# Hebrew alphabet

| Hebrew alphabet  |
| --- |
|  |
| Script type |  Abjad primarily, alphabet
 |
| Time period | 2nd–1st century BCE to present |
| Direction | Right-to-left |
| Languages | Hebrew; derivations used for Yiddish, Ladino, Mozarabic, Levantine Arabic, Aramaic, Knaanic, other Jewish languages |
| Related scripts |
| Parent systems | Egyptian hieroglyphs* Proto-Sinaitic script
	+ Phoenician alphabet
		- Aramaic alphabet
			* Hebrew alphabet
 |
| Child systems | * Yiddish alphabet
* Square Maalouli alphabet
 |
| Sister systems | * Nabataean
* Syriac
* Palmyrene
* Edessan
* Hatran
* Elymaic
* Mandaic
* Pahlavi
* Kharosthi
 |
| ISO 15924 |
| ISO 15924 | Hebr (125), ​Hebrew |
| Unicode |
| Unicode alias | Hebrew |
| Unicode range | * U+0590 to U+05FF Hebrew,
* U+FB1D to U+FB4F Alphabetic Presentation Forms
 |
|

The **Hebrew alphabet** (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ) is the alphabet used to write the Hebrew language. It has 22 letters.

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

## Letters

Letters are down below.

| letter | IPA | Name of letter | Pronunciation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Unicode | Hebrew | Modern Hebrew pronunciation | Yiddish / Ashkenazi pronunciation | Sephardi pronunciation | **Yemenitepronunciation** | Approximate western European equivalent |
| 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 *z**oo* |
| 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* |

* *Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar*, §5 ff.
* Berlin, Adele (2004). *Lamentations: A Commentary*. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664229740.
* First, Mitchell (June 2014). "Using the Pe–Ayin Order of the Abecedaries of Ancient Israel to Date the Book of Psalms". *Journal for the Study of the Old Testament*. **38** (4): 471–485. doi:10.1177/0309089214536490. ISSN 0309-0892. S2CID 170926400.
* First, Mitchell (2017). *Pe before Ayin in Biblical Pre-Exilic Acrostics*.
* Goldingay, John (2022). *The Book of Lamentations*. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802825421.
* Hoffman, Joel M. 2004. *In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language.* New York: New York University Press.
* Pitre, Brant J.; Bergsma, John S. (2018). *A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament*. Ignatius Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-58617-722-5.
* Saénz-Badillos, Angel (1993). *A History of the Hebrew Language*. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
* Steinberg, David. *History of the Hebrew Language.*

### General

* How to draw letters Archived 2021-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
* Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew
* Unicode collation charts – including Hebrew letters, sorted by shape

### Keyboards

* LiteType.com – Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard
* Mikledet.com – For typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew layout)
* Prize Find: Oldest Hebrew Inscription Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine Biblical Archaeology Review

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