Hebrew alphabet

This article is about the alphabet derived from the Aramaic alphabet. For the alphabet derived from the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, see Samaritan script. For the insect, see Hebrew Character.

[[Aleph|Template:Hebrew]] [[Beth (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Gimel|Template:Hebrew]] [[Dalet|Template:Hebrew]] [[He (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Waw (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Zayin|Template:Hebrew]] [[Heth|Template:Hebrew]] [[Teth|Template:Hebrew]] [[Yodh|Template:Hebrew]] [[Kaph|Template:Hebrew]] [[Kaph|Template:Hebrew]] [[Lamedh|Template:Hebrew]] [[Mem|Template:Hebrew]] [[Mem|Template:Hebrew]] [[Nun (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Nun (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Samekh|Template:Hebrew]] [[Ayin|Template:Hebrew]] [[Pe (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Pe (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Tsade|Template:Hebrew]] [[Tsade|Template:Hebrew]] [[Qoph|Template:Hebrew]] [[Resh|Template:Hebrew]] [[Shin (letter)|Template:Hebrew]] [[Taw|Template:Hebrew]]  •  [[ﭏ|Template:Hebrew]] Features: Abjad • Mater lectionis • Begadkefat Variants: Cursive • Rashi • Braille Numerals: Gematria • Numeration Ancillaries: Diacritics • Punctuation • Cantillation Translit.: Romanization of Hebrew • Hebraization of English • IPA • ISO Computers: Keyboard • Unicode and HTML

Hebrew alphabet
Script type	Abjad (for Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo-Arabic) True alphabet (for Yiddish)
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	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Hebrew alphabet
Sister systems	Nabataean Syriac Palmyrenean Mandaic Brāhmī Pahlavi Sogdian
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Hebr (125), ​Hebrew
Unicode
Unicode alias	Hebrew
Unicode range	U+0590 to U+05FF, U+FB1D to U+FB4F

The Hebrew alphabet (Template:Lang-he-n, alefbet ʿIvri ), known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two script forms in use; the original old Hebrew script is known as the paleo-Hebrew script (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the Samaritan script), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the Assyrian script. Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a cursive Hebrew script, which has also varied over time and place.

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, of which five 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. Like other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, means were later devised to indicate vowels by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew, the letters Template:Hebrew are also used as matres lectionis to represent vowels. When used to write Yiddish, the writing system is a true alphabet (except for borrowed Hebrew words). In modern usage of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish (except that Template:Hebrew replaces Template:Hebrew) and to some extent modern Israeli Hebrew, vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward full spelling with these letters acting as true vowels.

History

Main article: History of the Hebrew alphabet

A Jewish stele near the archeological excavations of the early medieval walls of Serdica

Aleppo Codex: 10th century CE Hebrew Bible with Masoretic pointing. Text of Joshua 1:1

According to contemporary scholars, the original Hebrew script developed during the late second and first millennia BCE alongside others used in the region. It is closely related to the Phoenician script, which was also an abjad, and which itself probably gave rise to the use of alphabetic writing in Greece (Greek alphabet). A distinct Hebrew variant, called the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, emerged by the 10th century BCE, an example of which is represented in the Gezer calendar.

The paleo-Hebrew alphabet was commonly used in the ancient Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as by the Samaritans. Following the exile of the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BCE, in the Babylonian exile, Jews began using a form of the Assyrian script, which was another offshoot of the same family of scripts. During the 3rd century BCE, Jews began to use a stylized, "square" form of the Aramaic alphabet that was used by the Persian Empire (which in turn was adopted from the Assyrians), while the Samaritans continued to use a form of the paleo-Hebrew script, called the Samaritan script. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form. For a limited time thereafter, the use of the paleo-Hebrew script among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton, but soon that custom was also abandoned.

The square Hebrew alphabet was later adapted and used for writing languages of the Jewish diaspora – such as Karaim, Judæo-Arabic, Ladino, Yiddish, etc. 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

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

Hebrew script on the bustier of Jan van Scorel's Maria Magdalena, 1530.

Hebrew Alphabet - souvenir from Israel

In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak consonants Aleph (Template:Hebrew), He (Template:Hebrew), Vav (Template:Hebrew), or Yodh (Template:Hebrew) 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 Israeli 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 or without niqqud-diacritics (e.g., respectively: "אָ", "יִ" or "י", "ע"), 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 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 shorashim, or root letters) 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

Neither the old Hebrew script nor the modern Hebrew script have case, but five letters have special final forms, called sofit (Hebrew: סופית, meaning in this case "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in the Greek or in the Arabic and Mandaic alphabets. These are shown below the normal form, in the following table (letter names are Unicode standard). Hebrew is read and written from right to left.

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 left to right.

Pronunciation of letter names

Main articles: Biblical Hebrew phonology, Modern Hebrew phonology, and Yiddish phonology

letter	Name of letter			Established pronunciation in English	standard Israeli pronunciation	colloquial Israeli pronunciation (if differing)	Yiddish / Ashkenazi pronunciation
	MW	Unicode	Hebrew
Template:Hebrew	Aleph	Alef	Template:Hebrew	/ˈɑːlɛf/, /ˈɑːlf/	/ˈalef/		/ˈalɛf/
Template:Hebrew	Beth	Bet	Template:Hebrew	/bɛθ/, /beɪt/	/bet/		/bɛɪs/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew		/vet/		/vɛɪs/
Template:Hebrew	Gimel	Gimel	Template:Hebrew	/ˈɡɪməl/	/ˈɡimel/		/ˈɡimːɛl/
Template:Hebrew	Daleth	Dalet	Template:Hebrew	/ˈdɑːlθ/, /ˈdɑːlɛt/	/ˈdalet/	/ˈdaled/	/ˈdalɛs/
Template:Hebrew	He	He	Template:Hebrew	/heɪ/	/he/	/hej/	/hɛɪ/
Template:Hebrew	Waw	Vav	Template:Hebrew	/vɑːv/, /wɑːw/	/vav/		/vɔv/
Template:Hebrew	Zayin	Zayin	Template:Hebrew	/ˈzaɪ.n/	/ˈzajin/	/ˈza.in/	/ˈzajin/
Template:Hebrew	Heth	Het	Template:Hebrew	/hɛθ/, /xeɪt/	/ħet/	/χet/	/χɛs/
Template:Hebrew	Teth	Tet	Template:Hebrew	/tɛθ/, /teɪt/	/tet/		/tɛs/
Template:Hebrew	Yod	Yod	Template:Hebrew	/jɔːd/	/jod/	/jud/	/jud/
Template:Hebrew	Kaph	Kaf	Template:Hebrew	/kɑːf/	/kaf/		/kɔf/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew	/xɑːf/, /kɑːf/	/χaf/		/χɔf/
Template:Hebrew		Final Kaf	Template:Hebrew	/kɑːf/	/kaf sofit/		/laŋɡɛ kɔf/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew	/xɑːf/, /kɑːf/	/χaf sofit/		/laŋɡɛ χɔf/
Template:Hebrew	Lamed	Lamed	Template:Hebrew	/ˈlɑːmɛd/	/ˈlamed/		/ˈlamɛd/
Template:Hebrew	Mem	Mem	Template:Hebrew	/mɛm/	/mem/		/mɛm/
Template:Hebrew		Final Mem	Template:Hebrew		/mem sofit/		/ʃlɔs mɛm/
Template:Hebrew	Nun	Nun	Template:Hebrew	/nuːn/	/nun/		/nun/
Template:Hebrew		Final Nun	Template:Hebrew		/nun sofit/		/laŋɡɛ nun/
Template:Hebrew	Samekh	Samekh	ְTemplate:Hebrew	/ˈsɑːmɛk/, /ˈsɑːmɛx/	/ˈsameχ/		/ˈsamɛχ/
Template:Hebrew	Ayin	Ayin	Template:Hebrew	/ˈaɪ.n/	/ˈʕajin/	/ˈʔa.in/	/ˈajin/
Template:Hebrew	Pe	Pe	Template:Hebrew	/peɪ/	/pe/	/pej/	/pɛɪ/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew	/feɪ/	/fe/	/fej/	/fɛɪ/
Template:Hebrew		Final Pe	Template:Hebrew	/peɪ/, /feɪ/	/pe sofit/	/pej sofit/	/laŋɡɛ fɛɪ/
Template:Hebrew	Sadhe	Tsadi	Template:Hebrew	/ˈsɑːdə/, /ˈsɑːdi/	/ˈtsadi/		/ˈtsɔdi/, /ˈtsɔdik/, /ˈtsadɛk/
Template:Hebrew		Final Tsadi	Template:Hebrew		/ˈtsadi sofit/		/laŋɡɛ ˈtsadɛk/
Template:Hebrew	Qoph	Qof	Template:Hebrew	/kɔːf/	/kof/	/kuf/	/kuf/
Template:Hebrew	Resh	Resh	Template:Hebrew	/rɛʃ/, /reɪʃ/	/ʁeʃ/	/ʁejʃ/	/rɛɪʃ/
Template:Hebrew	Shin	Shin	Template:Hebrew	/ʃiːn/, /ʃɪn/	/ʃin/		/ʃin/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew	/siːn/, /sɪn/	/sin/		/sin/
Template:Hebrew	Taw	Tav	Template:Hebrew	/tɑːf/, /tɔːv/	/tav/	/taf/	/tɔv/, /tɔf/
Template:Hebrew			Template:Hebrew				/sɔv/, /sɔf/

Stylistic variants

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 three lettering variants currently in use are block, cursive and Rashi. Block and Rashi are used in books. Block lettering dominates, with Rashi lettering typically used for certain editorial inserts (as in the glosses of Isserles to the Shulchan Aruch) or biblical commentaries (as in the commentary of Rashi) in various standard literary works. Cursive is used almost exclusively when handwriting, unless block lettering is desired for stylistic purposes (as in signage).

Letter name (Unicode)	Variants
	Modern Hebrew					Ancestral
	Serif	Sans- serif	Mono- spaced	Cursive	Rashi	Phoenician	Paleo-Hebrew	Aramaic
Alef	א	א	א
Bet	ב	ב	ב
Gimel	ג	ג	ג
Dalet	ד	ד	ד
He	ה	ה	ה
Vav	ו	ו	ו
Zayin	ז	ז	ז
Het	ח	ח	ח
Tet	ט	ט	ט
Yod	י	י	י
Kaf	כ	כ	כ
Final Kaf	ך	ך	ך
Lamed	ל	ל	ל
Mem	מ	מ	מ
Final Mem	ם	ם	ם
Nun	נ	נ	נ
Final Nun	ן	ן	ן
Samekh	ס	ס	ס
Ayin	ע	ע	ע
Pe	פ	פ	פ
Final Pe	ף	ף	ף
Tsadi	צ	צ	צ					,
Final Tsadi	ץ	ץ	ץ
Qof	ק	ק	ק
Resh	ר	ר	ר
Shin	ש	ש	ש
Tav	ת	ת	ת

Yiddish symbols

Symbol	Explanation
Template:Hebrew	These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew.
Template:Hebrew	The rafe (Template:Hebrew) diacritic is no longer regularly used in Hebrew. In masoretic manuscripts and some other older texts the soft fricative 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

Main article: Hebrew numerals

Hebrew letters are used to denote numbers, nowadays used only in specific contexts, e.g. denoting dates in the Hebrew calendar, denoting grades of school in Israel, other listings (e.g. 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		ך	500
ו	6		ס	60		ם	600
ז	7		ע	70		ן	700
ח	8		פ	80		ף	800
ט	9		צ	90		ץ	900

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 5769 is portrayed as ה׳תשס״ט, where ה represents 5000, and תשס״ט represents 769.

Transliterations and transcriptions

Main articles: Romanization of Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Yiddish language, 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, differs slightly from the 2006 precise transliteration system of the Academy of the Hebrew Language; for "צ" SBL uses "ṣ" (≠ AHL "ẓ"), and for בג״ד כפ״ת with 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.
Hebrew letter	example	Translation		Standard Israeli transliteration – regular	example		standard Israeli transliteration – precise	example		IPA phonemic transcription	example		IPA phonetic transcription	example
א consonantal, in initial word positions	אִם	if		none	im								[ʔ]	[ʔim]
א consonantal, in non initial word positions	שָׁאַל	asked		'	sha'ál		ʾ	shaʾál		/ʔ/	/ʃaˈʔal/
א silent	רִאשׁוֹן	first		none	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	ǧuk					/d͡ʒ/	/d͡ʒuk/
דּ	דּוּד	boiler		d	dud		d	duḏ
ד							ḏ
ה consonantal	הֵד	echo		h	hed
ה silent	פֹּה	here		none	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	žargón					/ʒ/	/ʒarˈɡon/
ח	חַם	hot		ẖ	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	כֹּה	so		k	ko
כ, ך	סְכָךְ	branch-roofing		kh	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	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	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	ríčrač					/t͡ʃ/	/ˈrit͡ʃrat͡ʃ/
ק	קוֹל	sound		k	kol		q	qol
ר	עִיר	city		r	ir								[ʀ] or [ʁ]	[iʀ] or [iʁ]
													dialectical [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		standard Israeli transliteration – precise		IPA phonemic transcription		IPA phonetic transcription
א consonantal, in initial word positions		none						[ʔ]
א consonantal, in non initial word positions		'		ʾ		/ʔ/
א silent		none
בּ		b
ב		v
גּ		g		g
ג				ḡ
ג׳		ǧ				/d͡ʒ/
דּ		d		d
ד				ḏ
ה consonantal		h
ה silent		none
ו consonantal		v		w
וּ		u
וֹ		o						[o̞] or [ɔ̝]
ז		z
ז׳		ž				/ʒ/
ח		ẖ		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		k
כ, ך		kh		ḵ		/x/ or /χ/		[χ]
ל		l
מ, ם		m
נ, ן		n
ס		s
ע in initial or final word positions		none		ʿ				only in initial word position [ʔ]
						dialectical /ʕ/
ע in medial word positions		'		ʿ		/ʔ/
						dialectical /ʕ/
פּ		p
פ, ף		f
צ, ץ		ts		ẓ		/t͡s/
צ׳, ץ׳		č				/t͡ʃ/
ק		k		q
ר		r						[ʀ] or [ʁ]
								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 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" 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: "Template:Hebrew"), 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").

Pronunciation

Main article: International Phonetic Alphabet for Hebrew

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

Letters	א‎	בּ‎	ב‎	ג‎	גּ‎	ג׳‎	ד‎	דּ‎	ד׳‎	ה‎	ו‎	וּ‎	וֹ‎	וו , ו׳‎ (non-standard)	ז‎	ז׳‎	ח‎	ט‎	י‎
IPA	[ʔ], ∅	[b]	[v]	[ɡ]		[d͡ʒ]	[d]		[ð]	[h~ʔ], ∅	[v]~[w]	[u]	[o̞]	[w]	[z]	[ʒ]	[χ]~[ħ]	[t]	[j]
Letters	‏ִי‎	כּ ךּ‎	כ ך‎	ל‎	מ ם‎	נ ן‎	ס‎	ע‎	פּ‎	פ ף‎	צ ץ‎	צ׳ ץ׳‎	ק‎	ר‎	שׁ‎	שׂ‎	תּ‎	ת‎	ת׳‎
IPA	[i]	[k]	[χ]	[l]	[m]	[n]	[s]	[ʔ]~[ʕ], ∅	[p]	[f]	[t͡s]	[tʃ]	[k]	[ʁ]~[r]	[ʃ]	[s]	[t]		[θ]

Shin and sin

Further information: Shin (letter)

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 (right dot)	shin	sh	/ʃ/	shop
Template:Hebrew (left dot)	sin	s	/s/	sour

Historically, left-dot-sin corresponds to Proto-Semitic *ś, which in biblical-Judaic-Hebrew corresponded to a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/, as is evident in Greek transliteration of Hebrew words such as Balsam (Template:Hebrew) (the ls - 'שׂ') as is evident in the Targum Onkelos. Rendering of proto-semitic *ś as /ɬ/, is still evident in the Soqotri language.

Dagesh

Main article: Dagesh

Historically, the consonants Template:Hebrew beth, Template:Hebrew gimel, Template:Hebrew daleth, Template:Hebrew kaf, Template:Hebrew pe 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 beth, Template:Hebrew kaf, and Template:Hebrew pe, and doesn't affect the name of the letter. The differences are as follows:

Name	With dagesh				Without dagesh
	Symbol	Transliteration	IPA	Example	Symbol	Transliteration	IPA	Example
beth	Template:Hebrew	b	/b/	bun	Template:Hebrew	v	/v/	van
kaf	Template:Hebrew	k	/k/	kangaroo	Template:Hebrew	kh/ch/x	/χ/	loch
pe	Template:Hebrew	p	/p/	pass	Template:Hebrew	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] is in "thick"

Identical pronunciation

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

Letters				Transliteration	Pronunciation (IPA)
Template:Hebrew Alef*	Template:Hebrew Ayin*			not transliterated	Usually when in medial word position: /./ (separation of vowels in a hiatus)
					When in initial or final word position, sometimes also in medial word position: silent
				alternatingly
				' or ’	/ʔ/ (glottal stop)
Template:Hebrew Bet (without dagesh)	Template:Hebrew Vav			v	/v/
Template:Hebrew Het	Template:Hebrew Kaf (without dagesh)			kh/ch/h	/χ/
Template:Hebrew Tet	Template:Hebrew Tav			t	/t/
Template:Hebrew Kaf (with dagesh)	Template:Hebrew Qof			k	/k/
Template:Hebrew Samekh	Template:Hebrew Sin (with left dot)			s	/s/
Template:Hebrew Tsadi*	Template:Hebrew Tav-Samekh*	and	Template:Hebrew Tav-Sin*	ts/tz	/ts/
Template:Hebrew Tsadi (with geresh)	Template:Hebrew Tet-Shin*	and	Template:Hebrew 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. Template:Hebrew resh may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReS. (Sefer Yetzirah, 4:1)

• Template:Hebrew chet and Template:Hebrew ayin represented pharyngeal fricatives, Template:Hebrew tsadi represented the emphatic consonant /sˤ/, Template:Hebrew tet represented the emphatic consonant /tˤ/, and Template:Hebrew qof represented the uvular plosive /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

Main article: Mater lectionis

Template:Hebrew alef, Template:Hebrew he, Template:Hebrew vav and Template:Hebrew yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be, respectively, /ʔ/, /h/, /v/ and /j/). When they do, Template:Hebrew and Template:Hebrew 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 Template:Hebrew and Template:Hebrew are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.

Letter	Name of letter	Consonant indicated when letter consonantal	Vowel designation	Name of vowel designation	Indicated Vowel
א‎	alef	/ʔ/	—	—	ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
ה‎	he	/h/	—	—	ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
ו‎	vav	/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	Israeli Hebrew
		IPA	Transliteration	English example
Hiriq		[i]	i	mandi
Zeire		[e̞], ([e̞j] with succeeding yod)	e, (ei with succeeding yod)	men, main
Segol		[e̞]	e	men
Patach		[ä]	a	father
Kamatz	סָ‎	[ä], (or [o̞])	a, (or o)	father
Holam Haser		[o̞]	o	over
Holam Male	וֹ	[o̞]	o	over
Shuruk		[u]	u	moon
Kubutz		[u]	u	moon

Note 1: The symbol "ס" represents 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.
Note 3: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different functions, even though they look the same.
Note 4: The letter ו (vav) is used since it can only be represented by that letter.

Meteg

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

Main article: 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
Shva		[e̞] or ∅	apostrophe, e, or nothing	h as pronounced in herb
Reduced Segol		[e̞]	e	men
Reduced Patach		[ä]	a	father
Reduced Kamatz	סֳ‎	[o̞]	o	father

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	[ä]	a	spa
Template:Hebrew	Template:Hebrew	Template:Hebrew	[e̞]	e	temp
Template:Hebrew	Template:Hebrew	Template:Hebrew	[o̞]	o	Congo
Template:Hebrew	Template:Hebrew	n/a	[u]	u	soon
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

Main article: 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.

Sounds represented with diacritic geresh

Main articles: Geresh and Hebraization of English

The sounds [t͡ʃ], [d͡ʒ], [ʒ], written "Template:Hebrew", "Template:Hebrew", "Template:Hebrew", and [w], non-standardly sometimes transliterated Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew, are often found in slang and loanwords that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary. The apostrophe-looking symbol after the Hebrew letter modifies the pronunciation of the letter and is called a geresh. (As mentioned above, while still done, using Template:Hebrew to represent [w] is non-standard; standard spelling rules allow no usage of Template:Hebrew whatsoever).

Hebrew slang and loanwords
Name	Symbol	IPA	Transliteration	Example
Gimel with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[d͡ʒ]	ǧ	ǧáḥnun	[ˈd͡ʒaχnun]	Template:Hebrew
Zayin with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[ʒ]	ž	koláž	[koˈlaʒ]	Template:Hebrew
Tsadi with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[t͡ʃ]	č	čupár (treat)	[t͡ʃuˈpar]	Template:Hebrew
Vav with a geresh or double Vav	Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew(non standard)	[w]	w	awánta (boastful act)	[aˈwanta]	Template:Hebrew

The pronunciation of the following letters can also be modified with the geresh diacritic, the represented sounds are however foreign to Hebrew phonology, i.e., these symbols only represent sounds in foreign words or names when transliterated with the Hebrew alphabet, and never loanwords.

Transliteration of non-native sounds
Name	Symbol	IPA	Arabic letter	Example		Comment
Dalet with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[ð]	Dhāl (ذ) Voiced th	Dhū al-Ḥijjah (ذو الحجة)‎	Template:Hebrew	* Also used for English voiced th * Often a simple ד is written.
Tav with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[θ]	Thāʼ (ﺙ) Voiceless th	Thurston	Template:Hebrew
Ḥet with a geresh	Template:Hebrew	[χ]	Khāʼ (خ)	Sheikh (شيخ)‎	Template:Hebrew	* Unlike the other sounds in this table, the sound [χ] represented by Template:Hebrew is indeed a native sound in Hebrew; the geresh is however used only when transliteration must distinguish between [χ] and [ħ], in which case Template:Hebrew transliterates the former and ח the latter, whereas in everyday usage ח without geresh is pronounced [ħ] only dialectically but [χ] commonly.
Resh with a geresh	Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew	[ʁ]	Ghayn (غ)	Ghajar (غجر)	Template:Hebrew	Sometimes an ʻayin with a geresh (Template:Hebrew) is used to transliterate غ – inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language

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.

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 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]"); 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.

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.

The four-pronged Shin

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. 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".

In addition, the letters occasionally feature in aggadic portions of non-mystical rabbinic literature. In such aggada the letters are often given anthropomorphic qualities and depicted as speaking to God. Commonly their shapes are used in parables to illustrate points of ethics or theology. An example from the Babylonian Talmud (a parable intended to discourage speculation about the universe before creation):

Why does the story of creation begin with bet?... In the same manner that the letter bet is closed on all sides and only open in front, similarly you are not permitted to inquire into what is before or what was behind, but only from the actual time of Creation.

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, 77c

Extensive instructions about the proper methods of forming the letters are found in Mishnat Soferim, within Mishna Berura of Yisrael Meir Kagan.

Mathematical use

In set theory letter aleph is used to mark infinite cardinality of a set, for example "number" of all natural numbers is $\aleph _{0}$. Similarly beth is used for infinite ordinals. See aleph number and beth number.

Unicode and HTML

Main article: Unicode and HTML for the Hebrew alphabet

The Unicode Hebrew block extends from U+0590 to U+05FF and from U+FB1D to U+FB4F. 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

• Biblical Hebrew orthography
• Gershayim
• Hebrew braille
• Hebrew diacritics
• Hebrew keyboard
• Hebrew punctuation
• Help:Hebrew
• History of the Hebrew language
• Inverted nun
• Koren Type
• Rashi script
• Romanization of Hebrew
• Significance of numbers of Judaism
• Syriac alphabet

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. 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^} 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. 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.

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
• Hebrew Alphabet Guide

External links

General

• The Hebrew alphabet, meanings, and spiritual symbolism
• How to draw letters
• Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
• Transliterate your English name into Hebrew Letters
• Hebrew Alphabet Charts
• Interactive Hebrew Alphabet Lesson
• Mobile OCR Hebrew Dictionary

Keyboards

• LiteType.com – Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard
• Hebrew calligraphy alphabet Model Hebrew calligraphy Alphabet
• Mikledet.com – For typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew layout)
• Hebrew Writing – Typing Hebrew and Nikud using extended English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew Writing layout)
• Prize Find: Oldest Hebrew Inscription Biblical Archaeology Review