelos[citation needed].
Rendering of proto-semitic * as //, is still evident in the Soqotri
language[citation needed].
[edit] Dagesh
Main article: Dagesh
Historically, the consonants bet,beis, gimel, dalet, kaf,kof, pe,pey,
and 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 (),
while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In modern Hebrew, however, the dagesh only
changes the pronunciation of bet, kaf, pe, and tav (tav only changes in
Ashkenazi (sof) and Yemenite pronunciations).
With dageshWithout dagesh
SymbolNameTransliterationIPAExampleSymbolNameTransliterationIPAExample
betb/b/bunvetv/v/van
[18] kaphk/k/kangaroo khaphkh/ch/k//lo
h
pep/p/pass pheph/f/f/find
tavt/t/talentsav*s/s/sorry
* Only in Ashkenazi pronunciations. In Israeli Hebrew, it is always a tav, with
a /t/ sound.
** The letters gimmel ( )and dalet ( )also have dagesh (dotted) forms, but
these do not differ phonetically from the forms without the dagesh in most of
the Modern Hebrew dialects. Israeli Hebrew also exhibits no phonetic distinction
between tav ( )with or without a dagesh.
[edit] Identical pronunciation
In Israel s general population, many consonants have the same pronunciation.
They are:
LettersTransliterationPronunciation (IPA)

aleph*
ayin*-//

vet (without dagesh)

vavv/v/

chet
khaph (without dagesh)kh/ch/h//

tet
tavt/t/

kaph (with dagesh)

qophk/k/

samekh
sin (with left dot)s/s/

tsadi*
tav-samech*and
tav-sin*ts/tz/ts/
* Varyingly
[edit] Ancient Hebrew pronunciation

Further information: Biblical Hebrew

Some of the variations in sound mentioned above are due to a systematic feature
of Ancient Hebrew. The six consonants /b d k p t/ were pronounced differently
depending on their position. These letters were also called BeGeDKePHeT letters
(pronounced / bedkft/ in English). (The full details are very complex;
this summary omits some points.) They were pronounced as stops b d k p t at
the beginning of a syllable, or when doubled. They were pronounced as fricatives
v  x f when pre
eded by a vowel (
ommonly indi
ated with a ma
ron,
p ). The stop and double pronunciations were indicated by the dagesh. In
Modern Hebrew the sounds and have reverted to [d] and [], respectively, and
has become [t], so only the remaining three consonants /b k p/ show variation.
" reish" may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReS
and also rendering Hebrew one of the only languages to possess two r sounds.
(Sefer Yetzirah, 4:1, this depends on the antiquity of this book.)
vav was pronounced as the semivowel /w/ (as in English, not as in German).
chet and ayin represented pharyngeal fricatives, tsadi represented the
emphatic consonant /s/, tet represented the emphatic consonant /t/, and
qoph represented the uvular plosive /q/. All these are common Semitic
consonants.
sin (the /s/ variant of shin) was originally different from both shin
and samekh, but had become /s/ the same as 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 // (the sound of modern Welsh ll) or the
voiceless alveolar lateral affricate /t/ (like Nhuatl tl).
[edit] Vowels
[edit] Matres lectionis
Main article: Mater lectionis
aleph, he, vav and yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel
instead of a consonant (which would be, repectively, //, /h/, /v/ and /j/).
When they do, and 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 and are considered to be mute, their role
being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.
LetterName
of letterConsonant
indicated
when letter
consonantalVowel
designationName of
vowel designationIndicated
Vowel
aleph//, , , ,
he/h/, , , ,
vav/v/olm mal
shurq
yud/j/irq mal
tser mal,
[edit] Vowel points
Main article: Niqqud
Niqqud is the system of dots the 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:
NameSymbolIsraeli Hebrew
IPATransliterationEnglish

example
Hiriq[i]isee
Zeire[] and [i]e and eimen,
main
Segol[], ([i] with
succeeding yod)e, (ei with
succeeding yod)men
Patach[a]acar
Kamatz[a], <car>(or [])a, (or o)</car>car
Holam[]ocone
Shuruk[u]utube
Kubutz[u]utube
Note : The symbol "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
Note : The zeire is pronounced correctly as ei in modern Hebrew.
Note : The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different functions, even though
they look the same.
Note : The letter ( vav) is used since it can only be represented by that
letter.
[edit] Sh va
Main article: Sh va
By adding two vertical dots (called Sh va) underneath the letter, the vowel is
made very short.
NameSymbolIsraeli Hebrew
IPATransliterationEnglish
example
Shva[] or apostrophe, e,
or nothingsilent
Reduced Segol[]emen
Reduced Patach[a]acup
Reduced Kamatz[]ocone
[edit] Comparison table
Vowel comparison table
Vowel Length
(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew)IPATransliterationEnglish
example
LongShortVery Short
[a]aspa
[]etemp
[]ocone
n/a[u]utube
[i]iski
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
[edit] Gershayim
Main article: 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. Gershayim is also the name of a note of cantillation in the reading of
the Torah, printed above the accented letter.
[edit] Sounds represented with diacritic geresh
Main articles: Geresh and Hebraization of English
The sounds [t], [d], [], written "", "", "", and [w], non-standardly

sometimes transliterated or [12], are often found in slang and loanwords

that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary. The
apostrophe-looking symbol after the Hebrew letter modifies the pronunciation of
the letter and is called a geresh. (As mentioned above, while still done, using
to represent [w] is non-standard; standard spelling rules allow no usage of
whatsoever.[17])
Hebrew slang and loanwords
NameSymbolIPATransliterationExample
Gimel with a geresh[d][15]nun[danun]
Zayin with a geresh[][15]kol[kola]
Tsadi with a geresh[t][15]upr (treat)[tupar]
Vav with a geresh
or double Vav or (non standard)[17][w]wawnta (boastful
act)[awanta]
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 only represent sounds in foreign words or names when
transliterated with the Hebrew alphabet, and never loanwords.
Transliteration of non-native sounds
NameSymbolIPAArabic letterExampleComment
Dalet with a geresh][l ( )
Voiced thDhu al-Hijjah (
) - *Also used for English
voiced th
* Often a simple is written.
Tav with a geresh[] ( )
Voiceless thThurston
et with a geresh[] ( )Sheikh (
) *Unlike the other sounds
in this table, the sound [] represented by is indeed a native sound in
Hebrew; the geresh is however used only when transliteration must
distinguish between [] and [], in whi
h
ase transliterates the
former and the latter, whereas in everyday usage without geresh is
pronounced [] only diale
ti
ally but []
ommonly.
Resh with a geresh[]ayn ( )GhajarSometimes an Ayin with a geresh
( )is used to transliterate
inconsistently with the guidelines
specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language
A geresh is also used to denote initialisms and to denote a Hebrew numeral.
Geresh also is the name of one of the notes of cantillation in the reading of
the Torah, but its appearance and function is different.
[edit] Unicode and HTML
Main article: Unicode and HTML for the Hebrew alphabet
The Unicode Hebrew block extends from U+0590 to U+05FF and from U+FB1D to
U+FB40. It includes letters, ligatures, combining diacritical marks (niqqud and
cantillation marks) and punctuation. The Numeric Character References is
included for HTML. These can be used in many markup languages, and they are
often used in Wiki to create the Hebrew glyphs compatible with the majority of
web browsers.
[edit] See also
Phoenician alphabet
(ca. 1050200 BCE)






















Semitic abjads  Genealogy
Hebrew alphabet
(400 BCEpresent)

History  Transliteration
Niqqud  Dagesh  Gematria
Cantillation  Numeration
Syriac alphabet
(200 BCEpresent)

Arabic alphabet
(400 CEpresent)

History  Transliteration
Diacritics  Hamza
Numerals  Numeration
v d e
Hebrew punctuation
Significance of numbers of Judaism
Mater lectionis
History of the Hebrew language
Syriac alphabet
Niqqud
Dagesh
Gershayim
Hebrew braille
Cursive Hebrew
Rashi script
Ashuri alphabet
Hebrew keyboard
Romanization of Hebrew
Help:IPA for Hebrew
Hebrew phonology
Inverted nun
Koren Type
Help:Hebrew
[edit] References
^ "Aleph-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the maqaph (,
hyphen), , as opposed to with the hyphen,
^ a b A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press. 1993. ISBN 0-521-55634-1.
^ Ancient Scripts.com:Old Hebrew
^ Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 21b
^ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Pesach 87b, Avodah Zarah 18a
^ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55c
^ Zohar 1:3; 2:152
^ a b The Book of Letters. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing,
Woodstock. 1990
^ The Arabic letters have, in principle (as six of the primary letters can
have only two variants), four forms, according to their place in the word. The
same goes with the Mandaic ones, except for three of the 22 letters, which
have only one form. For more information, see Arabic alphabet and Mandaic
alphabet.

^ , and can only be read b, k and p, respectively, at the

beginning of a word, while they will have the sole value of v, kh and ph in a
sofit (final) position. In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible,
but a dagesh may be inserted (in dictionaries or learning books) to know which
pronunciation applies:
= b and = v,
= k and = kh,
=p and = ph.
^ a b Merriam Webster s Collegiate Dictionary
^ a b However, ( two separate vavs), used in Ktiv male, is to be
distinguished from the Yiddish ligature ( also two vavs but together as one
character).
^ See online overview at Biblical Hebrew Resources
^ a b c d Transliteration guidelines by the Academy of the Hebrew Language,
November 2006
^ a b c d e f g h i Transliteration guidelines preceding 2006-update, p. 2
Academy of the Hebrew Language
^ a b ,
^ a b c "Transliteration Rules" (PDF).
http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/PDF/taatiq2007.pdf. issued by the Academy of
the Hebrew Language states that both [v] and [w] be indistinguishably
represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav. Sometimes the Vav is indeed
doubled, however not to denote [w] as opposed to [v] but rather, when spelling
without niqqud, to denote the phoneme /v/ at a non-initial and non-final
position in the word, whereas a single Vav at a non-initial and non-final
position in the word in spelling without niqqud denotes one of the phonemes
/u/ or /o/. To pronounce foreign words and loanwords containing the sound [w],
Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also
pronunciation of Hebrew Vav.
^ " "is rare but exists, e.g. last word in Deuteronomy 7 1 (
) in the word " "see ,
[edit] Bibliography
Roots of the Hebrew Alphabet
Hoffman, Joel M. 2004. In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew
Language. New York: New York University Press.
Saenz-Badillos, Angel. 1993. A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Steinberg, David. History of the Hebrew Language.
Mathers table
Aleph-Beth Quick Study Chart. February 28, 2005. Qumran Bet Community.
Retrieved January 5, 2006.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet lesson
How to draw letters
Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
Transliterate your English name into Hebrew Letters
Keyboards
LiteType.com - Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard
Hebrew translit - for typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (transliteration
with niqqud)
Mikledet.com - for typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew
keyboard|Hebrew layout)
Hebrew Writing - Typing Hebrew and Nikud using extended English keyboard
(Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew Writing layout)
[hide]v d eHebrew 
OverviewsLanguage  Alphabet  History  Transliteration to English

/ transliteration to Hebrew  Numerology

ScriptsRashi  Braille  Ashuri  Cursive  Crowning  Ktav Ivri
AlphabetAlef  Bet  Gimel  Dalet  Hei  Vav  Zayin  Het  Tet 
Yud  Kaf  Lamed  Mem  Nun  Samech  Ayin  Pei  Tsadi  Kuf 
Reish  Shin  Tav
NiqqudShva  Hiriq  Zeire  Segol  Patach  Kamatz  Holam 
Shuruk  Kubutz  Dagesh  Mappiq  Rafe  Sin/Shin Dot
ExtensionsDiacritics  Cantillation  Geresh  Gershayim  Inverted
nun  Sheqel sign
LinguisticsPhonology  Verbal morphology  Semitic roots  IPA 
Grammar  Prefixes  Suffixes  Punctuation  Numerals  Spelling:
with Niqqud / missing / full  Mater lectionis  Waw-consecutive 
Acronyms
AcademicRevival  Academy  Study  Ulpan  Keyboard  Hebrew /
Israeli literature  Names  Surnames  Unicode and HTML
DialectsAshkenazi  Sephardi  Mizrahi  Yemenite  Tiberian 
Samaritan
ErasBiblical  Mishnaic  Medieval  Modern
[show]v d eWriting systems
OverviewHistory of writing  History of the alphabet  Graphemes
ListsWriting systems  Languages by writing system / by first
written account  Undeciphered writing systems  Inventors of
writing systems
TypesFeatural alphabets  Alphabets  Abjads  Alphasyllabaries /
Abugidas  Syllabaries  Ideogrammic  Pictographic  Logographic
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet"
Categories: Scripts with ISO 15924 four-letter codes | Abjad writing systems |
Hebrew alphabet | Language and mysticism | Fertile Crescent
Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with
unsourced statements from June 2009 | Articles containing Arabic language
textViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsTry Beta Log
in / create account Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Search
Interaction
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact Wikipedia
Donate to Wikipedia
Help
Toolbox

What links here

Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this page
Languages
Alemannisch
Asturianu
Boarisch
Brezhoneg
Catal
Cebuano
esky
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Espaol
Esperanto
Franais
Gaeilge
Gidhlig
Galego
Interlingua
slenska
Italiano

Ladino
Magyar

Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands

Norsk (bokml)
Norsk (nynorsk)
Polski
Portugus
Romn

Slovenina
Slovenina
/ Srpski
Srpskohrvatski /
Suomi
Svenska
Tagalog
Taqbaylit

Trke

Vneto

This page was last modified on 18 December 2009 at 15:38. Text is available
under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms
may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a
non-profit organization.Contact us Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers