Chapter One - Part Three

 

1.5  ניקוּד  - THE VOWELS OF ISRAELI HEBREW

: Use with Software Chapter 1:2 "The Vowel Symbols"

Before we continue learning the letters of the Alphabet, lets take a look at the vowels.

"The Vowels are Tense". In general it can be said that Hebrew vowels are "tense" i.e., they are pronounced with the muscles of the mouth held firmly and without the tendency to "glide" from one

vowel to another that is common in American English. Consider the English word real /ree-ahl.

Many of us pronounce two separate vowels in that  word. An Israeli would say /rihl/.

Hebrew has five vowel sounds:

/ah/ as in "father"

/eh/ in between the ai of "bait" and the e of bet

/ih/ the sound which is between the i of bit and the ee of beet. At the end of a word, especially where there is a /yood/ at the end of the word, or or in a stressed syllable, the sound will be more like /ee/ and we will write /i/ rather than /ih/ to indicate that it is closer to /ee/.

ih/ to indicate that it is closer to /ee/ .

/oh/ as in "shore"

/oo/ the sound which is between the u of "put" and the oo of "boot".

 

1.5.1  ניקוד Say "ah" 

If a Hebrew letter doesn't have the symbol י  or ו to its left... and doesn't have an "/eh/" vowel under it, read it as a consonant followed by the vowel /ah/.

ר = /rah/ ש / = /shah ב = /bah/

 

 

Reading hint: But in beginners texts, Hebrew poetry or Hebrew prayer books, the vowel symbols for the /ah/ sound are included under a consonantal letter.

For example: לֳ שֲ בַּ בָּ רַ רָ

Practice writng these letters: Say the sound the letters make as you write them.

 ש ל בּ ב ר ם

                                                                                                                        

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1.5.2     ניקוּד - ו :    /oh/ 

Remember: When a Hebrew syllable contains the vowel sound /oh/, then the vowel sound /oh/ is usually indicated by the letter vahv ו (in Modern Hebrew) written to the left of the consonant. Thus /sh/ ש + the letter /vahv/ ו = /shoh/ שו

For example:

/roh / = רו /shoh/ = שו /boh/ = בו 

Write the syllable /roh/_____________________________          start here

Write the syllable /shoh/__________________________    start here

Write the syllable /boh/______________________________    start here

 

When nikkud is used, the vowel sound /oh/ can also be indicated by a small dot at the top left side of a letter. For example: בֹר, רֹב

 

Practice reading single syllable words.          

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בר    שר    רם    בּור    שור    רב    שב    לש

   1.5.3  ניקוּד  ו  /oo/

The vowel sound /oo/ is indicated by the letter /vahv/ ו with a dot to its left ו placed after the consonant. Thus /sh/ ש + a dotted vahv ו = /shoo/ שוּ .

שוּ = /shoo/

Here is a way to remember that the /vahv/ can stand for the sound /OO/

Remember, the symbol ו is placed to the left of the letter.

Note  the dot is placed above its mid-point.

For example:

roo = רוּ         shoo = שוּ         boo = בוּ

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Write the syllable "roo"__________________________  start here

Write the syllable "shoo"______________________  start here

Write the syllable "boo" __________________________ start here

   ִ1.5.4 ניקוּד    אֶ  אֵ  

The vowel sound /eh/ is indicated by either two or three dots placed under the consonant. Both שֶand שֵ are pronounced /sheh/. The /eh/ sound is mid-way between the /ai/ of the English word pain and the /e/ of pen.

Here are the vowel symbols (nikkud)

  for the sound of /eh/      שֶ  שֵ 

JUST TWO OR THREE DOTS - IT'S ALL THE SAME TO ME

 

 

 

שֶ שֶ שֵ sheh sheh sheh !

These dots are omitted when nikkud is not used.

 

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Write the word "Name" /shehm/__________________ שֵם

Write the word /shehl/___________________________ שֶל

Write the word /lehv/_____________________________ לֵב

Write the word /shehv/____________________________ שֵב

The letter mehm =  מ   /m/       1.5.5

We are adding another letter before we learn more vowels.

Practice writing mehm _________________________________________  מ

Write the word /sheh-mehsh/___________________________________ שֶמֶש

Write the word /mool/__________________________________________ מוּל

 

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1.5.6  נוקיד The Sheva  

Here is a bright idea for noting when there is no vowel at all: Two dots placed vertically under a letter indicate the lack of a vowel. When you see a shva /ְ / just pronounce the letter that is above it.

Write the following examples, with the /shva: 

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בְּרו  ____________________________________/bro/

שְבוּ ___________________________________/shvoo/

שמְרוּ ________________________________/sham-roo/    

 

When you see two dots (like a colon) below a letter at the end of a syllable, just pronounce

 the sound of the letter itself: For example: /shav-roo/ שבְרוּ

 

Write the following examples of words with the /shva/:  

שבְרוּ _____________________/shav-roo/

שמְרוּ ____________________ /sham-roo/

 

1.5.7   קְריאה:      The sound of /ih

 1.5.7.1  

י = "ih"  

The use of yood י to indicate the vowel sound /ih/. For example: song - /shihr/ שיר .

This short little letter has two jobs. The י is the Hebrew symbol for the consonantal sound of /y/ (to be taught later). However, the symbol י placed to the left of a consonant is also used to indicate the vowel sound /ih/ or /i/.

 

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Write:

MY NAME IS .... /shmee/_______________________     שְמי

Write the name "Mira"___________________________ מירה

Write: My name is Mira. ______________________________

 

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Thus a consonant, for example /sh/ + (followed by) the letter yood = /shih/ שי - is placed to the left of the letter ב = בי /bih/. In the word שיר the ש is followed by the letter /yood/ י to indicate that the vowel for the ש is /ih/ So שיר is read - /shihr/ .

Now write the Hebrew word for song____________________________________.

 שיר

 

1.5.8  תרְגילֵי קְריאה

These exercises may be done as group work or individually

Circle the segment that is the exact transliteration of the Hebrew. The focus is on establishing symbol-sound identification rather than on meaning.

 

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שוּר     d. shohr              c. shoor         b. sheer         a. rohsh

בוּר      d. vohr        c. voor       b. bohr       a. boor

בי         d. boo                  c. voh                b. boh               a. bee

רוש     d. rohsh       c. roosh              b. dohsh      a. reesh

בוּש     d. vohsh             c. bohsh           b. voosh            a. boosh

 

 1.5.9  עבודה בִקְבוּצות:    GROUP WORK "PUZZLER"

Draw a line matching these Hebrew words with their phonetic transcriptions

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1. שיר        4. בוּר               /rihr/                       /shoov/   

2. ביר           5. שר               /shar/                          shihr/                             

3. ריר        6. שוּב            //boor/            /bihr/          

 

1.5.9.1   לִ    /ih/ - /lih/    

There is another symbol used for the sound /ih/, a single dot* that is placed below the consonant. For example: /bih/ -  בִ , /lih/  -  לִ, /mih/  -  מִ .  We will use this symbol most frequently to signal the /ih/ vowel of a prefix. לִשְמור

 

Now write the Hebrew word /lihsh-mohr/.____________________________ לִשְמור

  * This dot is omitted when nikkud is not used

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