ALEPH-TAU Hebrew School Biblical Hebrew Lesson 201 (Aleph-Bet)

English Alphabet Hebrew Alphabet 1. English is read and written 1. Hebrew is read and written from right to left. from left to right. 2. In the English alphabet, there 2. In the Hebrew alphabet, there are 22 letters, all of which are are 26 letters: some are vowels consonants. Vowels are dots and dashes added below and (a, e, i, o, u), and some are beside the consonants. consonants (b, c, d, g, etc.) 3. Letters in the English 3. Letters in the Hebrew alphabet have only one form. alphabet may be capital or lowercase. 4. English letters are not written 4. Five Hebrew letters have a different form when they appear differently when they appear at at the end of a word. the end of a word. 5. It is impossible to learn to 5. Hebrew consonants and vowels are nearly always read English without knowing pronounced the same. Therefore, it is possible to learn to read the meaning of words, because Hebrew without knowing the meaning of words. letters and letter combinations can be pronounced in many ways. Example: the letter c in the words cat and circle. 6. English is pronounced 6. Hebrew also has various pronunciations. This book uses differently in various countries, the Sephardic, or Middle Eastern, pronunciation.* such as England, Australia, and the United States.

*Jdg 12:5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; Jdg 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

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Hebrew Aleph – Bet Chart

Book Final Letter Names Pronunciation Print Form in English Block Script Numbers

Aleph 1 א Silent letter B as in Boy (At the beginning of ּב (word/syllable V as in Vine Bet 2 ב At the) middle or end of word/syllable)

Gimmel 3 ג G as in Girl

Dalet 4 ד D as in Door

Hey 5 ה H as in House W as in Wine ו O as in Oak Waw 6 ֹו Oo as in Pool

ּו At the middle) or end of

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word/syllable) *vowel indicator

Zayin 7 ז Z as in Zebra KH as in Khet 8 ח KHai

Tet 9 ט T as in Tall Y as in Yes Y as in Try י Y as in Pray ַי Y as in Key (At the middle Yod 10 ַי or end of word/syllable) ַי *vowel indicator

K as in

ּכ Kaf 20 ך Kitchen

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Lamed 30 ל L as in Look

Mem 40 ם מ M as in Moon

Nun 50 ן נ N as in Now

Samech 60 ס S as in Sun Silent letter (Guttural) adjective 1. 1.

Ayin 70 ע of a speech) sound) produced in the throat; harsh- sounding.

ּפ P as in Park

Pey 80 ף פ F as in Food TS as in Tsade 90 ץ צ NuTS

Qof 100 ק Q as in Quiet

Resh 200 ר R as in Read SH as in Sheen ׁש SHine 300 Seen 4

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ׂש S as in Sun T as in Tall

Tau 400 ת TH as in) BeTH)

Hebrew Vowels 1. Hebrew Vowels are shown as dots or dashes that appear below or above Hebrew letters. 2. A vowel is a sound that originates from the throat (ex. A, E, I, O, U). A consonant is a sound that originates from the lips (ex. B, C, D, F, G). 3. Originally, Hebrew vowels were not written. Vowels were verbally spoken and understood by everyone. 4. As Israelites scattered across the 4 corners of the earth, the Hebrew language became obsolete. Masorites developed a system of preserving the pronunciation of the Hebrew language by adding dots and dashes underneath the Hebrew text as vowel symbols. If vowels were made into Hebrew letters (instead of dots or dashes) then the Scribes would have to add new letters inside of each Hebrew word. To do this would have been a violation of YHWH’S Commandment:

Deu 4:2 YE SHALL NOT ADD UNTO THE WORD which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of YHWH your GOD which I command you.

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Two Hebrew Vowel Sounds

Vowels are shown by adding dots and dashes below or beside consonants. Two vowels are shown below. Both are added below consonants, and both are .pronounced in the same way.1 The ַrepresents any Hebrew consonant

English Hebrew ָ A as in Father .1 ָ A as in Father .2 When a vowel is written below a consonant, pronounce the consonant first and .pronounce the vowel only ,א then the vowel. When a vowel appears below an

Remember that *ּב + ַ ָּ = ּב ָּ Hebrew reads from ← .right to left א + ַ ָּ = א ָּ ָּ 1

Sometimes the vowel ָּ ַwill sound like the o in row. Without a complete understanding of Hebrew 1 stress, syllabification, and vowel length, it is difficult to know when a ָּ ַsounds like the a in yacht, and when it sounds like the o in row. Unless we instruct you otherwise, we suggest that you pronounce .every ָּ ַlike the a in yacht, even though this will not always be correct

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Reading Practice

1.* א ָּ א ָּ א ָּ ּב ָּ ּב ָּ ב ָּ ג ָּ ג ָּ א ָּ ב ָּ ג ָּ ּב ָּ אא

2.* א ָּ ּב ָּ ג ָּ א ָּ ב ָּ ג ָּ ד ָּ ד ָּ ד ָּ א ָּ ד ָּ ּב ָּ ּבא

3.* ה ָּ ד ָּ ג ָּ ב ָּ ה ָּ א ָּ ב ָּ ד ָּ א ָּ ה ָּ ה ָּ ד ָּ הג

4.* ו ָּ ו ָּ ב ָּ ה ָּ ד ָּ ו ָּ א ָּ ּב ָּ ב ָּ ו ָּ ג ָּ ד ָּ דג

5.* ד ָּ ו ָּ ה ָּ א ָּ ב ָּ ו ָּ ּב ָּ ג ָּ א ָּ ד ָּ ּב ָּ א ָּ אב

6.* א ָּ ּב ָּ ב ָּ ג ָּ ד ָּ ה ָּ ו ָּ ד ָּ ו ָּ ה ָּ ּב ָּ ג ָּ גב 2

Two More Hebrew Vowels

2Simon, E., Resnikoff, I., & Motzkin, L. 1992. The first Hebrew primer : The adult beginner's path to Biblical Hebrew. Completely rev. version of The First Hebrew primer for adults.; Text in English and Hebrew. (3rd ed., completely rev.) . EKS pub.: Oakland, Calif.

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English Hebrew ָ I as in Sit .3 ָי Y as in Key .4

2. Read aloud the following letter and vowel combinations.

1. ז ז י ז ז ז ו ב ב ז ז י ַא ז ג

2. חי ח ה חי ה אי ב ח ז ח ז י ח ה

3. ט ט ט י ח ז י ַא ו ה ז ט די בט

4. י י י ו ו ז י ג י י ו ב ב י ד

5. כי כ כ ב ב ו כ בי אי בי ו כט

6. כי כי כ כ ב ב ו ג י ד כ ח בכ

7. ו וי ה הי ה ד ד ג י די ב ב אט

8. ו ה ד ג ב ַא כ י ט ח ז בז

9. אי בי ג ה דה הי וא ז י חא טי י ה כי

10. כ ט ה יט ה ט ַאב ג ד ו ו ז א ַאח כז 3

3Simon, E., Resnikoff, I., & Motzkin, L. 1992. The first Hebrew primer : The adult beginner's path to Biblical Hebrew. Completely rev. version of The First Hebrew primer for adults.; Text in English and Hebrew. (3rd ed., completely rev.) . EKS pub.: Oakland, Calif.

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Homework

1. Spell the following English words with Hebrew letters and vowels. Do these words as many different ways as you can. 1. heave 4. Viva! 7. dot 10. got 13. yacht 16. cog 2. beet 5. cot 8. heat 11. deed 14. eat 17. tot 3. hot 6. ease 9. Oz 12. Bach 15. tea 18. bead 4

2. Read the following real Hebrew words. Spell the following Hebrew words with English letters. 1.* אב דָּא ב יבָּא ה בָּא בָּא ח דָּ א חָּא זָּא בי 2.* אב הָּאבָּא ּכ דָּא ח זָּּב אָּ ּבא הָּּב ט חָּּב זה 3.* ּבזָּּבז דָּּב דָּּב ד אָּּב ד דָּּב ד דָּ ּב ה טָּּב אה

4Simon, E., Resnikoff, I., & Motzkin, L. 1992. The first Hebrew primer : The adult beginner's path to Biblical Hebrew. Completely rev. version of The First Hebrew primer for adults.; Text in English and Hebrew. (3rd ed., completely rev.) . EKS pub.: Oakland, Calif.

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4.* ּבז הָּּב ז זָּּביָּג א הָּג אבָּג בָּ ג ב הָּג דד 5.* גדָּג דיָּג ד הָּג ה הָּג זהָּג ז הָּ ה ג דָּג זז 6.* ג ידָּדא גָּד א הָּדב בָּד ּב הָּ ד גהָּד י גָּד דה 7.* דו דָּד ו ידָּד ו הָּד חהָּה ג יגָּ ה גהָּה ד הָּהיא 5

5Simon, E., Resnikoff, I., & Motzkin, L. 1992. The first Hebrew primer : The adult beginner's path to Biblical Hebrew. Completely rev. version of The First Hebrew primer for adults.; Text in English and Hebrew. (3rd ed., completely rev.) . EKS pub.: Oakland, Calif.