Download 01Pronouncing Hebrew Words

Pronouncing
Hebrew Words
(cf. R o s s , lessons 1-6)
Part 1: Dagesh
Lene Consonants
The six letters in Part 1 form a group because only they can appear with or
without a dot called “dagesh lene.” (“Dagesh” = “dot.” “Lene” rhymes with “may
they” and i s Latin for “weak” or “sof ”; s o this i s a weak dagesh, and it tends to
soften the pronunciation of the consonant.) The presence or absence of a dagesh
lene influences pronunciation but does not convey meaning. (A different dot,
called dagesh forte, influences pronunciation and does help convey meaning.)
The dagesh lene letters are sometimes called “begadkephat” letters because
that made-up word contains representatives o f all six letters (B, G, D , K, P , and T ,
representing 3 , 3, T I , 3 , B , and N). Learn these letters i n such a way that if
someone asks, “What are the dagesh lene letters?” or “What letters can take a
dagesh lene?” you can instantly reply, “Bait, geémel, dahlet, kaph, pey, and tahv!”
or write them all.
When you have learned the six letters referred to in the word “begadkephat”
and the vowels in Part 2, you will b e able to pronounce words that use those letters
and v o w e l s .
{Please note: All the content of “Pronouncing
Hebrew Words” i s essential.
Learn it w e l l . }
Letter
Sound
Name
_
b as in boy. With a dot in
a
it, this letter sounds
like an English b.
or
J
spelled beth)
or ‘1'
geémel
g as in give = sound with .
or without
7T
(rhymes with “wait”; often
v as in very = sound of the
letter with no dot
3
a or
halt
dot
(spelled gimel)
d as in David
déhlet
(spelled dalet or daleth)
D or D
= final form
(shape at end of word)
B
q
k as in key = sound with
kahf
dot
ch as in Bach = sound
Wlth no dOt
or ‘3
p as in Potiphar:
= final form
Wlth. dOt .
ph as 1n Potiphar
sound
= sound
(Spelled
,
kaph)
pey
(rhymes with “they”;
often spelled pe)
with no dot
F]
or
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tahv
(often spelled taw)
Part 2: Beginning Vowels
The small symbols (like r ) that represent vowel sounds in Hebrew are
called “vowel points”; the vowel symbol that appears with a consonant i s referred
to a s part of the consonant’s “pointing.” Most vowel points are placed under the
consonants that introduce them. O n e vowel (called holem) i s written slightly
above and t o the left of its consonant. In the list below, the empty boxes represent
the position of any consonant that might b e sitting there to introduce the vowel.
You will of course need to recognize the vowel symbols and know their sounds and
names.
Name
Sound
Vowel
qamets
a as in father
D
T
.
l:l
patach
a as 1n father
(the ch is a guttural sound,
as in a German pronunciation of Bach)
D
e as in they
tsére
(rhymes with “berry”)
i as in hit (& sometimes as
D
.
hireq
in antique)
D
segél
e as in get
(often spelled seghol)
...
hélem
o as in hole
I:
Practice spelling in Hebrew and saying the following short combinations of
consonants and vowels. They are not Hebrew words; they are English words (get,
pet, bet, paid, code, toad, bit, pit, did, dead, coat, boat, peg, Kate) written by sound
(not letter-for-letter) with Hebrew characters. Read from right to left and from
consonant to vowel to consonant.
n3
n;
1h
:19
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n3
13
11':
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n;
T1
mg
71
mg
:15
3
Syllable division: In Hebrew every syllable (with one o r two exceptions)
starts with a consonant. A syllable composed of one consonant and a vowel i s
“open.” A syllable with a consonant—vowel-consonant pattern is “closed” (the vowel
is enclosed between consonants). Nearly every syllable in Hebrew has a structure
that can b e described as follows, where C = Consonant
and V=Vowel:
CVC = closed syllable
CV = open syllable
The main exception involves words that start with the vowel Shureq, acting as a
conjunction,
“and” (covered in lesson 7 ) . Another
situation
that may appear to b e
an exception i s a word like U527, which has a “furtive” patach, a patach that
sneaks i n ahead of a guttural letter t o help with pronouncing it—sho/lay/ach.
Grammarians insist this is a two syllable word, regardless of the furtive patach.
Accent: Assume that the last syllable in a word has the accent, unless you
s e e an accent mark elsewhere, as in 7.13, where the first syllable has the accent.
English discussions of Hebrew use either of the following accent marks: <
I
Here are four Hebrew words with their meanings. Practice saying them
and spelling them. Note that the citation/vocabulary/lexical form of Hebrew verbs
has a third-person masculine singular subject (3ms, h e o r it; Hebrew does not
have neuter forms) and i s often given an English past-time rendering. (The
citation form of Greek verbs has the subject “I,” as in him, I loose.)
daughter
n;
garment
73:
'‘
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palm (of hand)
(verb) write
he wrote
‘7];
:0
°
T
Consonants
Part 3: Guttural
The next four letters represent guttural consonants. The fifth item i s not in
every way a guttural, but its behavior i s enough like that of the others to warrant
including it here.
Name
Sound
Letter
3
represents
a
stop ——a
ablef
closure of the throat to
begin a vowel; it i s
usually silent after a
(often spelled aleph)
vowel
hey
h as in how
n
(oflzen spelled he)
hait
guttural ch as in German
n
(often spelled heth)
Bach
éhyin
(often spelled ayin)
represents a closure of
the throat to begin or
end a vowel
.
SJ
reysh
rasinrun
'1
(ofien spelled resh)
Now spell and sound out the following renderings of words using gutturals
and dagesh lene letters
hid, hit, E d , owed/ode, rid, Bach, h e a d ,
(car, pear/pair,
red, bar, par). Continue to practice saying the names of the Hebrew vowels and
consonants used. Remember to read from consonant to vowel and from right to
left.
its
73.7
DU
1;
‘3
73
T!
7U
‘13
'75
n:-
'l'
11.
The next words are truly Hebrew.
ms
father
WU
mountain
servant,
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sword
Word, thing, matter
<
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(verb) serve
he served
23f?
1;?
1:133
Part 4: Sibilant Consonants
The next five consonants are called “sibilants.” (Some English words that
start with sounds classified as Sibilant include sink, zoo, show, chess, joke.)
Name
Sound
Letter
zahym
z as in zero
I
(often spelled zayin)
séhmech
D
(the ch is a guttural sound, as
s as in some
in the German pronunciation
of Bach; often spelled samekh)
3
r
I dey
ts as in rents
= final form
(often spelled sadhe)
(shape at end of word)
(27
s as in some
seen
(often spelled sin)
sheen
sh as in show
W
(often spelled shin)
Now again s p e l l a n d sound out the following short combinations of
consonants and v o w e l s . They are English words ( b a s e , p a c e , c a s e , days/daze,
shade, sets, goes, gets, s a i d , gaze, doze, boats, r o s e , h o s e , owes/ohs, oats, haze,
odd/ahed) written by sound with Hebrew characters.
f?!
1/:
I?!
D?
7.1
“IQ
717'
‘r'l'é?
r3:
m
‘m
1'
m
05
r3
n
m
Here are genuine Hebrew words to learn.
156
book, scroll
silver, money
gold
3U:
earth, land
official, leader, prince
1W
gate
army, host
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T‘fi
Part 5: All the Remaining
Consonants
Here are the remaining
seven letters to learn.
Letter
Sound
1
Name
v as in very
vahv
(often spelled waw)
m
t as in ten
tait
(often spelled
30d
y as in year
’
teth)
(rhymes with rode)
'7
l as in listen
léhmed
(often spelled lamed)
(J
m as 1n milk
maim
_
D " final form
(shape at end of word)
(rhymes with game; usually
spelled mem)
J
n as in now
noon
= final form
(usually spelled nun)
(shape at end of word)
P
hf
c as in coat
(rhymes with loaf; usually
spelled qoph)
Sound out the following renderings of English words. (The sample words
are vim, Tim, yacht [just look at the word “yacht” and dare to say that Hebrew i s
strange!], loan, lit, mit, lead/led, nets, kill, car, mar).
nu
mb
“D
'I'
{5
“P
m”
T
5P
D?
mm
(3
7?
Now you can d o the Matching Names 1‘ exercise and learn the following
Hebrew words. The two dots in the Kaph of '=['__?D, king,
no sound at the end of a word.
195:]
eYe, spring (of water)
house
l-I’j,
priest
IUD
are called “shva” and make
king
TIL”;
son
I:
hand
1:
(verb ) keep; he kept
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jaw
Part 6: Matres Lectionis, a . k . a . Vowel Letters
Question: When
is a consonant
not a consonant?
A n s w e r : When it acts as the placeholder
English and Hebrew.
Consider the following English words:
for a vowel. This is true in both
Group A: year, yawn, yard, yeast, yes, yellow, yield, your, unyielding
Group B: fly, by, dye, fry, syllabus, system, symbol, story, theology, quickly
In Group A , the letter “y” acts as a consonant by introducing a vowel. I n
Group B , it merely holds the place for a vowel, and it is not even the same vowel in
each case (compare fly, syllabus, a n d story). You must simply know from
experience which vowel sound to supply when y holds the place for a vowel. The
word “yearly” has y acting at the beginning as a consonant to introduce a vowel
and acting at the end as the placeholder for a vowel.
Likewise
in Hebrew the letter Yod ( ’ ) can function
as a consonant t o
introduce a vowel, as it does in D”; (house) and 7 : (hand). Here Yod is like the y
in the English words in Group A . Recall that syllables start with consonants in
Hebrew; so if Yod has a vowel coming after it, it i s functioning as a consonant t o
introduce that vowel.
Yod, like y in the Group B words, can also function as the placeholder for a
vowel, but you will not have to guess which vowel, because a vowel point (i.e. vowel
symbol) will b e present too. The vowel point sits under the preceding consonant,
as in the words ’33], “eyes of,” and W 3 , “house of.” The Yod in these two words is
said to b e vocalic and not consonantal, since it does not introduce or put the finish
to a vowel sound.
The letters Waw ( l ), Yod ( ’ ), and Hey ( Tl ) (less often 8 ) all can act either
a s consonants or as placeholders for vowels. When acting a s placeholders for
vowels, Waw,
Y o d , and Hey are called “matres
lectionis” o r “vowel l e t t e r s . ”
“Matres lectionis” i s Latin for “mothers of reading,” or “aids to reading.” The
singular i s “mater lectionis” or “mater” for short reference. Vowels that utilize a
mater are called historically long vowels. In other words, the vowels marked with
a mater were long vowels and indicated for pronunciation before the system of
using vowel points came into use.
Look at the following list of mater lectionis possibilities. You need to learn
the name of each combination and the sound that it makes. Once again the empty
squares show the position of any consonant that might introduce the vowel. The
combinations with Hey appear only at the end of a word.
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Chart of Vowel Letters (Maters)
Sound
Vowel
Name
qémets-hey
7
(the most common of the Hey
‘
1;!
a as In Deborah
n
I:
e as in they
tsére-hey
n
D
e as in get
segol-hey
71 El
0 as in Pharaoh
holem-hey
’D
e as in they
’D
i as in antique
tsém-yod
hireq-yod
segol-yod
9
.1
combinations)
(least common Yod
combination)
E
e as m get
D
o as in hole
holem-waw
11 as in sure
shfireq
1D
Now look at examples of words with Waw, Yod, or Hey functioning as a
mater ( a placeholder for a vowel) or as a consonant. Sound out each of the words
s o that you hear the differences.
For example, there i s no v sound when Waw i s
acting as a vowel letter, as it does in “7&5. Knowing about syllable structures helps
here; you must read each potential vowel letter or consonant in such a way that
words have some combination of CV and CVC syllables. The Dalet in ll'lts needs
to introduce a vowel.
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Letter functioning as consonant
Letter functioning as mater
lord, master
Tl-ll‘s
horse
010
David
11?
house
11’:
mountain
1U
Here Waw stands for a vowel
that sounds like the u in sure. S o
OED rhymes with goose.
<
house of
As in the phrase 7T:
“house of David.”
D”:
1')”;
man, husband
Wis
The hireq—yod combination
sounds like the i in antique. S o
W ’ s rhymes with “quiche.”
Potiphar
15,315
Sarah
11???
(verb) make, do
film}
TT
he made / he did
Moses
TRUE
A word spelled with a mater
.is
spelled without the mater is “defectively
said to b e “fully written.” The same word
written.”
“Defective
writing”
is not wrong,
just different (cf. color and colour; 8'? and RT? both mean “not”).
Part 7: Composite Shvas and a Couple Other Vowels
Here are three new vowel symbols, referred to as “composite shvas”
“compound shvas” or “hateph vowels.”
Sound
Vowel
Name
El
very quick “ah”
héteph'PétaCh
‘9
very quick “eh”
héteph-segol
Q
very quick “aw”
héteph-qémets
These vowels have the title “composite Shvas,” because they combine
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or
the two
10
vertical dots called “shva” (also spelled “sheva” or “shewa”) with a vowel symbol.
Composite shvas appear with guttural letters in situations where other letters
would have a simple shva. Simple shva (not composite) gets attention in Part 8 .
We usually hear little difference between the sound of a composite shva and the
full vowel that matches it. Here are some words that are spelled with composite
shvas.
Jacob
:P
Edom
D173
3:32
men
Aaron
God, gods
9272!?
17.7733
Ell-[I723
The following two vowels are less frequently seen than most of those w e
have looked at previously. They are qibbuts and qamets-hatuph.
Vowel
Sound
I:
u as in sure
o as in top or bottle or
I:
toddler
T
Name
qibbuts
qémets-hatuph
Bad News: Qamets-hatuph looks just like qamets. They are distinguished
according to where they appear, and the following rules are helpful but d o not
cover all instances.
1. Qamets-hatuph, the short 0, appears i n closed, unaccented syllables
(C.U.S.S.—closed, unaccented, syllable = short 0). (Example: HQQU, F i g / D U
“wisdom.” Just take my word for it now, and w e will talk more about it later.)
2 . The short 0, qamets-hatuph, i s also distinguished as the vowel that
appears before the composite shva called hateph—qamets ( T: ). Qamets-hatuph, the
short 0, i s the vowel that corresponds with (i.e., matches) hateph-qamets, since
they sound very much alike. (Example: D"?U§; “in tents”)
3 . The qamets symbol ( T ), i s sometimes written
with a short vertical line
called “metheg” (bridle). The metheg marks this as the long vowel a , qamets,
rather than the short 0, qamets-hatuph (if composite sheva i s not involved; see #2
for that). (Example: [793?], fl Q / Q / U , “she is wise.”)
Good News: The short 0, qamets-hatuph, i s somewhat uncommon, and
most of them are in verbal forms that are covered later on. S o for a while assume
that you are looking at the normal long a , qamets, unless you are specifically told
otherwise or you are doing an exercise that intentionally uses words that require
you t o distinguish qamets and qamets-hatuph. (Sorry to have to bring up this
issue s o soon in your Hebrew experience.)
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Part
8: Vowel
Chart
The following chart lists vowels according t o the “class” t o which they
belong—A, I , o r U (decided on the basis of observing how vowels seem to have
developed in Semitic languages). I t also groups them according to length, which
i s discussed after the chart. The information o n this chart i s helpful in parsing
verbs and in understanding how the pronunciation of Hebrew words changes in
various circumstances. As a start, learn which vowels belong to A, I , or U class
and which three vowels are “tone long.” All but two of the A—Class vowels on the
chart are made in the back of the mouth; I-Class vowels come from the middle;
and U-Class are formed at the front of the mouth, using rounded lips. The
inclusion of tsere—yod and holem-waw in the A Class has to do with contraction of
diphthongs and i s a subject for another time. Any vowel that uses a mater i s
historically long; qamets, tsere, and holem are tone long; everything else is short.
A-Class
n
Historically
Long
"
(Lahang eable)
T°ne
_
'
mg
1'
(changeable)
"
”. ( i )
3 (1‘1)
(é)
(a)
(6 )
(a)
(e)
, (i)
_ (a)
“mm
U-Class
(é )
9
(a)
I-Class
,5 (u) , (0)
Composite Shva
(already reduced)
_: ( a )
(é)
1:
(6)
I have started to u s e the terms “long” and “short” to describe Hebrew
vowels. These words have primarily to do with the duration of a vowel in Hebrew,
rather than with its quality. In English w e say that the word “capable” has a long
“a” and a short “a” in it, and w e can hear that the two vowels have a different
quality of sound. In Hebrew the issue o f long and short may involve difference in
quality of sound, but the theory of long and short has more to do with quantity
than quality; long vowels theoretically last longer. Short vowels tend to appear in
closed syllables (so that their sound i s cut short), and if they happen to b e in an
open syllable, the syllable will usually b e accented.
Vowels that are written with a mater (as in 0 3 0 and (27’s; recall Part 6) are
“historically
long” vowels, because they were long in very ancient
times. They
are
called “unchangeable,” for reasons that w e will discuss later. (Briefly, they are not
subject to reduction when far from the accent.) Meanwhile, there are just three
“tone—long” vowels (qamets, tsere, and holem) and several tone-short vowels, as in
the vowel chart. You d o n e e d t o know which are which. (Keep i n mind that
“Pronouncing Hebrew Words” does not contain extraneous information.)
Note: Hireq ( , ) and qibbuts
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(...
) are listed a s short vowels for practical
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12
parsing purposes, though occasionally they represent long vowels (when in open
or in accented syllables). This explains why hireq sounds like the 1 in hit much of
the time (fi’j, “house”) and like the 1 in antique sometimes (711,“David”). In the
word 71?, the last syllable lS accented; so the hireq 15 long (and the name David 1s
sometimes written 7’13, with n o change in pronunciation, another example of
“defective” and “full” spelling.) Don’t worry about this variability of hireq and
qibbuts; it won’t cause you any serious trouble.
Part 9: Syllable
Division Using Dagesh
Forte and Simple
Shva
Earlier w e saw that Hebrew has two kinds of syllables—open and closed,
CV and CVC. Now w e continue with a bit more information on dividing words
into syllables.
Dagesh Forte: The dot called dagesh forte doubles the consonant in which it
appears. The first of the two resulting consonants goes with the preceding syllable
to close it and make a CVC syllable, and the second resulting consonant starts the
next syllable. It is as if w e were to write the word “bitter” with only one “t” and a
dot in it that everyone knew meant there were two of the letter (“bit er”). Everyone
would divide the word between the repeated letters (bit/ter) and give t h e l“ ” a short
pronunciation as in kitten and mitten, rather than long a s in biting or bitler.
A dagesh forte doubles its letter and so influences syllable structure. It i s
also important to meaning and to parsing of verbs. A dagesh forte can appear in
any consonant except the gutturals and Resh (R, TI, U, D, and 7 ) . By contrast
dagesh lene can appear in only the six dagesh lene letters ( 3 , El, '°l, 3 , B, and Q).
It only influences pronunciation sometimes and i s n o help in parsing. S o the
begadkephat letters are the only ones that can take either a dagesh lene or a
dagesh forte.
Since dagesh forte i s important for syllable division and comprehension of
words, it helps to b e able to recognize it. Here i s the big distinguishing sign that
you are looking at a dagesh forte in a letter:
A dagesh
forte always has a full vowel before it
(not a shva of any kind).
Examples: mtg-7's, woman
D’IGU, the horse
(Forte Follows Full)
WED, the house
Note: Dagesh lene never shows up after any vowel sound, not even vocal shva.
Dagesh forte must have a vowel before it, and dagesh lene cannot
have a vowel
TIE-[D
(wilderness) the dagesh you see is a dagesh lene,
before it. S o 1n the word
since the shva that comes before i t i s not a vowel, and dagesh forte must have a
vowel before it.
The vowel before a dagesh forte is nearly always a short vowel. By doubling
the letter, the dagesh forte keeps the preceding short vowel in a closed syllable,
which short vowels “prefer.” S o in the word “($8, there are in essence two letters
Sheen, one to close the first syllable and one to open the second, like so: ”(Q/(L78.
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While a dagesh forte always has a full vowel before it, a dagesh lene never
has a vowel before it. A dagesh lene appears only when no vowel sound precedes a
dagesh lene letter.
Example: WQZI, word.
The letter Dalet in 7;? has no vowel before it; s o it gets the dagesh lene. The letter
Bait comes after a vowel; so there is no dagesh lene in the Bait.)
Simple Shva: One last important item for Hebrew syllable division
shva, the two vertical dots that appear under some consonants.
is simple
Sad to say, this
symbol i s sometimes silent and sometimes vocal. When it i s silent, it marks the
end of a closed (CVC) syllable (as in 1 7 8 7 2 7 7 , Yis/ra/el, Israel). When it i s vocal, it
makes a tiny “eh” sound and with its consonant i s in its own “half-open” syllable
(0") (as in Till”; Ni/ne/veh, Nineveh). One thing i s sure, if you see a shva, you can
put a syllable division after it for your practical pronouncing purposes. But i s
there a syllable division before it? That i s the big question. The answer is yes if the
shva i s vocal—divide before and after. S o here are the conditions for
distinguishing vocal and silent shva.
Shva is Vocal (and in its own little syllable):
0 at the start of a word (example: @131, “words,” D’W/D/TD
0 under a dagesh forte (example. lD'7WT, “they will repay,” lD/l7/l7iZJ/D
0 when it’s the second of two shvas (example: WDWT, “they will keep,”
avg/(47‘?)
0
after a long* vowel (example: D’TDWJ', “watchmen,” D ’ T / D / W?)
Shva is Silent (and at the end of a CVC syllable):
e
at the end of a word (example: 317D, “king,” '[7/ D)
when it’s the first of two shvas (example: ’lWDiZ]? , “they will keep,”
17/ D / ill” This example is also covered by the next observation.)
0 after a short vowel (example. I 7 § 5 j 2 7 ” , “Israel,” b fi / j / W ’ ) , unless a
dagesh forte 1s involved (example: )D'7lll’, “they will repay,” lD/l7/'7(D/’)
0
0
when it follows a stressed/accented
vowel (Silent after Stress.)
*In a few cases, the shva 1s silent after a long vowel if the long vowel is accented.
(Silent after Stress.) By the time you get to one of these, it won’t be a problem.
Summary:
Divide after every shva and also before vocal shvas. The primary
principle for distinguishing vocal and silent shva i s shva is silent after a short
vowel (like hireq or patach), unless a dagesh forte is over the shva. (Think: Silent
follows Short or Stressed, when no D . F . i s involved; S & S ) . {The dagesh forte, you
recall, has the effect o f doubling the consonant, s o that in essence the shva also i s
doubled and the situation works a s i f there were two shvas; the first silent, and
the second, the only one you s e e and hear, i s vocal.}
Note about quiescent letters: A consonant inside a word (in contrast to the
end of a word) that has no vowel or shva coming after it has no consonantal
function. It i s said to b e “quiescent.” A quiescent consonant is not introducing a
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vowel (CV) or bringing a vowel to a close (CVC); it i s just sitting there being part of
the spelling of the word. This happens often when the letter Aleph comes after a
vowel. In the word {278‘}, head, the Aleph i s quiescent, and it i s the Sheen that
finally brings the vowel Holem to an end. I n the word WWW, from Psalm 34:23,
the Aleph i s not quiescent, even though to our ears it seems to have little or no
sound.
In the word W’$, “man,” the Yod i s quiescent, and it i s acting a s a mater.
In the word 1113, “house,” the Yod has a vowel coming after it, s o it i s functioning
as consonant in the syllable pronounced “yit.” Not having a vowel or shva after a
consonant i n the middle of a word tells r e a d e r s , “We don’t pronounce this
consonant.” One u s e for this information i s when you are looking at a Hebrew
word that you have copied. If you have put n o vowel or shva under a consonant
inside a word, you are not allowed t o pronounce that consonant, and you may
have copied the word incorrectly.
An Aleph at the end of a word i s also considered quiescent, which i s not
hard for an English speaker to believe, since w e have a hard time thinking of
Aleph a s having any sound ever. This tidbit of information will b e more useful
when w e get t o verbs and s e e how having a quiescent Aleph influences the
spelling of verbs that have Aleph a s their third root letter.
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Part 10: Collection of Words
With all that in mind or getting there, you can sound out and learn any
Hebrew word. {You can also do the Matching Names 2 exercise now.} Here are
the words used in “Pronouncing Hebrew Words,” plus one or two others.
1: Proper
Names:
Aaron
Jacob
“jag
3P3]:
Moses
Potiphar
”W73
Edom
Bldg
David
W’Tj/ 17?
Israel
figlmla
Sarah
173-327”
11l
2: Verbs & Related Nouns:
k'
,
mg
<
15?:
servant, slave
7;”
' '
rule, reign
(he/it) ruled
serve
(he/it) served
:
15D
7;”
T
3: Just Verbs
make, do
"1(2)”
(he/it) made / (he/it)
' rv
write
(he/it) wrote
3173
-T
did
hear, listen, obey
DOW
(he/1t) heard
' '
keep, guard, watch
W
(he/it) kept
(verb) say
(he/it) said
' ’
DER
T
4A: Other Words i n
Groups:
daughter
:7;
father
3:;
woman, wife
”(4'73
man, husband
(D’N
wisdom
”@333
men
son
D’WJIS
1;
43:
lord, master
117$
God, gods
house of
W3
house
11’;
horse
030
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WWW?
16
4C:
gold
mountain
official, leader, prince
3U:
silver, money
1U
earth, land
1/353
1W
army,
Ngg
host
’105
4D:
:jij
sword
word, thing, matter
1;?
garm ent
palm (of hand)
’7);
not
7%fi
hand
tent
bfifi
priest
gate
15:72?
N17
1:
4E:
eye, spring (of water)
1‘36
'71:;
to, toward
Here i s the alphabet in order, with room for handwritten
n 'r 3 3 s
D/n'v-[b’mnrw
n/AWT/s'mnrxn
pl
Appendix:
examples.
r527
book, scroll
m3
21X
nwmwpr/xq/ayom
j/fljol/J
pW’lz/WPY/x
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Hebrew
Letter
Sound
R
3
or
3
a or
J
Alphabet
English
Name
represents
ahlef
closing of throat
to begin a
vowel; usually
silent after a
vowel
(often spelled
aleph)
b = sound with
bait
dot
v = sound with
no dot
(rhymes Wlth
wait; often
spelled beth)
g as in give
géemel
(Spelled gimel)
Hebrew
Name
Transliterate
qbg
.
’
T
n»:
b = with dot
"
if no dot?
underline the b
bfyj
'
g = With (1013
if no dot?
underline
'.[ or “I
d as in
David
dahlet (spelled
D“?!
dalet or daleth)
n
h as in how
hey
' T
the g
d = with dot
d = no dot
RU
h
(often spelled
h e)
1
v as in very
vahV
11
W
'
(cf. “an opera by
(often spelled
waw)
2 as in zero
I
Wagner”)
zéhyin (spelled
I»?
zayin)
n
guttural ch as in hait
German
Bach
z
"
nan
(often spelled
h
"
heth)
m
t as in ten
tajt
(often spelled
teth)
nsm
"
1:
9
y as in year
yod
'fi’
y
(rhymes
rode )
.
D
_l
k = sound with
or D
_
— final
form
dot
with
kahf
(spelled kaph)
ch as in Bach =
3
k = with dot
-
k = no dot
—
sound with no
dot
1 as in listen
lahmed
(spelled lamed)
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1
D
m as in milk
D = final
f
maim
.
(rhymes
w1th
an
m
TL"
11
game; spelled
mem)
orm
J
n as in now
noon
(usually spelled
nun)
I = final
s as in some
0
sahmech
(often spelled
samekh)
3]
represents
éhyin
closing of throat
(often spelled
:
‘
s
‘IDQ
rs;
‘
"
to begin or end a ayin)
vowel
B
or B
p = sound with
pey (rhymes
dot
with say; often
_ final
ph = sound
_
no dot
3
with
ts as in cents
.
p = With dot
p = no dot
”a
spelled pe)
tsahdey (often
93g
$
'
spelled sadhe)
= final
0 as in coat
P
r as in run
1
kof
‘ij
(rhymes with
loaf; spelled
qop h)
q ‘
reysh
W91
5 as in some
seen
my
sh as in show
sheen
15m
or n
tasinten
tahv
(often spelled
taw)
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§
'
(often spelled
shin)
n
é
'
(often spelled
sin)
a?
r
"
(often spelled
resh)
(Z7
q
m
'
t=withdot
E = no dot
Vowel
English
Name
Sound
Hebrew
Transliterate
Name
NUT???
a as in father
qémets-hey
a as in father
qamets
re?
a as in father
patach
use
quick “ah”
hateph-patach
e as in they
tsére-yod
e as in they
tsére
i as in antique
hireq-yod
i as in hit
hireq
e as in send
segol
quick “eh”
hateph-segol
o as in hole
holem-vav
0 as in hole
holem
aw"?
a:
u as in sure
shureq
PUWE
.--u
my
.3.
a
Vowels
m)
Hebrew
u as in sure
qibbuts
YEP.
0 as in top
qamets-hatuph
’3
«u
1':
(D)
was
”:13
7*793Vl
PW
but;
sup-arm
H)
’3
mé'n cpfr
(D(
.3
n'n'm'fi
WOT???
0
(in c l o s e d ,
unaccented
1U
syllables)
quick “aw”
hateph-qamets
*The letter 3 stands for any consonant introducing a vowel.
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mé‘wri
6
Vowel
Chart
A-Class
n
Historically
Long
T
"
.
1 (6)
(imchan geable)
mm
“(changeable)
T
Tonem
U-Class
(é)
9
(a)
I-Class
(a)
_ (a)
’. (i)
7’
_, (é)
' (6)
_ (i)
(e)
(1‘1)
(11) T (0)
Composite Shva
(already reduced)
(Dagesh
_: (a)
Lene and Dagesh
(é)
T: (6)
Forte
The dot called Dagesh Lene appears in only the six “begadkephat” letters
(:1/J/ 'I/ 3/ 5/ h), and it
o
0
0
influences pronunciation of 3 D B (and the others sometimes),
makes no difference in meaning,
appears in any of these six letters if the letter h a s no vowel sound
coming before it (example: 7 2 3 ) .
The dot called Dagesh
Forte
can appear in any letter except the gutturals
(s/D/n/n) and 1. It
0
0
0
acts to double its letter and so influences syllable structure,
can make a difference in meaning and parsing,
always has a full vowel (not a shva of any sort) before i t (example: mtg-7's).
{The vowel before a dagesh forte i s usually a short vowel. By doubling the
letter, the dagesh forte keeps the short vowel in a closed syllable, which
short vowels “prefer.” In :7n
the first Sheen closes the first syllable
((1.78); the second Sheen starts
Simple
Shva
the next syllable (my); compare “kit/ten.”}
(:3)
A simple shva may be either vocal (pronounced as a tiny “eh” sound) or silent
(marking the end of a CVC syllable).
Shva is silent after a short vowel (like hireq or patach), unless its consonant
has a dagesh forte (Silent follows
Short; S & S ) . It is also silent at the end of a word.
Shva i s vocal elsewhere: at the beginning of a word, after a long vowel, under
a dagesh forte, and after another
shva. (Facts for occasional u s e : Shva i s vocal
under the first of two identical letters, even after a short vowel. Example: ”TEES.
Shva is silent after an accented long vowel. Example: TIPEPFL)
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MATCHING
NAMES
1: Be able to spell these names (when looking at them), sound them out,
divide them into syllables, and match them with an identifying phrase. You will see that English
pronunciations of the names do not always closely match their Hebrew sounds. Why not?
1. __
V13}?
A . a great
2. _
HUW
B. a name that announced
3. __
1?
place for a garden
(cf. m e n , in Gen. 2:8, LXX)
Naomi’s bitterness (Ruth 1:20)
C . the favorite
Wife of Jacob (cf. Paxnk)
general in the era of the judges (Judg. 4:6)
4. _ _
“if;
D . an Israelite
5. _
I‘m”:
E. had a long ark voyage, ancestor of Canaanites
6. _ _
1?}!
F . brother of Abihu (Lev. 10:1) (cf. NaSafi)
7. _ _
If];
G . died on his own gallows (Esther 7:9)
8. _
191:!
H . the older sister of Rachel
9. _
5:;
I.
10. _ _
5;;
J . stole what belonged to the Lord (Josh. 7:20—21)
11. _
:3;
K. hard-to-defeat
12. _
'7I'Ij
L. city where languages
13. _
’5]
14. _
n3“?
N. beautiful daughter of David (2 Sam. 13:1)
15. _
115:7
O. a northern
16. _
DU
17. _ _
18. _
13a
N;
the Egyptian
maid of Sarah (Gen. 16:1)
town near Jericho (Josh. 7:4) (cf. Fat)
became a problem
M. an area east of the Jordan River (Deut. 3:1)
tribe
P. visited Mt. Sinai (cf. Mwiiofig)
Q. laughed
when she heard the promise (Gen. 18:9—15)
R. brought conviction to David (cf. Naeav)
19. __
P3;
3. a Philistine city (1 Sam. 17:4) (cf. rte)
20. _
F47;
T . had a wise wife (1 Sam. 25:3) (cf. Ndfiax)
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MATCHING NAMES 2: Be able to spell these names (when looking at them), sound them out,
divide them into syllables, and match them with an identifying phrase.
my”
¢PWTG
the people that God brought out of Egypt
city where Solomon built the temple
”1332.1
spent a night in a lions’ den
:95
youngest son of Jacob
‘3mm@
tribe devoted to service in the tabernacle and temple
DU338
a large Assyrian
583W?
10.
1*3
run
11.
12.
H
queen who saved her people
Tfifl$
PDQ:
10$”
16.
17.
’1'?
18.
E35$§
19.
20.
”W39
Theological
F’ISDTUQZEF‘F
15.
son of fiQl’ and brother of D ’ fi i s
F0
53’s.:
another name for the Southern Kingdom
son of flQl’ and brother of 7127]?)
7593
14.
was sold as a slave into Egypt
the father of Isaac (P133? cf. ’ Ioao’cK)
HQ?
13.
Dallas
a well-known O.T. deep-sea diver (cf. ’ v a g )
9*
njvv
rméwvv
city
the prophet
Till” tried to go to this city
the husband of WW
the prophet who anointed WM? and 7]?!
another name for may“:
prayed for a son, whom she named 531m;
best friend of TE! (cf. ’ Iowo'teav Ka‘i Aau‘ia)
high priest for 58:12]? and brother of ”(i
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(cf. ’Aaptfiv)