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 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hebrew on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hebrew in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Biblical and Modern Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Since Modern Hebrew has different pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Biblical Hebrew phonology and Modern Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.
| BH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | בּ (Beť dǝgušah) | b | bet | |
| d | דּ (Daleť dǝgušah) | d | dark | |
| ð | d | ד (Ďaleť rafah) | BH: ḏ MH: d |
BH: this MH: dark |
| dʒ[1][2] | ג׳ (Gimel with geresh) | j | joy | |
| f | פ ף (Fei rafah) | BH: p̄ MH: f |
fool | |
| ɡ | גּ (Gimel dǝgušah) | g | go | |
| ɣ | ɡ | ג (Ǧimel rafah) | BH: ḡ MH: g |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic Ghayn (غ) MH: go |
| h | ה (He), הּ (He mappiq) | h | hen | |
| ħ | χ (ħ)[3] | ח (Ḥeť) | BH: ḥ MH: h or ch/kh |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ḥāʾ (ح) MH: Scottish loch |
| j | י (Yoď) | y | yes | |
| k | כּ ךּ (Kaf dǝgušah) |
k | skin | |
| l | ל (Lameď) | l | left | |
| ɬ | s | שׂ (Sin semalith) | BH: ś MH: s |
BH: No English equivalent; Welsh llwyd MH: see |
| m | מ ם (Mem) | m | man | |
| n | נ ן (Nun) | n | no | |
| p | פּ (Pei dǝgušah) | p | spin | |
| q | k | ק (Qof) | BH: q MH: k |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic qāf (ق). MH: skin. |
| r | ʁ (r)[4] | ר (Resh) | r | BH: trilled or tapped run. MH: French rouge |
| s | ס (Samekh) | s | see | |
| sˤ | ts[1] | צ ץ (Ṣadi) | BH: ṣ MH: ts/tz |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ṣād (ص) MH: cats |
| ʃ | שׁ (Šin Yemanit) | BH: š MH: sh |
she | |
| t | תּ (Taw) | t | sting | |
| tˤ | t | ט (Ṭeť) | BH: ṭ MH: t |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic ṭāʾ (ط) MH: sting |
| θ | ת (Ťaw) | BH: ṯ MH: t |
BH: thing MH: sting | |
| tʃ[1] | צ׳ ץ׳ (Tsade with geresh) | ch | chair | |
| v | ב (Veť rafah) |
BH: ḇ MH: v |
voice | |
| w | v | ו (Vav) | BH: w MH: v |
BH: would MH: voice |
| w[5] | וו (double Vav) or ו (single Vav) | w | we | |
| x | χ | כ ך (Ǩaf rafah) | BH: ḵ MH: ch/kh |
Scottish loch |
| ח׳[6] (Heth with geresh) | kh | |||
| z | ז (Zayin) | z | zoo | |
| ʒ[2] | ז׳ (Zayin with geresh) | zh | beige | |
| ʕ | ʔ (ʕ)[3] | ע (Ayin) | BH: ʿ MH: ' |
BH: No English equivalent; Arabic 'ayn (ع) MH: uh-(ʔ)oh |
| ʔ | א (Alef) |
BH: ʾ MH:' |
uh-(ʔ)oh | |
| IPA | Usual pronunciation | Letter(s) | Romanisation | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ð | d / z | ד׳ (Dalet with geresh) | dh | the |
| ɣ | ʁ / ɡ | ע׳[7] (Ayin with geresh) or ר׳[7] (Resh with geresh) | gh | No English equivalent; Arabic Ghayn (غ) |
| ŋ | ŋɡ | נג (Nun-Gimel) | ng | ring |
| θ | t / s | ת׳[8] (Tav with geresh) | th | thing |
| TH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a |  (Patach),  (Hataf Patach)
|
TH: a, ă MH: a |
father | |
| eː | ej (e)[9] | י (Tzere-Yodh), (Zeire)
|
TH: ē MH: e or ei/ey |
TH: Scottish bay MH: bay |
| e | Scottish bay | |||
| ɛ |  (Segol),  (Hataf Segol)
|
TH: e, ĕ MH: e |
TH: bed MH: Scottish bay | |
| ə |  (Shva)
|
TH: ǝ/ĕ MH: e or unwritten |
TH: comma MH: Scottish bay | |
| ∅[10] | TH: comma MH: silent | |||
| i |  (Hiriq)
|
i | see | |
| iː | i | י(Hiriq-Yud)
|
TH: ī MH: i | |
| oː | o |  (Holam alone), וֹ (with any mater lectionis)
|
TH: ō MH: o |
story |
| ɔ |  (Kamatz katan),  (Hataf Kamatz)
|
TH: o, ŏ MH: o |
TH: off MH: story | |
| ɔː | a | (Kamatz)
|
TH: ā MH: a |
TH: off MH: father |
| u |  (Kubutz)
|
u | cool | |
| uː | u | וּ (Vav with shuruk) | TH: ū MH: u | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ao | אוֹ (Patach-Holam), אוֹ (Kamatz-Holam)
|
ao | cow |
| au | אוּ (Patach-Shuruk), אוּ (Kamatz-Shuruk)
|
au | |
| eu | אוּ (Segol-Shuruk), אוּ (Tzere-Shuruk)
|
eu | no (some dialects[11]) |
| ou | וֹאוּ (Holam-Shuruk) | ou | goal |
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/ |
| ˌ | Secondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם? ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/ |
| ː | Long vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד /jɔːð/ in absolute state and יַד־ /jað/ in construct state.[12] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/ |
- ^ a b c /dʒ, ts, tʃ/ are officially written with a tie-bar in the IPA /d͡ʒ, t͡s, t͡ʃ/ respectively, but the tie-bar is here omitted for simplicity.
- ^ a b /dʒ/ and /ʒ/ are sometimes confused by speakers who don't hear a distinction between them (mostly Russian and Arabic speakers).
- ^ a b In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ħ, ʕ/ have merged with /χ, ʔ/ respectively, but are still distinguished by some Sephardi, Mizrahi and Arab speakers.
- ^ The sound is uvular for most speakers, but some speakers, mostly Sefardim, Mizrahim, Arab Israelis, Jews from the former USSR and Ethiopian Jews (in the 20th century also news broadcasters and singers) retain an alveolar pronunciation: [r]~[ɾ].
- ^ Appears in new loanwords: וואלה /wala/ "Wow!, really?, you don't say!, no kidding!". In some old loanwords that originally had /w/, it was approximated to /v/: ואדי /vadi/ "Wadi".
- ^ Only appears in transliterations from Arabic script to transliterate the letter Ḫāʾ (خ)
- ^ a b Only appears in transliterations from Arabic script to transliterate the letter Ghayn (غ).
- ^ ת׳ is sometimes used for both /ð/ and /θ/ (in words from English) either by speakers who don't hear a distinction between them or as an equivalent to the Th digraph of English which is also used for both sounds.
- ^ Some conservative speakers pronounce it /e/ like in Sephardi Hebrew
- ^ Modern Hebrew typically elides shva in situations where it can be comfortably omitted in common speech, creating consonant clusters that would otherwise not be permitted in older varieties of Hebrew.
- ^ These dialects include Southern England (including Received Pronunciation), English Midlands, Australian, New Zealand, the Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger Californian English. Other dialects of English, such as most other forms of American, Northern England, Welsh, Scottish and Irish English, have no close equivalent vowel.
- ^ Vowel length and quality in Tiberian Hebrew is a matter of debate, and that is just one possible example.