Hebrew alphabet
| Hebrew alphabet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
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 | |
Child systems | |
Sister systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Hebr (125), Hebrew |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hebrew |
| |
The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי,[a] ) 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 |
Yemenite
pronunciation |
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 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
