Hebrew alphabet: Difference between revisions
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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In its traditional usage in [[Hebrew]] (as opposed to [[Yiddish]] and to some extent modern [[Israeli Hebrew]]), the Hebrew alphabet is an [[abjad]]: [[vowel]]s are normally not indicated. Where they are, it is because a weak [[consonant]] such as {{hebrew|א}} ''aleph'', {{hebrew|ה}} ''hey'', {{hebrew|ו}} ''vav'', or {{hebrew|י}} ''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]], |
In its traditional usage in [[Hebrew]] (as opposed to [[Yiddish]] and to some extent modern [[Israeli Hebrew]]), the Hebrew alphabet is an [[abjad]]: [[vowel]]s are normally not indicated. Where they are, it is because a weak [[consonant]] such as {{hebrew|א}} ''aleph'', {{hebrew|ה}} ''hey'', {{hebrew|ו}} ''vav'', or {{hebrew|י}} ''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: "אָ", "יִ" or "י", "ע", see [[Yiddish orthography]]), except for Hebrew words, which in Yiddish are written in their Hebrew spelling. |
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To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalisation and diacritical symbols called ''[[niqqud]]'' ({{hebrew|ניקוד}}, literally "applying points"). One of these, the [[Tiberian vocalization|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 [[Bible|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 shoreshim, or [[triliteral root]]s) 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. |
To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalisation and diacritical symbols called ''[[niqqud]]'' ({{hebrew|ניקוד}}, literally "applying points"). One of these, the [[Tiberian vocalization|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 [[Bible|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 shoreshim, or [[triliteral root]]s) 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. |
Revision as of 20:38, 21 March 2009
Hebrew alphabet | |
---|---|
Script type | (sometimes used as an alphabet)[citation needed] |
Time period | 3rd century BCE to present |
Direction | Right-to-left script |
Languages | Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic (see Jewish languages) |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Nabataean Syriac Palmyrenean Mandaic Brāhmī Pahlavi Sogdian |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Hebr (125), Hebrew |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hebrew |
U+0590 to U+05FF, U+FB1D to U+FB40 | |
The Hebrew alphabet (aleph-bet) (Alef Beis) (Template:Lang-he-n,[1] alephbet ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language and, in mildly adapted forms, for writing several languages of the Jewish diaspora, most famously Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic (for a full and detailed list, see Jewish languages). Five of these letters have a different form when appearing as the last letter in a word. Hebrew is written from right to left.
The Hebrew word for "alphabet" is אלפבית (alephbet), named after the first two letters of the Greek (and Hebrew) alphabet (Alpha/aleph, Beta). The Hebrew alphabet is an abjad, having letters only for consonants, but means were later devised to indicate vowels by separate vowel points or niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew, the consonant letters אהוי are used as matres lectionis to represent vowels.
The number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, their order, their names, and their phonetic values are virtually identical to those of the Aramaic alphabet, as both Hebrews and Arameans borrowed the Phoenician alphabet for their uses during the end of the 2nd millennium BCE.
According to contemporary scholars[2], the modern script used for writing Hebrew (usually called the Jewish script by scholars, and also traditionally known as the square script, block script, or Assyrian script — not to be confused with the Eastern variant of the Syriac alphabet) evolved during the 3rd century BCE from the Aramaic script, which had been used by Jews for writing Hebrew since the 6th century BCE, retaining the old script only for the Name of God. Prior to that, Hebrew was written using the old Hebrew script, which evolved during the 10th century BCE from the Phoenician script; the Samaritans still write Hebrew in a variant of this script for religious works (see Samaritan alphabet). For other opinions, see below.
History
According 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 around the 10th century BCE[3] [verification needed] a distinct Hebrew variant, the original "Hebrew script", emerged, which was widely used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah until they fell in the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, respectively. It is not straightforward, however, to distinguish Israelite/Judahite 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 Hebrew script, and instead adopted the Aramaic script (another offshoot of the same family of scripts). This script, as used for writing Hebrew, later evolved into the Jewish, or "square" script, that is still used today. 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 down the languages of the Jewish diaspora (Karaim, Judæo-Arabic, Ladino, Yiddish, etc.). The Hebrew alphabet was retained as the alphabet used for writing down the Hebrew language during its rebirth in the 18th to 19th century.
Description
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 Template:Hebrew aleph, Template:Hebrew hey, Template:Hebrew vav, or Template:Hebrew 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: "אָ", "יִ" or "י", "ע", 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 (Template:Hebrew, 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 shoreshim, 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. סופית, meaning in this case "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in the Arabic and Mandaic alphabets.[4] As can be seen in the tables given here, only five letters have a sofit form: ך → כ (kaph and khaph), ם → מ (mem), נ → ן (nun), ף → פ (pe and phe), ץ → צ (tsadi or tsade).[5]These are shown below the normal form, in the following table.
Alef | Bet | Gimel | Dalet | He | Vav | Zayin | Het | Tet | Yod | Kaf |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
א | ב | ג | ד | ה | ו | ז | ח | ט | י | כ |
ך | ||||||||||
Lamed | Mem | Nun | Samekh | Ayin | Pe | Tsadi | Qof | Resh | Shin | Tav |
ל | מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת |
ם | ן | ף | ץ |
Note: The chart reads from right to left.
Hebrew letters may also be used as numbers; see the entry on Hebrew numerals. This use of letters as numbers is common in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a practice known as gematria, as well as in the Hebrew calendar.
Pronunciation of Letter Names
letter | Name of letter | Established pronunciation in English[6] |
standard Israeli pronunciation |
colloquial Israeli pronunciation (if differing) |
Yiddish / Ashkenazi pronunciation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AHD[6] | Unicode | |||||
א | Aleph | Alef | /'ɑlɛf/ | /'alef/ | /alef/ | |
ב | Beth | Bet | /bɛt/ | /bet/ | /beis/, /veis/ | |
ג | Gimel | Gimel | /'gɪməl/ | /'gimel/ | /gimmel/ | |
ד | Daleth | Dalet | /'dɑlɪd/, /'dɑlɛt/, /'dɑlɛθ/ | /'dalet/ | /'daled/ | /daled/ |
ה | He | He | /heɪ/ | /he/ | /hej/ | /hei/ |
ו | Vav | Vav | /vɑv/, /vɔːv/ | /vav/ | /vov/, /vof/ | |
ז | Zayin | Zayin | /'zɑjɪn/ | /'zajin/ | /'zain/ | /zajin/ |
ח | Heth | Het | /xɛt/, /xɛs/ | /ħet/ | /χet/ | /xes/ |
ט | Teth | Tet | /tɛt/, /tɛs/ | /tet/ | /tes/ | |
י | Yodh | Yod | /juːd/, /jɔːd/ | /jod/ | /jud/ | /jud/ |
כ | Kaph | Kaf | /kɑf/, /kɔːf/ | /kaf/ | /kof/, /xof/ | |
ך | Final Kaf | /kaf sofit/ | ||||
ל | Lamedh | Lamed | /'lɑmɪd/, /'lɑmɛd/ | /'lamed/ | /lomed/ | |
מ | Mem | Mem | /mɛm/ | /mem/ | /mem/ | |
ם | Final Mem | /mem sofit/ | ||||
נ | Nun | Nun | /nuːn/ | /nun/ | /nun/ | |
ן | Final Nun | /nun sofit/ | ||||
ס | Samekh | Samekh | /'sɑmɛk/, /'sɑməx/ | /'sameχ/ | /somex/ | |
ע | Ayin | Ayin | /aɪɪn/ | /'ʕajin/ | /'ain/ | /ajin/, /ojin/ |
פ | Pe | Pe | /peɪ/ | /pe/ | /pej/ | /pei/, /fei/ |
ף | Final Pe | /pe sofit/ | /pej sofit/ | |||
צ | Tsade or Sadhe |
Tsadi | /'tsɑdə/, /'tsɑdiː/, /'sɑdə/, /'sɑdiː/ |
/'ʦadi/ | /'ʦadik/ | /tsodi/, /tsodik/ |
ץ | Final Tsadi | /'ʦadi sofit/ | /'ʦadik sofit/ | |||
ק | Qoph | Qof | /kɔːf/ | /kof/ | /kuf/ | /kuf/ |
ר | Resh | Resh | /rɛʃ/ | /reʃ/ | /rejʃ/ | /reiʃ/ |
ש | Shin | Shin | /ʃiːn/, /ʃɪn/ | /ʃin/ | /ʃin, sin/ | |
ת | Tav | Tav | /tɑf/, /tɔːf/ | /tav/ | /taf/ | /tov/, /tof/ /sov/, /sof/ |
Letter variants and values
The following table is a breakdown of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet, showing the letter, its name, its numerical value, and its transliteration for English. There are five letters with a second, "final form", used at the end of words, represented below on the right-hand side of the letter's column. For additional ancestral scripts, see History of the Hebrew alphabet → Ancestral scripts and script variants
Symbol | Israeli Transliteration |
Numerical Value |
Scripts | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hebrew | Ancestral | |||||||||
Cursive | Rashi | Phoenician | Paleo-Hebrew | Aramaic | ||||||
א | ' (1) | 1 | ||||||||
ב | b, v | 2 | ||||||||
ג | g | 3 | ||||||||
ד | d | 4 | ||||||||
ה | h (2) | 5 | ||||||||
ו | v | 6 | ||||||||
ז | z | 7 | ||||||||
ח | kh (or ch/h) (3) | 8 | ||||||||
ט | t | 9 | ||||||||
י | j (4) | 10 | ||||||||
כ | ך | k, kh (or ch) | 20 | |||||||
ל | l | 30 | ||||||||
מ | ם | m | 40 | |||||||
נ | ן | n | 50 | |||||||
ס | s | 60 | ||||||||
ע | ' (1) | 70 | ||||||||
פ | ף | p, f | 80 | |||||||
צ | ץ | ts (or tz/z) | 90 | , | ||||||
ק | k (or q) | 100 | ||||||||
ר | r | 200 | ||||||||
ש | sh, s | 300 | ||||||||
ת | t | 400 |
Notes
- Ayin and Consonantal Aleph are always transcribed except when in initial and final word positions[7]
- unwritten in final positions
- "h" initial or after consonants, "ch" everywhere else
- "i" in final positions or before consonants
Yiddish symbols
Symbol | Explanation |
---|---|
Template:Hebrew | These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew[8]. See: Yiddish orthography. |
Template:Hebrew | The rafe (Template:Hebrew) 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. |
Pronunciation
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 | א | בּ | ב | ג | גּ | ג׳ | ד | דּ | ד׳ | ה | ו | וּ | וֹ | וו) , ו׳) | ז | ז׳ | ח | ט | י |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | [ʔ] | [b] | [v] | [g] | [ʤ] | [d] | [ð] | [h~ʔ, -] | [v] | [uː] | [oː] | [w] (non-standard)[9] | [z] | [ʒ] | [x] | [t] | [j] | ||
Letters | ִי | כּ ךּ | ך כ | ל | ם מ | ן נ | ס | ע | פּ | פ ף | ץ צ | ץ׳ צ׳ | ק | ר | שׁ | שׂ | תּ | ת | ת׳ |
IPA | [i] | [k] | [χ] | [l] | [m] | [n] | [s] | [ʔ~ʕ, - ] | [p] | [f] | [ʦ] | [tʃ] | [k] | [ʁ] | [ʃ] | [s] | [t] | [θ] |
Shin and sin
Shin and sin are represented by the same letter, Template:Hebrew, 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.
Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
Template:Hebrew (left dot) | sin | s | /s/ | sour |
Template:Hebrew (right dot) | shin | sh | /ʃ/ | shop |
Dagesh
Historically, the consonants Template:Hebrew bet,beis, Template:Hebrew gimel, Template:Hebrew dalet, Template:Hebrew kaf,kof, Template:Hebrew pe,pey, and Template:Hebrew 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 (Template:Hebrew), while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In modern Hebrew, however, the dagesh only changes the pronunciation of Template:Hebrew bet, Template:Hebrew kaf, Template:Hebrew pe, and Template:Hebrew tav (tav only changes in Ashkenazi (sof) and Yemenite pronunciations).
With dagesh | Without dagesh | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example | Symbol | Name | Transliteration | IPA | Example |
Template:Hebrew | bet | b | /b/ | bun | Template:Hebrew | vet | v | /v/ | van |
[10]Template:Hebrew | kaph | k | /k/ | kangaroo | Template:Hebrew | khaph | kh/ch/k | /χ/ | loch |
Template:Hebrew | pe | p | /p/ | pass | Template:Hebrew | phe | ph/f | /f/ | find |
Template:Hebrew | tav | t | /t/ | talent | Template:Hebrew | sav* | s | /s/ | sorry |
* Only in Ashkenazi pronunciations. In Israeli Hebrew, it is always a tav, with a /t/ sound.
** The letters gimmel (ג) and dalet (ד) 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 (ת) with or without a dagesh.
Identical pronunciation
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. |
In Israel's general population, many consonants have the same pronunciation. They are:
Letters | Transliteration | Pronunciation (IPA) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Template:Hebrew aleph* |
Template:Hebrew ayin* |
- | /ʔ/ | ||
Template:Hebrew vet (without dagesh) |
Template:Hebrew vav |
v | /v/ | ||
Template:Hebrew chet |
Template:Hebrew khaph (without dagesh) |
kh/ch/h | /χ/ | ||
Template:Hebrew tet |
Template:Hebrew tav |
t | /t/ | ||
Template:Hebrew kaph (with dagesh) |
Template:Hebrew qoph |
k | /k/ | ||
Template:Hebrew samekh |
Template:Hebrew sin (with left dot) |
s | /s/ | ||
Template:Hebrew tsadi* |
Template:Hebrew tav-samech* |
and | Template:Hebrew tav-sin* |
ts/tz | /ts/ |
* 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 g d k p t/ were pronounced differently depending on their position. These letters were also called BeGeDKePHeT (Template:PronEng) letters. (The full details are very complex; this summary omits some points.) They were pronounced as stops [b g 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 stop and double pronunciations were indicated by the dagesh. In Modern Hebrew the sounds [ḏ] and [ḡ] have reverted to [d] and [g] respectively, and [ṯ] has become [t], so only the remaining three consonants /b k p/ show variation. Template:Hebrew "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.)
- Template:Hebrew vav was a semivowel /w/ (as in English, not as in German).
- Template:Hebrew chet and Template:Hebrew ayin were pharyngeal fricatives, Template:Hebrew tsadi was an emphatic /s/, Template:Hebrew tet was an emphatic /t/, and Template:Hebrew qoph was /q/. All these are common Semitic consonants.
- Template:Hebrew sin (the /s/ variant of Template:Hebrew shin) was originally different from both Template:Hebrew shin and Template:Hebrew samekh, but had become /s/ the same as Template:Hebrew samekh by the time the vowel pointing was devised. Because of cognates with other Semitic languages, this phoneme is known to have originally been a lateral consonant, most likely the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/ (the sound of modern Welsh ll) or the voiceless alveolar lateral affricate /tɬ/ (like Náhuatl tl).
Vowels
Matres lectionis
Template:Hebrew aleph, Template:Hebrew he, Template:Hebrew vav and Template:Hebrew yod are consonants that can sometimes fill the position of a vowel. The latter two in particular are more often vowels than they are consonants.
Symbol Name Vowel value א aleph ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô ה he ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô ו vav ô, û י yud î, ê, ệ
Vowel points
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:
Name | Symbol | Israeli Hebrew | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
Hiriq | [i] | i | see | |
Zeire | [ɛ] and [ɛi] | e and ei | men, main | |
Segol | [ɛ], ([ɛi] with succeeding yod) |
e, (ei with succeeding yod) |
men | |
Patach | [a] | a | car | |
Kamatz | [a], <car>(or [ɔ]) | a, (or o)</car> | car | |
Holam | סׁ | [ɔ] | o | cone |
Shuruk | File:Equal Shuruk.PNG | [u] | u | tube |
Kubutz | File:Backslash Qubuz.PNG | [u] | u | tube |
Note Ⅰ: The symbol "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
Note Ⅰ: The zeire is pronounced correctly as ei in modern Hebrew.
Note Ⅱ: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different functions, even though they look the same.
Note Ⅲ: The letter ו (vav) is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
Sh'va
By adding two vertical dots (called Sh'va) underneath the letter, the vowel is made very short.
Name | Symbol | Israeli Hebrew | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
Sh'va | [ɛ] or [[Zero (linguistics)|Ø]] | apostrophe, e, or nothing |
silent | |
Reduced Segol | [ɛ] | e | men | |
Reduced Patach | File:2 Hataf Patah.PNG | [a] | a | cup |
Reduced Kamatz | [ɔ] | o | cone |
Comparison table
Vowel comparison table | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vowel Length (phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew) |
IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
Long | Short | Very Short | |||
Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | [a] | a | spa |
Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | [ɛ] | e | temp |
Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | [ɔ] | o | cone |
Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | n/a | [u] | u | tube |
Template:Hebrew | Template:Hebrew | [i] | i | ski | |
Note I: | By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) Template:Hebrew 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 Template:Hebrew 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.
Symbols for non-native sounds
The sounds [ʧ], [ʤ], [ʒ], written "Template:Hebrew", "Template:Hebrew", "Template:Hebrew" and [w], standardly transliterated as "Template:Hebrew" (while "Template:Hebrew" normally is a [v]), non-standardly sometimes transliterated Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew[8], are found in many loanwords that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary, even among people who don't know the source languages. The apostrophe-looking symbol after the Hebrew letter modifies the pronunciation of the letter and is called a geresh.
English loanwords | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Symbol | IPA | Transliteration | Example | |
Gimel with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ʤ] | j | George | 'ג׳ורג |
Zayin with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ʒ] | varies | Jabotinsky Jacques |
ז׳בוטינסקי ז׳אק |
Tsadi with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ʧ] | ch | Chernobyl | צ׳רנוביל |
Vav with a geresh or double Vav |
Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew | [w] (non standard)[9] | w | William | ויליאם |
Tav with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [θ] | th | Thurston | ת׳רסטון |
Arabic loanwords | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Symbol | IPA | Arabic letter | Example | Comment | |
Khet with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [χ] | Ḫāʼ (خ) | Sheikh (شيخ) | שייח׳ | |
Ayin with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ʁ] | Ġayn (غ) | Ghaja'r | ע׳ג׳ר | |
Dalet with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ð] | Ḏāl (ذ) th |
Dhu al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة) | ד׳ו אל-חיג'ה | * Also used for English voiced th * Often a simple ד is written. |
Tet with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [ðˁ] | Ẓāʼ (ظ) | Tanzim (تنظيم) | תנט׳ים | * In scientific and professional writing * Transliterated as a regular ז in colloquial writing (תנזים) |
Tsadi with a geresh | Template:Hebrew | [dˁ] | Ḍād (ض) | Ramaḍān | רמצ׳אן | * In scientific and professional writing * Transliterated as a regular ד in colloquial writing (רמדאן) |
Using וו to represent [w] is, however, non-standard, while still done; standard spelling rules determine that in ktiv male—i.e. text without niqqud—a "double vav" (וו) is used to indicate a vav in a non-initial and non-final position denoting the consonant [v], as opposed to a vav denoting the vowels [u] or [ɔ], which is indicated by a single ו.[9]
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.
Unicode and HTML
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.
See also
- Hebrew punctuation
- 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
- International Phonetic Alphabet for Hebrew
- Hebrew phonology
- Inverted nun
- Koren Type
- Help:Hebrew
References
- ^ "Aleph-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the maqaph (מקף, hyphen), אלפבית עברי, as opposed to with the hyphen, אלף־בית עברי
- ^ A History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 1993. ISBN 0-521-55634-1.
- ^ 10th century BCE script
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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 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: בּ = b and ב = v, כּ = k and כ = kh, פּ =p and פ = ph.
- ^ a b [American Heritage Dictionary ]
- ^ Guidelines of the Academy of the Hebrew Language
- ^ a b 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).
- ^ a b c "Transliteration Rules" (PDF). issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both [[Voiced labiodental fricative|[v]]] and [[Voiced labial-velar approximant|[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 [[Voiced labial-velar approximant|[w]]], Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also pronunciation of Hebrew Vav.
- ^ "ךּ" is rare but exists, e.g. last word in Deuteronomy 7 1 (דברים פרק ז׳ פסוק א׳) in the word "מִמֶּךָּ" – see תנ״ך מנוקד, דברים פרק ז׳
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.
External links
- Hebrew alphabet lesson
- How to draw letters
- Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
- Transliterate your English name into Hebrew Letters
Keyboards
- LiteType.com - Virtual Hebrew Keyboard
- Hebrew translit - for typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (transliteration with niqqud)
- Mikledet.com - for typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew layout and phonetic layout)