LAN 404 BEGINNING HEBREW II Class II Letters

LAN 404 BEGINNING HEBREW II Class II: Letters II – vowels and Reading Dr. Esa Autero

Vowels and Reading 1. 1 Introduction to Hebrew vowels q Earliest Hebrew script did not have vowels q q Vowels did exist – but only in spoken form Early Hebrew manuscripts look like this (at times scriptio continua)

Vowels and Reading q English equivalent of Deut 6: 5 would be: q q Lv th Lrd yr Gd wth ll yr hrt OR lvthlrdyrgdwthllyrhrt (scriptio continua – without spacing) q First readers of Hebrew (e. g. Josh 8) supplied vowels from memory q (ואהבת את יהוה אלהיך בכל לבבך without vowels) q ואהבת את יהוה אלהיך בכל לבבך q Masoretes (AD 600 -1000) – developed vowel point system q To preserve oral tradition (spoken form of Hebrew)

Vowels and Reading 2. 1 Hebrew vowels q Hebrew vowels have three categories: q q q Long Short Reduced Five vowel classes: a, e, i, o , u (or three: a, i [=e+i], u [=o+u]) Vowels appear with consonants and are related to one or more Vowels pronounced after the consonants q =ב ba (not ab) --- = ב bo (not ob)

Vowels and Reading 2. 1. 1 Hebrew vowel charts 1) Long vowels: Symbol a-class e-class o-class ב ב ב Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration Qamets a as in father ā Tsere e as in they ē Holem o as in role ō

Vowels and Reading 2) Short vowels: Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration a-class ב Pathach a as in bat a e-class ב ב Seghol e as in better e Hireq i as in bitter i Qamets Hatuf o as in bottle o Qibbuts u as in ruler u i-class o-class u-class

Vowels and Reading 3) Reduced vowels Symbol a-class e-class o-class ב ב ב Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration Hateph Pathach a as in amuse ă Hateph Seghol e as in metallic ĕ Hateph Qamets o as in commit ŏ

Vowels and Reading 4) Summary of vowels – long, short, reduced Long Short Reduced a e i o u ב ב -- Qamets Tsere ב ב ב Pathach Seghol Hireq Qamets Hatuf Qibbuts ב ב -- Hateph Patach Hateph Seghol Holem Hateph Qamets

Vowels and Reading 2. 1. 2 Vowel letters q Early on (c. 900 BC) some consonants also functioned as vowels q E. g. דוד דויד Yod functions as a vowel q In general, vowels are written with a combination of vowel + consonant

Vowels and Reading 1) Vowel letters written with ( ה he) q Only used at the end of a word q ( תורה law) & ( יבנה he will build) q Name of the letter: name of the vowel + name of the consonant Symbol a-class e-class o-class בה בה Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration Qamets He a as in father â Tsere He e as in they ê Seghol He e as in better ê Holem He o as in role ô

Vowels and Reading 2) Vowels written with ( ו Waw) q Referred to as unchangeable long vowels – they don’t change o-class u-class q Symbol Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration בו Holem Waw o as in role ô בו Shureq u as in ruler û NOTE: the name of the u-class vowel is not a combination of consonant + vowel

Vowels and Reading 3) Vowels written with ( י yod) q Also unchangeable long vowels – they don’t change q Sometimes referred to as diphthongs instead of vowel letters Symbol e-class i-class Vowel name Pronunciation Transliteration בי Tsere Yod e as in they ê בי Seghol Yod e as in better ê בי Hireq Yod i as in machine î

Vowels and Reading 4) Summary of vowel letters With ה a e i o u בה / בה -- Qamets He Seghol He/Tsere He Holem He ו י בי / בי Seghol Yod/Tsere Yod Hireq Yod בו Holem Waw Shureq --

Vowels and Reading 2. 1. 3 Defective Writing and “special” markings q Defective writing and vowel letters (meaning is not affected) q q Defective writing = vowel letter without the consonant Full writing = vowel letter with the consonant Example Full writing Defective writing בו שופר בו מדוע בי דויד ב שפר ב מדע ב דוד Holem Waw to Holem Meaning does not change Example Ram’s horn Shureq to Qibbuts Why? Hireq Yod to Hireq David

Vowels and Reading q Unfortunately no precise way to predict defective writing q Be familiar with the phenomenon and know your vocabulary q Few examples: תורות תרת laws q מועד מעד meeting place q עמוד עמד pillar q שבועה שבעה oath q

Vowels and Reading q Shewa q Reduced vowels have a pair of dots ( ב , )ב on the right side of the vowel symbol q The “extra dots” also occur alone ( )ב q Shewa Two types of Shewa: q Silent Shewa and Vocal Shewa q q q Silent Shewa = zero value and never transliterated Vocal Shewa = hurried pronunciation, like a in amused Transliteration: ב , be Rules for pronunciation later on

Vowels and Reading q Holem over the ש or ש Two dots merge into one dot ישבים q שנא q ישבם

Vowels and Reading q Daghesh Forte – “doubling the consonant” q Remember Daghesh Lene? q q begadkephat consonants Soft and hard pronunciation indicated by dot inside the consonant (Daghesh Lene) q ( ב for hard b and ב for the soft v) q Daghesh Forte doubles the consonant in which in occurs q השמים has a Daghesh Forte on Shin ( ש ) ( שש ), haššāmayim q q Daghesh Forte on every consonant except gutturals ( א , ע , ה , )ח + ר When Daghesh Forte occurs in a begadkephat, the hard pronunciation doubles Vowel chart summary on pp. 15 -16

Vowels and Reading q Practice: q Workbook exercises q q p. 7 Hebrew vowels pp. 8 -9 (identify proper names, no: 1 -5, 10 -15)

Vowels and Reading 3. 1 Syllabification and Pronunciation q Syllabification = dividing the word into syllables q q Syllables = basic sounds of each word Two rules of syllabification 1) Every syllable must begin with one consonant and have only one vowel Syllabification of “word” ( )דבר ד׀בר 2) There are only open and closed syllables q q q Open syllables end with a vowel & closed syllables end with a consonant ד׀בר , ( ד open syllable), בר (closed syllable)

Vowels and Reading q Hebrew accents q Hebrew words most often accented on the last syllable דבר q accent on בר If accent falls on some other syllable indicated by accent mark )ס׀פר( ספר q Syllable classification – proximity to the accent 1) Tonic – the syllable that is accented דבר accent on ; בר i. e. the tonic syllable 2) Pretonic – syllable before the accent דבר accent on בר ד is the pretonic syllable 3) Propretonic – the syllable before the pretonic syllable ) דברים )ד׀ב׀רים

Vowels and Reading q Identify tonic, pretonic, and propretonic syllables ס׀פ׀רים q Propretonic Pretonic רים Tonic

Vowels and Reading q The Daghesh and Syllabification q Review of Daghesh: q Daghesh Lene – hard sound in begadkephat consonants q Daghesh Forte – doubling any consonant (except gutturals and )ר q Some exaples of Daghesh Forte: חקה חק׀קה יבשה יב ׀ב׀שה תפלה ת׀פל׀לה Simple --- but how to distinguish between Daghesh Forte and Lene in begadkephat consonants?

Vowels and Reading q Daghesh Lene or Daghesh Forte – Three rules q The Daghesh in begadkephat is Forte, if preceded by a vowel E. g. אתה q The Daghesh in begadkephat is Lene if preceded by a consonant E. g. [ מלכה silent Shewa here] q A begadkephat letter at the beginning of a word takes a Daghesh Lene unless the previous word ends in a vowel E. g. דבר

Vowels and Reading q Shewa and syllabification q Two types of Shewas: silent and vocal Shewa q Silent Shewa never pronounced q q Vocal Shewa – hurried pronunciation ( ב , be) q q Found at the end of a closed syllable Vocal Shewa occurs: in an open syllable Two rules to distinguish between a vocal Shewa and silent Shewa 1) Shewa is silent if: (a) Previous vowel is short; that is, Silent Shewa is found at the end of closed syllable “ מלכה queen” – preceded by short vowel/at the end of closed syllable

Vowels and Reading (b) First of the two contiguous (side-by-side) Shewas is silent משפטי Shewa under ש ( ) מש׀פ׀טי is silent and under פ is vocal Simple rule: (c) A Shewa at the endisofsilent the word silent )כ׀תבת( כתבת A Shewa if isthe previous vowel is short – in most other 2) The Shewacircumstances, is vocal if not preceded by ais short vowel Shewa vocal (a) Initial Shewa always vocal – ברכה (b) The second of the side-by-side Shewas is vocal – משפטי Daghesh Forte “dot” (c) Shewa under Dagesh Forte is vocal – המלכים (d) Shewa under unaccented long vowel is vocal – כתבים Gutturals cannot take vocal Shewa, only silent Shewa – שמעת

Vowels and Reading q Qamets and Qamets Hatuf q Two identical vowels: q q q ב , long ā Qamets Hatuf – ב , short o Qamets – Qamets much more How do you tell the common – pick Qamets difference? if unsure Better to know the rules: 1) Qamets Hatuf only occurs in closed and unaccented syllable חכמה , כל 2) Qamets in open, pretonic syllable or a closed, accented syllable דבר 3) Metheg symbol sometimes used to distinguish Qamets & Qamets Hatuf קטלה , בתם Metheg only used with Qamets

Vowels and Reading q Furtive Pathach, Quiescent א , and Hebrew Diphthongs q Consonant always pronounced before the vowel, except with… q q Furtive Pathach When a word ends with ח or ע , Pathach may appear beneath Must be pronounced before the consonant q רוח , רקיע When א occurs without a vowel it is quiescent – not considered consonant does not affect pronunciation q Hebrew diphthong (sound that functions as a single unit) q Syllables that contain a diphthong is considered closed בית , שמים

Vowels and Reading q Summary of vowel rules on pp. 24 -25 q q Practice: q q Reading exercise – vocabulary words, p. 25 Workbook, p. 11, no: 1 -5; p. 13, no: 1 -5. Homework: q q p. 12, no: 15 -20 & p. 13, no: 9 -14 Memorize the vowels and the most important rules Practice reading Memorize the vocabulary