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FILLING IN THE GAPS WITH
VOWELS
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Originally, Hebrew had no vowels. Only consonants were written.
MS Plimpton Hebrew 004 (a manuscript which describes the Jews of Cochin in Hebrew) from Columbia University Libraries Blog
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As Hebrew declined in daily usage,vowel points were added for clarity
and as an aid to pronunciation
BHS Page
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How does that work?
Th qck brwn fx jmpd
vr th lz dg
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How does that work?
The quick brown fox jumped
over the lazy dog
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So too with Hebrew...
ברשית ברא אלהים את השמים את הארץ
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Long Vowels
ב Qamets
Long “a” as in father
Transliterated as ā
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Long Vowels
ב Tsere
Long “e” as in they
Transliterated as ē
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Long Vowels
ב Holem
Long “o” as in “robe”
Transliterated as ō
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Short Vowels
ב Patach
Short “a” as in “bat”
Transliterated as a
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Short Vowels
ב Seghol
Short “e” as in “better”
Transliterated as e
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Short Vowels
ב Hireq
Short “i” as in “bitter”
Transliterated as i
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Short Vowels
ב Qamets Hatuf
Short “o” as in “bottle”
Transliterated as o
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Short Vowels
ב Qibbuts
Short “u” as in “ruler”
Transliterated as u
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Reduced Vowels
ב Hateph Patach
Short “a” as in “amuse”
Transliterated as ă
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Reduced Vowels
ב Hateph Seghol
Short “e” as in “metallic”
Transliterated as ĕ
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Reduced Vowels
ב Hateph Qamets
Short “o” as in “commit”
Transliterated as ŏ
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Overview
A E I O U
Long ב ב ב
Short ב ב ב ב ב
Reduced ב ב ב
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But wait, there's more!
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Schwa
בThe schwa is a very short vowel sound, and is sometimes silent.
When it is vocal, it might be compared to the a in “about” or the u in “supply”
See pp. 129-132 in BHCBSU
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Schwa
בIf vocal, the schwa is transliterated as a superscript e or and inverted e.
be or bə
See pp. 129-132 in BHCBSU
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Vowel Letters
At points prior to the development of the Masoretic system, consonants were occasionally used as vowels.
דוד דוידdwd dwyd
These “vowel letters” are also known as matres lectionis
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Vowel Letters
Because these were recognized as vowels, the scribes who added the vowel points treated them as such.
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Vowel Letters
The letters that were used to occasionally indicate vowels were
he, waw and yod.*
*Aleph was also used, but will not be addressed in this scheme.
י ו ה
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Vowel Letters
בה Qamets He
Long “a”
Transliterated as â
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Vowel Letters
בי Tsere Yod
Long “e”
Transliterated as ê
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Vowel Letters
בי Hireq Yod
Long “i”
Transliterated as î
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Vowel Letters
ו Holem Waw*
Long “o”
Transliterated as ô
*BHCBSU call this “full holem”
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Vowel Letters
ו Shureq
Long “u”
Transliterated as û