Hebrew alphabet

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This article is about the alphabet derived from the Aramaic alphabet (CE 135 – present). For the original Hebrew alphabet derived from the Phoenician alphabet (10th century BCE – CE 135), see Paleo-Hebrew
alphabet. For the descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, see Samaritan alphabet. For the insect, see Hebrew character.

The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: ‫אָ לֶ ף־בֵּ ית ִע ְב ִרי‬,[a] Alefbet Ivri), known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language, also
adapted as an alphabet script in the writing of other Jewish languages, most notably in Yiddish (lit. "Jewish" for Judeo-German), Djudío (lit. "Jewish" for Judeo-Spanish), and Judeo-Arabic. Historically, there have been
two separate abjad scripts to write Hebrew. The original, old Hebrew script, is known as the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, which has been largely preserved, in a variant form, in the Samaritan alphabet. The present "Jewish
script" or "square script" to write Hebrew, on the contrary, is a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet and was known by Jewish sages as the Ashuri alphabet (lit. "Assyrian"), since its origins were alleged to be from
Assyria.[2] Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the Jewish script letters described in this article also exist, as well as a cursive form which has also varied over time and place, and today is
referred to as cursive Hebrew. In the remainder of this article, the term "Hebrew alphabet" refers to the Jewish square script unless otherwise indicated.

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. It does not have case, but 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, scribes later devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In
both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, the letters ‫ א ה ו י‬can 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 spellings.

The Arabic and Hebrew alphabets have similarities because they are both derived from the Aramaic alphabet.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Description
2.1 General
2.2 Vowels
2.3 Alphabet
3 Pronunciation
3.1 Alphabet
3.1.1 Shin and sin
3.1.2 Dagesh
3.1.3 Sounds represented with diacritic geresh
3.1.4 Identical pronunciation
3.1.5 Ancient Hebrew pronunciation
3.1.6 Regional and historical variation
3.2 Vowels
3.2.1 Matres lectionis
3.2.2 Vowel points
3.2.2.1 Meteg
3.2.2.2 Sh'va
3.2.2.3 Comparison table
3.3 Gershayim
4 Stylistic variants
4.1 Yiddish symbols
5 Numeric values of letters
6 Transliterations and transcriptions
7 Religious use
8 Mathematical use
9 Unicode and HTML
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 External links
14.1 General
14.2 Keyboards

History [ edit ]

Main article: History of the Hebrew alphabet

A distinct Hebrew variant of the Phoenician script, called by scholars the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, emerged around 800 BCE.[3] Examples of related early inscriptions
from the area include the tenth-century Gezer calendar, and the Siloam inscription (c. 700 BCE).[4]

The paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Following the exile of the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BCE during the
Babylonian captivity, Jews began using a form of the Assyrian Aramaic alphabet, which was another offshoot of the same family of scripts. The Samaritans, who Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
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),[5] 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.

Description [ edit ]

The Aleppo Codex, a tenth century Masoretic Text

General [ edit ] of the Hebrew Bible. Book of Joshua 1:1

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.
‫א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י‬
Vowels [ edit ]
‫כ ך ל מ ם נ ן ס ע פ‬
In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak consonants Aleph (‫)א‬, He (‫)ה‬, Vav (‫)ו‬, or Yodh (‫ )י‬serving as vowel letters, or matres lectionis: the letter is combined with a
‫ף צ ץ ק ר ש ת  •  ﭏ‬
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 Features: Abjad • Mater lectionis •
Begadkefat
weak letters acting as true vowels. Variants: Cursive • Rashi • Solitreo • Braille
Numerals: Gematria • Numeration
When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using certain letters, either with niqqud diacritics (e.g. ָ‫ א‬or ִ‫ )י‬or without (e.g. ‫ ע‬or ‫)י‬, except for Hebrew words, which in Yiddish Ancillaries: Diacritics • Punctuation •
Cantillation
are written in their Hebrew spelling. Translit.: Romanization of Hebrew •
Hebraization of English • IPA •
To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalization and diacritical symbols called nequdot (‫ניקודות‬, literally "applying points"). One of ISO
Computers:Keyboard • Unicode and HTML
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", 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 [ edit ]

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[6][7]). 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 He Vav Zayin Het Tet Yod Kaf

‫ג ב א‬ ‫ד‬ ‫ו ה‬ ‫י ט ח ז‬ ‫כ‬
‫ך‬
Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pe Tsadi Qof Resh Shin Tav

‫ל‬ ‫מ‬ ‫נ‬ ‫ס‬ ‫ע‬ ‫פ‬ ‫צ‬ ‫ת ש ר ק‬

‫ן ם‬ ‫ץ ף‬
Pronunciation [ edit ]

Alphabet [ edit ]
Main articles: Biblical Hebrew phonology, Modern Hebrew phonology, International Phonetic Alphabet for Hebrew, and Yiddish phonology

The descriptions that follow are based on the pronunciation of modern standard Israeli Hebrew.

Name of letter

letter IPA Modern Hebrew Yiddish / Ashkenazi

Unicode[6][7] Hebrew[8]
pronunciation pronunciation

‫א‬ [ʔ], ∅ Alef ‫אָ לֶ ף‬ /ˈalef/ /ˈaləf/

‫בּ‬ [b] ‫בֵּ ית‬ /bet/ /bɛɪs/, /bɛɪz/

Bet

‫ב‬ [v] ‫בֵ ית‬ /vet/ /vɛɪs/, /vɛɪz/

‫ג‬ [ɡ] Gimel ‫גִּ ימֵ ל‬ /ˈɡimel/ /ˈɡiməl/

‫ד‬ [d] Dalet ‫ָדּלֶ ת‬ /ˈdalet/, /ˈdaled/ /ˈdaləd/, /ˈdaləs/

‫ה‬ [h]~[ʔ], ∅ He ‫הֵ א‬ /he/, /hej/ /hɛɪ/

‫ו‬ [v], [w] Vav ‫וָו‬ /vav/ /vɔv/

‫ז‬ [z] Zayin ‫זַיִ ן‬ /ˈzajin/, /ˈza.in/ /ˈzajin/

‫ח‬ [x]~[χ] Het ‫חֵ ית‬ /χet/ /χɛs/

‫ט‬ [t] Tet ‫טֵ ית‬ /tet/ /tɛs/

‫י‬ [j] Yod ‫יד‬ /jod/, /jud/ /jud/

‫כּ‬ [k] ‫כַּ ף‬ /kaf/ /kɔf/

‫כ‬ [x]~[χ] ‫כַ ף‬ /χaf/ /χɔf/

Kaf

‫ךּ‬ [k] ‫כַּ ף ס ִפית‬ /kaf sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə kɔf/

‫ך‬ [x]~[χ] ‫כַ ף ס ִפית‬ /χaf sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə χɔf/

‫ל‬ [l] Lamed ‫לָ מֶ ד‬ /ˈlamed/ /ˈlaməd/

‫מ‬ ‫מֵ ם‬ /mem/ /mɛm/

[m] Mem

‫ם‬ ‫מֵ ם ס ִפית‬ /mem sofit/ /ˈʃlɔs mɛm/

‫נ‬ ‫נוּן‬ /nun/ /nun/

[n] Nun

‫ן‬ ‫נוּן ס ִפית‬ /nun sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə nun/

‫ס‬ [s] Samekh ְ‫סָ מֶ ך‬ /ˈsameχ/ /ˈsaməχ/

‫ע‬ [ʔ], ∅ Ayin ‫עַ יִ ן‬ /ˈajin/, /ˈa.in/ /ˈajin/

‫פּ‬ [p] ‫ פה‬,‫פֵּ א‬ /pe/, /pej/ /pɛɪ/

‫פ‬ Pe ‫ פה‬,‫פֵ א‬ /fe/, /fej/ /fɛɪ/

[f]

‫ף‬
,‫פֵּ א ס ִפית‬
/pe sofit/, /pej sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə fɛɪ/
‫פה סופית‬

‫צ‬ ‫ צדיק‬,‫צַ ִדי‬ /ˈtsadi/ /ˈtsadi/, /ˈtsadək/

[t͡s] Tsadi

‫ץ‬
,‫צַ ִדי ס ִפית‬
/ˈtsadi sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadik/, /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadək/
‫צדיק סופית‬

‫ק‬ [k] Qof ‫קף‬ /kuf/, /kof/ /kuf/

‫ר‬ [ɣ]~[ʁ] Resh ‫ֵרישׁ‬ /ʁeʃ/ /ʁɛɪʃ/

‫שׁ‬ [ʃ] ‫ִשׁין‬ /ʃin/ /ʃin/

Shin

‫שׂ‬ [s] ‫ִשׂין‬ /sin/ /sin/

‫תּ‬ ‫תּו‬ /tɔv/, /tɔf/

[t] Tav /tav/, /taf/

‫ת‬ ‫תו‬ /sɔv/, /sɔf/

Note that dotless tav, ‫ת‬, would be expected to be pronounced /θ/ (voiceless dental fricative), but this pronunciation was lost among most Jews due to its not existing in the countries where they lived (such as in nearly all
of Eastern Europe). Yiddish modified this /θ/ to /s/ (cf. seseo in Spanish), but in modern Israeli Hebrew, it is simply pronounced /t/.

Shin and sin [ edit ]

Further information: Shin (letter)

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

‫( שׁ‬right dot) shin sh /ʃ/ shop

‫( שׂ‬left 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 (‫( )בֹּשֶׂ ם‬the ls - '‫ )'שׂ‬as is evident in the Targum Onkelos.[citation needed]

Dagesh [ edit ]
Main article: Dagesh

Historically, the consonants ‫ ב‬beth, ‫ ג‬gimel, ‫ ד‬daleth, ‫ כ‬kaf, ‫ פ‬pe and ‫ ת‬tav 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 ‫ ב‬beth, ‫ כ‬kaf, and
‫ פ‬pe, and does not affect the name of the letter. The differences are as follows:

With dagesh Without dagesh

Name
Symbol Transliteration IPA Example Symbol Transliteration IPA Example

beth ‫בּ‬ b /b/ bun ‫ב‬ v /v/ van

kaf [9] ‫כּךּ‬ k /k/ kangaroo ‫כך‬ kh/ch/x /χ/ loch

pe ‫פּףּ‬ p /p/ pass ‫פף‬ f/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, 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 [ edit ]

Main articles: Geresh and Hebraization of English

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 apostrophe-
looking symbol 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[10] ǧáḥnun [ˈd͡ʒaχnun] ‫ַ׳חנוּן‬

ְ ‫גּ‬

Zayin with a geresh ‫ז׳‬ [ʒ] ž[10] koláž [koˈlaʒ] ‫ק לַ אז׳‬

Tsadi with a geresh ‫צ׳‬ [t͡ʃ] č[10] čupár (treat) [t͡ʃuˈpar] ‫צ׳וּפָּ ר‬

‫ וו‬or ‫ו׳‬
Vav with a geresh
(non standard)[]
[w] w awánta (boastful act) [aˈwanta] ‫אַ וַּנְ טַ ה‬
or double Vav

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

Arabic
Name Symbol IPA Example Comment
letter
Dalet Dhū al-
‫ד׳‬ Dhāl (‫)ذ‬ ‫ * ד׳ו‬Also used for English voiced th
with a [ð] Ḥijjah (‫ذو‬
Voiced th ‫חיג׳ה‬-‫ * אל‬Often a simple ‫ ד‬is written.
geresh ‫)اﻟﺣﺟﺔ‬
Tav with Thāʼ (‫)ث‬
a ‫ת׳‬ [θ] Voiceless Thurston ‫ת׳רסטון‬
geresh th

Ḥet with * 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
a ‫ח׳‬ [χ] Khāʼ (‫)خ‬
Sheikh
(‫)ﺷﯾﺦ‬
‫ שייח׳‬transliteration must distinguish between [χ] and [ħ], in which case ‫ ח׳‬transliterates the former and ‫ ח‬the latter, whereas in everyday usage ‫ ח‬without geresh
geresh is pronounced [ħ] only dialectically but [χ] commonly.

Resh ‫ ר׳‬or Ghayn Ghajar

with a [ʁ] ‫ ר׳ג׳ר‬Sometimes an ʻayin with a geresh (‫ )ע׳‬is used to transliterate ‫ – غ‬inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language
‫ע׳‬
(‫)غ‬ (‫)ﻏﺟر‬
geresh

A geresh is also used to denote acronyms pronounced as a string of letters, 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.

Identical pronunciation [ edit ]

In Israel's general population, many letters have the same pronunciation. They are as follows:

Letters Transliteration Pronunciation (IPA)

Usually when in medial word position:
/./
not
(separation of vowels in a hiatus)

‫א‬ ‫ע‬ transliterated

When in initial or final word position, sometimes also in medial word position:
silent
Alef* Ayin*
alternatingly
/ʔ/
' or ’
(glottal stop)

‫ב‬ ‫ו‬ v /v/

Bet (without dagesh) Vet Vav

‫ח‬ ‫כ‬ kh/ch/h /χ/

Kaf (without dagesh)
Het
Khaf

‫ט‬ ‫תּ‬ t /t/

Tet Tav

‫כּ‬ ‫ק‬ k /k/

Kaf (with dagesh) Qof

‫ס‬ ‫שׂ‬ s /s/

Samekh Sin (with left dot)

‫צ‬ ‫תס‬ and ‫תשׂ‬ ts/tz /ts/

Tsadi* Tav-Samekh* Tav-Sin*

‫צ׳‬ ‫טשׁ‬ and ‫תשׁ‬ ch/tsh (chair) /tʃ/

Tsadi (with geresh) Tet-Shin* Tav-Shin*

* Varyingly

Ancient Hebrew pronunciation [ edit ]

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. ‫ ר‬resh may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReT. (Sefer
Yetzirah, 4:1)

‫ ח‬chet and ‫ ע‬ayin represented pharyngeal fricatives, ‫ צ‬tsadi represented the emphatic consonant /sˤ/, ‫ ט‬tet represented the emphatic consonant /tˤ/, and ‫ ק‬qof represented the uvular plosive /q/. All these are
common Semitic consonants.
‫ שׂ‬sin (the /s/ variant of ‫ ש‬shin) was originally different from both ‫ שׁ‬shin and ‫ ס‬samekh, but had become /s/ the same as ‫ ס‬samekh 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 [ edit ]

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, ‫ כ‬and ‫ פ‬in modern Hebrew (in some
forms of Hebrew it modifies also the sounds of the letters ‫ג‬, ‫ ד‬and/or ‫ ;ת‬the "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).

Pronunciation
(ancient, pure, proper, liturgical [religiously written and read on religious texts])
(modern, casual, younger, widely
*(the only surviving dialect still in use today is the Yemenite dialect and has distinction to Arabic in maintaining the pure forms of pronunciation as the Hebrew pronunciation has
spoken to modern Hebrew)
been modified and simplified through time - which has been lost)

Reconstructed Arabic Equivalent

Symbol
(very distinctive to Yemenite dialect - old spoken form of
Hebrew)
Israeli Ashkenazi Sephardi Yemenite* English equivalent to classical Hebrew
Tiberian Mishnaic Biblical Letter
in Letter in English
Arabic

‫א‬ [ʔ, -] [-] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ, -] [ʔ] camp ‫ ا‬,‫أ‬ 'alīf, 'alīf hamzah

‫בּ‬ [b] [b] [b] [b] [b] [b] rib ‫ب‬ bā'
[b]
‫ב‬ [v] [v~v̥] [b~β~v] [β] [v] [β] write, white ‫ؤ‬ wāw hamzah

‫גּ‬ [ɡ] [dʒ] [ɡ] [ɡ] give; gym (Yemenite dialect: like the distinctive "j" in Arabic) ‫ج‬ jīm
[ɡ] [ɡ~ɡ̊] [ɡ]
‫ג‬ [ɡ~ɣ] [ɣ] [ɣ] [ɣ] ghost, grass ‫غ‬ ghayn

‫דּ‬ [d̪~ð] [d̪] [d̪] [d̪] dip ‫د‬ dāl

[d] [d~d̥] [d̪]
‫ד‬ [d̪~ð] [ð] [ð] [ð] adze, that ‫ذ‬ ḏāl

[h~ʔ,
‫ה‬ -]
[h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h, -] [h] hat ‫ه‬ hā’

‫ו‬ [v] [v~v̥] [v] [w] [w] [w] [w] woven ‫و‬ wāw

moon

‫וּ‬ [u] [uː, iː] [uː] [əw] ? ? ? (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic long vowel: ‫ـُو‬ ḍammah wāw
ḍammah wāw)

[əʊ, ɔj, ɛj, fatḥah wāw

moan (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic long vowel:
‫וֹ‬ [o̞]
ɐʊ]
[o] [œ] ? ? ?
fatḥah wāw, however, less aspirated and pronounced like Arabic)
‫ـَو‬
(not as heavy as in Arabic)

‫ז‬ [z] [z~z̥] [z] [z] [z] [z] [z] zebra ‫ز‬ zayn / zāy

‫ח‬ [x~χ] [x] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ] [ħ, χ] heart, heap ‫ح‬ ḥā’

‫ט‬ [t] [t] [t̪] [t̴̪] (1) [t̴̪] [t̪ˤ] (2) [t̪ʼ] (3) batter ‫ط‬ ṭā’

‫י‬ [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] [j] yacht ‫ي‬ yā’

pit, jew (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic letter: yā’
‫ִי‬ [i] [i] [i] [i] ? ? ?
hamzah)
‫ئ‬ yā’ hamzah

‫כּ‬ [k] [k] [k] [k] [k] [k] calf, cap ‫ك‬ kāf
[k]
‫כך‬ [x~χ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] psyche ‫خ‬ khā’

‫ל‬ [l] [l~ɫ] [l] [l] [l] [l] [l] lamp ‫ل‬ lām

‫מ‬
[m] [m] [m] [m] [m] [m] [m] mimosa ‫م‬ mīm
‫ם‬
nun

‫נן‬ [n] [n] [n̪] [n̪] [n̪] [n̪] [n̪] (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic nasalized letter: ‫ن‬ nūn
nūn)

sīn
adze, that (origin of samekh may be similar to the Ancient ‫ض‬/
‫ס‬ [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] Egyptian "dj" (IPA: ḏ) - possibly like the distinctive Arabic letter:
‫س‬
(the only non-native letter in Arabic which
ḍād) does not exist – rendered closest to sīn)

art
‫ע‬ [ʔ, - ] [-] [ʕ, ŋ, - ] [ʕ] [ʕ] [ʕ] [ʕ, ʁ]
(aka "heavy long stop"; similar to hamzah)
‫ع‬ ‘ayn

‫פּ‬ [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] pen - non-native letter in Arabic
[p]
‫פף‬ [f] [f] [f] [f] [f] [ɸ] far, sipher (Biblical Hebrew) ‫ف‬ fā’

[sʼ, ɬʼ,
‫צץ‬ [t͡s] [t͡s] [t͡s] [s̴] (1) [s̴] [sˤ] (2)
θʼ] (3)
hassle, sap ‫ص‬ ṣād

[ɡ], [ɢ], queen, picker (all classical dialects like the distinctive Arabic
‫ק‬ [k] [k] [k]
[q]
[q] [q] [kʼ] (3)
letter: qāf)
‫ق‬ qāf

‫ר‬ [ɣ~ʁ] [ɹ]~[ʀ] [r]~[ɾ] [r]~[ɾ] [ʀ] [r] [r] rap; wrap (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic letter: rā’) ‫ر‬ rā’

‫שׁ‬ [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] [ʃ] shin ‫ش‬ shīn

‫שׂ‬ [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [s] [ɬ] sin ‫س‬ sīn

‫תּ‬ [t] [t̪] [t̪] [t̪] torn ‫ت‬ tā’

[t] [t] [t̪]
torn; think (Yemenite dialect - like the distinctive Arabic letter:
‫ת‬ [s] [θ] [θ] [θ]
thā’)
‫ث‬ thā’

1. velarized or pharyngealized
2. pharyngealized
3. sometimes said to be ejective but more likely glottalized.

Vowels [ edit ]

Matres lectionis [ edit ]

Main article: Mater lectionis

‫ א‬alef, ‫ ע‬ayin, ‫ ו‬vav and ‫ י‬yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be, respectively, /ʔ/, /ʔ/, /v/ and /j/). When they do, ‫ ו‬and ‫ י‬are 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 ‫ א‬and ‫ ע‬are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.

Consonant
Name indicated Vowel Name of Indicated
Letter
of letter when letter designation vowel designation Vowel
consonantal

‫א‬ alef /ʔ/ — — ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô

‫ע‬ ayin /ʔ/ — — ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô

ḥolám malé ô

‫ו‬ vav /v/

‫וּ‬ shurúq û

‫ִי‬ ḥiríq malé î

‫י‬ yud /j/

‫ֵי‬ tseré malé ê, ệ

Vowel points [ edit ]

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:

Israeli Hebrew
Name Symbol Written Position English
IPA Transliteration
example

Hiriq vowel written below consonant [i] i week

[e̞], ([e̞j] with

Zeire vowel written below consonant eh (precise pronunciation); ei (imprecise due to modern pronunciation, even if with succeeding yod – see Note 2) man, main
succeeding yod)

Segol vowel written below consonant [e̞] e men

Patach vowel written below consonant [ä] a camp

Kamatz ָ‫ס‬ vowel written below consonant [ä], (or [o̞]) ah, (or oh) father, more

Holam Haser vowel written above consonant

[o̞] o home
Holam Male isolated vowel written on its own

Shuruk isolated vowel written on its own

[u] u moon
Kubutz vowel written below consonant

Note 1: The symbol "‫ "ס‬represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.

Note 2: The pronunciation of zeire 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.[11]
Note 3: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different functions, even though they look the same.
Note 4: The letter ‫( ו‬vav) is used since it can only be represented by that letter.

Meteg [ edit ]
Main article: 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 [ edit ]
Main article: 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. ‫ ְו‬wè to "w")

Israeli Hebrew
Name Symbol English
IPA Transliteration
example
[e̞] or apostrophe, e, deuce (the "e" not aspirated or pronounced as if it is almost silent) - when placed on the first letter of the word but in the medial or final position, it makes the letter
Shva
∅ or silent (consonant or vowel) silent
Reduced
[e̞] e men
Segol
Reduced
[ä] a father
Patach

‫ס‬
ֳ
Reduced
[o̞] o more
Kamatz

Comparison table [ edit ]

Vowel comparison table [12]

Vowel length
English
(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew) IPA Transliteration
example
Long Short Very Short

ָ ַ ֲ [ä] a far

ֵ ֶ ֱ [e̞] e men

[o̞] o more

‫וּ‬ ֻ [u] u soon

‫ִי‬ ִ [i] i ski

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.
The short o is usually promoted to a long o
Note III:
in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation
The short u is usually promoted to a long u
Note IV:
in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation

Gershayim [ edit ]
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, e.g. ‫ר״ת‬. Gershayim is also the name of a note of
cantillation in the reading of the Torah, printed above the accented letter, e.g. ֞‫א‬.

Stylistic variants [ edit ]

Further information: Cursive Hebrew, Rashi script, Ashuri alphabet, and History of the Hebrew alphabet

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 Variants
name Contemporary Early modern Ancestral
(Unicode) 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 ‫ו‬ ‫ו‬ 𐤅
Zayin ‫ז‬ ‫ז‬ 𐤆
Het ‫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 [ edit ]

Symbol Explanation

‫װױ‬ These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew, aside from in loan words[d].
‫ײײַ‬
The rafe (‫ )רפה‬diacritic 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
‫בֿ‬ 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 [ edit ]

Main article: Hebrew numerals

Following the adoption of Greek Hellenistic alphabetic numeration practice, Hebrew letters started being used to denote numbers in the late 2nd century BC,[13] 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 ב׳‬,‫" – שלב א׳‬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
The lower clock on the Jewish Town Hall
‫ז‬ 7 ‫ע‬ 70 building in Prague, with Hebrew numerals in
counterclockwise order.
‫ח‬ 8 ‫פ‬ 80

‫ט‬ 9 ‫צ‬ 90

The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 are commonly represented by the juxtapositions ‫ת״ק‬, ‫ת״ר‬, ‫ת״ש‬, ‫ת״ת‬, and ‫ תת״ק‬respectively. Adding a geresh ("‫ )"׳‬to a letter multiplies its value by one thousand, for example, the
year 5778 is portrayed as ‫ה׳תשע״ח‬, where ‫ ה‬represents 5000, and ‫ תשע״ח‬represents 778.

Transliterations and transcriptions [ edit ]

Main articles: Romanization of Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew orthography, Yiddish, and Yiddish orthography

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: SBL's transliteration system, recommended in its Handbook of Style,[14] differs slightly from the 2006 precise transliteration system of the Academy of the Hebrew Language; for "‫ "צ‬SBL uses "ṣ" (≠ AHL "ẓ"), and for
‫ בג״ד כפ״ת‬with no dagesh, SBL uses the same symbols as for with dagesh (i.e. "b", "g", "d", "k", "f", "t").

CLICK "SHOW" TO VIEW EXTENDED TABLE INCLUDING EXAMPLES. [SHOW]

Standard standard
Israeli Israeli IPA phonemic IPA phonetic
Hebrew letter [hide]
transliteration transliteration transcription transcription
– regular[15] – precise[15]

‫א‬
consonantal, in none[A1] [ʔ]
initial word
positions

‫א‬
consonantal, in ' ʾ /ʔ/
non initial word
positions

‫א‬ none[A2]
silent

‫בּ‬ b

‫ב‬ v

‫גּ‬ g
g
‫ג‬ ḡ

‫ג׳‬ ǧ[B1][10] /d͡ʒ/

‫דּ‬ d
d
‫ד‬ ḏ

‫ה‬ h
consonantal

‫ה‬ none[A3]
silent

‫ו‬ v w
consonantal

‫וּ‬ u

‫וֹ‬ o [o̞] or [ɔ̝]

‫ז‬ z

‫ז׳‬ ž[B2][10] /ʒ/

/x/ or /χ/ [χ]

‫ח‬ ẖ[C1] ḥ dialectical

[ħ]

‫ט‬ t ṭ

‫י‬ y /j/
consonantal

‫י‬ i
part of hirik male
(/i/ vowel)

‫י‬
part of tsere male e é /e/ or /ej/ [e̞] or [e̞j]/
(/e/ vowel or
/ei/ diphthong)

[9] ‫ ךּ‬,‫כּ‬ k

‫ ך‬,‫כ‬ kh[C2] ḵ /x/ or /χ/ [χ]

‫ל‬ l

‫ ם‬,‫מ‬ m

‫ ן‬,‫נ‬ n

‫ס‬ s

only in initial
word position
‫ע‬ none[A4] ʿ [ʔ]
in initial or final
word positions dialectical
/ʕ/
/ʔ/
‫ע‬ ' ʿ dialectical
in medial
word positions /ʕ/
[D] ‫פּ‬ p

‫ ף‬,‫פ‬ f

‫ ץ‬,‫צ‬ ts ẓ /t͡s/

‫ ץ׳‬,‫צ׳‬ č[B3][10] /t͡ʃ/

‫ק‬ k q

[ʀ] or [ʁ]

‫ר‬ r dialectical
[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 ‫( ע‬in regular transliteration), silent or initial ‫א‬, and silent ‫ ה‬are 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 ‫"( ִאם‬if", [ʔim]), ‫אֵ ם‬
("mother", [ʔe̞m]) and ‫"( אֹ ם‬nut", [ʔo̞m]), the letter ‫ א‬always 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 ‫ א‬in 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 (‫ ת׳‬,‫ ר׳‬,‫ ע׳‬,‫ ט׳‬,‫ ח׳‬,‫)ד׳‬, 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 "‫[ "וו‬e1] 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: ". ָ‫ָבתּ‬
ְ ‫וְ נִ ְכז‬ ‫יח ְבּ‬
ַ ‫י ִכ‬-‫ פֶּ ן‬:‫דּבָ ָריו‬-‫ל‬
ְ ַ‫תּ ְס ְףּ ע‬-‫)"אַ ל‬, 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. ‫ ִפ ִיליפּ‬/ˈfilip/ "Philip") and some slang (e.g. ‫ חָ ַרפּ‬/χaˈrap/ "slept deeply").

Religious use [ edit ]

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
provenance 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]");[16] 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.[17]

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.[18][19]

Another book, the 13th-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.[20] 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".[20]

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):
The four-pronged Shin
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.

Mathematical use [ edit ]

See aleph number and beth number and gimel function.

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) notation marks the ordered
sequence of all distinct infinite cardinal numbers.

Less frequently used, the (beth) notation is used for the iterated power sets of . The 2nd element is the cardinality of the continuum. Very occasionally, gimel is used in cardinal notation.

Unicode and HTML [ edit ]

Main articles: Unicode and HTML for the Hebrew alphabet and Hebrew keyboard

The Unicode Hebrew block extends from U+0590 to U+05FF and from U+FB1D to U+FB4F. It includes letters, ligatures, combining diacritical marks (Niqqud and cantillation
marks) and punctuation.[6] 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.
An example of a Hebrew keyboard.
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 [ edit ]

Hebrew braille
Hebrew diacritics
Hebrew punctuation
Help:Hebrew
Inverted nun
Koren Type
Significance of numbers of Judaism

Notes [ edit ]

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, ‫ בי״ת‬,‫ כ״ף‬and ‫ פ״א‬can 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.[9] In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible. In Modern Hebrew this restriction is not absolute, e.g. ‫יקאי‬
ַ ִ‫ ִפיז‬/fiziˈkaj/ and never /piziˈkaj/ (= "physicist"), ‫ ְסנוֹבּ‬/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, ‫( וו‬two separate vavs), used in Ktiv male, is to be distinguished from the Yiddish ligature ‫( װ‬also 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.[21] 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.

References [ edit ]

1. ^ "Hebrew alphabet ." Encyclopedia Britannica. "Square Hebrew 6. ^ a b c Chart of Hebrew glyphs at unicode.org 14. ^ Resources for New Testament Exegesis – Transliteration Standards of
became established in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce and developed into 7. ^ a b Unicode names of Hebrew characters at fileformat.info . The SBL Handbook of Style
the modern Hebrew alphabet over the next 1,500 years." 8. ^ Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. pp. 8, 22. 15. ^ a b c d Transliteration guidelines Archived 2014-07-03 at the
2. ^ Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b–22a); Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 9. ^ a b c d "‫ "ךּ‬is rare but exists, e.g. last word in Deuteronomy 7 1 (‫דברים‬ Wayback Machine. by the Academy of the Hebrew Language,
10a). Cf. Mishnah (Megillah 1:8): "The Books [of Scripture] differ from ‫ )פרק ז׳ פסוק א׳‬in the word " ָ‫ – " ִממֶּ ךּ‬see ‫ דברים פרק ז׳‬,‫תנ״ך מנוקד‬ . There November 2006
phylacteries and Mezuzahs only in that the Books may be written in any is a single occurrence of "‫"ףּ‬, see this comment[D]. 16. ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 21b
language, while phylacteries and Mezuzahs may be written in the 10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Transliteration guidelines preceding 2006-update 17. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Pesach 87b, Avodah Zarah 18a.
Assyrian writing only." See: The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford Archived 2011-11-16 at the Wayback Machine., p. 3 Academy of the 18. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55c
University Press: London 1977, p. 202. Hebrew Language 19. ^ Zohar 1:3; 2:152
3. ^ Saénz-Badillos, Angel (1993). A History of the Hebrew Language. 20. ^ a b The Book of Letters. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights
11. ^ Laufer, Asher (2008). Chapters in Phonetics and Phonetic
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 16. Publishing, Woodstock. 1990
Transcription. Jerusalem: Magnes. pp. 207–211. ISBN 978-965-493-
4. ^ Saénz-Badillos, Angel (1993). A History of the Hebrew Language. 401-5. 21. ^ "Transliteration Rules" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 61–62. 2014-07-03. issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
12. ^ Hebrew lessons for Christians
5. ^ A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
13. ^ Sirat, Colette (1976), Ecriture et civilisations, Paris: Editions du CNRS.
University Press. 1993. ISBN 0-521-55634-1.

Bibliography [ edit ]

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
Hebrew Alphabet Guide

External links [ edit ]

General [ edit ]

How to draw letters

Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
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Keyboards [ edit ]

LiteType.com – Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard

Mikledet.com – For typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew layout)
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