Pronuncia2on. In general, consonants sound like the first leTer of their name. For
example, ו sounds like “v” as in village, vegetable, and vanity, and ל.
Lesson 1
The Hebrew Alphabet
אבגדהוזחטי כלמנסעפצק ר שׂ שׁ ת
Pronuncia7on In general, consonants sound like the first le>er of their name. For example, וsounds like “v” as in village, vegetable, and vanity, and ל sounds like “l” as in lion, leapfrog, and lounge. The two excep7ons are א and ע, which are pronounced as glo>al stops, taking on the sound of the vowels following them:
גָאַל בַעַל אֵם עָשָׂה
Look-‐Alike Le>ers Be careful to dis7nguish between the following:
ע צ
החת
ףק
וז
מס
דרו ןך
גנ
בכפ טמ
Final Forms 5 le>ers have different final forms:
ך – כ
ם – מ
ן – נ
ף – פ
ץ – צ
The Dagesh Lene 6 le>ers have an alternate pronuncia7on, which is indicated by a dot placed in the le>er, like this:
ּד These le>ers are:
ב ג ד כ פ ת They are referred to as the BeGaD KePhaT le>ers, which is simply a mnemonic device for remembering which le>ers they are.
The Dagesh Lene • Only appears in the BeGaD KePhaT Le>ers when they are not preceded by a vowel. • Indicates a hard pronuncia7on for the given le>er. For example, without the dagesh, ב is pronounced “v” instead of “b.” Compare בַּעַל with אָב.
The Dagesh Lene in Prac7ce Although technically the dagesh lene hardens the sound of all the BeGaD KePhat le>ers, in prac7ce it mainly affects only two: ב and פ. With the dagesh, ב is “b,” without it ב is “v.” Similarly, With the dagesh פ is “p,” without it פ is “ph.” Some people pronounce כ “kh,” and ת “th”:
מֶלֶך בַּת
The Dagesh Forte Looks just like the dagesh lene, but… • Appears in all the consonants, not just the BeGaD KePhaT le>ers • Doubles the consonant in which it appears: וַיֹּאמֶר vayyomer
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?? • The dagesh lene appears only in the BeGaD KePhat le>ers when not immediately preceded by a vowel. • If a dagesh appears in a BeGaD KePhaT le>er that is preceded by a vowel, it is a dagesh forte, but note that a dagesh forte in one of these le>ers BOTH doubles and hardens the le>er. • A dagesh which appears in any le>er that is not a BeGaD KePhaT is a dagesh forte.
Full Vowels Vowel Sound
Name
Sign
Posi2on with Consonant
Pronuncia-‐ 2on
Illustra2on
Long A
Qames
ָ
ָא
car
אָב
Short A
Patah
ַ
ַא
car
ּבַת
Long E
Sere
ֵ
ֵא
they
אֵל
Long E
Sere-‐yod
ֵי
אֵי
they
ּבֵית
Short E
Segol
ֶ
ֶא
met
ׁשֶֶקל
Full Vowels, cont. Vowel Sound
Name
Long I
Hireq-‐yod
Short I
Hireq
Long O
Sign
ִי
Posi2on with Consonant
Pronuncia-‐ 2on
Illustra2on
אִי
marine
הִיא
.
ִא
sit
עִם
Holem
ֹֺ
ֹא
row
לֹא
Long O
Holem-‐vav
ֺֹו
ֺאו
row
אוֺר
Short O
Qames-‐hatuf ָ
ָא
cost
כָּל
Long U
Sureq
ּו
ּאו
rule
הוּא
Short U
Qibbus
ֻ
ֻא
pull
שֻׁלְחָן
The Matres Lec7onis • Originally, Hebrew was wri>en with no vowels. Later, certain consonants— ה י ו began to serve as vowel markers. Early grammarians called these the matres lec7onis, or “mothers of reading.” • Some vowels incorporate these “mothers of reading,” and these vowels are considered unchangeably long.
Qames and Qames-‐Hatuf The signs for long A and short O look the same! How do you tell the difference? • Short vowels appear in closed, unaccented syllables. • Long vowels appear in open, unaccented syllables or in closed, accented syllables. • Knowing the word: חָכְמָה
The Shewa The Shewa looks like this: ְ
חָכְמָה There are two kinds of shewas: vocal and silent. They look the same! • The shewa in חָכְמָה is silent. • The shewa in בְּרֵאשִׁית is vocal.
The Vocal Shewa • Is pronounced as a very short E sound • Stands underneath a consonant at the beginning of a word, or at the beginning of a syllable within a word • Can be combined with other vowels to make “compound shewas” also known as “half vowels. (See Dobson p. 11)
The Silent Shewa • Is silent! • Only stands under a consonant that ends a syllable— “syllable divider.” • Appears in final ך (see the word מֶלֶך in Dobson p. 3).
The Shewa: Vocal or Silent? A vocal shewa: • Appears at the beginning of a word or syllable • Appears acer a long vowel: “long loud” • Appears under a consonant containing a doubling dagesh A silent shewa: • Appears at the end of a syllable • Appears acer a short vowel: “short silent” Note: if you see two shewas in a row, the first is silent, the second is vocal. ּ יִמְשְׂלו
Syllables There are two basic types of syllables: • An open syllable, which consists of a consonant and a vowel:
ַדּוּ פּוֺ רִי מָ לֵ ס • A closed syllable, which consists of a consonant, vowel, and consonant, in a kind of sandwich:
מַל בֻּשׁ יֵשׁ סֹד
Syllables, cont. • All Hebrew syllables begin with a consonant (The only excep7on is ּ ו which can be a>ached to the beginning of a word, with the meaning “and.”) • Every consonant in the beginning or middle of a word is followed either by a vowel or a silent shewa. (The one excep7on is the quiescent א as in )רֹאשׁ • Long vowels usually appear either in open syllables or closed, accented syllables. • Short vowels usually appear in closed, unaccented syllables. • Words are usually accented on the final syllable.
A Trick for Dividing Syllables To figure out where the syllable divisions are within a word, start at the end of the word and work backwards, keeping in mind that syllables are either consonant-‐vowel or consonant-‐vowel-‐ consonant and that every consonant in the word must be followed by a vowel except the last one. For example, take the word שָׁמַיִם and start at the end. The final syllable is יִם ; the middle syllable is ַ מ ; and the first syllable is ָשׁ.
