Help:IPA/Hebrew
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 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hebrew on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hebrew in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or its value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. |
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Modern and Biblical Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-he}}, {{IPAc-he}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Since Modern Hebrew has both non-Oriental and Oriental pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Modern Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.
| IPA Biblical | IPA Modern | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | בּ (Beť dǝgušah) | b | bet | |
| d | דּ (Daleť dǝgušah) | d | dark | |
| ð | d | ד (Ďaleť rafah) | ď, dh, d | this |
| f | פ ף (Fei rafah) | f or p̄ | fool | |
| ɡ | גּ (Gimel dǝgušah) | g | go | |
| ɣ | ɡ | ג (Ǧimel rafah) | ǧ, gh, g | go |
| h | ה (Hei) | h | hen | |
| ħ[1] | χ | ח (Ḥeť) | ḥ or ch | no English equivalent; like hen but with the tongue against the pharynx |
| j | י (Yoď) | y | yes | |
| k | כּ (Kaf dǝgušah) |
k | skin | |
| l | ל (Lameď) | l | left | |
| m | מ ם (Mem) | m | man | |
| n | נ ן (Nun) | n | no | |
| p | פּ (Pei dǝgušah) | p | spin | |
| q[1] | k | ק (Qof) | q or k | k is equivalent to skin. q has no English equivalent; like cup but with the tongue further back |
| r[2] | ʁ | ר (Resh) | r | Somewhat like run/French rouge |
| s | ס (Samekh) שׂ (Sin smalit) |
s | see | |
| sˤ | ts[3] | צ ץ (Ṣadi) | ṣ, ts (or tz) | cats |
| ʃ | שׁ (Šin Yemanit) | š or sh | she | |
| t | תּ (Taw) | t | sting | |
| tˤ | t | ט (Ṭeť) | ṭ, t | sting |
| θ | t | ת (Ťaw) | ť, th, t | thing |
| v | ב (Veť rafah) |
v | voice | |
| w | v | ו (Vav) | v | vote |
| x | χ | כ ך (Ǩaf rafah) | ǩ or ch/kh | Similar to Scottish loch |
| z | ז (Zayin) | z | zoo | |
| ʕ[1] | ʔ | ע (Ayin) | ʿ or ' | no English equivalent but has merged in non-Oriental Hebrew to sound below |
| ʔ | א (Alef) |
ʾ or ' | uh-(ʔ)oh | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanisation | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| dʒ[3] | ג׳ (Gimel with gereš) | ǧ or j | joy |
| ŋ | נג (Nun-Gimel) | ng | ring |
| ʒ | ז׳ (Zayin with geresh) | ž | beige |
| tʃ[3] | צ׳ ץ׳ (Ṣadi with geresh) | č or ch | chair |
| θ | ת׳ (Tav with geresh) | th | thing |
| ð | ד׳ (Dalet with geresh) | th | the |
| w[4] | וו (double Vav) | w | we |
| IPA Biblical | IPA Modern | Letter(s) | Romanisation | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a |  (Patach)
|
a | father | |
| e |  (Zeire)
|
e | bed | |
| ɛ | e |  (Segol)
|
ɛ, e | bed |
| ə | e |  (Shva)
|
ǝ, e | bed |
| i | י (Hiriq-Yud), (Hiriq)
|
i | see | |
| o | ֹ (Holam alone), וֹ (with any mater lectionis) | o | story | |
| ɔ | o | ָ (Kamatz katan) | ɔ, o | story |
| a | ָ (Kamatz) | ɔ, a | father | |
| u | וּ (Vav with shuruk),  (Kubutz)
|
u | boot | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ei | י (Segol-Yud), (Zeire)
|
ei | day |
| ai | י (Patach-Yud), ָי (Kamatz-Yud)
|
ai | why |
| oi | וֹי (Vav with holam male-Yud) | oi | boy |
| ui | וּי (Vav with shuruq-Yud) | ui | two years |
| ao (rare) | או (Alef-Vav) | ao | cow |
| ju (rare) | יוּ (Yud-Vav with shuruk) | yu | cute |
| ij (rare) | יְ(Hiriq-Yud with Shva Nach) i.e. "נִיְלֵן" [nijˈlen] |
iy | like see |
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/ |
| ˌ | Secondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם? ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/ |
| ː | Long vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד /jaːd/ in absolute state and יַד־ /jad/ in construct state.[5] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/ |
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ħ, ʕ, q/ have merged with /χ, ʔ, k/ respectively, but /ħ, ʕ/ are still distinguished by Oriental Hebrew speakers.
- ^ is uvular for most speakers, but a few speakers, mostly Orientals, and some news broadcasters, retain an alveolar pronunciation: [r]~[ɾ].
- ^ a b c /dʒ, ts, tʃ/ are officially written with a tie-bar in the IPA /d͡ʒ, t͡s, t͡ʃ/ respectively, but the tie-bar is omitted for simplification.
- ^ In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /w/ appears in a few words, mostly loanwords: וואו (wow) /waw/. In some words that originally had /w/, it is approximated to [v].
- ^ Vowel length and quality in Tiberian Hebrew is a matter of debate, and that is just one possible example.
