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Hebrew Vowels (Diacritics)
Diacritic marks are usually written under, above, or inside the letter after which they are pronounced. (There are some exceptions, however.)
There are 4 categories of vowels in Hebrew:
- Long "Filled" Vowels (which always are indicated by a mater lectionis)
- Long "Not Filled" Vowels
- Short Vowels
- Ultra-Short Vowels
Modern Hebrew grammar distinguishes between usage of long "filled" and long "not filled" vowels; although in Masoretic texts of the Scriptures, the usage of the two types was irregular. Later writings started using "filled" long vowels in a pretty consistent way, which became the rule today.
The term used in Hebrew for vocalization mark is נִקּוּד (niqqud). The official English term is diacritic marks or diacritics.
Long "Filled" Vowels |
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| Vowel | Hebrew Name of the vowel |
The Sound | ||||||||||||||
| וֹ | חוֹלָם מָלֵא | Kholam Maleh | O (as [aw] in law) | "Stable" long O, which is not changing with name declination. | ||||||||||||
| וּ | שׁוּרֻק | Shuruk | U (as [oo] in food) | "Stable" long U, which is not changing with name declination. | ||||||||||||
| אִי | צֵירֶה מָלֵא | Tzeireh Maleh |
E, EI, EY (as in Eh or Hey!) |
Strictly speaking, Tzeireh Maleh can be "filled" not only with Yud, but also with Aleph, or theoreticaly with any of "matres lectionis" (in practice, it's either Yud or Aleph.) | ||||||||||||
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Either EY or E works for both Tzeires (Male and Khaser.) However, in some cases EY is preferred. First of all, there are certain words where EY is traditionally pronounced: הֵא [hey] (name of letter Hey) versus more common case like סֵפֶר [sefer] (book) or: בֵּיצָה [beytza] (egg) versus more common case like סֵפֶר [sefer] (empty) Please note, that the Yud in the word ביצה is part of Tzeireh Maleh diacritic, because it does not have a diacritic of its own! Sometimes EY is preferred when we want to distinguish between different grammatical constructs: שִׁירֵנוּ [shirenu] (our song) שִׁירֵינוּ [shireynu] (our songs) Also, European-born Jews of senior age oftenly pronounce any Tzeire as EY (which is a rule in Ashkenazi/Yiddish tradition.) Bottom line: the rule of thumb is, Tzeire Male is rather pronounced as EY, while Tzeire Khaser (see below) - as E in most cases. If you use this rule, it will be totally correct, and also understandable and acceptable by native Hebrew speakers. It's important to not confuse Tzeire Male
with a case when
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| אִי | חִירִיק מָלֵא | Khirik Maleh | I (as [ee] in feed) | In modern Hebrew pronunciation there is no difference between long [ee] and short [i] | ||||||||||||
Long "not filled" vowels |
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| אֹ | חוֹלָם חָסֵר | Kholam Khaser | O (as [aw] in law) | |||||||||||||
| אָ | קָמָץ גָּדוֹל | Kamatz Gadol | A (as [a] in father) | |||||||||||||
| אֵ | צֵירֶה חָסֵר | Tzeire Khaser | E (as [e] in mess) | |||||||||||||
Short vowels |
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| אָ | קָמָץ קָטָן | Kamatz Katan | O (as [aw] in law) | |||||||||||||
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The general rule is: Kamatz Katan (Small Kamatz) can appear in unstressed closed syllable only; in open or stressed syllable Kamatz should be read as Kamatz Gadol. Examples:
Of course, every rule has exceptions. Here is the most classic one:
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| אֻ | קֻבּוּץ | Kubbutz | U (as [oo] in book) | |||||||||||||
| אַ | פַּתָּח | Patakh | A (as [a] in father) | |||||||||||||
| אֶ | סֶגוֹל | Segol | E (as [e] in mess) | |||||||||||||
| אִ | חִירִיק חָסֵר | Khirik Khaser | I (as [ee] in feed) | |||||||||||||
Ultra-short (or Reduced) vowels |
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| חֳ | חֲטַף קָמָץ | Khataf-Kamatz | Ho | The Khatafs are
pronounced same way as corresponding short vowels (kamatz katan, patakh, and
segol), but the Khatafs are shorter. Some scholars claim, that in modern language this shortness is pretty much theoretical; however my personal observation (and my personal sense of language too) approve the opposite. The Khatafs always appear with guttural sounds (with maybe couple of exceptions all over Hebrew vocabulary.) |
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| חֲ | חֲטַף פַּתָּח | Khataf-Patakh | Ha | |||||||||||||
| חֱ | חֲטַף סֶגוֹל | Khataf-Segol | He | |||||||||||||
| חְ | שְׁוָא | Schwa [shva] | He sometimes Ha |
Pronunciation of
Schwa diacritic mark (the
name is pronounced shva) depends on where it stands in a word. It either means the absence of any vowel ("silent schwa"); or a reduced unstressed vowel, something like the "a" in "about" ("moving schwa"). |
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comes as an indication of Segol (see below "Dagesh
Dagesh is a dot inside a letter (בּ) used to distinguish between different ways to read that letter. There are two types of dagesh: "light" (dagesh qal) and strong (dagesh khazaq).
Here is a simple example: ב without dagesh at all reads as V (כָּבוֹד - kavod). בּ with dagesh qal is B (בֹּקֶר - boqer), and בּ with dagesh chazaq, which is "theoretically" BB: שַׁבָּת - shabbat. We say "theoretically" because consonant gemination is rarely heard in modern Hebrew (as well as in some other languages which have consonant gemination in writing).
Patakh Ganuv
There is a special case when a Patakh is pronounced before the consonant rather than afterwards. This is the so-called sneaky Patakh. It appears under the letters ח, ע, ה when those letters are located at the very end of the word, and the sound preceding the consonant is "incompatible" with the guttural nature of those consonants. To make a long story short, if the preceding vowel is not an "A"-sound, the sneaky Patakh is going to sneak in.
By the way, this Patakh is never stressed.
| profession | miqtzoa` | מִקְצוֹעַ |
| wind; spirit | ruakh | רוּחַ |
| brain | moakh | מֹחַ |
| affecting, influencing | mashpia` | מַשְׁפִּיעַ |
| high (m) | gavoah | גָּבוֹהַּ |
| neglecting | mazniakh | מַזְנִיחַ |
Most Israelis though pronounce the Patakh ganuv with Hei and Ain as a regular Patakh: gavoha, miqtzo'a -- or just gavoa, miqtzoa
Mappiq
Rarely found, the Mappiq has the following meaning: it indicates that the letter which you might think was a Mater Lectionis, is indeed a consonant. In Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) the Mappiq is found in the letters א and ה; but in the modern language it's used only in ה in the following cases:
- Words derived from the root גבה, like: גֹּבַהּ govah (height), גָּבוֹהַּ gavoah (high), מַגְבִּיהַּ magbiah (raising).
- Suffixes -ah (meaning "her") of noun and preposition derivation: שֶׁלָּהּ shelah (her)
The modern Israeli pronunciation is just skipping the Hei with Mappiq, pronouncing it like a Mater Lectionis - an indication of a final A-sound: gavoa, shela.