Lesson Two - The Vowels
Biblical Hebrew does have vowels, but they are not the traditional letters you would find in the English language. Instead, they are mainly “pointings” of the consonants. These vowels were not in the original writings. Originally the [tag]Hebrew Bible[tag] had simply consonants, and through oral tradition they knew how/ the words should be pronounced. At some point around 600 A.D. Hebrew priests added the pointings to ensure that the oral tradition of how the words were to be pronounced would not be forgotten. Thus we have the current vowel system.
The vowel system can be summarized into two basic categories of vowel: the full vowel, the half vowel. (Some may break the full vowel into categories of simple or full, but both are treated equally as a vowel for the most part so I will treat them both the same to keep things simple). As we move along, the distinction between half vowel and vowel will become apparent, so don’t get too hung up on that issue now, just keep it in mind. Each full or half vowel is of A, E, I, O, or U type. In addition to these two basic categories of vowel there is the simple shewa, which although a not technically a vowel, it is sometimes vocal and therefore “vowel-like.” The vowels are found in most cases below the consonant, or in some cases right after it. Let’s take a look at the Hebrew vowel system.
A Type
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Full Vowels
is the Patach, it is a short vowel. Pronounced like the “a” in dark. It is transliterated with an “a”.
is the Qamets, it is a long vowel. Pronounced like the “a” in dark. It is transliterated with an “ā”.*
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Half Vowels
is the Chateph Patach has a hurried “a” sound, like the “a” in dark only hurried. It is transliterated as “ă” in superscript.
E Type Vowels
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Full Vowels
is the Segol, it is a short “e” vowel. It is pronounced like the “e” in get. It is transliterated with an “e”.
is the Segol Yod, it is a long “e” vowel. It is pronounced like the ei in weight. It is transliterated as “ê”. (The mem is for displaying the relative positioning, it is not part of the vowel)
is the Tsere, it is a long “e” vowel. It is pronounced like the ei in weight. It is transliterated as “ē”.
is the Tsere Yod, it is a long “e” vowel. It is pronounced like the ei in weight. It is transliterated as “ê”. (The mem is for displaying the relative positioning, it is not part of the vowel)
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Half Vowels
Chateph Segol has a hurried “e” sound. It is transliterated as “ĕ” in superscript.
I Type Vowels
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Full Vowels
is the Chireq, it is a short “i” vowel pronounced like the ee in feet. It is transliterated as “i”.
Chireq Yod, it is a long “i” vowel pronounced like the ee in feet. It is transliterated as “î”. (The mem is for displaying the relative positioning, it is not part of the vowel)
O Type Vowels
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Full Vowels
is the Cholem, it is a long vowel pronounced like the “o” in go. It is transliterated as “o”.
is the Cholem Waw, it is a long vowel pronounced like the “o” in go. It is transliterated as “ō”.- is the Qamets Chatuph, it is a short vowel pronounced like the “o” in go. It is transliterated as “ō”.*
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Half Vowels
is the Chateph Qamets has a hurried “o” sound, like the “o” in go, only hurried. It is transliterated as “ŏ” in superscript.
U Class Vowels
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Full Vowels
is the Qibbuts, it is a short vowel pronounced like the “oo” in food. It is transliterated as “u”.
is the Shureq, it is a long vowel pronounced like the “oo” in food. It is transliterated as “ū”.
*The Qamets and the Qamets Chatuph are distinguished by rules regarding closed vs open sylables and accents, we will discuss this in more detail later.
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