Hebrew Alef-Beit אלפבית עברי part 2.

About half of the letters are pronounced in multiple ways and we will explain this and some letters are unique to Hebrew (or at least near eastern Semitic language) and we will explain these also.Hebrew has the Nikud or Nikudot(plural) which literally mean dots and are a system of dots and dashes that change consonant sounds and indicate vowels.There are three types of Nikud that effect consonants,dagesh marks,garesh marks and mapik’s.A mapik is a dot inside a consonant that acts as a accent mark ,most often in the letter Hei הּ but in other letters too often also in Samekh ,it just means put a little more wind into it but has no effect on the pronounciation itself.

Beit/ב with a dagesh is pronounced as a B בּ, without a dagesh is a V like victory ב

Gimeil/ג is almost always promounced as G like good or glad in all and every native Hebrew words.There is no J in native Hebrew ,but for non native words you might see this letter with a garesh mark like this ‘ג this is pronounced a J as in Jim or jar.

In theory Gimeil should be written with dagesh in the middle like this although no one does it.גּ ,but if it is written without the dagesh ג this is pronounced like the Arabic (Gh, this is super super rare and only by Arabic speakers) this is why no one writes the dagesh in Gimeil anyway.

Dalet/דּ ד this is D like door and this is ד is Th like with or breath(again Arabic only never native in Hebrew,no ever writes a dagesh in Dalet anyway)

Vav/ו this is V like victory but Vav can also be a vowel o or u as well ,we will cover vowels later.וו a double can mean a W like Walter or a Vav with a garesh can be the same ‘ו also W like Walter.

Zayin/ז This in any and all native Hebrew words is Z like zebra or Zeke but with the large influx of Russian immigrants to Israel they need a Russian Zh or Dz or like the Dutch Jean ,like collage sound.For this sound you use the garesh ‘ז

Kaf/Khaf/Khaf sofit כ ,כ without the dagesh this is like the scottish or German “Ch” ,very harsh from the throat like Loch Ness.Khaf sofit/ך is pronounced the same,sofit letters end words.Kaf כּ with a dagesh is pronounced K as in kite ,the same as K or C in English.

Ayin/ע although technically silent it is really abstract and does not convert to English.It’s slilent with a slight hint of a Arabic Gh ,a bit from the throat.Interestingly it’s the first letter in the city Gomorah in the Bible,so clearly in ancient times the Gh was stronger and this letter is Ghayin in Arabic.This letter in modern Hebrew is treated as silent and a bit from the throat.

Pei/Fei sofit/פ with a dagesh פּ this is P like pirate or pocket ,without the dagesh this F like fire or fight פ and Fei sofit is also F as well ף

Although a sofit always ends words and this letter always ends as F but there is one word in the book of Deut. where the sofit has a dagesh and is Pei sofit,super super rare.Some non native words to Hebrew like syrup which in Hebrew is syrup but this ends in a normal Pei סירופ ,also very rare ,only 1 10th of 1 % of Hebrew words end in a P sound.

Tzadei/צ This is a Tz like ritz or fitz in all and every native word but in non native words using a garesh mark ‘צ is pronounced Ch like Cheeseburger or beach and the same with Tzadei sofit.

Shin/ש is most often pronounced Sh like ship

but in some cases is like S as in sister and here is how to tell the difference.

With a dagesh on the top right it’s Sh שׁ with the dot on the left it’s S like seek שׂ you can remember the difference by the phrase “sin is never right”

Tav/ת This in modern and Biblical Hebrew is always T like Tim or took but in Ashenazi dialect or in Yiddish Tav without the dagesh ת is pronounced S as in sister

and Tav with a garesh ‘ת in Arabic loan words is Th like with (very rare)