Help:IPA/Hebrew
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 {{IPA-he}}, {{IPAc-he}} 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.
| IPA Biblical | IPA Modern | 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 | this |
| f | פ ף (Fei rafah) | f or p̄ | fool | |
| ɡ | גּ (Gimel dǝgušah) | g | go | |
| ɣ | ɡ | ג (Ǧimel rafah) | ǧ, gh, g | go |
| h | ה (Hei) | h | hen | |
| ħ[1] | χ | ח (Ḥeť) | ḥ or ch | no English equivalent; like hen but with the tongue against the pharynx |
| j | י (Yoď) | y | yes | |
| k | כּ (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 | k is equivalent to skin. q has no English equivalent; like cup, but uvular (i.e. with the tongue further back). |
| r[2] | ʁ | ר (Resh) | r | Somewhat like run/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 |
| v | ב (Veť rafah) |
v | voice | |
| w | v | ו (Vav) | v | vote |
| x | χ | כ ך (Ǩaf rafah) | ǩ or ch/kh | no English equivalent; like hen but with the tongue against the pharynx, Scottish loch |
| z | ז (Zayin) | z | zoo | |
| ʕ[1] | ʔ | ע (Ayin) | ʿ or ' | no English equivalent, but the sound has merged in non-Oriental Hebrew to the sound below |
| 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 |
| IPA Biblical | IPA Modern | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a |  (Patach)
|
a | father | |
| e |  (Zeire)
|
e | bed | |
| ɛ | e |  (Segol)
|
ɛ, e | bed |
| ə | e |  (Shva)
|
ǝ, e | bed |
| i | י (Hiriq-Yud), (Hiriq)
|
i | see | |
| o |  (Holam alone), וֹ (with any mater lectionis)
|
o | story | |
| ɔ | o |  (Kamatz katan)
|
ɔ, o | story |
| a | (Kamatz)
|
ɔ, a | 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.