Hebrew alphabet

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{|cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style="font-size:80%;margin-left:3px;margin-right:3px;margin-bottom:3px;padding:1px;line-height:130%;border-style:none"	Features: 	AbjadMater lectionisBegadkefat
Variants: 	CursiveRashiBraille 	
Numerals: 	GematriaNumeration 	
Ancillaries:	DiacriticsPunctuationCantillation 	
Translit.: 	Romanization of HebrewHebraization of EnglishIPAISO 	
Computers: 	KeyboardUnicode and HTML 	
The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as of 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 Aramaic 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. It does not have case, but five letters 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. As with other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, scribes later devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew, the letters are also used as matres lectionis (the use of certain consonants to indicate a vowel) 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 replaces ) 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==
According to contemporary scholars, the original Hebrew script developed during the late second and first millennia BC alongside others used in the region. A distinct Hebrew variant of the Phoenician script, called by scholars the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, emerged by the 10th century BC,Ancient Scripts.com: Old Hebrew examples of which are represented in the Gezer calendar and the Siloam inscription. (The Phoenician script probably also gave rise to the use of Greek alphabetic writing in Ancient Greece).
The paleo-Hebrew alphabet was commonly used in the ancient Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Following the exile of the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BC, in the Babylonian exile, Jews began using a form of the Assyrian Aramaic script, which was another offshoot of the same family of scripts. The Samaritans, who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. During the 3rd century BC, Jews began to use a stylized, "square" form of the Aramaic alphabet that was used by the Persian Empire (and which in turn had been 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 in 330 BC, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form. For a limited time thereafter Jews retained the paleo-Hebrew script 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, Judeo-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 Palestine.
==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===
In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak consonants Aleph (), He (), Vav (), or Yodh () 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 (, 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, called "trope", used to indicate how scriptural passages should be chanted in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear in the scrolls). 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 (, meaning in this context "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 standardChart of Hebrew glyphs at unicode.orgUnicode names of Hebrew characters at fileformat.info.). Although Hebrew is read and written from right to left, the following table shows the letters in order from left to right.
Alef 	Bet	Gimel	Dalet 	He 	Vav	Zayin	Het	Tet 	Yod 	Kaf
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lamed	Mem	Nun 	Samekh	Ayin	Pe 	Tsadi	Qof	Resh	Shin	Tav
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Pronunciation of letter names==
letter	Name of letter	Name of letter	Name of letter 	Established pronunciationin EnglishMerriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary	standard Israelipronunciation	colloquial Israelipronunciation (if differing)	Yiddish / Ashkenazipronunciation
letter	MW 	Unicode 	HebrewKaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. pp. 8, 22.	Established pronunciationin EnglishMerriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary	standard Israelipronunciation	colloquial Israelipronunciation (if differing)	Yiddish / Ashkenazipronunciation
 	Aleph 	Alef 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Beth 	Bet 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Beth 	Bet 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Gimel 	Gimel 	 	 	 	  	
 	Daleth 	Dalet 	 	, 	 	 	
 	He 	He 	 	 	 	 	
 	Waw 	Vav 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Zayin 	Zayin 	 	 	 	 	
 	Heth 	Het 	 	, 	 	 	
 	Teth 	Tet 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Yod 	Yod 	 	 	 	 	
 	Kaph 	Kaf 	 	 	 	  	
 	Kaph 	Kaf 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Kaph 	Final Kaf 	 	 	 	  	
 	Kaph 	Final Kaf 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Lamed 	Lamed 	 	 	 	  	
 	Mem 	Mem 	 	rowspan=2 	 	  	
 	Mem 	Final Mem 	 	 	 	  	
 	Nun 	Nun 	 	rowspan=2 	 	  	
 	Nun 	Final Nun 	 	 	 	  	
 	Samekh 	Samekh 	ְ 	, 	 	  	
 	Ayin 	Ayin 	 	 	 	 	
 	Pe 	Pe 	 	 	 	 	
 	Pe 	Pe 	 	 	 	 	
 	Pe 	Final Pe 	 	, 	 	 	
 	Sadhe 	Tsadi 	 	, 	 	  	, ,
 	Sadhe 	Final Tsadi 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Qoph 	Qof 	 	 	 	 	
 	Resh 	Resh 	 	, 	 	 	
 	Shin 	Shin 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Shin 	Shin 	 	, 	 	  	
 	Taw 	Tav 	 	, 	 	rowspan=2 	,
 	Taw 	Tav 	 	, 	 	, 	
==Stylistic variants==
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).
Lettername(Unicode)	Variants 	Variants 	Variants 	Variants 	Variants 	Variants 	Variants 	Variants
Lettername(Unicode)	Modern Hebrew	Modern Hebrew	Modern Hebrew	Modern Hebrew	Modern Hebrew	Ancestral 	Ancestral 	Ancestral
Lettername(Unicode)	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
 	These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew, aside from in loan words.
 	The rafe () 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==
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	alternate
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 	ק״ת
ו 	6 		ס 	60 		ם 	600 	ר״ת
ז 	7 		ע 	70 		ן 	700 	ש״ת
ח 	8 		פ 	80 		ף 	800 	ת״ת
ט 	9 		צ 	90 		ץ 	900 	ק״תת
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==
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,Resources for New Testament Exegesis – Transliteration Standards of The SBL Handbook of Style differs slightly from the 2006 precise transliteration system of the Academy of the Hebrew Language; for "צ" SBL uses "" (≠ AHL ""), 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").
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Hebrew letter 	example 	Translation 	 	StandardIsraelitransliteration– regularTransliteration guidelines by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, November 2006	example 	 	standardIsraelitransliteration– precise 	example 	 	IPA phonemictranscription 	example 	 	IPA phonetictranscription 	example
אconsonantal, ininitial wordpositions 	אִם 	if 	 	none 	im 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
אconsonantal, innon initial wordpositions 	שָׁאַל 	asked 	 	' 	sha'ál 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
אsilent 	רִאשׁוֹן 	first 	 	none 	rishón 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
בּ 	בֵּן 	son 	 	b 	ben 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ב 	טוֹב 	good 	 	v 	tov 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
גּ 	גַּג 	roof 	 	g 	gag 	 	g 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ג 	גַּג 	roof 	 	g 	gag 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ג׳ 	ג׳וּק 	roach 	 	Transliteration guidelines preceding 2006-update, p. 3 Academy of the Hebrew Language 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
דּ 	דּוּד 	boiler 	 	d 	dud 	 	d 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ד 	דּוּד 	boiler 	 	d 	dud 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
הconsonantal 	הֵד 	echo 	 	h 	hed 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
הsilent 	פֹּה 	here 	 	none 	po 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
וconsonantal 	וָו 	hook 	 	v 	vav 	 	w 	waw 	 	 	 	 	 	
וּ 	הוּא 	he 	 	u 	hu 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
וֹ 	לוֹ 	to him 	 	o 	lo 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	or 	
ז 	זֶה 	this 	 	z 	ze 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ז׳ 	זָ׳רְגוֹן 	jargon 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ח 	חַם 	hot 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	or 	 	 	 	
ח 	חַם 	hot 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	dialectical 	 	 	 	
ט 	קָט 	tiny 	 	t 	kat 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
יconsonantal 	יָם 	sea 	 	y 	yam 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
יpart of hirik male(/i/ vowel) 	בִּי 	in me 	 	i 	bi 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
יpart of tsere male(/e/ vowel or/ei/ diphthong) 	מֵידָע 	information 	 	e 	medá 	 	é 	médá 	 	or 	or 	 	or 	or
כּ, ךּ 	כֹּה 	so 	 	k 	ko 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
כ, ך 	סְכָךְ 	branch-roofing 	 	kh 	skhakh 	 	 	 	 	or 	 	 	 	
ל 	לִי 	to me 	 	l 	li 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
מ, ם 	מוּם 	defect 	 	m 	mum 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
נ, ן 	נִין 	great-grandson 	 	n 	nin 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ס 	סוֹף 	end 	 	s 	sof 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
עin initial or finalword positions 	עַדְלֹאיָדַע 	Purim-parade 	 	none 	adloyáda 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	only in initialword position 	
עin initial or finalword positions 	עַדְלֹאיָדַע 	Purim-parade 	 	none 	adloyáda 	 	 	 	 	dialectical 	 	 	 	
עin medialword positions 	מוֹעִיל 	useful 	 	' 	mo'íl 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
עin medialword positions 	מוֹעִיל 	useful 	 	' 	mo'íl 	 	 	 	 	dialectical 	 	 	 	
פּ 	טִיפּ 	tip 	 	p 	tip 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
פ, ף 	פִסְפֵס 	missed 	 	f 	fisfés 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
צ, ץ 	צִיץ 	bud 	 	ts 	tsits 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
צ׳, ץ׳ 	ריצ׳רץ׳ 	zip 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ק 	קוֹל 	sound 	 	k 	kol 	 	q 	qol 	 	 	 	 	 	
ר 	עִיר 	city 	 	r 	ir 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	or 	or
ר 	עִיר 	city 	 	r 	ir 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	dialectical or 	or
שׁ 	שָׁם 	there 	 	sh 	sham 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
שׂ 	שָׂם 	put 	 	s 	sam 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
תּ 	תּוּת 	strawberry 	 	t 	tut 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ת 	תּוּת 	strawberry 	 	t 	tut 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Hebrew letter 		StandardIsraelitransliteration– regular		standardIsraelitransliteration– precise		IPA phonemictranscription		IPA phonetictranscription
אconsonantal, ininitial wordpositions 		none 		 		 		
אconsonantal, innon initial wordpositions 		' 		 		 		
אsilent 		none 		 		 		
בּ 		b 		 		 		
ב 		v 		 		 		
גּ 		g 		g 		 		
ג 		g 		 		 		
ג׳ 		 		 		 		
דּ 		d 		d 		 		
ד 		d 		 		 		
הconsonantal 		h 		 		 		
הsilent 		none 		 		 		
וconsonantal 		v 		w 		 		
וּ 		u 		 		 		
וֹ 		o 		 		 		or
ז 		z 		 		 		
ז׳ 		 		 		 		
ח 		 		 		or 		
ח 		 		 		dialectical 		
ט 		t 		 		 		
יconsonantal 		y 		 		 		
יpart of hirik male(/i/ vowel) 		i 		 		 		
יpart of tsere male(/e/ vowel or/ei/ diphthong)		e 		é 		or 		or
כּ, ךּ 		k 		 		 		
כ, ך 		kh 		 		or 		
ל 		l 		 		 		
מ, ם 		m 		 		 		
נ, ן 		n 		 		 		
ס 		s 		 		 		
עin initial or finalword positions 		none 		 		 		only in initialword position
עin initial or finalword positions 		none 		 		dialectical 		
עin medialword positions 		' 		 		 		
עin medialword positions 		' 		 		dialectical 		
פּ 		p 		 		 		
פ, ף 		f 		 		 		
צ, ץ 		ts 		 		 		
צ׳, ץ׳ 		 		 		 		
ק 		k 		q 		 		
ר 		r 		 		 		or
ר 		r 		 		 		dialectical or
שׁ 		sh 		 		 		
שׂ 		s 		 		 		
תּ 		t 		 		 		
ת 		t 		 		 		
;Notes:
A1234In 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", ), אֵם ("mother", ) and אֹם ("nut", ), the letter א always represents the same consonant: (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    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.
B123The 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 , which like , and appears in Hebrew slang and loanwords.
C12The Sound (as "ch" in loch) is often transcribed "ch", inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language: חם → "cham"; סכך → "schach".
DAlthough the Bible does include a single occurrence of a final pe with a dagesh (Book of Proverbs 30, 6: ""), in modern Hebrew 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 "shop"), foreign names (e.g. פִילִיפּ "Philip") and some slang (e.g. חָרַפּ "slept deeply").
==Pronunciation==
The descriptions that follow are based on the pronunciation of modern standard Israeli Hebrew.
Letters	 							 		 	 			(non-standard)			 		
IPA 	,							 		,	~			 			~		
Letters	 							 		 	 			 			 		
IPA 	 							~,		 	 			~ 			 		
===Shin and sin===
Shin and sin are represented by the same letter, , 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
(right dot)	shin	sh 	 	shop
(left dot) 	sin 	s 	 	sour
Historically, left-dot-sin corresponds to Proto-Semitic *, which in biblical-Judaic-Hebrew corresponded to a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative , as is evident in Greek transliteration of Hebrew words such as Balsam () (the ls - 'שׂ') as is evident in the Targum Onkelos. Rendering of proto-semitic * as , is still evident in the Soqotri language.
===Dagesh===
Historically, the consonants beth, gimel, daleth, kaf, pe and 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 (), while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In modern Hebrew, however, the dagesh only changes the pronunciation of beth, kaf, and pe, and doesn't affect the name of the letter. The differences are as follows:
Name	With dagesh 	With dagesh 	With dagesh	With dagesh	Without dagesh	Without dagesh 	Without dagesh	Without dagesh
Name	Symbol 	Transliteration	IPA 	Example 	Symbol 	Transliteration	IPA 	Example
beth	 	b 	/b/ 	bun 	 	v 	/v/ 	van
kaf 	"ךּ" is rare but exists, e.g. last word in Deuteronomy 7 1 (דברים פרק ז׳ פסוק א׳) in the word "" – see תנ״ך מנוקד, דברים פרק ז׳. There is a single occurrence of "ףּ", see this comment.	k 	/k/ 	kangaroo 	 	kh/ch/x 	/χ/ 	loch
pe 	 	p 	/p/ 	pass 	 	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 , like bet with dagesh
*In Syrian and Yemenite Hebrew, gimel without dagesh is pronounced .
*In Yemenite Hebrew, and in the Iraqi pronunciation of the word "Adonai", dalet without dagesh is pronounced as in "these"
*In Ashkenazi Hebrew, tav without dagesh is pronounced as in "silk"
*In Iraqi and Yemenite Hebrew, and formerly in some other dialects, tav without dagesh is pronounced is in "thick"
===Identical pronunciation===
In Israel's general population, many consonants have the same pronunciation. They are as follows:
Letters 	Letters 	Letters 	Letters 	Transliteration 	Pronunciation (IPA)
Alef* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	nottransliterated	Usually when in medial word position:(separation of vowels in a hiatus)
Alef* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	nottransliterated	When in initial or final word position, sometimes also in medial word position:silent
Alef* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	alternatingly 	alternatingly
Alef* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	Ayin* 	' or ’ 	(glottal stop)
Bet (without dagesh)	Vav 	Vav 	Vav 	v 	
Het 	Kaf (without dagesh)	Kaf (without dagesh)	Kaf (without dagesh)	kh/ch/h 	
Tet 	Tav 	Tav 	Tav 	t 	
Kaf (with dagesh) 	Qof 	Qof 	Qof 	k 	
Samekh 	Sin (with left dot) 	Sin (with left dot) 	Sin (with left dot) 	s 	
Tsadi* 	Tav-Samekh* 	and 	Tav-Sin* 	ts/tz 	
Tsadi (with geresh) 	Tet-Shin* 	and 	Tav-Shin* 	ch/tsh (chair) 	
* Varyingly
===Ancient Hebrew pronunciation===
Some of the variations in sound mentioned above are due to a systematic feature of Ancient Hebrew. The six consonants were pronounced differently depending on their position. These letters were also called BeGeD KeFeT letters . The full details are very complex; this summary omits some points. They were pronounced as plosives at the beginning of a syllable, or when doubled. They were pronounced as fricatives when preceded by a vowel (commonly indicated with a macron, ). The plosive and double pronunciations were indicated by the dagesh. In Modern Hebrew the sounds and have reverted to and , respectively, and has become , so only the remaining three consonants show variation. resh may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReS. (Sefer Yetzirah, 4:1)
* chet and ayin represented pharyngeal fricatives, tsadi represented the emphatic consonant , tet represented the emphatic consonant , and qof represented the uvular plosive . All these are common Semitic consonants.
* sin (the variant of shin) was originally different from both shin and samekh, but had become the same as 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 (the sound of modern Welsh ll) or the voiceless alveolar lateral affricate (like Náhuatl tl).
=== Regional and historical variation ===
The following table contains the pronunciation of the Hebrew letters in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The apostrophe-looking symbol after some letters is not a yud but a geresh. It is used for loanwords with non-native Hebrew sounds. The dot in the middle of some of the letters, called a "dagesh kal", also modifies the sounds of the letters ב, כ and פ in modern Hebrew (in some forms of Hebrew it modifies also the sounds of the letters ג, ד and/or ת; the "dagesh chazak" – orthographically indistinguishable from the "dagesh kal" – designates gemination, which today is realized only rarely – e.g. in biblical recitations or when using Arabic loanwords).
:
Symbol 	Pronunciation	Pronunciation	Pronunciation	Pronunciation	Pronunciation	Pronunciation	Pronunciation
Symbol 	Israeli 	Ashkenazi 	Sephardi 	Yemenite 	Reconstructed	Reconstructed	Reconstructed
Symbol 	Israeli 	Ashkenazi 	Sephardi 	Yemenite 	Tiberian 	Mishnaic 	Biblical
א 	 	[ - ] 	 	 	 	 	
בּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ב 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
גּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ג 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ג׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
דּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ד 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ד׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
ה 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ו 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
וּ 	 	 	 	 	? 	? 	?
וֹ 	 	 	 	 	? 	? 	?
‏(וו), ו׳(non-standard) issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both and be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav. Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote as opposed to but rather, when spelling without niqqud, to denote the phoneme 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 or . To pronounce foreign words and loanwords containing the sound , Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also pronunciation of Hebrew Vav.	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
ז 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ז׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
ח 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ט 	 	 	 	(1) 	 	(2) 	(3)
י 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ִי 	 	 	 	 	? 	? 	?
כּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
כ ך 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ל 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
מ ם 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
נ ן 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ס 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ע 	, - ] 	[ - ] 	- ] 	 	 	 	
ע׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
פּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
פ ף 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
צ ץ 	 	 	 	(1) 	 	(2) 	(3)
צ׳ ץ׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
ק 	 	 	 	, , 	 	 	(3)
ר 	 	~ 	~ 	~ 	 	 	
שׁ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
שׂ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
תּ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ת 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
ת׳ 	 	 	 	 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
# velarized or pharyngealized
# pharyngealized
# sometimes said to be ejective but more likely glottalized.
==Vowels==
===Matres lectionis===
 alef, he, vav and yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be, respectively, ). When they do, and 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 and are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.
:
Letter	Nameof letter	Consonant indicatedwhen letterconsonantal	Voweldesignation	Name ofvowel designation	IndicatedVowel
 	alef 	 	— 	— 	ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
 	he 	 	— 	— 	ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
 	vav 	 	 	 	ô
 	vav 	 	 	 	û
 	yud 	 	 	 	î
 	yud 	 	 	 	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, , but many more written symbols for them:
Name 	Symbol 	Israeli Hebrew 	Israeli Hebrew 	Israeli Hebrew
Name 	Symbol 	IPA 	Transliteration 	Englishexample
Hiriq 	 	 	i 	mandi
Zeire 	 	, ( withsucceeding yod)	e, (ei withsucceeding yod)	men, main
Segol 	 	 	e 	men
Patach 	 	 	a 	father
Kamatz 	סָ‎</center>	, (or ) 	a, (or o) 	father
Holam Haser	 	 	o 	over
Holam Male 	וֹ 	 	o 	over
Shuruk 	 	 	u 	moon
Kubutz 	 	 	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====
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====
By adding two vertical dots (called Sh'va) underneath the letter, the vowel is made very short.
Name 	Symbol	Israeli Hebrew	Israeli Hebrew 	Israeli Hebrew
Name 	Symbol	IPA 	Transliteration 	Englishexample
Shva 	 	or 	apostrophe, e,or nothing	h as pronounced in heir
Reduced Segol 	 	 	e 	men
Reduced Patach	 	 	a 	father
Reduced Kamatz	סֳ‎	 	o 	father
====Comparison table====
Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians 	Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians 	Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians 	Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians 	Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians 	Vowel comparison table Hebrew lessons for Christians
Vowel Length(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew)	Vowel Length(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew)	Vowel Length(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew) 	IPA 	Transliteration 	Englishexample
Long 	Short 	Very Short 	IPA 	Transliteration 	Englishexample
 	 	 	 	a 	spa
 	 	 	 	e 	temp
 	 	 	 	o 	Congo
 	 	n/a 	 	u 	soon
 	 	n/a 	 	i 	ski
Note I: 	Note I: 	By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) the vowel is made very short. 	By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) the vowel is made very short. 	By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) the vowel is made very short. 	By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) the vowel is made very short.
Note II: 	Note II: 	The short o and long a have the same niqqud. 	The short o and long a have the same niqqud. 	The short o and long a have the same niqqud. 	The short o and long a have the same niqqud.
Note III: 	Note III: 	The short o is usually promoted to a long oin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short o is usually promoted to a long oin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short o is usually promoted to a long oin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short o is usually promoted to a long oin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation
Note IV: 	Note IV: 	The short u is usually promoted to a long uin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short u is usually promoted to a long uin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short u is usually promoted to a long uin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation	The short u is usually promoted to a long uin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation
==Gershayim==
The symbol 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, e.g. . Gershayim is also the name of a note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah, printed above the accented letter, e.g. .
==Sounds represented with diacritic geresh==
The sounds , , , written "", "", "", and , non-standardly sometimes transliterated or , 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 to represent is non-standard; standard spelling rules allow no usage of whatsoever).
Hebrew slang and loanwords 	Hebrew slang and loanwords	Hebrew slang and loanwords	Hebrew slang and loanwords	Hebrew slang and loanwords	Hebrew slang and loanwords	Hebrew slang and loanwords
Name 	Symbol 	IPA 	Transliteration 	Example 	Example 	Example
Gimel with a geresh 	 	 	 	 	 	
Zayin with a geresh 	 	 	 	 	 	
Tsadi with a geresh 	 	 	 	(treat) 	 	
Vav with a gereshor double Vav	or (non standard) 	 	w 	awánta (boastful act) 	 	
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	Transliteration of non-native sounds	Transliteration of non-native sounds	Transliteration of non-native sounds	Transliteration of non-native sounds	Transliteration of non-native sounds	Transliteration of non-native sounds
Name 	Symbol 	IPA 	Arabic letter 	Example 	Example 	Comment
Dalet with a geresh 	 	 	(ذ) Voiced th 	(ذو الحجة)‎ 	 	* Also used for English voiced th * Often a simple ד is written.
Tav with a geresh 	 	 	(ﺙ)Voiceless th 	Thurston 	 	
with a geresh 	 	 	(خ) 	Sheikh (شيخ)‎ 	 	* Unlike the other sounds in this table, the sound represented by is indeed a native sound in Hebrew; the geresh is however used only when transliteration must distinguish between and , in which case transliterates the former and ח the latter, whereas in everyday usage ח without geresh is pronounced only dialectically but commonly.
Resh with a geresh 	or 	 	(غ) 	(غجر) 	 	Sometimes an ʻayin with a geresh () is used to transliterate – 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]");Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 21b 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.Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Pesach 87b, Avodah Zarah 18a.
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.Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55cZohar 1:3; 2:152
thumb|left|200px|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.The Book of Letters. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock. 1990 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):
Extensive instructions about the proper methods of forming the letters are found in Mishnat Soferim, within Mishna Berura of Yisrael Meir Kagan.
==Mathematical use==
See aleph number and beth number and gimel function.
In set theory, \aleph_0, pronounced aleph-naught or aleph-zero, is used to mark the cardinal number of an infinite countable set, such as \mathbb Z, the set of all integers. More generally, the \aleph_n (aleph) notation marks the ordered sequence of all distinct infinite cardinal numbers.
Less frequently used, the \beth_n (beth) notation is used for the iterated power sets of \aleph_0. The 2nd element \beth_1 is the cardinality of the continuum. Very occasionally, gimel is used in cardinal notation.
==Unicode and HTML==
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
==Notes==
a"Alef-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the (, "[Hebrew] hyphen"), , as opposed to with the hyphen, .
bThe 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.
cIn 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 and never (= "physicist"), סְנוֹבּ and never (= "snob"). A dagesh may be inserted to unambiguously denote the plosive variant: בּ = , כּ = , פּ =; similarly (though today very rare in Hebrew and common only in Yiddish) a rafé placed above the letter unambiguously denotes the fricative variant: בֿ = , כֿ = and פֿ = . In Modern Hebrew orthography, the sound at the end of a word is denoted by the regular form "פ", as opposed to the final form "ף", which always denotes (see table of transliterations and transcriptions, comment).
dHowever, 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).
e1e2e3e4e5The Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both and be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav. issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language. Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote as opposed to 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 , Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context.
==References==
==Bibliography==
* 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
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