Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet | |
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Time period | 2nd–1st century BCE to present |
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The Hebrew alphabet (
Historically, two separate abjad scripts have been used to write Hebrew. The original, old Hebrew script, known as the
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
The
The Arabic and Hebrew alphabets have similarities because they are both derived from the Aramaic alphabet, which in turn derives either from
History
The
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
The square Hebrew alphabet was later adapted and used for writing languages of the
Description
ﭏ |
Features |
---|
Variants |
Numerals |
Ancillaries |
Translit. |
Computers |
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
Alphabet
Unlike the Paleo-Hebrew writing script, the modern Ashuri 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:
Alef | Bet |
Gimel | Dalet | Zayin | Chet | Tet | Yod | Kaf | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
א | ב | ג | ד | ה | ו | ז | ח | ט | י | כ |
ך | ||||||||||
Lamed |
Mem | Samech |
Ayin | Tsadi | Qof | Resh | Tav | |||
ל | מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת |
ם | ן | ף | ץ |
Pronunciation
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[18] | Modern Hebrew pronunciation |
Yiddish / Ashkenazi pronunciation |
Sephardi
pronunciation |
Approximate western European equivalent[19] | ||
א | [∅], [ʔ] | Alef | אָלֶף | /alɛf/ | /ʔaləf/ | /ʔalɛf/ | When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔˈbɔɹd] |
בּ | [b] | Bet | בֵּית | /bet/ | /bɛɪs/, /bɛɪz/ | /bɛt/ | b as in black |
ב | [v] | בֵית | /vet/ | /vɛɪs/, /vɛɪz/ | /vɛt/ | v as in vogue | |
גּ | [ɡ] | Gimel | גִּימֵל | /ˈɡimel/ | /ˈɡɪməl/ | /ˈɡimɛl/ | g as in gourd |
ג | [ɣ] | גִימֵל | /ɣɪmεl/ | gh as in Arabic ghoul | |||
דּ | [ d ] |
Dalet | דָּלֶת | /ˈdalɛt/, /ˈdalɛd/ | /ˈdaləd/, /ˈdaləs/ | /ˈdalɛt/ | d as in doll |
ד | [ð] | דָלֶת | /ðalεt/ | th as in that | |||
ה | [h] | He | הֵא | /he/, /hej/ | /hɛɪ/ | /he/ | h as in hold |
ו | [v] | Vav | וָו | /vav/ | /vɔv/ | /vav/ | v as in vogue |
ז | [z] | Zayin | זַיִן | /ˈzajin/, /ˈza.in/ | /ˈzajɪn/ | /ˈzajin/ | z as in zoo |
ח | [χ] | Chet | חֵית | /χet/ | /χɛs/ | /ħɛt/ | ch as in Bach |
ט | [ t ] |
Tet | טֵית | /tet/ | /tɛs/ | /tɛt/ | t as in tool |
י | [j] | Yod | יוֹד | /jod/, /jud/ | /jʊd/ | /jud/ | y as in yolk |
כּ | [k] | Kaf | כַּף | /kaf/ | /kɔf/ | /kaf/ | k as in king |
כ | [χ] | כַף | /χaf/ | /χɔf/ | /χaf/ | ch as in bach | |
ךּ | [k] | כַּף סוֹפִית | /kaf sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə kɔf/ | /kaf sofit/ | k as in king | |
ך | [x]~[χ] | כַף סוֹפִית | /χaf sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə χɔf/ | /χaf sofit/ | ch as in bach | |
ל | [ l ] |
Lamed | לָמֶד | /ˈlamɛd/ | /ˈlaməd/ | /ˈlamɛd/ | l as in luck |
מ | [m] | Mem | מֵם | /mem/ | /mɛm/ | /mɛm/ | m as in mother |
ם | מֵם סוֹפִית | /mem sofit/ | /ˈʃlɔs mɛm/ | /mɛm sofit/ | |||
נ | [ n ] |
Nun | נוּן | /nun/ | /nʊn/ | /nun/ | n as in night |
ן | נוּן סוֹפִית | /nun sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə nʊn/ | /nun sofit/ | n as in night | ||
ס | [s] | Samekh | ְסָמֶךְ | /ˈsamɛχ/ | /ˈsaməχ/ | /ˈsamɛχ/ | s as in sight |
ע | [ʔ]~[ʕ], [∅] | Ayin | עַיִן | /ajin/, /ʔa.in/ | /ajɪn/ | /ajin/ | When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔˈbɔɹd]. When ʕ, no English equivalent. |
פּ | [p] | Pe | פֵּא, פֵּה | /pe/, /pej/ | /pɛɪ/ | /pe/ | p as in pool |
פ | [f] | פֵא, פֵה | /fe/, /fej/ | /fɛɪ/ | /fe/ | f as in full | |
ףּ | [p] | פֵּא סוֹפִית, פֵּה סוֹפִית |
/pe sofit/, /pej sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə pɛɪ/ | /pe sofit/ | p as in pool | |
ף | [f] | פֵא סוֹפִית, פֵה סוֹפִית |
/fe sofit/, /fej sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə fɛɪ/ | /fe sofit/ | f as in full | |
צ | [ts] | Tsadi | צָדִי | /ˈtsadi/ | /ˈtsadi/, /ˈtsadɪk/ | /ˈtsadik/ | ts as in cats |
ץ | צָדִי סוֹפִית | /ˈtsadi sofit/ | /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadɪk/, /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadək/ | /ˈtsadik sofit/ | |||
ק | [k] | Qof | קוֹף | /kuf/, /kof/ | /kʊf/ | /kuf/ | k as in king |
ר | [ʁ] | Resh | רֵישׁ | /ʁeʃ/ | /ʁɛɪʃ/ | /reʃ/ | r as in French "r" |
שׁ | [ʃ] | Shin | שִׁין | /ʃin/ | /ʃɪn/ | /ʃin/ | sh as in shop |
שׂ | [s] | שִׂין | /sin/ | /sɪn/ | /sin/ | s as in sight | |
תּ | [ t ] |
Tav | תָּו | /tav/, /taf/ | /tɔv/, /tɔf/ | /tav/ | t as in tool |
ת | [θ] | תָו | /sɔv/, /sɔf/ | /θav/ | th as in thin |
By analogy with the other dotted/dotless pairs, dotless tav, ת, would be expected to be pronounced /θ/ (
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/, as evidenced in the Greek transliteration of Hebrew words such as balsam (בֹּשֶׂם) (the ls – 'שׂ') as is evident in the Targum Onkelos.[citation needed]
Dagesh
Historically, the consonants ב bet, ג gimmel, ד daleth, כ kaf, פ pe and ת tav each had two sounds: one hard (
Name | With dagesh | Without dagesh | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Transliteration | IPA | Example | Symbol | Transliteration | IPA | Example | |
bet/vet | בּ | b | /b/ | bun | ב | v, ḇ | /v/ | van |
kaf | [20]כּ ךּ | k | /k/ | kangaroo | כ ך | kh, ch, ḵ, x | /χ/ | loch |
pe | פּ ףּ | p | /p/ | pass | פ ף | f, p̄, ph | /f/ | find |
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[21] | ǧáḥnun | [ˈd͡ʒaχnun] | גַּ׳חְנוּן |
Zayin with a geresh | ז׳ | [ʒ] | ž[21] | koláž | [koˈlaʒ] | קוֹלַאז׳ |
Tsadi with a geresh | צ׳ | [t͡ʃ] | č[21] | 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 | * Also used for English voiced th * Often a simple ד is written. |
Tav with a geresh | ת׳ | [θ] | 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
Identical pronunciation
In much of
Letters | Transliteration | Pronunciation (IPA) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
א Alef* |
ע Ayin* |
not transliterated |
Usually when in medial word position: / hiatus )
| ||
When in initial or final word position, sometimes also in medial word position: silent | |||||
alternatingly | |||||
ʼ | / 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 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 Náhuatltl).
Regional and historical variation
The following table contains the
Symbol Pronunciation IsraeliAshkenazi SephardiYemeniteReconstructed Arabic equivalent Tiberian Mishnaic Biblical א [ʔ, -] [ – ] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ] ءבּ [b] [b] [b] [b] [b] [b] [b] بב [v] [v~v̥] [b~β~v] [β] [v] [β] [β] ﭪגּ [ɡ] [ɡ~ɡ̊] [ɡ] [dʒ] [ɡ] [ɡ] [ɡ] جג [ɡ~ɣ] [ɣ] [ɣ] [ɣ] [ɣ] غדּ [ d][d~d̥] [d̪] [ d̪][ d̪][ d̪][ d̪]دד [d̪~ð] [ð] [ð] [ð] [ð] ذה [h~ʔ, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h] هו [v] [v~v̥] [v] [w] [w] [w] [w] وוּ [uː] [uː] [uː] [əw] ? ? ? ـُو וֹ [o̞ː] [əʊ, ɐʊ] [oː] [œː] ? ? ? ـو ז [z] [z~z̥] [z] [z] [z] [z] [z] زח [x~χ] [x] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ, χ] حט [ t][ t][t̪] [t̴̪] (1) [t̴̪] [t̪ˤ] (2) [t̪ʼ] (3) طי [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] يִי [iː] [iː] [iː] [iː] ? ? ? ـِي כּ ךּ [k] [k] [k] [k] [k] [k] [kʰ] كכ ך [x~χ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] خל [ l][l~ɫ] [ l][ l][ l][ l][ l]لמ ם [m] [m] [m] [m] [m] [m] [m] مנ ן [ n][ n][ n̪][ n̪][ n̪][ n̪][ n̪]نס [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] ض[a]ע [ʕ, - ] [ – ] [ʕ, ŋ, - ] [ʕ] [ʕ] [ʕ] [ʕ, ʁ] عפּ ףּ [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] پפ ף [f] [f] [f] [f] [f] [ɸ] [ɸ] فצ ץ [t͡s] [t͡s] [t͡s] [s̴] (1) [s̴] [sˤ] (2) [sˤ] صק [k] [k] [k] [ɡ], [ɢ], [q] [q] [q] [q] قר [ɣ~ʁ] [ ɹ]~[ʀ][ r]~[ɾ][ r]~[ɾ][ʀ] [ r][ɾ] رשׁ [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] شשׂ [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [ ɬ]سתּ [ t][ t][ t][ t̪][ t̪][ t̪][ t̪]تת [s] [θ] [θ] [θ] [θ] ث
- velarized or pharyngealized
- pharyngealized
- sometimes said to be 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 letterConsonant
indicated
when letter
consonantalVowel
designationName of
vowel designationIndicated
Vowelא 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.[22]
Note 3: The
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
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
Stylistic variants
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 | 𐤀 | ||||
Bet | ב | ב | 𐤁 | ||||
Gimel | ג | ג | 𐤂 | ||||
Dalet | ד | ד | 𐤃 | ||||
He | ה | ה | 𐤄 | ||||
Vav (Unicode)[16] / Waw | ו | ו | 𐤅 | ||||
Zayin | ז | ז | 𐤆 | ||||
Chet | ח | ח | 𐤇 | ||||
Tet | ט | ט | 𐤈 | ||||
Yod | י | י | 𐤉 | ||||
Kaf | כ | כ | 𐤊 | ||||
Final Kaf | ך | ך | |||||
Lamed | ל | ל | 𐤋 | ||||
Mem | מ | מ | 𐤌 | ||||
Final Mem | ם | ם | |||||
Nun | נ | נ | 𐤍 | ||||
Final Nun | ן | ן | |||||
Samekh | ס | ס | 𐤎 | ||||
Ayin | ע | ע | 𐤏 | ||||
Pe | פ | פ | 𐤐 | ||||
Final Pe | ף | ף | |||||
Tsadi | צ | צ | 𐤑 | , | |||
Final Tsadi | ץ | ץ | |||||
Qof | ק | ק | 𐤒 | ||||
Resh | ר | ר | 𐤓 | ||||
Shin | ש | ש | 𐤔 | ||||
Tav | ת | ת | 𐤕 |
Yiddish symbols
Symbol | Explanation |
---|---|
װ ױ ײ ײַ | These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew, aside from in loan words[d]. They are possible to visually recreate using a sequence of letters, וו וי יי, except when a diacritic is inserted underneath that would not appear in the middle. |
בֿ | The rafe (רפה) diacritic is no longer regularly used in Hebrew. In Masoretic Texts and some other older texts, lenited consonants and sometimes matres lectionis are indicated by a small line on top of the letter. Its use has been largely discontinued in modern printed texts. It is still used to mark fricative consonants in the YIVO orthography of Yiddish. |
Numeric values of letters
Following the adoption of Greek Hellenistic alphabetic numeration practice, Hebrew letters started being used to denote numbers in the late 2nd century BC,[24] and performed this arithmetic function for about a thousand years. Nowadays alphanumeric notation is used only in specific contexts, e.g. denoting dates in the Hebrew calendar, denoting grades of school in Israel, other listings (e.g. שלב א׳, שלב ב׳ – "phase a, phase b"), commonly in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a practice known as gematria, and often in religious contexts.
letter | numeric value | letter | numeric value | letter | numeric value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
א |
1 | י |
10 | ק |
100 |
ב |
2 | כ |
20 | ר |
200 |
ג |
3 | ל |
30 | ש |
300 |
ד |
4 | מ |
40 | ת |
400 |
ה |
5 | נ |
50 | ||
ו |
6 | ס |
60 | ||
ז |
7 | ע |
70 | ||
ח |
8 | פ |
80 | ||
ט |
9 | צ |
90 |
The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 are commonly represented by the juxtapositions ק״ת, ר״ת, ש״ת, ת״ת, and ק״תת respectively. Adding a geresh ("׳") to a letter multiplies its value by one thousand, for example, the year 5778 is portrayed as ה׳תשע״ח, where ה׳ represents 5000, and תשע״ח represents 778.
Transliterations and transcriptions
The following table lists transliterations and transcriptions of Hebrew letters used in Modern Hebrew.
Clarifications:
- For some letters, the Academy of the Hebrew Language offers a precise transliteration that 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 from the one used for the regular standard Israeli transliteration.
- The IPA phonetic transcription is specified whenever it differs from IPA phonemic transcription.
Note:
Click "show" to view extended table including examples. | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hebrew letter | example | Translation | Standard Israeli transliteration – regular[26] |
example | standard Israeli transliteration – precise[26] |
example | IPA phonemic transcription |
example | IPA phonetic transcription |
example | ||||
א consonantal, in initial word positions |
אִם | if | none[A1] | im | [ʔ] | [ʔim] | ||||||||
א consonantal, in non initial word positions |
שָׁאַל | asked | ' | sha'ál | ʾ | shaʾál | /ʔ/ | /ʃaˈʔal/ | ||||||
א silent |
רִאשׁוֹן | first | none[A2] | rishón | ||||||||||
בּ | בֵּן | son | b | ben | ||||||||||
ב | טוֹב | good | v | tov | ||||||||||
גּ | גַּג | roof | g | gag | g | gaḡ | ||||||||
ג | ḡ | |||||||||||||
ג׳ | ג׳וּק | roach | ǧ[B1][21] | ǧuk | /d͡ʒ/ | /d͡ʒuk/ | ||||||||
דּ | דּוּד | boiler | d | dud | d | duḏ | ||||||||
ד | ḏ | |||||||||||||
ה consonantal |
הֵד | echo | h | hed | ||||||||||
ה silent |
פֹּה | here | none[A3] | po | ||||||||||
ו consonantal |
וָו | hook | v | vav | w | waw | ||||||||
וּ | הוּא | he | u | hu | ||||||||||
וֹ | לוֹ | to him | o | lo | [o̞] or [ɔ̝] | [lo̞, lɔ̝] | ||||||||
ז | זֶה | this | z | ze | ||||||||||
ז׳ | זָ׳רְגוֹן | jargon | ž[B2][21] | žargón | /ʒ/ | /ʒarˈɡon/ | ||||||||
ח | חַם | hot | ẖ [C1] | ẖam | ḥ | ḥam | /x/ or /χ/ | /xam/ | [χ] | [χam] | ||||
dialectical [ħ] |
[ħam] | |||||||||||||
ט | קָט | tiny | t | kat | ṭ | kaṭ | ||||||||
י consonantal |
יָם | sea | y | yam | /j/ | /jam/ | ||||||||
י part of hirik male (/i/ vowel) |
בִּי | in me | i | bi | ||||||||||
י part of tsere male (/e/ vowel or /ei/ diphthong) |
מֵידָע | information | e | medá | é | médá | /e/ or /ej/ | /meˈda/ or /mejˈda/ | [e̞] or /e̞j/ | [me̞ˈda] or [me̞jˈda] | ||||
כּ, ךּ[20] | כֹּה | so | k | ko | ||||||||||
כ, ך | סְכָךְ | branch-roofing | kh [C2] | skhakh | ḵ | sḵaḵ | /x/ or /χ/ | /sxax/ | [χ] | [sχaχ] | ||||
ל | לִי | to me | l | li | ||||||||||
מ, ם | מוּם | defect | m | mum | ||||||||||
נ, ן | נִין | great-grandson | n | nin | ||||||||||
ס | סוֹף | end | s | sof | ||||||||||
ע in initial or final
word positions |
עַדְלֹאיָדַע | Purim-parade | none[A4] | adloyáda | ʿ | ʿadloyádaʿ | only in initial word position [ʔ] |
[ˌʔadlo̞ˈjada] | ||||||
dialectical /ʕ/ |
/ˌʕadloˈjadaʕ/ | |||||||||||||
ע in medial
word positions |
מוֹעִיל | useful | ' | mo'íl | ʿ | moʿíl | /ʔ/ | /moˈʔil/ | ||||||
dialectical /ʕ/ |
/moˈʕil/ | |||||||||||||
פּ[D] | טִיפּ | tip | p | tip | ||||||||||
פ, ף | פִסְפֵס | missed | f | fisfés | ||||||||||
צ, ץ | צִיץ | bud | ts | tsits | ẓ | ẓiẓ | /t͡s/ | /t͡sit͡s/ | ||||||
צ׳, ץ׳ | ריצ׳רץ׳ | zip | č[B3][21] | ríčrač | /t͡ʃ/ | /ˈrit͡ʃrat͡ʃ/ | ||||||||
ק | קוֹל | sound | k | kol | q | qol | ||||||||
ר | עִיר | city | r | ir | [ʀ] or [ʁ] | [iʀ] or [iʁ] | ||||||||
r] or [ɾ ] |
[ir] or [iɾ] | |||||||||||||
שׁ | שָׁם | there | sh | sham | š | šam | /ʃ/ | /ʃam/ | ||||||
שׂ | שָׂם | put | s | sam | ś | śam | ||||||||
תּ | תּוּת | strawberry | t | tut | t | tuṯ | ||||||||
ת | ṯ |
Hebrew letter | Standard Israeli transliteration – regular[26] |
standard Israeli transliteration – precise[26] |
IPA phonemic transcription |
IPA phonetic transcription | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
א consonantal, in initial word positions |
none[A1] | [ʔ] | ||||||
א consonantal, in non initial word positions |
' | ʾ | /ʔ/ | |||||
א silent |
none[A2] | |||||||
בּ | b | |||||||
ב | v | |||||||
גּ | g | g | ||||||
ג | ḡ | |||||||
ג׳ | ǧ[B1][21] | /d͡ʒ/ | ||||||
דּ | d | d | ||||||
ד | ḏ | |||||||
ה consonantal |
h | |||||||
ה silent |
none[A3] | |||||||
ו consonantal |
v | w | ||||||
וּ | u | |||||||
וֹ | o | [o̞] or [ɔ̝] | ||||||
ז | z | |||||||
ז׳ | ž[B2][21] | /ʒ/ | ||||||
ח | ẖ[C1] | ḥ | /x/ or /χ/ | [χ] | ||||
dialectical [ħ] |
||||||||
ט | t | ṭ | ||||||
י consonantal |
y | /j/ | ||||||
י part of hirik male (/i/ vowel) |
i | |||||||
י part of tsere male (/e/ vowel or /ei/ diphthong) |
e | é | /e/ or /ej/ | [e̞] or [e̞j]/ | ||||
כּ, ךּ[20] | k | |||||||
כ, ך | kh[C2] | ḵ | /x/ or /χ/ | [χ] | ||||
ל | l | |||||||
מ, ם | m | |||||||
נ, ן | n | |||||||
ס | s | |||||||
ע in initial or final
word positions |
none[A4] | ʿ | only in initial word position [ʔ] | |||||
dialectical /ʕ/ |
||||||||
ע in medial
word positions |
' | ʿ | /ʔ/ | |||||
dialectical /ʕ/ |
||||||||
פּ[D] | p | |||||||
פ, ף | f | |||||||
צ, ץ | ts | ẓ | /t͡s/ | |||||
צ׳, ץ׳ | č[B3][21] | /t͡ʃ/ | ||||||
ק | k | q | ||||||
ר | r | [ʀ] or [ʁ] | ||||||
r] or [ɾ ]
| ||||||||
שׁ | sh | š | /ʃ/ | |||||
שׂ | s | ś | ||||||
תּ | t | t | ||||||
ת | ṯ |
- Notes
A1^ 2^ 3^ 4^ In transliterations of modern Israeli Hebrew, initial and final ע (in regular transliteration), silent or initial א, and silent ה 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 אִם ("if", [ʔim]), אֵם ("mother", [ʔe̞m]) and אֹם ("nut", [ʔo̞m]), the letter א always represents the same consonant: [ʔ] (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 א in initial position is not transliterated, the symbol for the glottal stop ʾ 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.
B1^ 2^ 3^ The diacritic geresh – "׳" – is used with some other letters as well (ד׳, ח׳, ט׳, ע׳, ר׳, ת׳), 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 "ו׳" and "וו" [e1] are sometimes used to represent /w/, which like /d͡ʒ/, /ʒ/ and /t͡ʃ/ appears in Hebrew slang and loanwords.
C1^ 2^ The Sound /χ/ (as "ch" in loch) is often transcribed "ch", inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language: חם /χam/ → "cham"; סכך /sχaχ/ → "schach".
D^ Although the Bible does include a single occurrence of a final pe with a dagesh (Book of Proverbs 30, 6: "אַל-תּוֹסְףְּ עַל-דְּבָרָיו: פֶּן-יוֹכִיחַ בְּךָ וְנִכְזָבְתָּ."), in modern Hebrew /p/ is always represented by pe in its regular, not final, form "פ", even when in final word position, which occurs with loanwords (e.g. שׁוֹפּ /ʃop/ "shop"), foreign names (e.g. פִילִיפּ /ˈfilip/ "Philip") and some slang (e.g. חָרַפּ /χaˈrap/ "slept deeply").
Religious use
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
The idea of the letters' creative power finds its greatest vehicle in the
Another book, the 13th-century
In addition, the letters occasionally feature in
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
Mathematical use
In set theory, , pronounced aleph-naught or aleph-zero, is used to mark the cardinal number of an infinite countable set, such as , the set of all integers. More generally, the aleph number notation marks the ordered sequence of all distinct infinite cardinal numbers.
Less frequently used, the beth number notation is used for the iterated power sets of . The second element is the cardinality of the continuum. Very occasionally, a gimel function is used in cardinal notation.
Unicode and HTML
The
Standard Hebrew keyboards have a 101-key layout. Like the standard QWERTY layout, the Hebrew layout was derived from the order of letters on Hebrew typewriters.
See also
- Hebrew braille
- Hebrew diacritics
- Cursive Hebrew
- Hebrew punctuation
- Hebrew spelling
- Help:Hebrew
- Inverted nun
- Koren Type
- Ktiv hasar niqqud ("spelling lacking niqqud")
- Significance of numbers of Judaism
Notes
a^ "Alef-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the maqaf (מקף, "[Hebrew] hyphen"), אלפבית עברי, as opposed to with the hyphen, אלף־בית עברי.
b^ The Arabic letters generally (as six of the primary letters can have only two variants) have 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.
c^ In forms of Hebrew older than Modern Hebrew, כ״ף, בי״ת and פ״א 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 f in a sofit (final) position, with few exceptions.[20] In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible. In Modern Hebrew this restriction is not absolute, e.g. פִיזִיקַאי /fiziˈkaj/ and never /piziˈkaj/ (= "physicist"), סְנוֹבּ /snob/ and never /snov/ (= "snob"). A dagesh may be inserted to unambiguously denote the plosive variant: בּ = /b/, כּ = /k/, פּ =/p/; similarly (though today very rare in Hebrew and common only in Yiddish) a rafé placed above the letter unambiguously denotes the fricative variant: בֿ = /v/, כֿ = /χ/ and פֿ = /f/. In Modern Hebrew orthography, the sound [p] at the end of a word is denoted by the regular form "פ", as opposed to the final form "ף", which always denotes [f] (see table of transliterations and transcriptions, comment[D]).
d^ However, וו (two separate vavs), used in Ktiv male, is to be distinguished from the Yiddish ligature װ (also two vavs but together as one character).
e1^ e2^ e3^ e4^ e5^ The Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both [v] and [w] be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav.[26] 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.
Explanatory footnotes
- ^ Possibly rooted from Ancient Egyptian ḏ or dj.
References
- Encyclopedia Britannica. "Square Hebrew became established in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce and developed into the modern Hebrew alphabet over the next 1,500 years."
- S2CID 219568845.
- ^ Gaash, Amir. "Colloquial Arabic written in Hebrew characters on Israeli websites by Druzes (and other non-Jews)." Jerusalem studies in Arabic and Islam 43 (2016): 15.
- ^ Shachmon, Ori, and Merav Mack. "Speaking Arabic, Writing Hebrew. Linguistic Transitions in Christian Arab Communities in Israel". Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, vol. 106, 2016, pp. 223–239. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26449346. Accessed 15 July 2021.
- ^ Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b–22a); Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a). Cf. Mishnah (Megillah 1:8): "The Books [of Scripture] differ from phylacteries and Mezuzahs only in that the Books may be written in any language, while phylacteries and Mezuzahs may be written in the Assyrian writing only." See: The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: London 1977, p. 202.
- ^ Naveh, Joseph (1987), "Proto-Canaanite, Archaic Greek, and the Script of the Aramaic Text on the Tell Fakhariyah Statue", in Miller; et al. (eds.), Ancient Israelite Religion.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-3972-5.
- ^ The Calendar Tablet from Gezer, Adam L Bean, Emmanual School of Religion Archived March 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Is it "Tenable"?", Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review Archived December 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Spelling in the Hebrew Bible: Dahood memorial lecture, By Francis I. Andersen, A. Dean Forbes, p56
- ^ Pardee, Dennis. "A Brief Case for the Language of the 'Gezer Calendar' as Phoenician". Linguistic Studies in Phoenician, ed. Robert D. Holmstedt and Aaron Schade. Winona Lake: 43.
- ISBN 978-1-58983-107-0.
- ^ Saénz-Badillos, Angel (1993). A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 16.
- ^ Saénz-Badillos, Angel (1993). A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 61–62.
- ISBN 978-0-521-55634-7.
- ^ a b c d "Hebrew" (character code chart). The Unicode Standard. Unicode, Inc.
- ^ a b Unicode names of Hebrew characters at fileformat.info.
- ^ Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. pp. 8, 22.
- ^ "The Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph-Bet)". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ Deuteronomy 7 1 (דברים פרק ז׳ פסוק א׳) in the word "מִמֶּךָּ" – see תנ״ך מנוקד, דברים פרק ז׳. There is a single occurrence of "ףּ", see this comment[D].
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Transliteration guidelines preceding 2006-update Archived 2011-11-16 at the Wayback Machine, p. 3 Academy of the Hebrew Language
- ISBN 978-965-493-401-5.
- ^ "Hebrew lessons for Christians".
- ^ Sirat, Colette (1976), Ecriture et civilisations, Paris: Editions du CNRS.
- ^ "Resources for New Testament Exegesis – Transliteration Standards of The SBL Handbook of Style".
- ^ a b c d e "Transliteration guidelines" (PDF). Academy of the Hebrew Language. November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2014.
- ^ 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
Bibliography
- Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §5 ff.
- 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
External links
General
- How to draw letters
- Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
- Unicode collation charts—including Hebrew letters, sorted by shape
Keyboards
- LiteType.com – Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard
- Mikledet.com – For typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew layout)
- Prize Find: Oldest Hebrew Inscription Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine Biblical Archaeology Review