Help:IPA/Hebrew
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 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hebrew on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hebrew in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Modern and Biblical Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Since Modern Hebrew has both non-Oriental and Oriental pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Modern Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.
| BH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | בּ (Beť dǝgušah) | b | bet | |
| d | דּ (Daleť dǝgušah) | d | dark | |
| ð | d | ד (Ďaleť rafah) | ď, dh, d | BH: this MH: dark |
| ɸ | f | פ ף (Fei rafah) | f or p̄ | fool |
| ɡ | גּ (Gimel dǝgušah) | g | go | |
| ɣ | ɡ | ג (Ǧimel rafah) | ǧ, gh, g | BH: Spanish fuego MH: go |
| h | ה (He) | h | hen | |
| ħ[1] | χ | ח (Ḥeť) | ḥ or ch | BH: hen but pharyngeal MH: Scottish loch |
| j | י (Yoď) | y | yes | |
| k | כּ ךּ (Kaf dǝgušah) |
k | skin | |
| l | ל (Lameď) | l | left | |
| m | מ ם (Mem) | m | man | |
| n | נ ן (Nun) | n | no | |
| p | פּ (Pei dǝgušah) | p | spin | |
| q[1] | k | ק (Qof) | q or k | BH: cup, but uvular. MH: skin. |
| r[2] | ʁ | ר (Resh) | r | BH: trilled or tapped run. MH: French rouge |
| s | ס (Samekh) שׂ (Sin smalit) |
s | see | |
| sˤ | ts[3] | צ ץ (Ṣadi) | ṣ, ts (or tz) | cats |
| ʃ | שׁ (Šin Yemanit) | š or sh | she | |
| t | תּ (Taw) | t | sting | |
| tˤ | t | ט (Ṭeť) | ṭ, t | sting |
| θ | t | ת (Ťaw) | ť, th, t | thing |
| β | v | ב (Veť rafah) |
v | voice |
| w | v | ו (Vav) | v | BH: would MH: vote |
| x | χ | כ ך (Ǩaf rafah) | ǩ or ch/kh | Scottish loch |
| z | ז (Zayin) | z | zoo | |
| ʕ[1] | ʔ | ע (Ayin) | ʿ or ' | BH: No equivalent; Arabic 'ayn (ع) MH: uh-(ʔ)oh |
| ʔ | א (Alef) |
ʾ or ' | uh-(ʔ)oh | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanisation | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| dʒ[3] | ג׳ (Gimel with geresh) | ǧ or j | joy |
| ŋ | נג (Nun-Gimel) | ng | ring |
| ʒ | ז׳ (Zayin with geresh) | ž | beige |
| tʃ[3] | צ׳ ץ׳ (Ṣadi with geresh) | č or ch | chair |
| θ[4] | ת׳ (Tav with geresh) | th | thing |
| ð[4] | ד׳ (Dalet with geresh) | th | the |
| w[5] | וו (double Vav) | w | we |
| ɣ[6] | ע' (Ayin with geresh) | gh |
| BH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a |  (Patach)
|
a | father | |
| e |  (Zeire)
|
e | Scottish bay | |
| ɛ | e |  (Segol)
|
ɛ, e | BH: bed MH: Scottish bay |
| ə |  (Shva)
|
ǝ, e | BH: comma | |
| i | י (Hiriq-Yud), (Hiriq)
|
i | see | |
| o |  (Holam alone), וֹ (with any mater lectionis)
|
o | story | |
| ɔ | o |  (Kamatz katan)
|
ɔ, o | BH: off MH: story |
| a | (Kamatz)
|
ɔ, a | BH: maw MH: father | |
| u | וּ (Vav with shuruk),  (Kubutz)
|
u | boot | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ei | י (Segol-Yud), (Zeire)
|
ei | day |
| ai | י (Patach-Yud), י (Kamatz-Yud)
|
ai | why |
| oi | וֹי (Vav with holam male-Yud) | oi | boy |
| ui | וּי (Vav with shuruq-Yud) | ui | two years |
| ao (rare) | אוֹ (Alef-Vav) | ao | cow |
| ju (rare) | יוּ (Yud-Vav with shuruk) | yu | cute |
| ij (rare) | יְ(Hiriq-Yud with Shva Nach) i.e. "נִיְלֵן" [nijˈlen] |
iy | like see |
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/ |
| ˌ | Secondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם? ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/ |
| ː | Long vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד /jaːd/ in absolute state and יַד־ /jad/ in construct state.[7] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/ |
Notes
- ^ a b c In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ħ, ʕ, q/ have merged with /χ, ʔ, k/ respectively, but /ħ, ʕ/ are still distinguished by Oriental Hebrew speakers.
- ^ The sound is uvular for most speakers, but a few speakers, mostly Sefardim and some news broadcasters, retain an alveolar pronunciation: [r]~[ɾ].
- ^ a b c /dʒ, ts, tʃ/ are officially written with a tie-bar in the IPA /d͡ʒ, t͡s, t͡ʃ/ respectively, but the tie-bar is here omitted for simplicity.
- ^ a b Sometimes confused by speakers who don't hear a distinction between [ð] and [θ].
- ^ In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /w/ appears in a few words, mostly loanwords: וואו (wow) /waw/. In some words that originally had /w/, it is approximated to [v].
- ^ In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ɣ/ appears in a transliteration from Arabic, like: ע'ין (Ghayn) /ɣain/.
- ^ Vowel length and quality in Tiberian Hebrew is a matter of debate, and that is just one possible example.