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Chapter 2: Vowels2.A. Introduction to the Vowel System:The Hebrew alphabet of twenty-two/three consonants was originally written with no vowels. The vowel points (called Niqqud) were added later (ca. 500-1000 AD) by scribes known as the Masoretes who were attempting to preserve the oral pronunciation of the text. Prior to the Masoretes ancient scribes indicated a-class vowels with an ? or a ?, e-class and i-class used an ? and o-class and u-class used a ?. These [?, ?, ?, ?] were called vowel letters or matres lectionis (Latin: mothers of reading). Some classify the vowels into an a, e, i, o, u format. Others group them in a-class (Qamets, Pata?, ?atuf-pata?), i-class (?ere, Seghol, ?atuf-Seghol) and o/u-class (?olem, Qāame? ?atuf, Qibb??). We will be learning eight full vowels and nine vowels with the vowel letters ?, ? and ?. Some will be long and some short. There are also four shorten forms called half-vowels that must be mastered as well. These half vowels are called ?atēf meaning “hurried”--very short vowels. In learning the vowel chart focus first on the longs, shorts and half-vowels and then after you’ve mastered those move down to the vowel letters. Know their names, how to pronounce them and how they are transliterated. The transliteration pattern is: Long vowels: line over the vowel (e.g. ō), short vowels normal (e.g. o), vowel letters have a hat over the vowel (e.g. ?), and half vowels are superscripted (e.g. ?). Qere / KetivThe Masoretes added the vowel pointings in an attempt to preserve the oral tradition passed down to them. They were also concerned with preserving the consonantal text itself. In certain cases there was a divergence between the Ketiv (??????? i.e. what is written) and the Qere ( ????? i.e. what is read/spoken). In the critical editions of the Hebrew text the Ketiv is written in the text with the Masoretic pointing while the variant bare consonantal Qere reading will be found in the margins marked by a ? without any pointing. For example, Psalm 24:6 is written (Ketiv): ??? ????? ????????? (this/such is the generation who [????????? singular] seek him).In the margin there is a tiny ? indicating a divergent Qere (what is spoken) and over it the consonants ????? (who [plural] seek him; note the addition of the pluralizing ? ). At this point don’t worry about the Ketiv / Qere differences but just be aware that sometimes they exist in the text transmitted by the Masoretes. 2.B Total Vowel chart Vowels (Long/short/half)Class Vowels Long Short Half (reducible)a ?? ?? ?? Qāme? Pata? ?atēf-pata? ā in far a in far ? in attache ???? ???erê Segh?l?atēf-Segh?l ē in they e in set? in empirei ?? ??req i in fit o ?? ?? ???olem Qāme? ?atuf ?atēf-Qāme? ō in so o in so ? in commitu ?? Qibb?? u in rule ??? ?evā’ e in met Vowel Pointing with Vowel Letters ?, ? and ? (unreducible)??????? / ??? ??? Qāme? Hê Segh?l / ?erê Hê ??lem Hê ? in far ê in set / ê in they ? in so? ??? / ??? ??? Segh?l Y?d / ?ere Y?d ?ireq Y?d ê in set ê in they ? in Marine???? ??? ??lem Vav ??req ? in so ? in rule2.C. Another way to look at the vowels: comprehensive list Name Vowel SoundTrans. Placement Qāme? / ?????? ?“a” as in far ā ?? (Long)Qāme? hê /?????? ?????“a” as in far ? ??? (Long)Pata?/ ???????? “a” as in far a?? (short)?atēf-pata?/??????????????? “a” as in attach x??? (half vowel)?erê / ???????“e” as in they ē?? (long)?erê Y?d / ?????? ???? ??“e” as in they ê??? (vowel let.)Segh?l / ???????“e” as in set e?? (short)Segh?l Y?d / ???? ????????“e” as in set ê ??? (vowel let.)?atēf-Segh?l /???????????? ?“e” as in set x? ?? (half vowel)??req/ ???????“i” as in fit i ?? (short)??req Y?d / ???? ???????? “i” as in ski ? ??? (vowel let.)??lem / ??????? “o” as in so ō?? (long) ??lem Vāv / ?????? ?????“o” as in so ? ??? (vowel let.)Qāme? ?at?f/?????? ??????? “o” as in so o ?? (short)?atēf Qāme? / ????????????? “o” as in commit x? ?? (half vowel)Qibb?? / ???????? “u” as in rule u ?? (short)??req / ????????? “u” as in rule ? ??? (vowel let.)?evā’/ ??????? “e” as in met xe ?? (half vowel)Long ShortHalfVowel Type???(?) BAh -- Qāme???? BAh -- Pata????Bah -- ?atēf-pata?A - type???(?)Bay – ?erê (Y?d)???(?)Beh – Segh?l (Y?d)???Beh – ?atēf-Segh?lE - type????Bee -- ??req Y?d???Bi(t)-- ??reqI - Type???(??)Bow– ??lem (Vāv)???Bow-- Qāme? ?at?f???Bow-- ?atēf Qāme?O - Type????Bule—??req (rule)???Bule-- Qibb??U - Type???Beh—vocal ?evā’ ?????- (??)Bah-v—silent ?evā2.D. Syllables: Open and ClosedEvery Hebrew syllable must begin with a single consonant and have one vowel. There are two types of syllables: 1) Open syllable (begins with a consonant and finishes with a vowel, [CV =consonant vowel pattern] ??? in ??????? ) and 2) Closed syllable (begins and ends with a consonant [CVC=consonant vowel consonant pattern] ???? in ???????). There are three syllable positions. The last syllable is most frequently the accented syllable and is called the tonic syllable (i.e. accented). The one prior to the tonic syllable is called pretonic syllable. The syllable two syllables before the accented syllable is called the propretonic syllable. Thus in the three syllable word ?????????? (????????????) the tonic syllable is last syllable (closed syllable) ???, the pretonic is ?? (open syllable) and propretonic is ????? (closed syllable). When the last syllable is not the accented syllable an accent will be added to indicate that one of the other syllables is accented (cf. accent over and under the first consonant open syllable of ??????? or ???????). 2.E. Difference between Qāme? (a-class vowel) and Qāme? ?at?f (o-class vowel). They look exactly the same. Qāme? is an a-class long vowel (???????—?āl?m) in contrast to Qāme? ?at?f which is an o-class short vowel (??????? --?okmāh). The general rule is if it is in a closed unaccented syllable it is a Qāme? ?at?f (short o-class;(???? ? ??? --?okmāh). Most of these will be a regular Qāme?. The Qāme? is often marked with an accent called a meteg (??????) which is a little vertical line to the left of the Qāme? indicating that it is indeed a Qāme? even though it is in a closed syllable (e.g. ????????? [bā] where the ???? meteg indicates a Qāme? is present not a Qāme? ?at?f [bo]). 2.F. Dagesh Lene/Light (??????? ??? ) and Dagesh Forte/Strong (??????? ?????). It is called a dagesh (piercing) because it is a dot that pierces into the heart of a letter. A dagesh lene occurs in the begad kefat (?????? ????????????) letters. The dagesh is called a dagesh lene or a light dagesh if preceded by a consonant or begins a word. It often follows a silent sheva (?????? – the dagesh in ??? is a dagesh lene; ?????????? – ??? is a dagesh lene following the consonant with a silent ?eva). A dagesh forte is used in letters as a doubling dot for letters other than the begad kefat letters. If, however, the begad kefat letter is preceded by a vowel then the dagesh in the begad kefat letter is a dagesh forte or doubling dagesh (??????? ??? follows a ??req vowel (in ???) so the dagesh in ??? is a dagesh fore; transliterated dib|bēr). Neither dagesh lene or forte can be placed in a guttural letter (? ? ? ? ?). In short, a dagesh lene is only put in begad kefat letters that start words and start of syllables and never comes directly after a vowel. A dagesh forte always comes directly after a vowel. Examples: ???? = dagesh lene (bēn) -- son ?????? = dagesh forte (hin|nēh) -- behold ???????? = ??? lene; ?? forte (gib|b?r) -- mighty man ??????? = dagesh forte (?a?|?ā’t) – sin2.G Mapp?q (??????? literally “causing to go out”)A mappiq is placed in a final ? when it retains its guttural consonantal value closing a syllable at the end of a word. So ??????? is transliterated with an “ah” (tāmah) whereas without the mappiq it is “?” as in ??????? (?okm?). 2.H Maqqēf (?????? literally “binder” )A maqqēf looks like a raise dash is used to bind two words together (as in ?????????? meaning “from a king”). Further examples of this can be seen in Ps. 47:4 (Eng. 5): ????????????? (he chose for us), ??????????????? (our inheritance) and ???????????? (whom he loves). 2H. Soph Pasuq ( ???? ??????): end of verse is written :. It looks like an English colon but acts like an English period ending a sentence. 2.I. ?evā’ (??? – sometimes spelled sheva or shewa, ??????)--Silent and Vocal: (looks like a colon under a letter)Silent ?evā’: As we have seen a ?evā’ occurs composited with the other half or hurried vowels ( ??? ??? ???). There are two types: a silent ?evā’s (not pronounced or transliterated) and a vocal ?evā’s (pronounced like the “e” in “met,” transliterated “e”). A syllable in Hebrew will always begin with a consonant and have only one vowel. A silent ?evā’ will be used to close a syllable. If the consonant to the right has a short vowel the ?evā’ is silent. If the vowel is long the ?evā’ is vocal. If, for example in ??????? (night), the initial pata? is short so the syllable is divided to the left of the silent ?evā’ ???????????????. The same is true of ??????????????????? (justice) since the initial ??req is short so the syllable divider is again put to the left of the ?evā’. If there are two ?evā’s in a row inside a word the first is always silent and the second always vocal ( ?????????? ;????????????, they guarded or kept). If there is a ?evā’ at the end of a word it is always silent (?????????? so here both ?evā’s at the end of the word are silent, the ?evā’ under ??? is a vocal ?evā’). Similarly, a final kaf at the end of a word often takes a silent ?evā’ ( ?????? ). In short, if a ?evā’ begins a word it is vocal and if it ends a word it is silent.Vocal ?evā’: A vocal ?evā’ (pronounced like the very short “e” in met, transliterated “e”) is present when it is on the first consonant of a word (??????????? berē??t where the initial letter ??? has a vocal ?evā’). A vocal ?evā’ will be present whenever a letter has been doubled by a dagesh forte (???????????? where the ??? is a vocal ?evā’ as is the initial ??? -- te?ammer? and on the doubled ???, ???????????? ???????????????? or ??????????? ????/???/???? (?? silent; ??? vocal).While gutturals ( ? ? ? ? ?) cannot take simple ?evā’s, they do take composite ?evā’s (?? ?? ??) and seem to prefer pata? as their vowel of choice.2.J. Defective Writing The vowel letters (? ? ? ) are accompanied by a vowel as seen in the vowel chart (?? ?? ?? ?? ) but rather frequently the vowel letter is dropped. This is called defective writing. So, for example, ???????? ??????? (where the second ??lem ?? is defective) ??? (full) ?? (defective) ??? (full) ?? (defective) ??? (full) ?? (defective)2. K. Stress/Accented syllables (Milra/Milel)Hebrew words are normally accented on the last syllable or ultima (called in Hebrew/Aramaic Milra ??????? – from below). If accented on the penultimate, second from the last syllable, it is called Milêl ( ???????? – from above). The Milêl is often marked with an accent mark in this text ?? as in ??????? or in other grammars with a m?na? (??????) accent will be used ???as in ???????. There are actually over twenty accent symbols but they are not of concern to us at this point other than these two. 2.K. Gutturals and Furtive (stealthy Pata?) A pata? furtive is a hurried non-full pata? vowel may be placed on a final guttural ? or ? that end a word. While the pata? furtive comes under the guttural it is transliterated before the consonant and superscripted like a ?atēf-pata? and is blended into the previous syllable (i.e. does not make its own syllable). So, for example from Genesis we have ????? (transliterated r?a?, = wind, spirit) and ??????? (transliterated rāq?a‘ = expanse, with three syllables ?????????). 2.L. Quiescent letters: ? and ?. Both of these when they start a syllable are taken as consonants. However, when ? has no vowel it becomes quiescent (silent) and is not considered a consonant. When ? ends a word having no vowel after it, it becomes quiescent. Here are some examples of how to break words up into syllables: ??????????? ????????????? – note the quiescent ? ???????? ?????????? – note the consonantal ???????? ???????? – note the final quiescent? ?????????? ????????????? – note the consonantal ? ??????? ????????? – note the consonantal ? and ?2.M. Chapter 2 Vocabulary ?????? land, earth, ground2,504????? man, human 2,185??????? woman, wife781?????? word, matter, thing 1,442?????? to go, walk 1,547??????Yahweh, Jehovah, LORD 6,828???? day, daylight, time2,300?????????? Israel2,506??? no, not5,185??????? king, ruler, prince2,5282.N. Speak and write Hebrew: ??????? ??????? ???? Hello, good morning good morning Hello ??????? ????? ???? Hello, good evening good evening Hello ??????? ??????? ???? Hello, good night good night Hello ????? ???? Good luck ?= congratulations! good fortune2.O. Song: Hevenu Shalom Aleichem: sung at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs Based on Gen. 43:23 (hold the Ctrl key down and click it, or copy and paste it into the URL on your browser)or search for: “Hevenu Shalom Alechem Israel365” to you peace we bring ???????? ??????? ???????? Hevenu shalom aleichem,We bring peace to youHevenu shalom aleichem, We bring peace to you,Hevenu shalom aleichem, We bring peace to you,Hevenu shalom, shalom We bring peace, peaceShalom aleichem. Peace upon you.Name _____________________________ Date ____________Chapter 2: VowelsTransliterate the following (taking particular care with the vowels): ???????lef?????Bêt ????????G?mēl???????Dālet ???Hē???Vāv??????Zayin????__________????__________ ????__________ ???? __________??????__________??? __________ ???? __________ ???????__________ ??????__________ ????__________ ??????__________ ????__________ ????? __________ ?????__________ ?????__________ ????__________2. Books of the Bible (pronounce them out loud and write the English name) and break them up into syllables. Circle every quiescent ? and ?1. ?????????? Joshua ?????????????2. ????????? ? 1 Samuel ??????????? 3. ???????????? Isaiah???????????????4. ???? Ruth????2667000520705. ????????? Obadiah ??????????? 6. ?????? ___________________________________7. ?????? ___________________________________8. ?????????? ___________________________________9. ???????? ___________________________________10. ?????????? ___________________________________11. ????????? ___________________________________12. ?????? ___________________________________13. ?????? ___________________________________14. ????????? ___________________________________15. ????????? ___________________________________16. ??????? ___________________________________17. ??????????? ___________________________________18. ??????? ___________________________________19. ??????___________________________________20. ????????? ___________________________________3. Read out loud and translate these Names and break them up into syllables. 1. ????????? Abraham???????????2. ?????? Moses ??????? 3. ?????????? Jonathan ????????????? 4. ??????????? Benjamin ?????????????5. ???????? Solomon ??????????6. ??????????? ___________________________________7. ????????? ___________________________________8. ??????????? ___________________________________9.???????????? ___________________________________10. ??????? ___________________________________11. ???????????? ___________________________________ 12. ?????? ?????? ___________________________________13. ???????? ___________________________________14. ??????? ___________________________________15. ????????? ___________________________________4. Vocal / Silent Sheva and Dagesh Forte/ Lene Exercise1. ????????? ???? forte3. ?????? ???lene2. ???????? ???forte (short vowel preceding)4. ??????? ________ ______________ 5. ??????????? ________ ______________6. ??????????? ________ ______________7. ?????????? ________ ______________8. ???????? ________ ______________9. ?????? ________ ______________10. ??????????? ________ ______________4. Write out and say/sing the following Hebrew phrases in HebrewHello, good evening??????? ????? ????Hello, good morning_____________________Hello, good luck_____________________Hello, good night_____________________We bring peace to you _____________________5. Practice reading this text from Ps. 1:1 out loud until you are totally fluid with it. ???????? ? ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????? ????????? wicked in the counsel walks not which the person blessed?????????? ????????? ??? ?????stand not sinners and in a way ??????????? ?????? ??? ???????sit not mockers and in the seat Sing Hevenu Shalom AleichemName ________KEY__________________ Date ____________Chapter 2: VowelsTransliterate the following (taking particular care with the vowels): ???????lef?????Bêt ????????G?mēl???????Dālet ???Hē???Vāv??????Zayin?????êt?????êt ????Y?d ???? Kaf??????Lāmed??? Mēm ???? N?n ???????Sāmek ??????‘Ayin ????Pē’ ???????ādê ????Q?f ????? Rê? ???????n ???????n ????Tāv2. Books of the Bible (pronounce them out loud and write the English name) and break them up into syllables. Circle every quiescent ? and ?1. ?????????? Joshua ?????????????2. ????????? ? 1 Samuel ??????????? 3. ???????????? Isaiah???????????????4. ???? Ruth????2667000508005. ????????? Obadiah ??????????? 6. ?????? Haggai???????7. ?????? Jonah??????? circle ?8. ?????????? Ezekiel???????????? circle ?9. ???????? Esther?????????10. ?????????? Daniel?????????????11. ????????? Zechariah??????????? circle ?12. ?????? Amos???????13. ?????? Micah???????circle ?14. ????????? Habakkuk ????????????15. ????????? Nehemiah??????????? circle ?16. ??????? Ezra????????circle ?17. ??????????? Jeremiah?????????????? 18. ??????? Job ?????????19. ??????Nahum???????20. ????????? Malachi ???????????3. Read out loud and translate these Names and break them up into syllables. 1. ????????? Abraham???????????2. ?????? Moses ??????? 3. ?????????? Jonathan ????????????? 4. ??????????? Benjamin ?????????????5. ???????? Solomon ??????????6. ??????????? Bathsheba ????????????? 7. ????????? Jeroboam ??????????? 8. ??????????? Absalom ?????????????9.???????????? Hezekiah ???????????????? 10. ??????? Miriam ???????? 11. ???????????? Jerusalem ??????????????? 12. ?????? ?????? Beersheba ??????? ??????? 13. ???????? Gibeon ?????????14. ??????? Jericho ????????? 15. ????????? Samuel ??????????? 4. Vocal / Silent Sheva and Dagesh Forte/ Lene Exercise1. ????????? ???? forte3. ?????? ???lene2. ???????? ???forte (short vowel preceding)4. ??????? ?? forte5. ??????????? ??? lene6. ??????????? ?? lene7. ?????????? ?? forte8. ???????? ??? forte9. ?????? ??? forte10. ??????????? ?? lene4. Write out and say/sing the following Hebrew phrases in HebrewHello, good evening??????? ????? ????Hello, good morning??????? ??????? ????Hello, good luck????? ???? ???????Hello, good night??????? ??????? ????We bring peace to you ???????? ??????? ????????5. Practice reading this text from Ps. 1:1 out loud until you are totally fluid with it. ???????? ? ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????? ????????? wicked in the counsel walks not which the person blessed?????????? ????????? ??? ?????stand not sinners and in a way ??????????? ?????? ??? ???????sit not mockers and in the seat Sing Hevenu Shalom Aleichem ................
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