Hebrew Vowel Marks
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Hebrew was originally written with the consonants only, and generally still is - except for the Bible, dictionaries, and texts for learners such as children books. The vowel mark system in Hebrew is somewhat complicated, and Modern Hebrew pronunciation ignores much of its subtleties (such as consonant doubling and vowel length). But not all - which is why I've created this page :) The rules listed here may hopefully assist you in remembering the morphological patterns affected by them.
This page is intended for learners of Modern Hebrew, so it doesn't include information on other vocalization systems historically used with Hebrew - these can be found in many good web pages - but does list several basic rules which affect the inflection of Hebrew words.
Vowels - תְּנוּעוֹת
Modern Hebrew has five vowels:
- a as in father, IPA /a/
- e as in get, IPA /ɛ̝/
- i as in sip, IPA /i/
- o as in stock, IPA [ɔ̝] or [o̞]
- u as in blue, IPA /u/
The English examples are approximations, but would be enough to make you understood, at least until you study IPA :)
Hebrew also used to have three vowel lengths: long, short, and half-vowel (super-short). Modern Hebrew pronunciation is stress-based and lost its vowel length, while having a new length set based on phonetic syntax.
| a | e | i | o | u | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long | ָ קָמַץ | ֵ צֵירֵה | חִירִיק גָּדוֹל ִי | חוֹלָם ֹ,וֹ | שוּרֻק וּ |
| Short | ַ פַּתָּח | ֶ סֶגּוֹל | ִ חִירִיק קָטָן | ָ קָמַץ קָטָן | ֻ קֻבּוּץ |
| Half-vowel | ֲ חֲטַף-פַּתָּח | ֱ חֲטַף-סֶגּוֹל | — | ֳ חֲטַף-קָמַץ | — |
Notes:
- All vowel names (except for the half-vowels) start with the corresponding vowel.
- Long i is distinguished from short i by a following י (with no vowel mark on it).
- Long o has two forms: a dot above the letter itself on the left, or a following וֹ (with no vowel mark on the letter itself).
- Long u is marked by a following וּ (with no vowel mark on the letter itself).
- Long a and short o are identical in form, but short o is very rare.
- The half-vowels are simply the corresponding short vowels with ְ (schwa) on the right.
When הַ, חַ, עַ appear as the last letter of a word, the vowel a is inserted before them: שָׂמֵחַ glad is pronounced sameakh. This is called פַּתָּח גְּנוּבָהּ (patakh gnuva).
In unvocalized text (without nikkud), the letters י and ו are very often added to denote the vowels i (sometimes e) and o/u respectively. This has nothing to do with the original vowel length. א is also added sometimes to denote the vowel a (mostly in foreign words). Consonantal ו and י are often doubled to וו יי to distinguish them from a vowel.
Schwa - שְוָא
The schwa is marked ְ (two vertical dots) and basically indicates the lack of a vowel, as in the s in past. This is called a "silent schwa" (שווא נח). However, it may also stand for a slight e sound somewhat like the tt in kettle. This is called a "mobile schwa" (שווא נע).
The schwa is not written under the last letter of a word, except if to mark a feminine form: שֶׁלָּךְ, פִּצָּחְתְּ.
In Modern Hebrew, the schwa is pronounced usually as no vowel or as a simple e, depending on pattern and varying with accent. However, the classification of the schwa may affect the pronunciation of following בג"ד כפ"ת letters, as described below. The schwa rules are rather complicated and are unknown to most israeli speakers, while ignored even if known. It is better to memorize the morphological patterns, such as noun patterns and verb conjugations to distinct the schwas and the דגש. For example, in the second verb בניין pattern, פִּעֵל, the second root letter (ע' הפועל) always bears a דגש.
- A schwa at the end of the word is silent, as in אַתְּ.
- A schwa after a short vowel is either silent or floating (see below).
- A schwa at the beginning of a word, or after a long vowel, is mobile, as in שְוָא, שוֹמְרִים.
* Of two consecutive schwas in the middle of a word, as in תַּשְבְּצִים, the first is silent and the second is mobile, and also usually pronounced as e.
- A schwa under a letter with a strong dagesh (see below) is always mobile, as in סִפְּרוּ.
Floating schwa: two consecutive schwas at the beginning of a word are forbidden. The first would become a short vowel, and the second is essentially mobile and considered a "floating schwa" (שווא מרחף). This happens, for instance, in the Imperative: the future form תִּכְתְּבִי is reduced to כְּתְבִי, which is then modified to כִּתְבִי.
Dagesh - דָּגֵש
The dagesh (emphasis) is a dot appearing in the middle of a letter to denote that it is pronounced more strongly. There are three kinds of dagesh:
Mapiq (מַפִּיק): a dagesh in a final ה, as in שְמָהּ her name indicates that the letter is not silent, and the pronounciation should be shmah. Ignored in Modern pronounciation.
Light dagesh (דָּגֵש קַל): a dagesh in one of the letters בג"ד כפ"ת denoting that it should be pronounced strongly - בּ=b, ב=v. In Modern pronounciation only ב, כ, פ are actually pronounced differently. Dagesh makes them plosives (b, k, p) rather than fricatives (v, kh, f). בג"ד כפ"ת letters invariably take a light dagesh in the beginning of a word, and after a silent schwa. The only exception of this is foreign loan words: פסטיבל (festival). This is a regulation but is sometimes ignored, especially with 'incorrect' conjugations.
Strong dagesh (דָּגֵש חָזָק): a dagesh in any letter except for א, ה, ח, ע, ר, indicating the doubling of a consonant (like -tt- in Italian). Ignored in Modern pronunciation - except that בג"ד כפ"ת letters with a strong dagesh are pronounced "hard" as if they had a light dagesh. Strong dagesh comes either as part of a pattern, or due to assimilation of similar consonants.
