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I. Sounds and Spelling I. Consonants and The Alphabet: Hebrew 1001 Exam 1 Study Guide Fall 2012
I. Sounds and Spelling I. Consonants and The Alphabet: Hebrew 1001 Exam 1 Study Guide Fall 2012
כ
ת פ
ץ ף
ii. Vowels and Niqqudot
There are five basic vowel sounds observed in Modern Hebrew
car -ָ- -ַ- -ֲ- a
set -ֵ- -ֶ- -ֱ- e
deep י-ִ- -ִ- i
no וֹ-- ֹ-- -ָ- -ֳ- o
room וּ-- -ֻ- u
י-ִ- -ִ- i
וּ-- -ֻ- u
Special forms for foreign words and dipthongs:
day יי-ַ- ay
eye י-ַ- ai
they י-ֵ- ey
they י-ֶ- ey
boy וֹי-- oy
chewy וּי-- uy
iii. Spelling
Modern Hebrew is written without the use of nîqqûd, also known as vowel markings. This system is not difficult to
adapt to because much of what you learn about pronunciation of words will guide you in anticipating simple sound
patterns.
For example words like:
Other words that belong to this family of pronunciation deviate slightly from the known pattern. Their
pronunciation can be anticipated based on a simple rule that some consonants, namely gutturals, prefer "a" class
vowels when they are present.
The following words contain a guttural letter at the of the word and therefore add an additional vowel, called a
"furtive pàtaḥ" based on the rule that guttural letters prefer "a" class vowels, pàtaḥ, beneath and before them.
Phonological Environments:
Word initial- at the beginning of a word the pronounced form will be unaspirated, hard
b,g,d,k,p,t
ִבּ ָירה גְּ ִל ָידה
bîrāh glîdāh
beer ice cream
Following closed syllable- unaspirated, hard b,g,d,k,p,t prevail after a syllable ending with a
consonant.
לפּל
ֵ ִפּ
pilpel
pepper
Following a consonant that does not end a syllable- the second consonant in a consonant cluster
will be aspirated.
גְּ ִבינָ ה ְדּ ָבשׁ
gevināh devāš
cheese honey
Following a vowel or open syllable- aspirated, soft v,gh,dh,kh,f,th follow open syllables (those
that end in vowels instead of consonants).
ָח ָלב ָק ֶפה
ḥālāv qāfeh
milk coffee
In most modern dialects pronuciation variances are observed only for consonants []ב כ פ, the
remaining consonants [( ]ג ד תthough graphically marked based on the above stated rules of
environment) will be pronounced only as unaspirated, hard sounds.
II. Nouns
all nouns have gender and number which can be detected by the following suffixes:
feminine masculine
Animate Inanimate
נקבה זכר נקבה זכר
ישּׁה
ָ ִא ִאיש יתה
ָ ִכּ ִשיעוּר
woman man classroom class
טוּדנְ ִטית
ֶ ְס טוּדנְ ט
ֶ ְס ִס ְפ ִרייָ ה ֵס ֶפר
student (f) student (m) library book
Adjectives usually follow the nouns that they modify and agree in number and gender.
Consider the previous set of nouns modified with the adjective " טוֹבgood."
טוֹבה
ָ ַתּ ְל ִמ ָידה טוֹבה
ָ טוּדנְ ִטית
ֶ ְס טוֹבה
ָ חוּרה
ָ ַבּ טוֹבה
ָ יַ ְל ָדה
טוֹבים
ִ ַתּ ְל ִמ ִידים טוּדנְ ִטים טוֹבים
ֶ ְס חוּרים טוֹבים
ִ ַבּ יְ ָל ִדים טוֹבים
Some nouns are irregular, i.e., they don't follow the normal patterns of gender and number.
Beware, adjectives agree in grammatical gender with nouns, not necessarily what the gender of
a noun may appear to be. For example:
iii. Possessives:
The possessive "yours," "mine," "ours," etc. is formed with the particle "( ֶשלof") +
pronominal suffix.
רבים יחיד
ours ֶש ָלנוּ ֶש ִלי mine
y'alls ֶש ָל ֶכם Rֶש ְל yours
III. Verbs
i. Participle (Present Tense Types):
The vowel patterns for each type, or binyan, are consistent and is used with various roots
pā‘al __o__ ē__ עוֹבדֵ כוֹתב
ֵ אוֹכל
ֵ יוֹשב
ֵ
pî‘ēl me__a__ē__ ְמ ַד ֵבּר ְמ ַל ֵמּד ְמ ַב ֵקּש ְמ ַח ֵפּשׂ
hitpa‘ēl mît__a__e__ ִמ ְתנַ ֵדּב ִמ ְת ַכּ ֵתּב ִמ ְת ַק ֵשּר ִמ ְת ַע ֵמּל
hiph‘il ma __ __ î__ ַמ ְח ִליט ַמ ְס ִפיק ַמ ְת ִחיל ַמזְ ִכּיר
There is no copula (the verb "to be" in present tense) hence no "is," "am," or "are"
אני יושב
I sit = I am sitting
Notice the vowel pattern and suffixes of these types of present tense verbs
the first type, called pa’al, follows a general o + ē vowel pattern
√ ך.ל.ה
walk(s)/walking m.s., i.e., "he, you, I" -- -ֵ- וֹ-- ← הוֵֹלך
walk(s)/walking f.s., i.e., "she, you, I" ת-ֶ- -ֶ- וֹ-- ← הוֶֹל ֶכת
walk(s)/walking m.p., i.e., "they, y'all, we" ים-ִ- -ְ- וֹ-- ← הוְֹל ִכים
walk(s)/walking f.p., i.e., "they, y'all, we " וֹת-- -ְ- וֹ-- ← הוְֹלכוֹת
the second type, called pi’el, has a me -מ-
ְ prefix and follows an a + ē vowel pattern
√ ד.מ.ל
teach(es)/teaching m.s., i.e., "he, you, I" -- -ֵֹ- -ַ-ְמַלֵמּד ← ְמ
teach(es)/teaching f.s., i.e., "she, you, I" ת-ֶ- -ֶֹ- -ַ-ְמַלֶמּ ֶדת ← ְמ
teach(es)/teaching m.p., i.e., "them, y'all, we" ים-ִ- -ְֹ- -ַ-ְמַלְמּ ִדים ← ְמ
teach(es)/teaching f.p., i.e., "them, y'all, we" וֹת-- -ְֹ- -ַ-ְמַלְמּדוֹת ← ְמ
the third type, called hithpa’el, follows the same vowel pattern as pi’el, but has a "mît" -מ ְת-
ִ
prefix with an a + ē vowel pattern
√ ב.ד.נ
volunteer(s)/volunteering m.s.,i.e.,"he, you, I" -- -ֵֹ- -ַ-ִמ ְת ַנ ֵדּב ← ִמ ְת
volunteer(s)/volunteering f.s.,i.e.,"she, you, I" ת-ֶ- -ֶֹ- -ַ-ִמ ְת ַנ ֶדֶּבת ← ִמ ְת
volunteer(s)/volunteering m.p., i.e., "them, ים-ִ- -ְֹ- -ַ-ִמ ְת ַנ ְדּ ִבים ← ִמ ְת
"y'all, we
volunteer(s)/volunteering f.p., i.e., "them, וֹת-- -ְֹ- -ַ-ִמ ְת ַנ ְדּבוֹת ← ִמ ְת
y'all, we"
Roots beginning with sibilant letters (צ,ס,ֹש, )שin this binyan take a non-standard form. The
first root letter of this type metathesizes, i.e., transposes/changes places, with the -ת- of the
prefix.
√שׁ.ת.שׁ
use(s)/using m.s.,i.e.,"he, you, I" -- -ֵֹ- ַתּ-ְ-ִמ ְש ַתֵּמּשׁ ← ִמ
use(s)/using f.s.,i.e.,"she, you, I" ת-ֶ- -ֶֹ- ַתּ-ְ-ִמ ְש ַתֶּמֶּשת ← ִמ
use(s)/using m.p., i.e., "them, y'all, we" ים-ִ- -ְֹ- ַתּ-ְ-ִמ ְש ַתְּמּ ִשׁים ← ִמ
use(s)/using f.p., i.e., "them, y'all, we" וֹת-- -ְֹ- ַתּ-ְ-ִמ ְש ַתְּמּשׁוֹת ← ִמ
This is a phenomenon that is peculiar to the hitpa‘el verb and occurs in all tenses.
ii Perfect (Past Tense Types)
Past tense verbs of all kinds are inflected for PGN. Each binyan shares the same set of suffixes.
plural singular
נוּ- we 1st person ִתּי- I
ֶתּם- y'all ָתּ- you
2nd person
ֶתּן- y'all ְתּ- you
הWָ - she
וּ- they 3rd person
none he
נוּ-ְ- -ַֹ- -ַ-ִה ְת נוּ-ְ- -ַֹ- י-ִ- נוּ-ְ- -ַ- -ָ-
תּם-ְ
ֶ - -ַֹ- -ְ-ִה ְת תּם-ְ
ֶ - -ַֹ- י-ִ- תּם-ְ
ֶ - -ַ- -ְ-
תּן-ְ
ֶ - -ַֹ- -ְ-ִה ְת תּן-ְ
ֶ - -ַֹ- י-ִ- תּן-ְ
ֶ - -ַ- -ְ-
וּ-- -ְֹ- -ַ-ִה ְת וּ-- -ְֹ- י-ִ- וּ-- -ְ- -ָ-
Many of the suffixes for the past tense correspond to forms of the subject pronouns:
תּי-ְ
ִ - -ַ- -ָ- אני
ִ
ָתּ-ְ- -ַ- -ָ- ַא ָתּה
ְתּ-ְ- -ַ- -ָ- ַא ְתּ
ה-ָ- -ְ- -ָ- ִהיא
-- -ַ- -ָ- הוּא