Letters & sounds

Alefʼ

silent — a glottal stop, like the catch in “uh-oh”

אָב — father · guttural

Betb/v

b as in boy (with dagesh: בּ); without: v as in vine

בַּיִת — house · begadkephat

Gimelg

g as in girl (always hard)

גָּדוֹל — great · begadkephat (sound no longer changes)

Daletd

d as in door

דָּבָר — word · begadkephat (sound no longer changes)

Heh

h as in hay; usually silent at the end of a word

הָיָה — he was · guttural

Vavv

v as in vine; also writes the vowels “o” (וֹ) and “u” (וּ)

וְ — and

Zayinz

z as in zebra

זָכַר — he remembered

Chetch

guttural ch, as in Bach or challah — never “ch” as in chair

חֶסֶד — loyal love · guttural

Tett

t as in toy

טוֹב — good

Yody

y as in yes; also lengthens “i” and “e” vowels

יָד — hand

Kafךk/kh

k as in king (with dagesh: כּ); without: guttural kh, like Chet

מֶלֶךְ — king · begadkephat · final form ך

Lamedl

l as in lion

לֵב — heart

Memםm

m as in mother

מַיִם — water · final form ם

Nunןn

n as in night

נָבִיא — prophet · final form ן

Samekhs

s as in sun

סוּס — horse

Ayinʻ

silent for most readers — a deep throat catch in classical pronunciation

עַיִן — eye · guttural

Peףp/f

p as in park (with dagesh: פּ); without: f as in fish

פֶּה — mouth · begadkephat · final form ף

Tsadeץts

ts as in cats

צֶדֶק — righteousness · final form ץ

Qofk

k as in king (made further back in the throat)

קוֹל — voice

Reshr

r as in run (lightly rolled)

רֹאשׁ — head · acts like a guttural — refuses dagesh

Shinsh

sh as in shalom (dot on the RIGHT)

שָׁלוֹם — peace

Sins

s as in sun (dot on the LEFT)

שָׂדֶה — field

Tavt

t as in toy

תּוֹרָה — instruction, Torah · begadkephat (sound no longer changes)

Patachashort

a as in father

Qametsalong

a as in father (occasionally a short “o”)

Tsereelong

e as in they

Segoleshort

e as in bed

Hiriqishort

i as in machine

Hiriq-Yodilong

ee as in seen (long)

Holamolong

o as in role

Holam-Vavolong

o as in role (written on vav)

Qubbutsushort

u as in flute

Shuruqulong

u as in flute (written as vav with a dot)

Shewaəreduced

a quick “uh” (vocal) — or silent, closing a syllable · Vocal at the start of a word or syllable; silent after a short vowel.

Hataf Patachareduced

hurried “a” — gutturals take these instead of plain shewa

Hataf Segolereduced

hurried “e”

Hataf Qametsoreduced

hurried “o”

Dagesh

A dot inside a letter. In ב כ פ (and historically ג ד ת) it hardens the sound; elsewhere it doubles the consonant.

Final He

At the end of a word after qamets, ה is silent — the word ends in “-ah”.

Maqqef

A connector like a hyphen; the joined words are read as one unit.

Sof Pasuq

End-of-verse marker — the Hebrew full stop.