Chapter Two - Part Two

  Listen to the audio to see if you put in the punctuation correctly.

2.3.2  נכון  או  לֹא נכון?

1.  כל הפרופסורים בקמפוּס מצוּיינים                נכון     לא נכון

2. אֵין סְפרים בסיפְריה (library)                              נכון     לא נכון

3. יֵש אוּניבֶרְסיטאות יותר גדולות                                     

     מֵהאוּניברסיטה שלי ("bigger than")              נכון    לא נכון

4. הקמפוּס הזה יפה                                    נכון    לא נכון

2.3.3 עבודה בִּקְבוּצות  -  Group Work -

Working in small groups is an excellent way to get lots of practice in speaking and listening. As you work together, avoid using English. If you're not sure how to say something - Take risks... After all you're among friends! It is to be expected that beginners will make some mistakes. Please bring a printout of this exercise to class.

And when you forget whose turn it is. Be sure to ask:         ?שֶל מי התור

 

2.3.4 בְבקשה לענות על השְאֵלות -  Answer the questions

1. מה למד דוד?  _____________________

2. האִם דוד יודֵע לִקרוא עברית? _____________________

3. דוד יודֵעַ לִכתוב עברית? _____________________

4. האִם דוד כתב מיכְתב? _____________________

5. איפֹה ההורים של דוד? _____________________

6. מי באמֶריקה? _____________________

7. מי פרופֶסור? _____________________

8. מי אדם חשוּב? _____________________

9. האִם רינה יודעת את האלף-בית? _____________________

10. מי כתב מיכתב לאבא ואמא? _____________________

11. אֵיפה ירושלים? _____________________

12. למה דוד לא יודֵעַ עברית ? _____________________

Question number two uses the "written question mark" word -  האִם .

As you can see from question three, it is not necessary to use האם and it is usually omitted in conversation.

Question number twelve starts with למה (why). The answer can often begin with the word כִי - "because".  

For example:

שמוּאל לֹא כתב במחְבֶרֶת כי הוּא לא יודֵעַ לִכְתוב (to write) בְעברית.

or you can start with the answer when replying :    כי הוּא לא יודֵעַ לִכְתוב בְעִבְרית.

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2.4 דיקדוּק - ה  and  דְגֵשים

Reminder about דְגֵשים and about ה at the end of a word.

1. The letters פ כ ב are read as /b/ /k/ /p/ when they appear at the beginning of a word as though they were written with a דגֵש. In a fully pointed text you will actually see the דגֵש in these letters but usually the dots are omitted.

2. The letter ה is pronounced /h/ at the beginning and in the middle of a word but not at the end of a word. At the end of the word the ה only indicates a vowel sound (usually /ah/, sometimes /eh/ ). In these cases, the ה is not pronounced.

1. דן שכח אֶת המילה.

2. הדודה שֶל רינה גרה בְתֵל-אביב.

3. היא מְדבֶּרֶת מהֵר מְאוד וְהוּא לא יודֵעַ עבְרית.

4. הכּיתה גְדולה מִדיי וְאֵין לוּחַ בכיתה

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2.5 הניקוּד -  THE COMPLETE SET OF VOWEL MARKS -

Modern Hebrew is usually written without vowel marks ניקוּד  ( See ¶ 1.3)

2.5.1 האיוּת בעברית - Hebrew Spelling

You will encounter Hebrew words outside this book that are spelled differently from the spelling rules followed here. Modern Hebrew spelling is in a transitional phase moving away from a style that was closer to "biblical" spelling. It has not yet stabilized completely. This textbook is more consistent in its use of the yood and vahv as vowel letters, than some of the more conservative Israeli writers. It is still common to find Israelis who adhere to a spelling style that is closer to the spelling used in a fully pointed, i.e. fully vowel-marked text. They refrain from writing a yood or vahv in places where we have chosen to employ these newer spelling strategies

Nevertheless, you will find that in this textbook, we too, have occasionally chosen to maintain a conservative spelling. For example in the short words "if "  אִם and "with" עם , personal names and the word עברית.

2.5.2 הניקוּד -  Vowel marks and vowel sounds 

As you have learned, Hebrew has five vowel sounds: /ah/ /eh/ /ih/ /oh/ /oo/. However, there are more than five symbols to represent these vowel sounds. As the chart below shows, there are a number of different symbols which today represent the same vowel sound. The reasons for this situation are historical and need not be discussed here. For now, you only need to know that the different vowel symbols listed in each row of the chart are pronounced alike.

The alef is not a silent letter. It is used to represent a vowel. When written with nikkud the alef /א/ has the sound of the nikkud (vowel) symbol associated with it.

אַ אֲ אָ              = /ah/

אֶ אֱ אֵ                          = /eh/

אִ אִי                           = /ih/ee/

או אֹ אׇ* אֳ*             = /oh/

אוּ אֻ                                   = /oo/

בְ                                     = (Example: when the shva is pronounced.) /beh/

2.5.3 שְווא The Symbol for "No Vowel" 

The shvah is used in two ways:

1.  To indicate a cluster of consonants: two consecutive consonants (in the same syllable) with no vowel between them.

כְלִי                        utensil                     klee                      

סְתָם                  merely                     stahm

בְרוש                cypres                    brohsh

Without the שְווא in the last word, you might have read it /bah-rohsh/ (inserting a vowel between the ב and the ר.

When the sequence of sounds in the cluster make it difficult or impossible to not pronounce a vowel between the consonants, then the shva is pronounced like /eh/. For example: רְכוּש /reh-xush/ "possessions" or כְגון /keh-gohn/ "for example".

2.  To mark a closed syllable: מלְכּוֹ /mahl-koh/ not /mah-lah/xoh/

Note: The final ך can also have vowel marks: ךְ or ךָ.  Note that here the vowel marks are not below the letter.             מה שִמְךָ     מה שְמֵךְ

2.5.4 אוצר מילים -  Building Vocabulary 

  Use with Software Chapter 2:5 "Vocabulary for Speaking and Writing"

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