Chapter 1a – Hebrew Alphabet Twenty-Three Consonants Letter Name Pronunciation Transliteration > Alef silent א Bet b as in boy b ב Gimel g as in God g ג Dalet d as in day d ד He h as in hay h ה Waw w as in way w ו Zayin z as in Zion z ז ˙ Óet ch as in Bach ח † Tet t as in toy ט Yod y as in yes y י Kaf k as in king k כ Lamed l as in lion l ל Mem m as in mother m מ Nun n as in now n נ Samek s as in sin s ס < Ayin silent ע Pe p as in pastor p פ Tsade ts as in boots ß צ Qof k as in king q ק Resh r as in run r ר שׂ Sin s as in sin ∞ שׁ Shin sh as in ship ¡ Taw t as in toy t ת Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1b – Hebrew Alphabet Written from Right to Left Hebrew is written from right to left, not left to right as in English אבגדהוזחטיכלמנסעפצקרשׂשׁת Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1c – Hebrew Alphabet Five Final Forms Five Hebrew letters have “final” forms. When one of these letters occurs at the end of a word, it is written differently than when it appears at the beginning or in the middle of a word. The changing of a letter’s form does not change its pronunciation or transliteration. Regular Final Example Transliteration Translation Form Form drk road, way דרךך כ m nation, people< עםם מ zqn old man, elder זקןן נ ksp money, silver כסףף פ rß earth, land> ארץץ צ Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1d – Hebrew Alphabet Six Begadkephat Consonants Six consonants have two possible pronunciations and are known as begadkephat consonants. To distinguish between the two pronunciations, a dot called Daghesh Lene is inserted into the consonant. The presence of Daghesh Lene indicates a “hard” pronunciation and its absence denotes a “soft” pronunciation. Begadkephat Pronunciation Transliteration Letter בּ b as in boy b ∫ v as in vine ב גּ g as in God g © gh as in aghast ג דּ d as in day d dh as in the ƒ ד כּ k as in king k ¬ ch as in Bach כ פּ p as in pastor p ph as in alphabet º פ תּ t as in toy t ® th as in thin ת Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1e – Hebrew Alphabet ר Four Guttural Consonants and Four Hebrew letters are called gutturals. They are called gutturals because they are pronounced in the back of the throat. ר and sometimes ע ,ח ,ה ,א Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1f – Hebrew Alphabet Easily Confused Letters Hebrew consonants that look alike (Kaf) כ (Bet) ב .1 (Nun) נ (Gimel) ג .2 (Taw) ת (Óet) ח (He) ה .3 4. שׂ (Sin) שׁ (Shin) (Samek) ס (final Mem) ם .5 (Resh) ר (Dalet) ד .6 (Ayin) ע (Tsade) צ .7 (Zayin) ז (Waw) ו .8 (final Nun) ן (Waw) ו .9 (final Nun) ן (final Kaf) ך .10 Hebrew consonants that sound alike (Taw with Daghesh Lene) תּ (Tet) ט .1 (Kaf with Daghesh Lene) כּ (Qof) ק .2 (Sin) שׂ (Samek) ס .3 Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א Chapter 1g – Hebrew Alphabet Modern Pronunciation The pronunciation of modern Hebrew differs in a number of ways from ancient pronunciation. With the three begadkephat consonants listed below, the forms without Daghesh Lene are pronounced like the forms with Daghesh Lene in modern Hebrew. Traditional Modern Consonant Pronunciation Pronunciation gh as in aghast g as in God ג dh as in the d as in day ד th as in thin t as in toy ת w as in way v as in vine ו Basics of Biblical Hebrew Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt © א.