Chapter One - Part Eleven

 

1.38 הגִייָה -  PRONUNCIATION 

The American who wishes to achieve an acceptable Israeli accent must devote special attention to the vowels, intonation, and diction.

1.38.1 הגִייָה   - Vowels -

Hebrew vowels are "tense". In other words, the mouth muscles are held in a firm position, which does not vary during the pronunciation of the syllable. In American English, the quality of the vowels may change during pronunciation. Pronounce the English words as they are transcribed after the equal signs. Then try to pronounce the Hebrew syllable without changing the vowel quality.

cool = /coo-wel/ vs כוּל

call = /caw-el/ vs קול

peel = /pee-el/ vs פיל

You may find it useful to practice imitating a heavy Israeli accent in English to get the feel of the Hebrew vowels. To get the "feel" of the Hebrew.

 

/eet iz yoosfull tuh dry eet!/

Intonation 1.38.2

Every language has a melody. Sometimes if you are within earshot of a conversation but not close enough to actually hear the words clearly, you can tell if the people are speaking English, French, Spanish, or German. Why is that so? Because each language has its own rhythm or cadenced as well as its melodic characteristics. Try to use the Hebrew melody. Use the audio recordings and your instructor as models. However, do not expect to acquire an Israeli accent solely by listening. Pronunciation skill is acquired through interacting with other speakers -- not merely by listening.

Your accent is an important part of what you are learning. And while it is not the most important aspect of your Hebrew study, you can be sure that Israelis will appreciate your attempt to master the accent. Moreover, it can actually influence how Israelis judge your Hebrew ability and whether they will answer you in Hebrew or not!

Diction 1.38.3

Spoken language is not the same as written language. Spoken sentences do not have spaces between the words as they do on paper. The words are often run together so that several words sound like one. Look at these two versions of the same sentence:

/MAH-t OMEH-ret/ = מת ומֶרֶת

/MAH at oh-MEH-reht/ = מה את אומֶרֶת

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Note that slight pauses may occur in a sentence, often in the middle of a word. This is common in casual or rapid speech among native speakers of Israel. You will need to "tune" your ears to hear the individual words within the stream of the sentence, in order to understand authentic Israeli Hebrew. Now think about the two kids in an American high school who are running down the hallway during the noon hour ... Here's what you might hear:

"Hay jeet yet?"

"No, Ju?"

(Translation: Hey, did you eat yet? No, did you?)

1.39 דיקדוּק

1.39.1 שְמות עֶצֶם ומין -  The Gender of Nouns -  

  Use with Software Chapter 1:13 "Gender Agreement With Nouns & Adjectives"

(See also ¶2.20) and Chapter 1: 5 "Spelling & the Order of the Alphabet"

Hebrew nouns are either masculine gender מין זכר  or feminine gender מין נְקֵבה.

(The word מין means both "gender" and "sex".)

Nouns that end in an /ah/ vowel and whose last letter is a ה, or nouns that end with a  ת are generally  מין נְקֵבה.

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Here are some feminine nouns

כיתה                 תלְמידה         שירה           מחְבֶּרֶת

סְטוּדֶנְטית        עבְרית             סְליחה

Here are some masculine nouns:

בוקֶר                 עיפּרון             שיר               סוף

לוּחַ                   סֵפֶר                 סְטוּדֶנְט       עמוּד

Beware of words that end in an /ah/ vowel but are not accented on the last syllable, and are not written with a ה. Words like רֶגע and שבוע are masculine.

The vocabulary lists at the end of each chapter indicate the grammatical gender of nouns with an abbreviation: נ = נְקֵבה and  ז = זכר

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Agreement of Adjective and Nouns 1.39.2

  Use with Software Chapter 1 "Drill On Adjectives of Mixed Gender"

Watch what happens to adjectives when they refer to a feminine noun. See how their form changes from the form of a masculine noun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ז = זכר Masculine                                                         נ = נְקֵבה Feminine

תלְמיד טוב       a good student                        כיתה טובה    a good class

סֵפֶר טוב    a good book      דינה תלְמידה טובה        Dina is a good student

שבוּעַ טוב    a good week     זֹאת כִיתה גְדולה             This is a big class    

                                                                                            

1.39.3 לְמלֵא אֶת הֶחסֵר Fill in the Blanks

Pretend that this is a conversation between a man and woman. She happens to say to him that he is a good man and he immediately responds that she is a good woman. From then on it was back and forth. Whatever was said about a man was then applied to a woman and vice versa. You fill in the responses .

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 אתה איש (man) טוב                      כֵּן, וגם את אישה טובה

1. הוּא סְטוּדֶנְט חדש                           כֵּן, וגם היא ___________________________

2. אני מורֶה מְצוּיין                             כֵּן, וגם אני  מצוּיֶינֶת ___________________

3. הוּא תלְמיד פּׂה                             כֵּן, וגם היא _____________________________

4. הוּא איש אמֶריקאי                       כֵּן, וגם היא (אמריקאית) ____________________

5. אני גדול מְאוד                               כֵּן, וגם אני ______________________________

6. אני איש נעים                                כֵּן, וגם אני ______________________________

 

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1.40 כְללים RULES

1. The Hebrew adjective always follows the noun it describes.

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מין זכר                                                מין נקבה

בוקֶר טוב                                             שירה טובה

good poetry                                                         good morning

2. The gender (מין) of the adjective must always be the same as that of the noun it describes. If the Hebrew noun is masculine, the adjective must also be masculine. This "matching" is called agreement.

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תלְמיד טוב                                          תלְמידה טובה

(a good student (f)                                                a good student (m

3. The number (מיסְפּר) singular or plural, of the adjective must always be in agreement with the noun it describes.

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תלְמיד טוב                                         תלְמידה טובה

תלְמידים טובים                               תלְמידות טובות

4a.  Grammatical Terms

When the noun refers to something specific, known, or unique, it will have the letter ה  in front of the noun.  Example "the notebook".  The term for this sort of noun is a definite noun.

The adjective that follows that noun must also begin with a ה.  We will work  on this more in the following chapters. When a noun has "the"  ה  attached to it then the adjective must also have the ה attached to it.  Examples:

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הבוקר הטוב     the good      morning                                                      ֬המחְבֶּרת הקְטנה   the small notebook

הלוּחַ הגדול   the big board  

השירה החדשה       the new poetry

4b.  The opposite of a definite noun is an indefinite noun:  Example:  "a notebook"

סֵפֶר טוב       a good book                                                   מחְבֶּרת קְטנה    a small notebook

5.. Hebrew likes to keep the accent at the end of the word. Notice what happens to the masculine form of most two-syllable adjectives when a feminine or plural ending is added. Study these examples.

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סֵפֶר קטן                        כיתה קְטנה

בוקֶר נעִים                        כיתה נְעימה

סֵפֶר גדול                       כיתה גְדולה

תלְמיד גדול                      תלְמידים גְדולים    

 

Did you notice that /ka-tan/ קטן becomes /k'taNA/ and not */ka-ta-na?

You see that we changed the vowel of the first syllable from קָ to קְ

How to pronounce the שְווא

Here are a few more examples of how the vowel in the first syllable is "shortened." Israelis usually eliminate that first vowel completely!  Watch this:

תפּוּחַ שָלֵם -  ta-pu-ax sha-LEHM   אֲרוּחָה שְלֵמָה - ah-ru-xa sh-leh-MA

a whole meal                                                                    a whole apple      

בוקֶר נעִים                                                    כיתה נְעימה

Sometimes it's impossible to pronounce the first syllable without a vowel and then the שְווא must be pronounced.    Here are two examples:

סֵפֶר גדול -/SEH-fehr ga-DOHL/     כיתה גְדולה  - /ki-TAH ge-dohl-LAH

 

 (You will find that when you speak quickly you might say: ki-TAG doh-LAH—just like the Israelis do when they talk fast!)

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Finally, let's notice that the same thing happens when the adjective is  masculine  plural - מין  זכר 

   תלְמיד שָקֵט   -   a quiet student                  תלְמידים שְקֵטים   - quiet students

In the feminine form   (מין נְקֵבה) of the adjective, notice how the accent shifts to the new last syllable, and the vowel of the first syllable almost disappears. The "zero-vowel" (no vowel at all!)  is written as a sheva  שְווא

   תלְמידה שְקֵטה                             תלְמידות שְקֵטות .

NOTE: At this point you are not expected to memorize these rules.It's just important for you to begin to recognize and expect the changes in the forms of the adjectives that you hear in your instructor's speech or you see in the texts you read. Just remember ...

Not matching the gender and number of adjectives  is a serious error in Hebrew!

Challenge: Can you create a general rule about forming the plurals of masculine and feminine nouns? (You will learn the rule later... This question is for those who like puzzles.)

1.40.1 למלא את החסר

Below is an exercise in changing adjectives from masculine form to feminine form.

Remember that the vowel in most two-syllable adjectives are changed to  a שְווא  in the plural  and feminine forms. In this exercise we are only using singular nouns.. First write in how you think the adjective for the feminine form should be written (INCLUDE THE ניקוד).. Then listen to the audio at the bottom of the page to check your answers.

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.1 איש גדול                       אישה _________________

.2 תלמיד גבוהַּ                  תלמידה _______________________________

.3 סֵפֶר שחור                     מחְבֶּרֶת ________________________________

.4 איש עיֵיף                       אישה __________________________________

.5 עמוּד קטן                     מחְבֶּרֶת ________________________________

.6 סֵפֶר קצר                      שוּרה ___________________________________

.7 סֵפֶר שחור                     מחְבֶּרֶת ________________________________

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*with answers  

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1.40.2  מין זכר - מין נְקֵבה  

Study these pairs of sentences. Watch the changes.

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                            מין זכר                                   מין נְקֵבה

דן תלְמיד טוב                      דינה תלְמידה טובה

הִינֵה סֵפֶר קטן                     הִינֵה כִּיתה קְטנה

זֶה שיר ארוך                        זאת שוּרה אֲרוּכּה

זֶה לא שיר נעים                  זאת לא מורה נְעימה

שֵיער ארוך וְיפֶה                  מחְבֶּרֶת גְדולה וְיפה

 

1.40.2.1 אֵיפׂה אַתְ גרה? אֵיפׂה אתה גר? Where do you live?

Gil, an Israeli and Ruth, an American who settled in Israel have just met.

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גיל: רות, תגידי, אֵיפׂה אתְ גרה? בִירוּשלים?
רוּת: לׂא, לׂא. פעם גרְתי בִירוּשלַיִם (אני נולדְתי בְשיקאגו) ועכְשיו אני גרה בְאֵילת.
גיל: בְאֵילת! חם מְאוד שם.
רוּת: כֵן, חם מְאוד. אבל לׂא תמיד. וְאתה, אֵיפׂה אתה גר?.
גיל: עכְשיו אני גר בְתֵל אביב, אבל נולדְתי בגליל, בִטְבֶרְיה
רוּת: בִטְבֶרְיה—על-יד הכִּנֶרֶת. גם שם חם מְאוד.
גיל: נכון, אבל לׂא תמיד.

Gil: Ruth, Tell me, where do you live? In Jerusalem?
Ruth: No, No. I once lived in Jerusalem . .(I was born in Chicago) and now I live in Eilat.
Gil: In Eilat! It's very hot there.
Ruth: Yes, it's very hot. And you, where do you live?
Gil: Now I live in Tel Aviv, but I was born in the Galil, in Teveria.
Ruth: In Teveria—by the Kinneret, it's very hot there also.
Gil: True, but not always

1.40.3 תרְגיל תירְגוּם

Translate the following sentences into English. Indicate (m) or (f) for the gender of the Hebrew noun.

שֵם יפֶה _______________________

תלמיד טוב _______________________

תלמידה טובה _______________________

מילה חדשה _______________________

שיר חדש _______________________

כיתה נעימה _______________________

תלמידות טובות תלמידים טובים _______________________

Translate the following sentences into Hebrew.

A new book ______________________________

A good class ______________________________

A small blackboard (whiteboard) ______________________________

A small blackboard (whiteboard) ______________________________

 

1.41.1 ה At The End Of A Word

   - At The End Of A Word - ה "Consonantal"1.41.2 

Look carefully at these sentences

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הוּא תלְמיד  גבוהַּ               He is a tall student

היא תלְמידה  גְבוהָה                      She is a tall student

יש סֵפֶר יפֶה בּ כִּיתה There is a nice book in the class

יש  סְפרים יפים בּכִּיתה   There are nice books in the class

 The word  גבוהַּ   - "tall"  is a useful word.  Notice the dot in the ה   for "הוּא תלְמיד גבוהַּ " That dot (called a /ma-pik/  מפּיק)  tells you that here the ה  is part of the basic root of the word and can't be dropped when changing the form of the word to feminine or plural.  The next line - "She is a tall  student " היא תלְמידה  גְבוהָה"   is an example of the word for tall now having two letters ה  at the end of the word.   

In this book גבוהַּ  is the only word you will  learn that has the dot in the ה . . You must pronounce it /ga-vo-ah/ and not /ga-vo-ha/.   

 

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