Today’s date: 25th of Adar, 5772 – כ״ה באדר תשע״ב

Since we’ve started part 1 of learning to read the alef-bet, we have learned 16 letters so far. Now we’re going to look at 4 more and learn a new vowel sound (with two forms this time). Let’s get started!

ק (kof / kuf – קוֹף)
The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called ‘qof’ (pronounced ‘kof’) and has the sound of  ‘q’ in queen. In modern Israeli Hebrew no distinction is made between qof and kaph (both pronounced as ‘k’ in kick). However, many historical groups have made that distinction, with qof being pronounced ‘q’ by Iraqi Jews and other Mizrahim. In this blog, I’ll be using the Israeli pronunciation scheme, unless the differences are too noticeable to ignore.

אוֹ קֵיי (o-key) – okay
אֶלֶקְטְרוֹנִיקָה (e-lek-tro-ni-ka) – electronics
מָתֵמָטִיקה (ma-te-ma-ti-ka) – mathematics

Let’s now learn a new vowel sound. It is pronounced like the ‘oo’ in moon, and has two forms in Hebrew: וּ (shu-rek) and אֻ (kib-buts). You may find the וּ form more commonly used than אֻ. This vowel is called a “u-type” because it indicates an ‘oo’ sound when combined with a letter.

אוּלַי (‘u-lay) – maybe
אֲנַחְנוּ (a-na-kh-nu) – we
הוּא (hu) – he

צ (tsadi – צָדִי)
The eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called tsade (pronounced tsa-dee) and has the sound of ‘ts’ as in nuts. In the past, tsade sometimes was transliterated using ‘z’ (producing spellings such as ‘Zion’) and in some academic work you might see it transliterated as an ‘s’ with a dot underneath it. It is commonly transliterated as ‘tz’ (as in mitzvah or matzo) among American Jews.

מְצוּיָן (me-tsu-yan) – excellent, wonderful, great
מַצָּה (ma-tsa) – Matza

ץ (tsadi sofit) is the form that tsadi takes when written at the end of a word: אֶרֶץ (e-rets) – land, earth, Israel; מִיץ (meets) – juice

ס (Samekh – סָמֶךְ)
The fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is samekh (pronounced ‘sah-mekh’) and has the sound of  ‘s’ as in ‘son.’ Note: Be careful not to confuse the shape of samekh with the letter mem (מ), and especially mem sofit (ם).

סְטוּדֶנְט (stu-dent) – student
סְטוּדֶנְטִית (stu-dent-it) – students
סָלָט (sa-lat) – salad

ע (‘ayin / ayin – עַיִן)
The sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called ‘ayin’ (pronounced ‘a-yeen’). Like ayin has no sound of its own, but usually has a vowel associated with it. Note: ayin is known as a guttural letter since it is pronounced in the back of the throat (other guttural letters are aleph, hey, and khet).

מִסְעָדָה (mis-‘a-da) – restaurant
עוּגָה (‘u-ga) – cake
עִיר (‘ir) – city/town

We are almost finished with the alef-bet. In the next post, we’ll be learning the remaining 6 letters. I will also provide a link to a PDF you can print or download that reviews the entire alef-bet and gives some extra practice exercises. ?אוֹ קֵיי

Reading Practice

Let’s take this time to check out a few more words and practice your reading:

…לְ (le…) – to, for
?לְאָן (le-‘an) – where to?
סֶרֶט (se-ret) – movie
עוֹשֶׂה (‘o-se) – to do/ to make
עִם (‘eem) – with

Useful Phrases:

?מַה נִשׁמַע (ma neesh-ma?) – What’s up?
נֶעִים מְאוֹד (na-‘eem me-‘od) – Pleased to meet you
סְלִיחָה (slee-kha) – Excuse me, Pardon me