Hebrew Alphabet and Grammar Chapter
Do not think of the begadkephat letters as twelve different letters. There are only six. In a
given word the same begadkephat letter will sometimes be written with, and sometimes
without, a Daghesh Lene, according to rules we will learn in the next chapter. The Daghesh
Lene is used only with these six begadkephat letters.
b. The Gutturals
Hebrew has four guttural letters: א , ע, ה, and ח. The sounds of these letters are made at the
back of the throat. For English speakers, the “sounds” of א and ע are especially odd. The let-
ter א is a mild “glottal stop,” the tiny sound made by the tightening of the throat before the
oh sound in uh-oh. But for all practical purposes, א has no sound at all. א was necessary,
however, because originally Hebrew was written with no vowels. Writing without vowels
obviously posed a problem if, for example, a word began with a vowel sound. Some letter
had to be an “empty” consonant to show that there was a vowel there, and א had that role.
The ע is a strong “glottal stop,” and it has a much stronger guttural sound. It is important to
try to pronounce the letters distinctly. Today, people frequently treat א and ע as redundant
(both having no sound) and also treat ה and ח as redundant (both having an H sound). Bibli-
cal Hebrew does not confuse these letters.
Table 1.5. The Gutturals
א
Almost no sound; a weak glottal stop. The tiny sound made by the tightening
of the throat before the oh sound in uh-oh.
ע
A strong glottal stop. Exaggerate the sound made by the tightening of the
throat before the oh sound in uh-oh, and add a slight but hard G sound.
Somewhat similar to the final guttural sound of the English -ING ending.
ה
H as in hot.
ח
Like H but with friction at the back of throat; like the CH in Scottish loch.
c. The Sibilants
These are the S-type letters. They are created by passing air between the teeth. These letters
differ from one another in several respects as described in the chart below.
(1)
Voiced refers to a consonant that is pronounced while using the voice (e.g., the sound
of Z); unvoiced refers to a consonant pronounced without using the voice (e.g., the
sound of S).
(2)
To English speakers, ס and שׂ appear to be redundant letters, but probably most
speakers of biblical Hebrew could distinguish the two.
Table 1.6. The Sibilants
ז Z as in Zion; voiced
ס S as in sack; a sharp S made with teeth; unvoiced
צ TS as in hats; unvoiced but emphatic
6 A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew
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