LAN 404 BEGINNING HEBREW II

Class II: Letters II – vowels and Reading

Dr. Esa Autero

Vowels and Reading

1.1 Introduction to Hebrew vowels Earliest Hebrew script did not have vowels

Vowels did exist – but only in spoken form Early Hebrew manuscripts look like this (at times scriptio continua)

Vowels and Reading

English equivalent of Deut 6:5 would be: Lv th Lrd yr Gd wth ll yr hrt

OR lvthlrdyrgdwthllyrhrt (scriptio continua – without spacing)

First readers of Hebrew (e.g. Josh 8) supplied vowels from memory

(without vowels)ואהבת את יהוה אלהיך בכל לבבך � � ב �כ�ל ל�ב�ב�ך �ה א�ל�ה�יך �הו � א�ת י �א�ה�ב�ת ו

Masoretes (AD 600-1000) – developed vowel point system To preserve oral tradition (spoken form of Hebrew)

Vowels and Reading

2.1 Hebrew vowels Hebrew vowels have three categories:

Long Short Reduced

Five vowel classes: a, e, i, o , u (or three: a, i [=e+i], u [=o+u]) Vowels appear with consonants and are related to one or more

Vowels pronounced after the consonants � � --- ba (not ab) =ב bo (not ob) = ב

Vowels and Reading

2.1.1 Hebrew vowel charts 1) Long vowels:

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

a-class � ב Qamets a as in father ā

e-class � ב Tsere e as in they ē

o-class � ב Holem o as in role ō

Vowels and Reading

2) Short vowels:

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

a-class � ב Pathach a as in bat a

e-class � ב Seghol e as in better e

i-class � ב Hireq i as in bitter i

o-class � ב Qamets Hatuf o as in bottle o

u-class � ב Qibbuts u as in ruler u

Vowels and Reading

3) Reduced vowels

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

a-class � ב Hateph Pathach a as in amuse ă

e-class � ב Hateph Seghol e as in metallic ĕ

o-class � ב Hateph Qamets o as in commit ŏ

Vowels and Reading

4) Summary of vowels – long, short, reduced

a e i o u

Long � בQamets

� בTsere

-- � בHolem

--

Short � בPathach

� בSeghol

� בHireq

� בQamets Hatuf

� בQibbuts

Reduced � בHateph Patach

� בHateph Seghol

-- � בHateph Qamets

--

Vowels and Reading

2.1.2 Vowel letters Early on (c. 900 BC) some consonants also functioned as

vowels E.g.

Yod functions as a vowel

In general, vowels are written with a combination of vowel + consonant

�וד ד �ויד ד

Vowels and Reading

1) Vowel letters written with ה (he) Only used at the end of a word

�ה & (law) ת ו�ר�ה (he will build) יב�נ Name of the letter: name of the vowel + name of the consonant

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

a-class ב �ה Qamets He a as in father â

e-class ב �ה Tsere He e as in they ê

ב �ה Seghol He e as in better ê

o-class ב �ה Holem He o as in role ô

Vowels and Reading

2) Vowels written with ו (Waw) Referred to as unchangeable long vowels – they don’t change

NOTE: the name of the u-class vowel is not a combination of consonant + vowel

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

o-class ב ו� Holem Waw o as in role ô

u-class ב ו Shureq u as in ruler û

Vowels and Reading

3) Vowels written with י (yod) Also unchangeable long vowels – they don’t change

Sometimes referred to as diphthongs instead of vowel letters

Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration

e-class �י ב Tsere Yod e as in they ê

�י ב Seghol Yod e as in better ê

i-class �י ב Hireq Yod i as in machine î

Vowels and Reading

4) Summary of vowel letters

a e i o u

With ה ב �הQamets

He

ב �ה/ב �הSeghol

He/Tsere He

ב �ה --Holem He

--

With ו ב ו�Holem Waw

ב וShureq

With י �י ב �י/בSeghol

Yod/Tsere Yod

�י בHireq Yod

--

Vowels and Reading

2.1.3 Defective Writing and “special” markings Defective writing and vowel letters (meaning is not affected)

Defective writing = vowel letter without the consonant Full writing = vowel letter with the consonant

Full writing Defective writing

Example ו� בש�ו�פ�ר

� בש��פ�ר

Holem Waw to Holem

Ram’s horn

Example ב ו ו ד ע�מ�

� ב� ד ע�מ�

Shureq to Qibbuts

Why?

Example י� ב�יד ו ד

� ב�ד ו ד

Hireq Yod to Hireq

David

Meaning does not change

Vowels and Reading

Unfortunately no precise way to predict defective writing Be familiar with the phenomenon and know your vocabulary

Few examples:

laws ת �ר�ת ת ו�רו�ת

meeting place מ�ע�ד מו�ע�ד

ד pillar ע�מ �ד ע�מ ו

ע�ה oath ש��ב�ע�ה ש��בו

Vowels and Reading

Shewa Reduced vowels have a pair of dots ( � �, ב ב ) on the right side of the

vowel symbol The “extra dots” also occur alone (� (ב

Shewa Two types of Shewa:

Silent Shewa and Vocal Shewa Silent Shewa = zero value and never transliterated Vocal Shewa = hurried pronunciation, like a in amused

Transliteration: � be , ב

Rules for pronunciation later on

Vowels and Reading

Holem over the �ש# or ש Two dots merge into one dot

יש��ב�ם י�ש��ב�ים �א ש#נ

Vowels and Reading

Daghesh Forte – “doubling the consonant” Remember Daghesh Lene?

begadkephat consonants Soft and hard pronunciation

hard pronunciation indicated by dot inside the consonant (Daghesh Lene) ( (for the soft v ב for hard b andב

Daghesh Forte doubles the consonant in which in occurs

�מ�ים �haššāmayim ,(ש�ש�) (ש�) has a Daghesh Forte on Shinה�ש

Daghesh Forte on every consonant except gutturals (ח, ה, ע, א) + ר

When Daghesh Forte occurs in a begadkephat, the hard pronunciation doubles Vowel chart summary on pp. 15-16

Vowels and Reading

Practice: Workbook exercises

p. 7 Hebrew vowels pp. 8-9 (identify proper names, no: 1-5, 10-15)

Vowels and Reading

3.1 Syllabification and Pronunciation Syllabification = dividing the word into syllables

Syllables = basic sounds of each word

Two rules of syllabification 1) Every syllable must begin with one consonant and have only one vowel

Syllabification of “word” (ר�ב� �׀ב�ר (ד ד2) There are only open and closed syllables

Open syllables end with a vowel & closed syllables end with a consonant

� �׀ב�ר,ד ד (open syllable), ר�ב(closed syllable)

Vowels and Reading

Hebrew accents Hebrew words most often accented on the last syllable

�ב�ר ב�ר accent on ד If accent falls on some other syllable indicated by accent mark

׀פ�ר) � פ�ר (ס� � ס� Syllable classification – proximity to the accent

1) Tonic – the syllable that is accented

�ב�ר i.e. the tonic syllable ; ב�ר accent on ד

2) Pretonic – syllable before the accent

�ב�ר � ב�ר accent on ד is the pretonic syllable ד

3) Propretonic – the syllable before the pretonic syllable

�ב�ר�ים �׀ב�׀ר�ים) ד (ד

Vowels and Reading

Identify tonic, pretonic, and propretonic syllables

פ�ר�ים ס�׀פ�׀ר�ים ס�

Propretonic Pretonic Tonic

Vowels and Reading

The Daghesh and Syllabification Review of Daghesh:

Daghesh Lene – hard sound in begadkephat consonants Daghesh Forte – doubling any consonant (except gutturals and ר) Some exaples of Daghesh Forte:

׀ק�הקח� ח�ק �ה �ב �ש��ה י � ׀ב �׀ש��הבי �ה �פ�ל �׀פ� ת ׀ל�הלת

Simple --- but how to distinguish between Daghesh Forte and Lene in begadkephat consonants?

Vowels and Reading

Daghesh Lene or Daghesh Forte – Three rules The Daghesh in begadkephat is Forte, if preceded by a vowel

E.g. הא� �ת The Daghesh in begadkephat is Lene if preceded by a consonant

E.g. ה� [silent Shewa here] מ�ל�כ A begadkephat letter at the beginning of a word takes a Daghesh

Lene unless the previous word ends in a vowel

E.g. ר�ב� ד

Vowels and Reading

Shewa and syllabification Two types of Shewas: silent and vocal Shewa

Silent Shewa never pronounced Found at the end of a closed syllable

Vocal Shewa – hurried pronunciation ( � (be ,ב Vocal Shewa occurs: in an open syllable

Two rules to distinguish between a vocal Shewa and silent Shewa 1) Shewa is silent if:

(a) Previous vowel is short; that is, Silent Shewa is found at the end of closed syllable

�ה queen” – preceded by short vowel/at the end of closed syllable“ מ�ל�כ

Vowels and Reading

(b) First of the two contiguous (side-by-side) Shewas is silent

�ט�י �׀ט�י) is vocal פ is silent and under ש� Shewa under מ�ש��פ (מ�ש��׀פ

(c) A Shewa at the end of the word is silent � ב�ת � �) ת��כ ב�ת �׀ ת��(כ

2) The Shewa is vocal if not preceded by a short vowel

(a) Initial Shewa always vocal – ה�כ�ר� ב(b) The second of the side-by-side Shewas is vocal – ט�י� מ�ש��פ

(c) Shewa under Dagesh Forte is vocal – כ�ים�ל� ה�מ(d) Shewa under unaccented long vowel is vocal – ת�ב�ים� כ Gutturals cannot take vocal Shewa, only silent Shewa – � ע�ת ��מ��ש

Daghesh Forte “dot”

Simple rule:

A Shewa is silent if the

previous vowel is short –

in most other

circumstances, Shewa is

vocal

Vowels and Reading

Qamets and Qamets Hatuf Two identical vowels:

Qamets – � long ā , ב

Qamets Hatuf – � short o , ב

Better to know the rules:1) Qamets Hatuf only occurs in closed and unaccented syllable

�ל , ח�כ�מ�ה כ2) Qamets in open, pretonic syllable or a closed, accented syllable

�ב�ר ד3) Metheg symbol sometimes used to distinguish Qamets & Qamets Hatuf

�ם , ק�-ט�ל�ה �-ת ב

How do you tell the difference?

Qamets much more common – pick Qamets if

unsure

Metheg only used with Qamets

Vowels and Reading

Furtive Pathach, Quiescentא , and Hebrew Diphthongs Consonant always pronounced before the vowel, except with…

Furtive Pathach When a word ends with ח or ע , Pathach may appear beneath

Must be pronounced before the consonant

ח� ר�ק�יע� , רו Whenא occurs without a vowel it is quiescent – not considered

consonant does not affect pronunciation

Hebrew diphthong (sound that functions as a single unit) Syllables that contain a diphthong is considered closed

ית ים , ���ש ב� מ��

Vowels and Reading

Summary of vowel rules on pp. 24-25 Reading exercise – vocabulary words, p. 25

Practice: Workbook, p. 11, no: 1-5; p. 13, no:1-5.

Homework: p. 12, no: 15-20 & p. 13, no: 9-14 Memorize the vowels and the most important rules Practice reading Memorize the vocabulary