1. LAN 404 Beginning Hebrew II
*Photo from
Class II: Letters II – vowels and Reading
Dr. Esa Autero

2. 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:

3. 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 ) – developed vowel point system
To preserve oral tradition (spoken form of Hebrew)

4. 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)

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.)

18. 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

19. Vowels and Reading Practice: Workbook exercises p. 7 Hebrew vowels
pp. 8-9 (identify proper names, no: 1-5, 10-15)

20. 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)

21. 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)

22. Vowels and Reading סְפָרִים סְ׀פָ׀רִים
Identify tonic, pretonic, and propretonic syllables
סְפָרִים סְ׀פָ׀רִים
Propretonic
Pretonic
Tonic

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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”

27. 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

28. 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

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