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Lesson 1CONSONANTS1A CONSONANTS1. Introductiona. The only true letters in the Hebrew alphabet are consonants. In biblical Hebrewvowels are indicated by a system of markings, called “pointings,” which appear inconnection with consonants. Vowel pointings will be discussed in the next lesson.b. In Hebrew the consonants which form words, and the words which formsentences, are read from right to left, instead of left to right as in English. In thehistory of writing the Hebrew language various scripts have been used. ThisGrammar employs the square script that appears in contemporary Hebrew Bibles.c. On the following page is a chart which presents the consonants of the Hebrewalphabet, giving their names, forms, transliteration (or phonetic value), andpronunciation.(1) The names of the consonants – like other grammatical terms throughout thisGrammar – are written in English with simplified spellings to make themeasier for beginning students to remember. The names of the consonants inHebrew appear in Appendix 1, section 1.(2) The following consonant chart provides a pronunciation system based onmodern Hebrew. Traditional or classical pronunciation is also indicated whereit varies from modern Hebrew.1

2 Lesson 1: Consonants2. Consonant chartNameFormAlef [Aleph]1aBbGgDdhwzxjyKk 3lm n!s[Pp@c#qrfvTtBetGimelDaletHeVav [Waw]ZayinHetTetYodKaf [Kaph]LamedMemNunSamekAyinPeSadeQof [Qoph]ReshSinShinTav [Taw]PronunciationTransliterationModern'{silent}Bb [bh, v]b as in boyv as in vineGg [gh]g as in girlg as in girlg as in legDd [dh]d as in doord as in doorth as in thinhh as in hatj [w]v as in vine2zz as in zealx [ch]ch as in BachXt as in timey2y as in yesJKk [kh]k as in kingch as in Bachll as in letmm as in metnn as in netss as in setv{silent}Pp [ph, f]p as in petf as in functs as in netsq [ki]k as in kingrr as in richWs as in setH [sh]sh as in shoeTt [th]t as in timeTraditional1Brackets indicate alternatives that may be found in other Hebrew resources.2The pronunciation of3When two forms appear on a line, the second is a “final form.”w as in wellt as in cutk as in barkt as in timeth as in thinw and y may vary when combined with vowels. See the next lesson.

Lesson 1: Consonants 33. Characteristics of certain consonantsa. Final formsMost consonants have the same form whether they appear at the beginning,middle, or end of a word. However, five consonants – kaf, mem, nun, pe, and sade– have different forms, depending upon where the consonant appears in a word.For these five consonants the “medial forms” ofk, m, n, p and c are usedwhen the consonants appear at the beginning or in the middle of a word. The“final forms” of , , !, @, and # are used if the consonant appears at the endof a word. The following words illustrate the use of the medial and final forms. wmk (“like you”) has medial and final kafs and a medial mem. km (“from you”) has medial and final mems and a medial kaf.!tn (“give”) has medial and final nuns.@rc (“refine”) has a medial sade and a final pe.#rp (“break through”) has a medial pe and a final sade.b. Begadkefat consonantsB, G, D, K, P, and T may appear with a dot in thecenter (as just written), or without the dot as b, g, d, k, p, and t. The dot(1) The six consonantsis a dagesh-lene whose nature will be discussed later. A popular mnemonicdevice for remembering these six consonants is begadkefat, which employsthe first letter in the name of each consonant.(2) Two of the begadkefat consonants also have final forms: kaf and pe. The final and @ cannot take the dot which is a dagesh-lene.c. Guttural consonantsFour consonants are known as gutturals, since originally they werepronounced primarily in the throat. They are a, h, x, and [. As gutturals theyhave some unique features which will be discussed in future lessons. Theconsonant r sometimes acts in the same manner as a guttural.d. Labial consonantsThree consonants are known as labials, since they are pronounced primarilywith the lips. They are B, m, and P.e. Quiescent consonants(1)a, h, w, and y are called quiescent consonants because they sometimes quiesce

4 Lesson 1: Consonantsor become silent, losing their consonantal properties. For example, whileconsonants at the beginning or in the middle of a word normally havevowel pointings, in some situations the quiescents lose their ability toreceive a vowel. This and other characteristics of quiescents will bediscussed in future lessons.h appears at the end of a word it can have a dot, called amappiq (qyPim; “pronounced”), which strengthens the h so that it retains(2) Whenits consonantal character rather than quiescing. Hl' (“to her”) has a mappiq in the h, which means it does not quiesce.f. Sibilant consonantsFive consonants are known as sibilants because their pronunciation involves an ssound. They are z, s, c, f and v.4. Writing the forms of the consonantsa. When learning the write the forms of the consonants, the student must take care todistinguish between certain forms which might easily be confused with oneanother. Note the distinctions in the following pairs.(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)bgbkgndzd dr(7) h x(8) x t(9) w z(10) w y(6)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)w!wrjmkn !(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)m ms s[cfv5. Transliterationa. Knowing the transliteration of Hebrew has several advantages. It allows one tocomprehend Hebrew that is written only in transliterated form. It also permits theeasy comparison of transliterated Hebrew with transliterated words from otherSemitic languages (that is, other ancient-Near-Eastern languages in the samefamily as Hebrew). For the beginning student transliteration can be an aid inlearning the correct pronunciation of words; however, the student must come tothe point of being able to pronounce Hebrew without the help of transliteration.b. While Hebrew is read from right to left, transliteration is read from left to right (inthe normal English manner), as the following examples illustrate. These Hebrew

Lesson 1: Consonants 5words are spelled with consonants only. Transliterations appear to the right, aswell as translations in )(13)(14)(15)lka GhdfrbD lhtxTvpnbwj!hKrwslpnabc wTdgB ��beneath”)(21)npH(“living 24)sjr(“turn ��face”)(30)lwdGhf[mdsx@lavgn!jqbhz rD work”)xsd(“steadfast t”)xC lc(“withdraw”)'nky(“I”)Ksp(“silver”)cC dyq(“righteous”)PlHty(“Philistine”)mzBx (“altar”)6. Pronunciationa. Some Hebrew consonants have sounds which are very difficult for Englishspeaking persons to reproduce. Thea and [ are glottal stops (producing gutturalsounds) that are especially challenging. They may be imitated by a slight stoppingof the breath. However, for the sake of simplicity they are treated in this Grammaras if they are silent letters.b. Theoretically, the begadkefat consonants have harder or sharper sounds when thedot or dagesh-lene is present, and softer or duller sounds when the dagesh-lene isabsent. However, this softening of the begadkefats when they lack the dageshlene actually occurs with only three of these consonants in modern Hebrewpronunciation. These three are bet, kaf, and pe:BKP b (as in boy) k (as in king) p (as in pet)bkp v (as in vine) ch (as in Bach) f (as in fun)

6 Lesson 1: ExercisesThe presence or absence of the dagesh-lene does not change the pronunciation ofthe other three begadkefat consonants:G or gD or dT or t g (as in girl) d (as in door) t (as in time)c. The pronunciation of x and k involve a hard ch sound which is spoken low in thethroat, like the German ch, as in Bach.d. The pronunciation of c involves the eliding of two consonantal sounds: t followedimmediately by s, as in the word nets.Lesson 1: EXERCISESa. Repeatedly write and pronounce the Hebrew consonants until their forms andsounds become familiar.b. Section 1A.4 lists pairs of consonants that might easily be confused with oneanother. Write each pair three times, making sure to form the letters distinctly.While writing them, note how the pairs of letters may be distinguished from oneanother through such features as curved or pointed corners, or the presence orabsence of “tittles” (or “tabs”).c. Reproduce from memory the consonant chart in section 1A.2, with the exceptionof the traditional pronunciation and items in brackets.d. From memory list the consonants in the following categories.(1) Gutturals(3) Quiescents(2) Labials(4) Sibilantse. Practice transliterating the Hebrew words in section 1A.5b. While doing thisexercise, cover the transliterations that appear beside the words. When finishedcheck the work against the answers in the book.f. The following words from the Hebrew Bible are written with consonants only; thespelling of some is modified to make them appropriate for this lesson. Rewrite thewords in Hebrew and then transliterate them, noting their resemblance to familiarbiblical names or terms. A scripture reference for each word appears inparentheses.

Lesson 1: Exercises 5)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) yhlahwhyxrT rba1yrfjwlqdcyKlmrghla[mvy hrbahrfqxcy lmybahqbr!w[dG!tnrTsaykDrm!mhlaynD(Ge 1:1)(21)(Ge 2:4)(22)(Ge 11:24)(23)(Ge 11:26)(24)(Ge 12:5)(25)(Ge 12:5)(26)(Ge 14:18)(27)(Ge 16:1)(28)(Ge 16:11)(29)(Ge 17:5)(30)(Ge 17:15)(31)(Ge 17:19)(32)(Ge 20:2)(33)(Ge 22:23)(34)(Jdg 6:11)(35)(2Sa 5:14)(36)(Est 2:7)(37)(Est 2:7)(38)(Est 3:1)(39)(Da wnbl kvlatyB!wrbxwDdgm yzrG lvwrytBbv yprf wlv(Ezr 2:2)(Ge 45:10)(Ex 19:1)(Jos 5:12)(1Sa 13:19)(1Sa 13:19)(Nu 26:3)(Dt 1:7)(Dt 1:7)(Dt 1:7)(Dt 3:25)(Ge 12:6)(Ge 12:8)(Ge 13:18)(Jos 12:21)(Jdg 9:7)(2Sa 5:5)(Ex 20:8)(Isa 6:2)(Nu 6:26)g. Find in a Hebrew Bible words (21) to (40) from the preceding exercise. Note thatfrom the perspective of English-speaking persons, the Hebrew Bible is read fromback to front. If one is using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) – thestandard edition for academic purposes, a table of contents appears at the end ofthe prolegomena (after page LV). Although this table employs Latin and Hebrewterms, most of the names of biblical books can be easily deciphered. Whilefinding the words listed above in BHS, ignore for now the markings around the1Note that in this word and several others a yod or vav sometimes seems to represent a vowel ratherthan a consonant (with yod e or i and vav o or u). The following lesson will explain how these twoconsonants sometimes function to represent vowels. In this exercise simply give their consonantaltransliteration.2Notice that the traditional English transliteration of Hebrew names sometimes renders athan y. Use the technically correct y for the purposes of this exercise.y as j rather

8 Lesson 1: Exercisesconsonants (most of which are vowel pointings). Also note that BHS occasionallyalters the spelling of the words, sometimes adding prefixed letters or omittingdoubled consonants. The significance of these differences will be explained infuture lessons.h. Sometimes poetic texts in the Hebrew Bible employ an acrostic as a literarydevice, with the result that successive stichs (or lines) of poetry begin withsuccessive consonants of the Hebrew alphabet.(1) Notice the use of an acrostic in Psalm 34 by looking in a Hebrew Bible. InBHS the pattern is emphasized by listing the successive letters of the Hebrewalphabet in the margin. Observe that the Psalm 34 acrostic does not haveseparate lines for sin and shin, a typical feature of Hebrew acrostics (since thetwo letters would appear the same in an unpointed [pre-Masoretic] text).Besides the sin and shin, one other letter is missing from the acrostic in Psalm34. Identify which consonant is missing.(2) Find at least one other Psalm which employs an acrostic and observe whetheror not the consonantal pattern is complete.

Lesson 2VOWELS2A VOWELS1. Introductiona. Originally biblical Hebrew was written only with consonants; no vowels appearedin the text. When reading one had to supply the vowels from one’s knowledge ofthe language. Later in the development of Hebrew a few of the consonants wereused to indicate the presence of certain vowels. Around AD 500-1000 a group ofJewish scholars called Masoretes (from massorah [hr'ASm;] “tradition”)introduced an ingenious system for indicating all of the vowels in the HebrewBible. Their system designates vowels by means of pointings or marks (mostlydots and dashes) which are placed around the consonants in such a way that theconsonantal text itself is not altered. The resulting pointed Hebrew Bible is knownas the Masoretic text (MT).b. The chart on the following page groups Hebrew vowels in two broadclassifications: full vowels and half vowels. Full vowels are further divided intothree subgroups: short, long and naturally-long. Half vowels are divided into twosubgroups: simple sheva and composite shevas.c. The chart also presents the name,1 form, transliteration, and approximatepronunciation of each vowel. The location of the vowels in relation to consonantsis indicated by use of the symbol 3 which stands for a consonant.1The names of the consonants in Hebrew appear in Appendix 1, section 1.9

10 Lesson 2: Vowels2. Vowel charta. Full Vowels(1) aa as in fatheree as in bedii as in machinei as in hitoo as in rowo as in topuu as in ruleu as in nutAa as in fatherEe as in bedIOo as in rowa as in had(2) Long3'3e3oQamesSereHoleme as in they(3) Naturally-longSere-yodHireq-yodHolem-vav [-waw]Shureq1y3ey3iA3W3e as in theyÓi as in machineÙo as in row u as in rule3.e2e as in below33]3/3\·a as in fatherÈfle as in bedÛo as in rowb. Half vowels(1) Simple shevaSheva [Shewa](2) Composite shevasHatef-patahHatef-segolHatef-qames1The brackets indicate alternative spellings.2Note that the transliteration for each of the half vowels is a superscript letter.3A simple sheva is not always pronounced. See Lesson 3C.a as in hado as in top

Lesson 2: Vowels 113. Full vowelsa. The classification of full vowels in the preceding chart as short, long, andnaturally-long is more useful for grammatical purposes than for the sake ofpronunciation. These distinctions in vowel length are usually not expressed in thepronunciation of contemporary Hebrew – a matter that is discussed later. (Seesection 3.6,a.)b. Naturally-long vowels(1) It was mentioned previously that even before the Masoretes introduced theirsystem of vowel pointings some consonants – namely, the quiescents – couldserve as “vowel letters,” indicating the presence of a vowel in the Hebrewtext.1 When these consonants represented vowels, the Masoretes simplycreated special vowel forms which were the combination of the consonantsand particular vowel pointings or dots.2(2) Two of the quiescents,w and y, occur frequently as vowel forms. They aretreated in this Grammar as “naturally-long vowels,” so termed because theyare long vowels that are naturally represented in the consonantal text. Thevowel forms which combinew and ywith certain short vowels and otherpointings are as follows.Yod sere Yod hireq Vav holem Vav a dot )c. Qames and qames-hatufQames, a long vowel, and qames-hatuf, a short vowel, are represented by thesame symbol:3'.The way to determine which vowel is intended by thissymbol will be discussed in Lesson 3D.1The classical term used for the quiescents when they represent vowels is matres lectionis, whichmeans “mothers of reading.”2yh in a situation where the yodTo illustrate the Masoretes’ approach, if the consonantal text hadrepresented a long i vowel, the Masoretes simply added a hireq before the yod to indicate the long vowel byimeans of the combination of the hireq and the yod. The result would be yh.3y3, (segol-yod) sometimes serves as the naturally-long “e” vowel instead of sere-yod.

12 Lesson 2: Vowels4. Half Vowelsa. The English language has nothing equivalent to the half vowels (the simple shevaand the composite shevas). They are unique in that, as their name suggests, theyare weaker than full vowels. This weakness is obvious in two ways.(1) Half vowels (along with consonants) cannot serve to form a syllable, whilefull vowels can. (See Lesson 3B.1).(2) In pronunciation the half vowels receive a more abbreviated sound than thefull vowels. This situation is indicated by the names of the composite shevas,for the word hatef means “hurried.” Thus a hatef-patah is a “hurried,” orabbreviated, patah; a hatef-segol is a rapidly spoken segol; and a hatef-qamessounds like an abbreviated qames-hatuf.b. The simple sheva may be either vocalized or silent. When vocalized it usuallysounds like the rapidly spoken e in below. The circumstances in which the simplesheva is vocalized or silent will be discussed in Lesson 3C.c. The composite shevas have the following characteristics.(1) They are always vocalized, never silent.(2) They occur only with the gutturals (a,h, x, and [), which prefer compositeshevas to the simple sheva.(3) They occur only with a guttural that stands at the beginning of a syllable, asthe following words illustrate. In each case the composite sheva occurs at thebeginning of the word and therefore at the beginning of a syllable. yviymix] x·mÓHÓ (“fifth”) yhil{a/ 'ÈlOhÓm (“God”)ynI[ vÛnÓ (“poverty”)5. Placement of vowels with consonantsa. The naturally-long v

learning the correct pronunciation of words; however, the student must come to the point of being able to pronounce Hebrew without the help of transliteration. b. While Hebrew is read from right to left, transliteration is read from left to right (in the normal English manner), as the following examples illustrate. These Hebrew