Interactive Learning Module

Vowels

• This unit will discuss Hebrew vowels and pointing (ניקוד). Some of the topics to be covered include the following:
• Diacritic marks – The module will introduce the names, symbols, and sounds of each of the ten Hebrew vowels, the reduced vowels (the sheva and chataf), and several other diacritic marks such as the dagesh.
• Vowel letters – We will look at the unique role played by four letters of the Hebrew alphabet, אהו"י, which double as vowel markers. These are referred to as אימות קריאה, mothers of reading, as they aid in the correct pronunciation of words.See History of the Vowel System that these served to aid in reading before there was a vowel system in place.
• Sheva – We will learn about two types of sheva, a silent sheva which marks the absence of a vowel and a vocal sheva which serves as a very reduced vowel. These play an important role in syllabification.

• Unlike English, the Hebrew alphabet is a consonantal alphabet, with its vowels being a distinct system of diacritic marks, placed mainly under the letters.
• Though there was always an oral tradition of vocalization, it was first in the second half of the first millennium that a written system of notation was developed. To read about the evolution of this system, see History of the Vowel System.
• The modern system, developed by the Kimchi family, counts ten vowels, divided into five short vowels and five corresponding long vowels.See p. 137 of Radak's Mikhlol, שער הניקוד.
• In modern Israeli Hebrew, following the Sephardic tradition of pronunciation, there is no difference in sound between the long and short vowels, making the categories not particularly intuitive.See History of the Vowel System that the present system is an outgrowth of the Tiberian vowel system which had a different tradition of pronunciation in which each distinct symbol did indeed represent a distinct sound (with seven vowel qualities altogether). Today the Ashkenazic and Yemenite communities still preserve some of these distinctions. Knowing how to categorize the vowels is nonetheless important for understanding several grammatical rules.

• Long and Short Vowels – Below is a listing of each vowel, categorized as long or short, with its name,To learn about the origins and meaning of each of the vowel names, see the appendix. symbol,Below, the symbols are all connected to the letter "ב". This was chosen for convenience; any consonant could have been substituted. and pronunciation: [Click here for a summary table.]
• Long vowels
• kamatz (בָ) – pronounced "ah" (as in: "far")
• tzere (בֵ or בֵי) – pronounced "eh" (as in: "let" or "they")
• chirik malei (בִי) – pronounced "ee" (as in "ski")
• cholam (בוֹ or בֹ) – pronounced "o" (as in: "cold" or "long")
• shuruk (בוּ) – pronounced "u" (as in: "blue"). Note: When a shuruk appears at the beginning of a word, it is considered a short vowel.
• Short vowels
• patach (בַ) – pronounced "ah" (as in: "far")
• segol (בֶ) – pronounced "eh" (as in: "let" or "they")
• chirik (בִ) – pronounced "ee" (as in "ski")Sometimes, too, this might be pronounced as a a short i, as in "big".
• kamatz katan (בָ) – pronounced "o" (as in: "cold" or "long")
• kubbutz (בֻ) – pronounced "u" (as in: "blue")
• Note – The same vowel sign is used to represent both the long and short kamatz. AlHaTorah uses a slightly elongated form for the kamatz katan to disambiguate. For example, open Vayikra 1:2 and compare each kamatz in the word "קרבן". The first is a kamatz katan; the second is a kamatz gadol.We will learn how to differentiate the two in a later module after learning more about syllabification and stress. The basic rule is that any kamatz in a closed, unstressed syllable will be a kamatz katan.
• Sheva and Reduced Vowels – A second set of important diacritic marks is the sheva and chatafs.
  • The sheva is represented by two vertical dots under a letter (בְ). It can be either silent, denoting the absence of a vowel and serving to close a syllable, or vocal, being a very reduced vowel, pronounced like the "a" in the first syllable of the word alone (equivalent to the schwa ə).
  • A chataf (a composite sheva) is a sheva combined with the hint of another vowel (אֲ, אֳ or אֱ), found mainly under gutturals (specifically the letters האח"ע, which cannot take a vocal sheva).
  • Later slides will discuss these more at length.
• Exercise – Open Bereshit 1 and name each vowel in the opening verses, marking it as long, short, or reduced. Check yourself by looking at the list above.

• There are several other diacritic marks which will be introduced briefly here:
• Dagesh – This is a dot in the middle of a letter (בּ), signifying either that one of the בגדכפ"ת letters has a plosive sound,For example, it will signify that "בּ" is to be pronounced as "b" and not "v". or that a letter value is doubled. For a thorough discussion, see Dagesh.
• Mappik – This looks like a dagesh, but can only be found in a final heh. [See the dot in the heh of "פִּרְיָהּ" in Bemidbar 13:27.] It is used to show that the heh is to be pronounced rather than silent (i.e. that it is acting as a consonant and not a vowel marker).
• Makkaf – This looks and functions just like a hyphen. [See the dash in the following word pair: "אֶת־אַבְרָהָם" in Bereshit 22:1] When two words are combined by a makkaf, they might act as if they are one word.
• Cantillation marks – These are a series of signs created by the Masoretes in the 6th-9th centuries which: a) indicate stress b) play a role in punctuation (either marking pauses or conjoining phrases) and c) serve as musical notes for chanting the Torah.To see the cantillation signs on any verse in the Mikraot Gedolot, click on the א֣ symbol in the upper right hand corner of the text.
• Shin / Sin dot – Dots at the top of the letter "ש" mark whether the letter should be pronounced as "sh" or "s". A dot on the right (שׁ‎) indicates a shin and on the left (שׂ‎), a sin.

• אותיות אהו"י – There are four letters, אהו"י, which can double as vowels markers. These are referred to as אימות קריאה, mothers of reading (or in Latin, matres lectionis).
• "ה" – The letter "ה" serves as a vowel marker only at the end of a word (except in some proper names, where it might appear mid-word, as in: עֲשָׂהאֵל).
• It can follow a kamatz (as in יְהוּדָה), a segol (as in יִרְבֶּה), and less often, a tzere (as in אַרְיֵה) or a cholam (as in פַּרְעֹה).
• The "ה" will get dropped when suffixes are added.
• When a "ה" is meant to function as a consonant and be pronounced it will either get its own vowel (וַיְשַׁלְּחֶהָ), or will be marked with a mappik (e.g. בֵיתָהּ, her house).As in the example, often, a mappik will be found in words which show possession. Sometimes, words are indistinguishable except for the mappik. Compare, for example, "וְהִשְׁקָה" in Bemidbar 5:24, where the "ה" is a vowel letter, and "וְהִשְׁקָהּ" in Bemidbar 5:27 where it is a consonant. Without a mappik the word means "and he gave to drink"; with a mappik it means "and he gave her to drink".
• "ו" – The letter "ו" can serve as a vowel marker both in the middle and at the end of a word. It can make one of two sounds:
• a long "o" sound, marked by "וֹ" (a cholam malei)
• a long "u" sound, marked by "וּ" (a shuruk)
• These are considered "unchangeable long vowels" as they do not get reduced.Sometimes, due to changes in stress, originally long vowels get reduced to short vowels when suffixes are added to a word. This will not occur with unchangeable long vowels. Vowel reduction will be discussed further in the next module.
• "י" – The letter "י" can serve as a vowel marker both in the middle and at the end of a word.
• It can follow a chirik (as in בָּנִים) or a tzere (as in בְּנֵי), and more rarely, in certain possessive suffixes, it can follow a kamatz or segol (בָּנָיו or בָּנֶיךָ).
• These are considered "unchangeable long vowels" as they do not get reduced.
• If the "י" is at the end of a word and follows any vowel other than a chirik or tzere, then it is serving as a consonant and is pronounced. Thus, for example, the final yud in "גּוֹי" is a consonant, not an אם קריאה.
• "א" – The letter "א" can serve as a vowel marker both in the middle and at the end of a word. It can follow any vowel.
• Plene and defective spelling – In the Biblical text, the אימות קריאה are not used consistently. The same word can be written in one place with the vowel letter and in another place without. Words written with vowel letters are said to be written "מלא" (plene, or full), while those without are said to be written "חסר" (defective).
• To see an example of such inconsistency, find the word "נביאים" (prophets) in Bemidbar 11:29, Yirmeyahu 23:31, and Yirmeyahu 29:15. How is each spelled?As another example, open the concordance and type the word "תמים" into the input bar, choosing adjective. Scroll down through the various forms, listed on the right side of the screen, paying attention to which are full and which defective.

• Normally, a vowel sound is pronounced after the consonant under which it appears. Thus, "בַּ" is "ba" and not "ab".
• However, sometimes when a word ends in a "ח", "ע", or a consonantal "ה" (marked by a mappik), and is pointed with a patach, the vowel is sounded before the consonant.
• Thus, for example, the word "רוּחַ" is pronounced "ru'ach" and not "rucha".
• This patach is called a פתח גנובה or a furtive patach, for it does not function as a full vowel, and is placed in a word merely to ease pronunciation. When a final syllable has a cholam, shuruk, tzere or segol followed by "ח", "ע", or "ה", the tongue finds it hard to transition, and so a patach is inserted between the original vowels and the gutturals.
• As such, the patach's real place is before the guttural consonant, and is actually so marked in many manuscripts. See, for example, the furtive patach in the word "רוח" in this image from the Allepo Codex.See the third full line and compare the placement of the patach there with the placement of the patach under the "ח" in the word "חמס" (second to last line). See here for the full page of the manuscript.
• Though this patach looks like a vowel, it is not considered a full vowel and is not counted as such when dividing words into syllables.

• As the sheva plays a role in syllabification, we will preface its discussion with a brief introduction regarding Hebrew syllables.
• General rule – In Biblical Hebrew, every syllable opens with a consonant and has only one vowel. This may or may not be followed by a second consonant. If a syllable ends with a vowel, it is open; if it ends with a consonant it is closed.
• For example, the word "קָטָן" has two syllables divided as follows: קָ|טָן. The first syllable is open, ending with a vowel, while the second is closed, ending with a consonant.
• אימות קריאה – When the letters אהו"י serve as אימות קריאה, they are considered vowels. As such, if they come at the end of a syllable or word, that syllable is considered open.
• For example, the word "עָשָׂה" has two open syllables (עָ|שָׂה), since the final "ה" serves as a vowel letter and not as a consonant.
• Similarly, the word "בָּנֶיךָ" has three open syllables (בָּ|נֶי|ךָ), since the "י" functions as a vowel letter and not as a consonant.
• Furtive patach – See above that a furtive patach is not considered a full vowel, and is not counted as one when dividing a word into syllables.
• For example, the word רוּחַ is considered to have only one syllable, which is closed (as it is really equivalent in form to רום).
• Similarly, the word שָׂמֵחַ has two (not three) syllables (שָׂ|מֵחַ), the first open and the second closed (as this is really equivalent in form to שָׁ|מֵן).
• Dagesh – If a letter has a dagesh chazak, indicated by a dot in the letter, this signifies that the value of the consonant should be doubled [שַׁבָּת = Shabbat, with the "בּ" sound being doubled]. As such, a letter with a dagesh chazak will both close and open a syllable, serving as both the final consonant of the first syllable (closing it) and the first consonant of the second (opening it).The dagesh mark will be discussed at length in a different module, so the beginner student should view this as reference material for now.
• For example, in the word עַמִּים, the "מ" is doubled, so the word breaks into two syllables as follows: עַמ | מִים.

• As mentioned above, the diacritic mark known as the sheva, represented by two vertical dots under a letter (בְּ), serves two distinct functions.
• שווא נע (lit. a moving sheva) – This is a vocal sheva, representing a reduced vowel, pronounced like the "a" in the first syllable of the word alone. A syllable with a שווא נע is open, but very short.
• For example, the sheva under the "בּ" in the word בְּרָכָה is a vocal sheva. The word can be divided into three syllables (בְּ|רָ|כָה), all open.
• שווא נח (lit. a resting sheva) – This is a silent sheva, representing the absence of a vowel and serving to mark the end of a syllable. A syllable ending with a silent sheva is thus closed.
• For example, in the title פַרְעֹה the sheva under the "ר" is a silent sheva, closing the first syllable (פַרְ|עֹה).
• Note – When words end with a closed syllable, the final consonant will often not be marked at all.
• Thus, the word "יֶלֶד" does not take a silent sheva under the "ד", even though it is a closed syllable. [The word "בָּרוּךְ", on the other hand, does take a sheva in the final "ך".]Sometimes one will see a letter mid-word which has no vowel as well; in this case the absence of a vowel indicates that the letter is a silent letter and not to be pronounced at all. See, for example יִשָּׂשכָר

• With the exception of "ר", the gutturals (האחר"ע) cannot take a vocal sheva (though they do take a silent sheva).
• These letters do not make enough of a sound to support such a reduced vowel, so when a grammatical form would normally require a vocal sheva, they instead take a "composite sheva", known as a chataf ("חטף").The root "חטף" means "to snatch" and the sign is probably so called since it denotes a shortened, or "snatched" vowel, This is a sheva combined with the hint of another vowel.
• There are three composite shevas: a chataf patach (אֲ), chataf kamatz (אֳ) and chataf segol (אֱ). Each is generally pronounced with a bit of the vowel that is combined with the sheva.The chataf kamatz sometimes appears even on non guttural letters. See, for example, the word "הַקֳּדָשִׁים".
• A chataf functions just like a vocal sheva.
• Exercise – Find the composite shevas in the following verses and note how each is under one of the gutturals: Bereshit 1:2, Bereshit 4:11, and Bereshit 11:4.

• In many Tanakhs, the two types of sheva look exactly alike, making it difficult to know which is serving what function. On AlHatorah, to disambiguate, the vocal sheva is bolded. For example, compare the two shevas in the word "בְּמִדְבַּר" in Bemidbar 1:1; the first bolded one is vocal.
• It is, nonetheless, useful to know how to distinguish the two on one's own. In each of the following scenarios the sheva is vocal: [The א"ב mnemonic might ease in memorizing.]
• א – A sheva at the beginning (א) of a word. Example: בְּרָכָה
• ב – The second (ב) of two consecutive shevas. Example: מִשְׁפָּטַי
• ג – A sheva after a long vowel (אחר תנועה גדולה). Example: הַמּוֹשְׁלִים‎.This is true as long as the long vowel has no primary stress. If the long vowel is stressed, such as in the word קֵ֔דְמָה (Vayikra 1:16), the sheva that follows is silent. Note: A shuruk that opens a word is considered a short vowel.Thus, for example, the sheva under the "ב" in וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל is silent.
• ד – A sheva under a letter with a דגש. Example: מְיַלְּדֹת
• ה – A sheva between two identical or similar sounding letters (בין הדומות). Example: הַלְלוּ
• A silent sheva will be found in the inverse scenarios:
• A sheva at the end of the word
• The first of two consecutive shevas
• A sheva after a short vowel (unless there is a dagesh in the letter or it is between two identical letters)
• A sheva before a dagesh
• Exercise – In each of the following words, determine if the sheva is vocal or silent. שְׁמוֹת, שִׁמְעוֹן, נַפְתָּלִי, יֹצְאֵי, וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ, נִתְחַכְּמָה. Then check yourself by finding the words in Shemot 1:1-10 and seeing which are bolded. [A vocal sheva will be bolded, a silent one will not be.]

• Hebrew does not allow for two consecutive vocal shevas (or a chataf and vocal sheva).
• As such, if one see two shevas in a row, the first one is silent and the second is vocal, unless it is the end of the word, in which case both will be a silent sheva. [See, for example, וַיֵּבְךְּ in Bereshit 27:38 or וַיֵּשְׁתְּ in Bereshit 9:21.]
• Often, though, there are prefixes which take a vocal sheva which need to be attached to a word which itself begins with a sheva as, for example, if one wanted to attach the prefix "לְ" to the name "בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל".
• In such cases there will often be a change in the vocalization of the prefix. Thus, in the example given, the sheva under the "ל" is lengthened to a chirik to produce "לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל".
• For details and other examples, see Prefixes.

• Many have attempted to understand and trace the origins of the vowel names.See, for example, R. Steiner, "Påṯaḥ and Qåmeṣ: On the Etymology and Evolution of the Names of the Hebrew Vowels" available here and N. Posegay, "Hissing, Gnashing, Piercing, Cracking: Naming Vowels In Medieval Hebrew" available here. The discussion below draws heavily off these articles, though the presentation is a bit simplified. One theory follows.
• It appears that many of the vowel names originated from Aramaic terms and relate to the physical positioning of the mouth when articulating the vowel sign. As with many aspects of language, there might have been several different stages in the evolution of the various names, reflecting different naming conventions:
• Relative Names
• The two names patach (פתח) and kamatz (קמץ) appear to have originated as Aramaic participles (pointed פָּתַח and קָמֵץ) meaning "to open" and "to compress" respectively. These might have been abbreviations of the fuller phrases "פתח פום" and "קמץ פום", meaning to open or close the mouth, referring to the relative positioning of the mouth when pronouncing certain vowels.
• The names apparently were originally used by Masoretes to refer not only to today's kamatz and patach but also to the tzere and segol, referring to the relative values of the vowel in each vowel pair.See the sources cited by Steiner, including the following from Ben Asher's Dikdukei HaTeamim "שבע נקודות, ראשונה היא קמצה, בפה היא קבוצה, ושניה היא פתחה...ושלישית פתחה קטנה, כל פתיים מבינה, ורביעית קמצה קטנה, שתי נקודות מכונה". The sentence refers to two vowels being "open" and two being "compressed", describing the last one as having two dots, referring to a tzere. In this period, the sounds of each pair were distinct from one another, one being a more open sound and the other, a relatively closed and longer sound. To distinguish the two, the reader was directed to either open his mouth (for patach or segol) or compress it (for kamatz or tzere.)
• Eventually, though, the names were reserved to refer to vowels with the "ah" sounds.
• Graphic Names
• As the relative names discussed above did not adequately describe all of the vowels, some texts supplemented these names with graphic descriptions, referring to a cholam or chirik as "one dot", a tzere as "two dots" and the like.See the example brought in the previous footnote and other evidence brought by Posegay in the article cited above.
• An example of a graphic name, though of a slightly different type, is the segol (סגול). The name likely stems from the Araamic "סְגוֹלָא", meaning a cluster of grapes, matching the triangular shape of the vowel.
• Phonetic Names
• Four of the other modern vowel names, like the kamatz and patach discussed above, likely similarly originated from phoneticrelated to speech and sound terminology , in this case from Aramaic nouns, with the names meaning:
• • tzere (צירי) – breaking or cracking, referring to the narrow crack that opens between the teeth when pronouncing the vowel sound
  • chirik (חיריק) – gnashing of one's teeth, referring to the grinding of teeth when pronouncing the "ee" sound
  • cholam (חולם) – closing firmly, referring to the relatively closed position of the lips when pronouncing the "oh" sound
  • shuruk (שורוק) – whistling, relating to the shape the lips take when both whistling and pronouncing "u"
• In several Judeo-Arabic grammatical works these four vowel names are vocalized as segolate nouns (with a double segol, שֶרֶק, חֶלֶם, חֶרֶק).See the evidence brought in the above cited articles. It seems that the modern vocalization of the names emerged in around the eleventh century from a desire to match the opening vowel of the vowel name with the sound the vowel represents. The second syllable of the name, too, was adapted to have a corresponding sound (though sometimes spelled with the matching long or short vowel).This type of vocalization change happened to the names kamatz and patach discussed above as well, with "פָּתַח" becoming "פַּתָּח" and "קָמֵץ" being referred to also as "קָמָץ".
• The name kubbutz (קובוץ), too, is likely related to phonetics, with the word meaning to "gather", referring to the gathering of the lips (קיבוץ שפתיים) made when pronouncing the "u" sound. In contrast to the above, this name does not appear to have Aramaic roots, but might instead be a translation of the name for the Arabic vowel producing the same "u" sound (damma, meaning "contraction of the lips").
• Other names
• Other vowel names existed alongside the above, some of which are still used at times today. For example, medieval commentators such as Rashi refer to the cholam as "מלאפום" (meaning: full mouth).See Rashi on Shemot 14:12 and R"Y Kara on Shofetim 18:6 and see Gur Aryeh (in Shemot) on the various names used to refer to the vowels by different commentators in different places and eras. Later the same term was used to refer to our shuruk.See, for example, usage of the name by Malbim on Yechezkel 16:34 and R. D"Z Hoffmann on Devarim 1:1.

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