The Hebrew Alphabet

[Dan Ben Noah]

Baruch Hashem, I have finally acquired Hebrew letter stickers for my keyboard.  This makes it much easier for me to type in Hebrew.  G-d willing, I will post the occasional lesson.  Unfortunately, I am unable to type the "nikud", or dots that determine voweling and other pronunciation rules.  But you need to know how to read Hebrew without those dots anyway, so I'll do my best without that ability to teach people some Modern Hebrew.  I don't have audio to go with this at the moment, but you can post any questions you have in the thread.  This is only meant to help people studying Hebrew, and is not an exhaustive course.  I would encourage people interested in learning Hebrew to look at the Hebrew Resources thread for more info. 

Let's start out with the alphabet, or "alef-bet", as it is called in Hebrew.

א     ALEF     (no sound, it is pronounced according to whatever vowel is associated with it)

ב     BET/VET     "b" as in bold, or "v" as in vast

ג     GIMEL     "g" as in game

ד     DALET     "d" as in door

ה     HE     "h" as in hope

ו     VAV     "v" as in voice, "o" as in north, or "u" as in flute

ז     ZAYIN     "z" as in zebra

ח     KHET     "kh" as in Chaim

ט     TET     "t" as in top

י     YOD     "y" as in yes, or "i" as in machine

כ, ך     KAF/KHAF     "k" as in king, or "kh" as in "Chaim"     (note: the KAF/KHAF on the left is how it is written when at the end of a word)

ל     LAMED     "l" as in love

מ, ם     MEM     "m" as in mother     (note: the MEM on the left is how it is written when at the end of a word)

נ, ן     NUN     "n" as in nature     (note: the NUN on the left is how it is written when at the end of a word)

ס     SAMEKH     "s" as in soul

ע     AYIN     (['] glottal stop, like you hear between the words "uh-oh")

פ, ף     PE/FE     "p" as in peace, or "f" as in fabulous     (note: the PE/FE on the left is how it is written when at the end of a word)

צ, ץ     TSADI     "ts" as in its     (note: the TSADI on the left is how it is written when at the end of a word)

ק     KOF     "k" as in king

ר     RESH     a French-sounding pronunciation of the letter "r"

ש     SHIN/SIN     "sh" as in shape, or "s" as in soul

ת     TAV     "t" as in top

[Zelhar]

If you use winXP or Vista than I believe you can use נֶיקוּד
Here is how: place the caret right after the letter, then press caps-lock,  then press shift and any key from the first row (the row where the number keys are in).

[Shlomo]

That is wonderful, Dan ben Noah! Great idea and great start!

[Zelhar]

If you use winXP or Vista than I believe you can use נֶיקוּד
Here is how: place the caret right after the letter, then press caps-lock,  then press shift and any key from the first row (the row where the number keys are in).

Hey, you're right, that does work.  I'll have to experiment with that a bit before starting lessons.  It will help me be able to do a lot more.  Thanks.  And feel free to jump in anytime since you're a native speaker.

OK I will.

[Ulli]

That is wonderful, Dan ben Noah! Great idea and great start!

Yes! 

[Hyades]

If anyone needs nice Hebrew fonts, I have a good collection of them. 

[ProudAndZionist]

It is very hard to study for me. 

[pennyjangle]

Thanks, I'll give this to my friend. She's coming to Israel in Feb.2010

[~Hanna~]

Are you in Israel?   

Thanks, I'll give this to my friend. She's coming to Israel in Feb.2010

[pennyjangle]

Are you in Israel?   

Thanks, I'll give this to my friend. She's coming to Israel in Feb.2010

I wish

[~Hanna~]

same here...

Are you in Israel?   

Thanks, I'll give this to my friend. She's coming to Israel in Feb.2010

I wish

[Hyades]

I have uploaded a PDF here: https://acrobat.com/#d=05HtO5kT8QSFy-mqulkMRg  with only a few of the Hebrew fonts I am using on my computer. This shows HOW diverse the Hebrew alefbeit can be. There are some awesome designs of the Hebrew otiyot! I love them... 

[naresh]

If you use winXP or Vista than I believe you can use נֶיקוּד
Here is how: place the caret right after the letter, then press caps-lock,  then press shift and any key from the first row (the row where the number keys are in).

Zechariah 8:23
23 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that G-d is with you.' "

amen...

[Brett]

Dan Ben Noah ,
Thank you so much for your work, patience and diligence. You give people such as myself a good starting point 

[Spiraling Leopard]

Why are there 2 -t-'s?

[Zelhar]

Although there are currently 2 t's, it probably didn't start out that way.  The last letter of the alphabet (tav) was probably once more of a "th" sound, and it has evolved into a "t" sound in Modern Hebrew.  It is the letter at the end of Shabbat, but the word probably once sounded more like Shabbath, which means Sabbath.  In Yemenite Hebrew there is still a difference between those 2 letters.

Ashkenazi pronunciation also makes a distinction between tav with dagesh which is like a 't' and without dagesh it is like a 'th'.

[OnceNDone]

Could I copy this for my friend who wishes to learn Hebrew?

[Spiraling Leopard]

What is the proper depiction of Chet?





or




The second one is basically almost used in modern Hebrew so where does the first one come from?

[Spiraling Leopard]

Would the average Hebrew speaker be able to read this?

[Zelhar]

What is the proper depiction of Chet?





or




The second one is basically almost used in modern Hebrew so where does the first one come from?

The bottom one. The one above looks too much like 2 zayin with a ^ connecting them. It's still readable though.

[StarNfist]

Mishna Plate. Wood inlay. Who can read it?

[Super Mentalita]

This is even harder then the Cyrillic script...

[Alrah Fraser]

If you're going to learn the hebrew alephbet, you may as well learn the numerical values of the letters too.  The most well known gematria values come from the Talmud but they are not the correct values to use with the Torah.  These are the correct values for biblical gematria;

Biblical gematria;
א 1 ב 2 ג 3 ש 3 ד 4 ת 4 ה 5 ו 6 ז 7 ח 8 ט 9 י 10 כ 20
ל 30 מ 40 נ 50 ס 60 ע 70 פ 80 צ 90 ק 100 ר 200

There's a good blog about it at the Times of Israel:  https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-lost-art-of-gematria/
And a gematria calculator that makes it easy:  http://www.shematria.com/

It shouldn't take anyone longer than a day or two of determined practice to learn the alephbet, and if you learn the gematria of the letters its even easier.