LAN 404 Beginning Hebrew II *Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/58558794@N07/7628799526/in/photostream/ 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) *Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjfnjy/5248545727/in/photostream/

Vowels and Reading וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ 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 ואהבת את יהוה אלהיך בכל לבבך(without vowels) וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ 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 בַּ= ba (not ab) --- בֹּ = bo (not ob)

Vowels and Reading בָּ בֵּ בֹּ 2.1.1 Hebrew vowel charts 1) Long vowels: Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration a-class בָּ Qamets a as in father ā e-class בֵּ Tsere e as in they ē o-class בֹּ Holem o as in role ō

Vowels and Reading בַּ בֶּ בִּ בָּ בֻּ 2) Short vowels: a e i o u Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration a-class בַּ Pathach a as in bat a e-class בֶּ Seghol e as in better e i-class בִּ Hireq i as in bitter i o-class בָּ Qamets Hatuf o as in bottle o u-class בֻּ Qibbuts u as in ruler u

Vowels and Reading בֲּ בֱּ בֳּ 3) Reduced vowels ă ĕ ŏ Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration a-class בֲּ Hateph Pathach a as in amuse ă e-class בֱּ Hateph Seghol e as in metallic ĕ o-class בֳּ Hateph Qamets o as in commit ŏ

Vowels and Reading בָּ בֵּ בֹּ בַּ בֶּ בִּ בֳּ בֻּ בֲּ בֱּ 4) Summary of vowels – long, short, reduced a e i o u Long בָּ Qamets בֵּ Tsere -- בֹּ Holem Short בַּ Pathach בֶּ Seghol בִּ Hireq בֳּ Qamets Hatuf בֻּ Qibbuts Reduced בֲּ Hateph Patach בֱּ Hateph Seghol Hateph Qamets

Vowels and Reading דּוד דּויד 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 דּוד דּויד

Vowels and Reading בָּה תּוֹרָה (law) & יִבְנֶה (he will build) בֵּה 1) Vowel letters written with ה (he) Only used at the end of a word תּוֹרָה (law) & יִבְנֶה (he will build) Name of the letter: name of the vowel + name of the consonant Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration a-class בָּה Qamets He a as in father â e-class בֵּה Tsere He e as in they ê בֶּה Seghol He e as in better o-class בֹּה Holem He o as in role ô

Vowels and Reading בּוֹ בּוּ 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 בּוֹ Holem Waw o as in role ô u-class בּוּ Shureq u as in ruler û

Vowels and Reading בֵּי בֶּי בִּי 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 בֵּי Tsere Yod e as in they ê בֶּי Seghol Yod e as in better i-class בִּי Hireq Yod i as in machine î

Vowels and Reading בָּה בֵּה/בֶּה בֹּה בּוֹ בּוּ בֵּי/בֶּי בִּי 4) Summary of vowel letters a e i o u With ה בָּה Qamets He בֵּה/בֶּה Seghol He/Tsere He -- בֹּה Holem He With ו בּוֹ Holem Waw בּוּ Shureq With י בֵּי/בֶּי Seghol Yod/Tsere Yod בִּי Hireq Yod

Meaning does not change 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 בּוֹ שׁוֹפָר בֹּ שֹׁפָר Holem Waw to Holem Ram’s horn בּוּ מַדּוּעַ בֻּ מַדֻּעַ Shureq to Qibbuts Why? בִּי דּוִיד בִּ דּוִד Hireq Yod to Hireq David Meaning does not change

Vowels and Reading תּוֹרוֹת  תֹּרֹת laws מוֹעֵד  מֹעֵד meeting place Unfortunately no precise way to predict defective writing Be familiar with the phenomenon and know your vocabulary Few examples: תּוֹרוֹת  תֹּרֹת laws מוֹעֵד  מֹעֵד meeting place עַמּוּד עַמֻּד pillar שְׁבוּעָה שְׁבֻעָה oath

Vowels and Reading Shewa  Shewa Two types of Shewa: Reduced vowels have a pair of dots (בֱּ ,בֲּ) on the right side of the vowel symbol The “extra dots” also occur alone (בְּ)  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: בְּ , be  Rules for pronunciation later on

Vowels and Reading יֹשְׁבִים  ישְׁבִם שׂנֵא Holem over the שׁ or שׂ  Two dots merge into one dot יֹשְׁבִים  ישְׁבִם שׂנֵא *Words: to sit (pt.) & to hate (pt.)

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) ( בּfor hard b and ב for the soft v) Daghesh Forte doubles the consonant in which in occurs הַשָּׁמַיִםhas a Daghesh Forte on Shin (שׁ)  (שׁשׁ), haššāmayim 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 דָּ ,דָּ׀בָר (open syllable), בָר(closed syllable) 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” (דָּבָר)  דָּ׀בָר 2) There are only open and closed syllables Open syllables end with a vowel & closed syllables end with a consonant דָּ ,דָּ׀בָר (open syllable), בָר(closed syllable)

Vowels and Reading (סֵ֫׀פֶר) סֵ֫פֶר Hebrew accents Hebrew words most often accented on the last syllable דָּבָר  accent on בָר If accent falls on some other syllable  indicated by accent mark (סֵ֫׀פֶר) סֵ֫פֶר Syllable classification – proximity to the accent 1) Tonic – the syllable that is accented דָּבָר  accent on בָר ; i.e. the tonic syllable 2) Pretonic – syllable before the accent דָּבָר  accent on בָר  דָּ is the pretonic syllable 3) Propretonic – the syllable before the pretonic syllable דְּבָרִים (דְּ׀בָ׀רִים)

Vowels and Reading סְפָרִים סְ׀פָ׀רִים Identify tonic, pretonic, and propretonic syllables סְפָרִים סְ׀פָ׀רִים 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: חֻקָּה  חֻק׀קָה יַבָּשָׁה יַב׀בָּ׀שָׁה תְּפִלָּה  תְּ׀פִל׀לָה  Simple --- but how to distinguish between Daghesh Forte and Lene in begadkephat consonants? *Hb. Words: statute, prescription; be dry, dry up (Qal: yabesh); prayer

Vowels and Reading Daghesh Lene or Daghesh Forte – Three rules The Daghesh in begadkephat is Forte, if preceded by a vowel E.g. אַתָּה The Daghesh in begadkephat is Lene if preceded by a consonant E.g. מַלְכָּה [silent Shewa here] A begadkephat letter at the beginning of a word takes a Daghesh Lene unless the previous word ends in a vowel E.g. דָּבָר

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 ( בְּ, be) 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 מַלְכָּה “queen” – preceded by short vowel/at the end of closed syllable

Vowels and Reading Simple rule: (b) First of the two contiguous (side-by-side) Shewas is silent מִשְׁפְּטֵי Shewa under שׁ is silent and under פּ is vocal (מִשְׁ׀פְּ׀טֵי) (c) A Shewa at the end of the word is silent כָּתַ֫בְתְּ (כָּ׀תַ֫בְתְּ) 2) The Shewa is vocal if not preceded by a short vowel (a) Initial Shewa always vocal – בְּרָכָה (b) The second of the side-by-side Shewas is vocal – מִשְׁפְּטֵי (c) Shewa under Dagesh Forte is vocal – הַמְּלָכִים (d) Shewa under unaccented long vowel is vocal – כֹּתְבִים  Gutturals cannot take vocal Shewa, only silent Shewa – שָׁמַ֫עְתָּ Simple rule: A Shewa is silent if the previous vowel is short – in most other circumstances, Shewa is vocal Daghesh Forte “dot”

Vowels and Reading חָכְמָה , כָּל Qamets and Qamets Hatuf Two identical vowels: Qamets – בָּ , long ā Qamets Hatuf – בָּ , short o Better to know the rules: 1) Qamets Hatuf only occurs in closed and unaccented syllable חָכְמָה , כָּל 2) Qamets in open, pretonic syllable or a closed, accented syllable דָּבָר 3) Metheg symbol sometimes used to distinguish Qamets & Qamets Hatuf בָּֽתִּם , קָֽטְלָה Qamets much more common – pick Qamets if unsure How do you tell the difference? Metheg only used with Qamets

Vowels and Reading רָקִיעַ , רוּחַ 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 רָקִיעַ , רוּחַ 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 שָׁמַ֫יִם , בַּ֫יִת

Vowels and Reading Summary of vowel rules on pp. 24-25 Practice: 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