Hebrew alphabet
| Hebrew alphabet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 2nd–1st century BCE to present[1] |
| Direction | Right-to-left |
| Languages | Hebrew; derivations used for Yiddish, Ladino, Mozarabic, Levantine Arabic, Aramaic, Knaanic, other Jewish languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems |
|
Sister systems |
|
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Hebr (125), Hebrew |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hebrew |
Unicode range |
|
The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי,[a] ) is the alphabet used to write the Hebrew language.[2][3][4] 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..[2][3][4]
Letters
Letters are down below.
| 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 | ||
References
- ↑ "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."
- 1 2 Abu Elhija, Dua'a (23 January 2014). "A new writing system? Developing orthographies for writing Arabic dialects in electronic media". Writing Systems Research. 6 (2). Informa UK Limited: 190–214. doi:10.1080/17586801.2013.868334. ISSN 1758-6801. S2CID 219568845.
- 1 2 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.
- 1 2 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.
- ↑ "Hebrew" (character code chart). The Unicode Standard. Unicode, Inc.
- ↑ Unicode names of Hebrew characters at fileformat.info.
- ↑ Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. pp. 8, 22.
- ↑ "The Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph-Bet)". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
Bibliography
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.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hebrew letters.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hebrew alphabet
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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