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Introduction to Biblical HebrewLesson 1

The Alphabet(consonants, vowels, sewa)

Syllabication

OT 311

NBTS, Fall 2010

Rev. Charles Rix, Ph.D.

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Aleph

(silent)

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bet

v as in van b as in ban

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gimmel

g as in god

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dalet

d as in day

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he

h as in hay

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waw

v as in van

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het

ch as in Bach

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tet

t as in top

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yod

y as in yet

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kaphk as in king

FINAL FORM

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lamedl as in lion

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memm as in moth

FINAL FORM

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nunn as in noon

FINAL FORM

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sameks as in sack

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ayinsilent

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pehp as in pat f as in fat

FINAL FORM

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tsadets as in bets

FINAL FORM

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qoph

q as in plaque

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reshr as in rash

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shinsh as in sheen

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taw

th as in thank t as in tank

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The Dagesh

Indicates that the consonant is doubled:

M = mmN = nn

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The Dagesh

Indicates a stop in the case of the six consonants below,known as the begadkepat letters:

B G D K PT

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Guttural Letters

Letters that are pronounced in the throat:

a h x [

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Long and Short Vowels

Three classes of vowels: a, i, u

Vowels are placed under the consonant and

pronounced after it The exception is the holem which is placed

at the top left hand corner of that consonant

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E VowelsName Vowel With Letter Pronunciation

Short e segol e, as in met

Long e sere Be e, as in they

Short/Long i hireq Bi i, as in unique

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U VowelsName Vowel With Letter Pronunciation

Short o

qames

hatup o, as in loft

Short/Long u qibbus u, as in rule

Long o holem o, as in role

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hMatres Lectionis

Letters that serve as markers for long vowels

Class

y

a

i

Be

yBe

u

(o)

(u)(sureq)

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Note on the h

Theh at the end of a word may either be a

mater or an actual consonant.

A dot or mappiq is usually put in theh to

denote it is a consonant, orH

= her horse

= mare

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The Sewa

The sewa is placed under a consonant to indicate whether it

is:

A half vowel, in which case it is vocal

Not a vowel, in which case it is silent

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The Composite Sewa

The composite sewa is placed under guttural letters

+ = hatep-patah (a)+ = hatep-segol

(e)

+= hatep-quames

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Syllables

Every Hebrew word has one or more syllables

Every syllable begins with one (and only one)

consonant

Every syllable has only one vowel

A syllable cannot begin with a vowel

The exception is the conjunction (waw) or

A syllable can end with a vowel or consonant

Open syllables end with a vowel (Cv pattern)

Closed syllables end with a consonant (CvC pattern)

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Rules for the Sewa

A sewa is vocal when it (is): Example

at the beginning of a word

the second of two sewas (inimmediate succession)

under a begad-kepat letter

that is doubled by a dagesh

follows a long vowel

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Rules for the Sewa

A sewa is silent when it (is): Example

at the end of a word

the first of two sewas (inimmediate succession)

comes immediately after a

short unstressed vowel

Comes after a any vowel in a

stressed syllable

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Begad-Kepat Letters

In a consonant that is NOT a Begad-Kepat

letter, the dagesh indicates that the letter is

doubled. This is always true! (yeah!)

In a begad-kepat letter, the dagesh means will

have implications for pronunciation as well as

doubling.

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Begad-Kepat Letters

Pronunciation

The pronunciation will be hard if the letter:

is at the beginning of a word

follows a silent sewa that closes a syllable

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The pronunciation will be soft if the begad

kepat letter represents a doubling:

Which is actually

//

Begad-Kepat Letters

Doubling

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Syllable DivisionOpen Syllables (Cv)

Open syllables only have a Consonant (C) and a vowel (v)

A long vowel and is unaccented:

A short vowel and accented:

A vocal sewa following a silent sewa that closes the previous

syllable:

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Syllable Division Closed Syllables (CvC)

Open syllables only have a Consonant (C) and a vowel (v) andanother Consonant (C)

C-long vowel-C (unaccented)

C-short vowel-C (accented)

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Review of Syllable Rules

Hebrew words begin with a consonant

Each syllable must have only one vowel

Open syllables

The vowel can be long and unaccented The vowel can be short and accented

A vocal sewa following a silent sewa that closes the previous syllable

Closed syllables

The vowel must be short and unaccented

If the vowel is long in a closed syllable, it must be accented

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Examples

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Examples