The Hebrew Alphabet: The Consonants

א Aleph

ב Bet

ג Gimel

ד Dalet

ה He

ו Vav

ז Zayin

ח Het

ט Tet

י Yod

כ Kaf

ל Lamed

מ Mem

נ Nun

ס Samekh

ע Ayin

פ Pe

צ Sade

ק Qof

ר Res

שׂ Sin

שׁ Shin

ת Tav

The Hebrew Alphabet 22 consonants No vowels Read right-to-left No capital letters In context with other consonants, each letter of the alphabet stands alone Letters of the Hebrew alphabet are never joined together (unlike English cursive and Arabic script)

The Hebrew Alphabet Ancient Hebrew was written without vowels Its correct pronunciation was based upon an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation. A written vowel system was devised in the period between A.D. 500 and 1000 for the purpose of preserving the oral tradition. A text without vowels is called “an unpointed text” Synagogue scrolls today along with most books, magazines, and newspapers printed in modern Hebrew are written with an unpointed text.

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א Aleph

ב Bet

ג Gimel

ד Dalet

ה He

ו Vav

ז Zayin

ח Het

ט Tet

י Yod

כ Kaf

ל Lamed

מ Mem

נ Nun

ס Samekh

ע Ayin

פ Pe

צ Sade

ק Qof

ר Res

שׂ Sin

שׁ Shin

ת Tav

אand ע Silent ב and ו Like v in Voice ח and כ Like ch in Bach Same Pronunciation אand ע Silent ב and ו Like v in Voice ח and כ Like ch in Bach ט and ת/תּ Like t in Tide כּ and ק Like k in Keep ס and שׂ Like s in Sit

BeGaD KeFaT 6 consonants may appear either with or without a dot placed within them תּ, פּ, כּ, דּ, גּ, בּ BeGaD KeFaT is a memory device The dot is called a dagesh lene The dot will normally be required when one of these six consonants begins a new word. It even may be required when one of them begins a new syllable within a word.

BeGaD KeFaT The presence or absence of the dagesh lene affects the pronunciation of three of the BeGaD KeFaT letters פּ, כּ, בּ With the dagesh lene their pronunciation is hard; without it their pronunciation is soft. The other three consonants, תּ, דּ, גּ, are always given a hard sound regardless of whether or not they have a dagesh lene

Stops בּ גּ דּ כּ פּ תּ These letters are identifiable as stops when they bear a dagesh Explosive sounds that cannot last more than an instant They have a hard pronunciation

Fricatives ב ג ד כ פ ת They are identifiable as fricatives when they bear no dagesh You can pronounce them as long as your breath holds out They have a soft pronunciation

Final Forms There are five letters with alternate final forms These final forms are used when the letter occurs at the end of a word

Final Forms Regular form: כ מ נ פ צ Final form: ךְ ם ן ף ץ שׁמים

Final Forms Final form: ךְ ם ן ף ץ Four of the final forms extend below the line, which is not the case with regular consonants, except in the case of ק

Gutturals Five of the consonants, ע, ח, ה, א, and sometimes ר are classified as gutturals, because of their having originally been pronounced in the throat.

Look Alikes! ב כ

Look Alikes! ג נ

Look Alikes! ד ר

Look Alikes! ד ך

Look Alikes! ה ח

Look Alikes! ו ז

Look Alikes! ט מ

Look Alikes! י ו

Look Alikes! ו ן

Look Alikes! ז ן

Look Alikes! ם ס

Look Alikes! ע צ

Look Alikes! ע ץ

Look Alikes! ע א

Look Alikes! ת ח

Look Alikes! ר ך

Look Alikes! שׂ שׁ

Look Alikes! ך ן

Quiz Order of the alphabet Names of the letters BeGaDKeFaT Letters Make use of the practice power point on Moodle