Hebrew Alphabet and Grammar Chapter
Blackboard 1.1. The Use of Final Forms of Letters
!"#
Final Form
Normal Forms
"$%
Final Form
Normal Forms
3. Confusing Letters
Hebrew can be difficult to read because many letters look very similar. Observe the letters
in the following chart. In each box, you see a series of letters that look similar to one anoth-
er. Be sure that you can distinguish which letter is which.
Table 1.3. Easily Confused Letters
ע צ ס מ ט ם י ו ז ן ד ר 9
ב כ פ ה ח ת נ ג ו
4. The Phonetic Value of the Alphabet
For learning purposes, Hebrew consonants can be divided conveniently into six groups: be-
gadkephat letters, sibilants, ט and ק, gutturals, liquids, and nasals. These six groups are not
built around phonetic definitions of the Hebrew consonant system, although some phonetic
terminology is used. These groups simply provide a framework for learning to pronounce
the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
a. Begadkephat Letters
Referred to as the begadkephat letters (from the artificial memory words דַג ְבּתַפ ְכּ ), the let-
ters ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, and ת are unique in that each has two distinct phonetic values. Each of
these may be found with a dot called a Daghesh Lene (e.g., בּ) or without the Daghesh Lene
(e.g., ב).
(1)
If the Daghesh Lene is present, the letter is a plosive, like the English B.
(2)
If there is no Daghesh Lene, the sound is a fricative or spirant (there is a strong
breathing sound, as with the English V sound).
Table 1.4. The “Begadkephat” Letters
With
Daghesh
Lene
בּ גּ דּ כּ פּ תּ
B as in boy
G as in
good
D as in dot K as in kite
P as in
paste
T as in tin
Without
Daghesh
Lene
ב ג ד כ פ ת
V as in
very
GH as
in dog
house
voiced TH
as in then
C as in
cool
F as in fix unvoiced
TH as in
thin
Chapter 1: The Hebrew Alphabet and Vowels 5
Page 2/11
Free Download
Hebrew Alphabet and Grammar Chapter PDF
Favor this template? Just fancy it by voting!
(3 Votes)
2.3
Related Forms
