{"id":60,"date":"2012-03-12T23:59:24","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T03:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/?p=60"},"modified":"2012-03-19T16:12:45","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T20:12:45","slug":"learning-the-hebrew-alef-bet-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/learning-the-hebrew-alef-bet-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning the Hebrew Alef-Bet \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s date:<\/strong> 19th of Adar, 5772 – \u05d9\u05f4\u05d8 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d3\u05e8 \u05ea\u05e9\u05e2\u05f4\u05d1
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u05e9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd!<\/span> and welcome to part two of this series on learning to read Hebrew. In this post, I’ll be giving you some new letters, and some practice reading some Hebrew sentences. Ready to get started?<\/p>\n

Our first letter is \u05e9\u05c1<\/span> (sheen – \u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05d9\u05df<\/span>) and has the sound of \u201csh\u201d as in \u201cshy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1<\/span> – (eesh – man)
\n\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> – (ee-sha – woman)<\/p>\n

The letter sin \u05e9\u05c2<\/span> (pronounced \u201cseen\u201d) uses the same look as sheen, but notice the positioning of the dot. If a dot appears to the upper right of the letter, then you pronounce it \u201csh\u201d; if it appears to the left, pronounce it \u201cs.\u201d In normal everyday Hebrew (newspapers, magazines, websites, etc) the dot is not usually there so you’ll have to go by context to see what sound to use.<\/p>\n

Here’s a little grammar note. In English we have the word ‘the’. In Hebrew it is -\u05d4\u05b7\/-\u05d4\u05b8<\/span> (ha). It is attached directly to the word it belongs to, and pronounced as a part of the word.<\/p>\n

\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1<\/span> – (ha-eesh – the man)
\n\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> – (ha-ee-sha – the woman)<\/p>\n

If you looked carefully, the vowel under ‘hey’ has two different forms. These change depend on whether the noun begins with a regular letter or a guttural letter. The rules to use it are somewhat complicated to explain here. But in a nutshell, “ha-” uses the vowel “qamets” (-\u05d0\u05b8<\/span>) when attached to the letters \u05d0<\/span>, \u05d4<\/span>, \u05d7<\/span>, \u05e2<\/span>, \u05e8<\/span>. These are the guttural letters. Otherwise it uses the vowel “patach” (-\u05d0\u05b7<\/span>). Pay attention to how I’m using them in all future postings, I’ll be using the vowels so you will know how to pronounce it.<\/p>\n

\u05e8<\/span> (resh \/ raysh – \u05e8\u05b5\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1<\/span>)
\nThe twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called \u201cresh\u201d (pronounced \u201craysh\u201d in Israel) and has the sound of \u201cr\u201d as in the French word Paris. It’s made like a light gargling sound in the back of the throat.<\/p>\n

\u05d4\u05b7\u05e8<\/span> (har – mountain)
\n\u05e9\u05c1\u05b4\u05d9\u05e8<\/span> (sheer – song, poem)
\n\u05e9\u05c1\u05b8\u05dd<\/span> (sham – name)<\/p>\n

Let’s take a couple more vowels. The first one we’ll look at is \u05d0\u05b5<\/span>. It looks like two horizontally aligned dots and is pronounced like the ‘e’ in me<\/strong><\/span>t. Practice it with these words:<\/p>\n

\u05ea\u05b5\u05d4 <\/span>(te – tea),
\n\u05d4\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05b5\u05d4 <\/span>(hee-ne – there (indicating where someone or something is located<\/em>)),
\n\u05de\u05b5\u05d0\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05df <\/span>(me-‘ah-yeen – where from?)<\/p>\n

The second vowel we need is \u05d0\u05b6<\/span>. Three dots under the consonant. It is also pronounced like the ‘e’ in me<\/strong><\/span>t. Practice with these words:<\/p>\n

\u05e9\u05c1\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05e9\u05c1 <\/span>(she-mesh – sun),
\n–\u05de\u05b6 <\/span>(me – from)<\/p>\n

\u05dc<\/span> (lamed – \u05dc\u05b8\u05de\u05b6\u05d3<\/span>)
\nThe twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called “lamed” (pronounced “la-med”) and has the sound of “l” as in “look.”<\/p>\n

\u05e9\u05c1\u05b6\u05dc<\/span> (shell – of\/belonging to)
\n\u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05c2\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc<\/span> (ees-ra-el – Israel)<\/p>\n

\u05d3<\/span> (dalet \/ daled – \u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc\u05b6\u05ea<\/span>)
\nThe fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called “dalet” (pronounced “dah-let”) and has the sound of “d” as in “door.” Note: Like gimel, dalet can also sometimes have a dot in the middle of the letter (\u05d3\u05bc<\/span>), but this does not affect its pronunciation: with or without the dot, it is still pronounced “d” as in door.<\/p>\n

\u05ea\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05d3<\/span> (tal-meed – (male) student)
\n\u05ea\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05d3\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> (tal-meed-a – (female) student)
\n\u05d9\u05b6\u05dc\u05b6\u05d3<\/span> (ye-led – boy)
\n\u05d9\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05d3\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> (yal-da – girl)<\/p>\n

Did you notice what I did? I stuck in a vowel sign without telling you. But it’s not a problem. the sign I gave is called “sh-vah” and looks like two vertically aligned dots under the consonant (\u05d0\u05b0<\/span>). For the most part, this vowel is not pronounced. So that’s why in the word \u05ea\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05d3<\/span>, the letters lamed and mem are pronounced together without a vowel in between. I will point out in the future when and how this vowel is used and pronounced. So for now, learn to recognize it and see how I write it in the pronunciation.<\/p>\n

\u05d2<\/span> (gimel – \u05d2\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05de\u05b5\u05dc<\/span>) – This letter has the sound of “g” as in “girl.” Gimel can carry a dagesh (\u05d2\u05bc<\/span>), which does not affect its pronunciation in Modern Hebrew: with or without the dot it is still pronounced as “g” as in girl.<\/p>\n

\u05d2\u05b0\u05dc\u05b4\u05d9\u05d3\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> (glee-da – ice cream)
\n\u05d2\u05b7\u05dd<\/span> (gam – also, too)
\n\u05d3\u05b6\u05d2\u05b6\u05dc<\/span> (de-gel – flag)
\n\u05de\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> (mar-gar-ee-na – margarine)<\/p>\n

Reading Practice<\/h3>\n

So far we’ve covered about 32 words in Hebrew. Let’s take a few minutes to read some simple sentences using what you know.<\/p>\n

?\u05de\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b7\u05ea<\/span> – Who are you? (said to a female)
\nmee at?<\/em>
\n?\u05de\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> – Who are you? (said to a male)
\nmee a-ta?<\/em>
\n\u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05d9<\/span> – I am [name]
\na-nee<\/em> [your name here]
\n\u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05d9 \u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc<\/span> – I am from Israel.
\na-nee mees-ra-el<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s the end of this lesson. I hope you’re enjoying it so far. See you in the next post!<\/p>\n

\n

Have you tried the Hebrew language BYKI Express<\/a> (Before You Know It) software? It\u2019s a free download and will help you learn Hebrew vocabulary fast! Download your copy today and see for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s date: 19th of Adar, 5772 – \u05d9\u05f4\u05d8 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d3\u05e8 \u05ea\u05e9\u05e2\u05f4\u05d1 \u05e9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd! and welcome to part two of this series on learning to read Hebrew. In this post, I’ll be giving you some new letters, and some practice reading some Hebrew sentences. Ready to get started? Our first letter is \u05e9\u05c1 (sheen – \u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05d9\u05df) and has…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[207738,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-learning-hebrew","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}