Hebrew alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי,[a] Alefbet ivri) is the alphabet used to write the Hebrew language.[2][3][4] It has 22 letters.

Hebrew alphabet
Alefbet ivri.svg
TypeAbjad primarily, alphabet
Spoken languagesHebrew; derivations used for Yiddish, Ladino, Mozarabic, Levantine Arabic, Aramaic, Knaanic, other Jewish languages
Time period2nd–1st century BCE to present[1]
Parent systems
Child systems
Sister systems
Unicode range
ISO 15924Hebr
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

It has no capital letters, and is used to write some other other Jewish languages, like Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Persian..[2][3][4]


Letters

letter IPA Name of letter Pronunciation
Unicode[5][6] Hebrew[7] Modern Hebrew
pronunciation
Yiddish / Ashkenazi
pronunciation
Sephardi
pronunciation
Yemenite

pronunciation

Approximate western European equivalent[8]
א [], [ʔ] Alef אָלֶף /alef/ /ʔaləf/ /ʔalɛf/ /ˈolaf/ When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔ⁠ˈbɔɹd]
בּ [b] Bet בֵּית /bet/ /bɛɪs/, /bɛɪz/ /bɛt/ /beθ/ b as in black
ב [v] בֵית /vet/ /vɛɪs/, /vɛɪz/ /vɛt/ /veθ/ v as in vogue
גּ [ɡ] Gimel גִּימֵל /ˈɡimel/ /ˈɡɪməl/ /ˈɡimɛl/ /ˈdʒimel/ g as in gourd
ג [ɣ] גִימֵל /ˈɣɪmεl/ /ˈɣimel/ gh as in Arabic ghoul
דּ [d] Dalet דָּלֶת /ˈdalɛt/, /ˈdalɛd/ /ˈdaləd/, /ˈdaləs/ /ˈdalɛt/ /ˈdolaθ/ d as in doll
ד [ð] דָלֶת /ˈðalεt/ /ˈðolaθ/ th as in that
ה [h] He הֵא /he/, /hej/ /hɛɪ/ /he/ /he/ h as in hold
ו [v] Vav וָו /vav/ /vɔv/ /vav/ /wow/ v as in vogue
ז [z] Zayin זַיִן /ˈzajin/, /ˈza.in/ /ˈzajɪn/ /ˈzajin/ /ˈzajin/ z as in zoo
ח [χ] Chet חֵית /χet/ /χɛs/ /ħɛt/ /ħeθ/ ch as in Bach
ט [t] Tet טֵית /tet/ /tɛs/ /tɛt/ /tˤeθ/ t as in tool
י [j] Yod יוֹד /jod/, /jud/ /jʊd/ /jud/ /jøð/ y as in yolk
כּ [k] Kaf כַּף /kaf/ /kɔf/ /kaf/ /kaf/ k as in king
כ [χ] כַף /χaf/ /χɔf/ /χaf/ /xaf/ ch as in bach
ךּ [k] כַּף סוֹפִית /kaf sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə kɔf/ /kaf sofit/ /kaf søˈfiθ/ k as in king
ך [x]~[χ] כַף סוֹפִית /χaf sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə χɔf/ /χaf sofit/ /xaf søˈfiθ/ ch as in bach
ל [l] Lamed לָמֶד /ˈlamɛd/ /ˈlaməd/ /ˈlamɛd/ /ˈlomeð/ l as in luck
מ [m] Mem מֵם /mem/ /mɛm/ /mɛm/ /mem/ m as in mother
ם מֵם סוֹפִית /mem sofit/ /ˈʃlɔs mɛm/ /mɛm sofit/ /mem søˈfiθ/
נ [n] Nun נוּן /nun/ /nʊn/ /nun/ /nun/ n as in night
ן נוּן סוֹפִית /nun sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə nʊn/ /nun sofit/ /nun søˈfiθ/
ס [s] Samekh ְסָמֶךְ /ˈsamɛχ/ /ˈsaməχ/ /ˈsamɛχ/ /ˈsomax/ s as in sight
ע [ʔ]~[ʕ], [] Ayin עַיִן /ajin/, /ʔa.in/ /ajɪn/ /ajin/ /ˈʕajin/ When ʔ, as in button [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clipboard [ˌklɪʔ⁠ˈbɔɹd]. When ʕ, no English equivalent.
פּ [p] Pe פֵּא /pe/, /pej/ /pɛɪ/ /pe/ /pe/ p as in pine
פ [f] פֵא /fe/, /fej/ /fɛɪ/ /fe/ /fe/ f as in fine
ףּ [p] פֵּא סוֹפִית /pe sofit/, /pej sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə pɛɪ/ /pe sofit/ /pe søˈfiθ/ p as in pine
ף [f] פֵא סוֹפִית /fe sofit/, /fej sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə fɛɪ/ /fe sofit/ /fe søˈfiθ/ f as in fine
צ [ts] Tsadi צָדִי /ˈtsadi/ /ˈtsadi/, /ˈtsadɪk/ /ˈtsadik/ /ˈsˤoði/ ts as in cats
ץ צָדִי סוֹפִית /ˈtsadi sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadɪk/, /ˈlaŋɡə ˈtsadək/ /ˈtsadik sofit/ /ˈsˤoði søˈfiθ/
ק [k] Qof קוֹף /kuf/, /kof/ /kʊf/ /kuf/ /gøf/ k as in king
ר [ʁ] Resh רֵישׁ /ʁeʃ/ /ʁɛɪʃ/ /reʃ/ /reʃ/ r as in French ⟨r⟩
שׁ [ʃ] Shin שִׁין /ʃin/ /ʃɪn/ /ʃin/ /ʃin/ sh as in shower
שׂ [s] שִׂין /sin/ /sɪn/ /sin/ /sin/ s as in sour
תּ [t] Tav תָּו /tav/, /taf/ /tɔv/, /tɔf/ /tav/ /tow/ t as in tool
ת [θ] תָו /sɔv/, /sɔf/ /θav/ /θow/ th as in thin



Hebrew Alphabet Media

References

  1. "Hebrew alphabet." Encyclopedia Britannica. "Square Hebrew became established in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce and developed into the modern Hebrew alphabet over the next 1,500 years."
  2. 2.0 2.1 Abu Elhija, Dua'a (23 January 2014). "A new writing system? Developing orthographies for writing Arabic dialects in electronic media". Writing Systems Research. Informa UK Limited. 6 (2): 190–214. doi:10.1080/17586801.2013.868334. ISSN 1758-6801. S2CID 219568845.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gaash, Amir. "Colloquial Arabic written in Hebrew characters on Israeli websites by Druzes (and other non-Jews)." Jerusalem studies in Arabic and Islam 43 (2016): 15.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Shachmon, Ori, and Merav Mack. "Speaking Arabic, Writing Hebrew. Linguistic Transitions in Christian Arab Communities in Israel". Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, vol. 106, 2016, pp. 223–239. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26449346. Accessed 15 July 2021.
  5. "Hebrew" (character code chart). The Unicode Standard. Unicode, Inc.
  6. Unicode names of Hebrew characters at fileformat.info.
  7. Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. pp. 8, 22.
  8. "The Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph-Bet)". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-10-04.

Bibliography

External links

General

Keyboards

Template:Northwest Semitic abjad