who developed the system of vowels for hebrew
Hebrew language


"tradition"), who added vowel points and grammar points to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The Syriac alphabet, precursor to the Arabic alphabet, also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The Aleppo Codex, a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century
13115682
Biblical Hebrew


"matres lectionis", became increasingly used to mark vowels. In the Middle Ages, various systems of diacritics were developed to mark the vowels in Hebrew manuscripts; of these, only the Tiberian vocalization is still in wide use. Biblical Hebrew possessed a series of "emphatic" consonants whose precise articulation is disputed, likely ejective or pharyngealized. Earlier Biblical Hebrew possessed three consonants which did not have their own letters in the writing system, but over time they merged with other consonants. The stop consonants developed fricative allophones under the
1722128
Hebrew alphabet


a previous vowel and becomes silent, or by imitation of such cases in the spelling of other forms. Also, a system of vowel points to indicate vowels (diacritics), called niqqud, was developed. In modern forms of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish and to some extent Modern Hebrew, vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward full spelling with the weak letters acting as true vowels. When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using certain letters, either with niqqud diacritics
13115580
Hebrew spelling


points to indicate vowels (diacritics), called niqqud, was developed. Throughout history, there have been two main systems of Hebrew spelling. One is vocalized spelling, the other is unvocalized spelling. In vocalized spelling ("ktiv menuqad"), all of the vowels are indicated by vowel points (called niqqud). In unvocalized spelling ("ktiv hasar niqqud"), the vowel points are omitted, but some of them are substituted by additional vowel letters - waw and yodh ("Ktiv malē").
13617262
Biblical Hebrew


nails'  ), and is common for (e.g. 'open place'  ). In Tiberian Hebrew pretonic is most commonly preserved by geminating the following consonant, e.g. ('red' pl.) (cf. 'red' sg.); this pretonic gemination is also found in some forms with other vowels like ⁓ ('prisoner'). The Babylonian and Palestinian systems have only one reduced vowel phoneme like the Secunda, though in Palestinian Hebrew it developed the pronunciation . However the Tiberian tradition possesses three reduced vowels
1722195
Penmanship


on a reed pen. The first known alphabetical system came from the Phoenicians, who developed a vowel-less system of 22 letters around the eleventh century BC. The Greeks eventually adapted the Phoenician alphabet around the eighth century BC. Adding vowels to the alphabet, dropping some consonants and altering the order, the Ancient Greeks developed a script which included only what we know of as capital Greek letters. The lowercase letters of Classical Greek were a later invention of the Middle Ages. The Phoenician alphabet also influenced the Hebrew and Aramaic
15055105
Hebrew spelling


Hebrew spelling ( , "Hebrew spelling") refers to the way words are spelled in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are primarily consonants. This is because the Hebrew script is an abjad, that is, its letters indicate consonants, not vowels or syllables. An early system to overcome this, still used today, is "matres lectionis", where four of these letters, alef, he, waw and yodh also serve as vowel letters. Later, a system of vowel
13617261
Hebrew diacritics


Hebrew orthography includes three types of diacritics: Several diacritical systems were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). The Niqqud signs and cantillation marks developed by the Masoretes are small compared to consonants, so they could be added to the consonantal texts without retranscribing them. In modern Israeli orthography, vowel
19641358
Niqqud


In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikkud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium AD in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is called "ktiv menuqad
225742
Syriac alphabet


the East in the Sasanian Empire). The Eastern script resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā somewhat more closely than the Western script. The Eastern script uses a system of dots above and/or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowel sounds not found in the script: It is thought that the Eastern method for representing vowels influenced the development of the "niqqud" markings used for writing Hebrew. In addition to the above vowel marks, transliteration of Syriac sometimes includes "ə", "e̊" or superscript "" (or
4478039
Hebrew alphabet


(e.g. or ) or without (e.g. or ), except for Hebrew words, which in Yiddish are written in their Hebrew spelling. To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalization and diacritical symbols called "nequdot" (, literally "points"). One of these, the Tiberian system, eventually prevailed. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, and his family for several generations, are credited for refining and maintaining the system. These points are normally used only for special purposes, such as
13115581
Biblical Hebrew


properties: were reduced to in the second syllable before the stress, and occasionally reduced rather than lengthened in pretonic position, especially when initial (e.g. σεμω = 'his name'). Thus the vowel system of the Secunda was . The later Jewish traditions (Tiberian, Babylonian, Palestinian) show similar vowel developments. By the Tiberian time, all short vowels in stressed syllables and open pretonic lengthened, making vowel length allophonic. Vowels in open or stressed syllables had allophonic length (e.g. in ('he will have mercy
1722193
Biblical Hebrew orthography


"superlinear vocalizations" because their vocalization marks are placed above the letters. In addition, the Samaritan reading tradition is independent of these systems, and was occasionally notated with a separate vocalization system. These systems often record vowels at different stages of historical development; for example, the name of the Judge Samson is recorded in Greek as Σαμψών "Sampsōn" with the first vowel as /a/, while Tiberian שִמְשוֹן /ʃimʃon/ with /i/ shows the effect of the law of attenuation. All of these systems together are used to reconstruct the original
17050667
Old Testament theology


the Hebrew people revered God so much that they declined to pronounce the name aloud, the true pronunciation of the name of God has been lost due to a lack of use. Medieval Jewish scholars developed a system for inserting vowel marks into the consonantal text. Due to the tradition of reading aloud the word "adonai" (my Lord) whenever YHWH was encountered in the text, scribes inserted the vowel marks for "adonai" into the consonants Y-H-W-H. Centuries later, German translators of the Hebrew
2249326
Biblical Hebrew


and Palestinian), known as "superlinear vocalizations" because their vocalization marks are placed above the letters. In addition, the Samaritan reading tradition is independent of these systems, and was occasionally notated with a separate vocalization system. These systems often record vowels at different stages of historical development; for example, the name of the Judge Samson is recorded in Greek as Σαμψών "Sampsōn" with the first vowel as , while Tiberian with shows the effect of the law of attenuation whereby in closed unstressed syllables became . All of these
1722166
Diacritic


In other alphabetic systems, diacritical marks may perform other functions. Vowel pointing systems, namely the Arabic harakat (  etc.) and the Hebrew niqqud (  etc.) systems, indicate vowels that are not conveyed by the basic alphabet. The Indic virama ( ् etc.) and the Arabic sukūn (  ) mark the absence of vowels. Cantillation marks indicate prosody. Other uses include the Early Cyrillic titlo stroke ( ◌҃ ) and the Hebrew gershayim (  ), which, respectively, mark abbreviations or acronyms, and Greek
8379559
Mater lectionis


indicate the vowels precisely enough for purposes of liturgical recitation of Biblical texts so a supplemental vowel pointing system ("niqqud") (diacritic symbols indicating vowel pronunciation and other important phonological features not written by the traditional basic consonantal orthography) joined "matres lectionis" as part of the Hebrew writing system. In some words in Hebrew, there is a choice of whether to use a "mater lectionis" or not, and in modern printed texts "matres lectionis" are sometimes used even for short vowels, which is considered to
19317454
Biblical Hebrew


reflex before . Geminate consonants are phonemically contrastive in Biblical Hebrew. In the Secunda are never geminate. In the Tiberian tradition cannot be geminate; historically first degeminated, followed by , , and finally , as evidenced by changes in the quality of the preceding vowel. The vowel system of Biblical Hebrew has changed considerably over time. The following vowels are those reconstructed for the earliest stage of Hebrew, those attested by the Secunda, those of the various vocalization traditions (Tiberian and varieties of Babylonian and Palestinian), and those
1722175
Romanization of Hebrew


these seem to be learned exceptions, and most words under the same circumstances have šəwā nāʻ as expected, such as Nāṣərạṯ (not Nāṣrạṯ). (This is "all" moot in Israeli Hebrew, where, as already mentioned, shva nach tends to opportunistically replace shva na where comfortable, so is Natzrat not Natzerat, etc.) For the vowel qamaẕ ָ, whether the vowel is long or short in Classical Hebrew affects the pronunciation in Academy or Israeli Hebrew, even though vowel length is not phonemic in those systems
4472195
Babylonian vocalization


The Babylonian vocalization, also known as Babylonian supralinear punctuation, or Babylonian pointing or Babylonian niqqud Hebrew: ) is a system of diacritics (niqqud) and vowel symbols assigned above the text and devised by the Masoretes of Babylon to add to the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible to indicate the proper pronunciation of words (vowel quality), reflecting the Hebrew of Babylon. The Babylonian system is no longer in use outside Temani Judaism, having been supplanted by the sublinear Tiberian vocalization. The simple Babylonian vocalization system was created between the
2222629
Hebrew language


such as prayer and Torah reading), and show the shift of /w/ to /v/. The Samaritan tradition has a complex vowel system which does not correspond closely to the Tiberian systems. Modern Hebrew pronunciation developed from a mixture of the different Jewish reading traditions, generally tending towards simplification. In line with Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation, emphatic consonants have shifted to their ordinary counterparts, /w/ to /v/, and [ɣ ð θ] are not present. Most Israelis today also merge /ʕ ħ/ with /ʔ χ/, do not have contrastive gemination,
13115709
Biblical Hebrew orthography


Hebrew Biblical text contained in the Secunda (3rd century CE, likely a copy of a preexisting text from before 100 BCE). In the 7th and 8th centuries CE various systems of vocalic notation were developed to indicate vowels in the Biblical text. The most prominent, best preserved, and the only system still in use, is the Tiberian vocalization system, created by scholars known as Masoretes around 850 CE. There are also various extant manuscripts making use of less common vocalization systems (Babylonian, and Palestinian), known as
17050666
Biblical Hebrew


and the Greek alphabet transcription of the Hebrew biblical text contained in the Secunda (3rd century CE, likely a copy of a preexisting text from before 100 BCE). In the 7th and 8th centuries CE various systems of vocalic notation were developed to indicate vowels in the biblical text. The most prominent, best preserved, and the only system still in use, is the Tiberian vocalization system, created by scholars known as Masoretes around 850 CE. There are also various extant manuscripts making use of less common vocalization systems (Babylonian
1722165
Hebrew spelling


). This system was never extensively used, and the Academy of the Hebrew Language finally abandoned it in 1992, when new rules were published not assuming any use of vowel dots. Rules for unvocalized spelling were first issued by the Hebrew Language Committee in 1890 (which became the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1953) and formally standardised in 1996. Even though the rules are established, some of the rules and specific spellings are disputed by writers and publishers, who often create their own in-house spelling system. Also
13617267
Hebrew alphabet


(which would be, respectively, ). When they do, and are considered to constitute part of the vowel designation in combination with a niqqud symbol – a vowel diacritic (whether or not the diacritic is marked), whereas and ע are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel. "Niqqud" is the system of dots that help determine vowels and consonants. In Hebrew, all forms of "niqqud" are often omitted in writing, except for children's books,
13115593
Aramaic language


but also in the surrounding parts. It is the linguistic setting for the Jerusalem Talmud (completed in the 5th century), Palestinian targumim (Jewish Aramaic versions of scripture), and midrashim (biblical commentaries and teaching). The standard vowel pointing for the Hebrew Bible, the Tiberian system (7th century), was developed by speakers of the Galilean dialect of Jewish Middle Palestinian. Classical Hebrew vocalisation, therefore, in representing the Hebrew of this period, probably reflects the contemporary pronunciation of this Aramaic dialect. Middle Judaean,
2025406
Hebrew spelling


This system is the spelling system commonly used in Israel today. Vowel points are always optional in Hebrew. They can be used fully, partially or not used at all. The recommended approach endorsed today by the Academy of the Hebrew Language and other Israeli educational institutions is to use "plēnē" spelling ("matres lectionis") when not adding vowel dots (which is the usual case), and place a vocalization sign on a letter only when ambiguity cannot be resolved otherwise. The "defective" spelling is recommended
13617263
Romanization of Hebrew


to-left text layout). The conventions here are ISO 259, the UNGEGN system based on the old-fashioned Hebrew Academy system, and the modern common informal Israeli transcription. In addition, an International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation is indicated—historical (Tiberian vocalization) for ISO 259, prescribed for Hebrew Academy, and in practice for Israeli. For the vowels further down, the letters ח and ט are used as symbolic anchors for vowel symbols, but should otherwise be ignored. For the letters with dagesh in ISO 259
4472188
Tiberian Hebrew


into use only c. 750 CE, the oral tradition they reflect is many centuries older, with ancient roots. Although not in common use today, the Tiberian pronunciation of Hebrew is considered by textual scholars to be the most accurate reproduction of the original Semitic consonantal and vowel sounds of ancient Hebrew. Today's Hebrew grammar books do not teach the Tiberian Hebrew that was described by the early grammarians. The prevailing view is that of David Qimchi's system of dividing the graphic signs into "short" and "long" vowels.
1722377
Biblical Hebrew orthography


[ă]. In the Palestinian system these echo vowels were written with full vowel letters, see Pronunciation of šwa is attested by alternations in manuscripts like ארֲריך~ארְריך, ואשמֳעָה~ואשמְעָה. Use of ḥataf vowels was considered mandatory under gutturals but optional under other letters. At an early stage, documents written in the paleo-Hebrew script were divided by short vertical lines and later by dots, as reflected by the Mesha Stone, the Siloam inscription, the Ophel inscription, and paleo-Hebrew script documents from Qumran.
17050669
Combining Grapheme Joiner


be considered as two separate graphemes. It is also needed for complex scripts. For example, in most cases the Hebrew cantillation accent Metheg is supposed to appear to the left of the vowel point and by default most display systems will render it like this even if it is typed before the vowel. But in some words in Biblical Hebrew the Metheg appears to the right of the vowel, and to tell the display engine to render it properly on the right, CGJ must be typed between the Metheg and the vowel. Compare
19882014
Hebrew language


d k p t/ underwent allophonic spirantization to [v ɣ ð x f θ] (known as begadkefat). The earliest Biblical Hebrew vowel system contained the Proto-Semitic vowels /a aː i iː u uː/ as well as /oː/, but this system changed dramatically over time. By the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, /ɬ/ had shifted to /s/ in the Jewish traditions, though for the Samaritans it merged with /ʃ/ instead. (Elisha Qimron 1986. "Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls", 29). The
13115707
Biblical Hebrew


of the Samaritan tradition, with vowels absent in some traditions color-coded. The following sections present the vowel changes that Biblical Hebrew underwent, in approximate chronological order. Proto-Semitic is the ancestral language of all the Semitic languages, and in traditional reconstructions possessed 29 consonants; 6 monophthong vowels, consisting of three qualities and two lengths, , in which the long vowels occurred only in open syllables; and two diphthongs . The stress system of Proto-Semitic is unknown but it is commonly described as being much like the
1722176
Yemenite Hebrew


distinct Jewish flavor, inclusive of pronouncing many Arabic words with vowels foreign to the Arabic language, e.g., the Qamats () and Tseri (). He argues that the pronunciation of Yemenite Hebrew was not only uninfluenced by Arabic, but it influenced the pronunciation of Arabic by those Jews, despite the Jewish presence in Yemen for over a millennium. Yemenite Hebrew may have been derived from, or influenced by, the Hebrew of the Geonic era Babylonian Jews: the oldest Yemenite manuscripts use the Babylonian system of vowel symbols, which
1722499
Penmanship


scripts, which follow a vowel-less system. One Hebrew script was only used for religious literature and by a small community of Samaritans up until the sixth century BC. Aramaic was the official script of the Babylonian, Assyrian and Persian empires and ‘Square Hebrew’ (the script now used in Israel) developed from Aramaic around the third century AD. The Romans in Southern Italy eventually adopted the Greek alphabet as modified by the Etruscans to develop Latin writing. Like the Greeks, the Romans employed stone, metal, clay
15055106
Tiberian Hebrew


Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tiberian vocalization, which employed diacritics added to the Hebrew letters: vowel signs and consonant diacritics (nequdot) and the so-called accents (two related systems of cantillation signs or te'amim). These together with the marginal notes masora magna and masora parva make up the Tiberian apparatus. Though the written vowels and accents came
1722376
Aramaic alphabet


positions, it indicates a glottal stop (followed by a vowel), but otherwise, it often also stands for the long vowels "ā" or "ē". Among Jews, the influence of Hebrew often led to the use of Hē instead, at the end of a word. The practice of using certain letters to hold vowel values spread to Aramaic-derived writing systems, such as in Arabic and Hebrew, which still follow the practice. The Syriac Aramaic alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September 1999
440322
Kaifeng Jews


that, while it ostensibly contains vowels, it was clearly copied by someone who did not understand them. While the symbols are accurate portrayals of Hebrew vowels, they appear to be placed randomly, thereby rendering the voweled text as gibberish. Since Modern Hebrew is generally written without vowels, a literate Hebrew speaker can disregard these markings, as the consonants are written correctly, with few scribal errors. The British Library also has a Torah scroll from the Kaifeng Synagogue. In "The Kaifeng Stone Inscriptions: The Legacy of the Jewish
12870002
Biblical Hebrew


Samaritan and Qumran Hebrew have full vowels in place of the reduced vowels of Tiberian Hebrew. Samaritan Hebrew also does not reflect etymological vowel length; however the elision of guttural consonants has created new phonemic vowel length, e.g. ('great') vs. ('wide'). Samaritan Hebrew vowels are allophonically lengthened (to a lesser degree) in open syllables, e.g. , , though this is less strong in post-tonic vowels. Pretonic gemination is also found in Samaritan Hebrew, but not always in the same locations as
1722197
Phoenician language


because of the characteristics of the writing system; during most of its existence Phoenician writing didn't express any vowels at all, and even as vowel notation systems did eventually arise late in its history, they never came to be applied consistently to the native vocabulary. It is thought that Phoenician had the short vowels , , and the long vowels , , , , . The Proto-Semitic diphthongs and are realized as and ; this must have happened earlier than in Biblical Hebrew, because the resultant long vowels are not marked with
20475418
Dagesh


The dagesh () is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to the Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points). It takes the form of a dot placed inside a Hebrew letter and has the effect of modifying the sound in one of two ways. An identical mark, called mappiq, has a different phonetic function, and can be applied to different consonants; the same mark is also employed in the vowel shuruk. Dagesh and mappiq symbols are often omitted
15922885
Hebrew language


Hebrew. The same claim is sometimes made for Yemenite Hebrew or "Temanit", which differs from other Mizrahi dialects by having a radically different vowel system, and distinguishing between different diacritically marked consonants that are pronounced identically in other dialects (for example gimel and "ghimel".) These pronunciations are still used in synagogue ritual and religious study, in Israel and elsewhere, mostly by people who are not native speakers of Hebrew, though some traditionalist Israelis use liturgical pronunciations in prayer. Many synagogues in the diaspora, even though
13115722
Yiddish orthography


Yiddish orthography is the writing system used for the Yiddish language. It includes Yiddish spelling rules and the Hebrew script, which is used as the basis of a full vocalic alphabet. Letters that are silent or glottal stops in the Hebrew language are used as vowels in Yiddish. Other letters that can serve as both vowels and consonants are either read as appropriate to the context in which they appear or are differentiated by diacritical marks derived from the Hebrew "nikkud", commonly referred to as "points". Additional phonetic distinctions between
4249855
Hebrew spelling


) and "mappíq" (הּ), while abandoning all other vowel dots (in everyday writing). According to this system, "matres lectionis" are still introduced to mark vowels, but the letter "Vav" is used only as a consonant, while its variants "ħolám" and "šurúq" serve as vowel letters. This system also makes clear distinction between final "He" used as a vowel marker (e.g. ילדה "a girl" ) and as a consonant (e.g. ילדהּ "her child"
13617266
Biblical Hebrew


')  previously short  by Tiberian degemination of  PSem ). The Babylonian and Palestinian vocalizations systems also do not mark vowel length. In the Tiberian and Babylonian systems, and lengthened become the back vowel . In unaccented closed syllables, become (Tiberian), (Babylonian), or (Palestinian) – generally becoming the second vowel before geminates (e.g. ) and the first otherwise. In the Tiberian tradition pretonic vowels are reduced more commonly than in the Secunda. It does not occur for , but is occasional for (e.g. '
1722194
Biblical Hebrew


in Tiberian Hebrew, e.g. TH SH ; TH SH . While Proto-Hebrew long vowels usually retain their vowel quality in the later traditions of Hebrew, in Samaritan Hebrew may have reflex in closed stressed syllables, e.g. /, may become either or , and  . The reduced vowels of the other traditions appear as full vowels, though there may be evidence that Samaritan Hebrew once had similar vowel reduction. Samaritan results from the neutralization of the distinction between and in closed post-tonic syllables, e.g. ('house') (
1722198
Tiberian vocalization


The Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian pointing, or Tiberian niqqud (Hebrew: "Nikkud Tveriyani") is a system of diacritics ("niqqud") devised by the Masoretes of Tiberias to add to the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible to produce the Masoretic Text. The system soon became used to vocalize other Hebrew texts, as well. The Tiberian vocalization marks vowels and stress, makes fine distinctions of consonant quality and length, and serves as punctuation. While the Tiberian system was devised for Tiberian Hebrew, it has become the
1722056
Romaniote Jews


40% could speak Greek comfortably. Over a third could read Greek satisfactory. The numbers of skilled persons in the Greek Language are much lower in the group of the Greek Sephardim outside of Greece. The Romaniote pronunciation of the Hebrew language is in its major features very close to the common Modern Hebrew pronunciation. The vowel-system is a simple five-vowel system without either quantitative or qualitative distinctions. Typical was the absence of distinction between: the Semitic velarized and non-velarized stops [t] and [ṭ]
15205019
Palestinian vocalization


The Palestinian vocalization, Palestinian pointing, Palestinian niqqud or Eretz Israeli vocalization (Hebrew: "Niqqud Eretz Israel") is an extinct system of diacritics (niqqud) devised by the Masoretes of Jerusalem to add to the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Jerusalem. The Palestinian system is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the Tiberian vocalization system. The Palestinian vocalization reflects the Hebrew of Palestine of at least the 7th century. A common view among scholars is that the Palestinian
2101970
John Brekell


Paedobaptism", 1753 and 1755. Brekell's name appears among the subscribers to a work by Whitfield, a Liverpool printer and sugar refiner, who had left the presbyterians, entitled "A Dissertation on Hebrew Vowel-points". After Whitfield's lapse, Brekell wrote "An Essay on the Hebrew Tongue, being an attempt to shew that the Hebrew Bible might be originally read by Vowel Letters without the Vowel Points", 1758, 2 pts. Brekell wrote tracts on "Baptizing sick and dying Infants", Glasgow,
1550682
Hebrew Braille


and sponsor Brevis' system for adoption as the International Hebrew Braille Code. Brevis published a selection of readings from the Bible, Mishnah, and contemporary literature using this system in 1935 under the title "A Hebrew Braille Chrestomathy". Among the greater challenges faced by the committee was the accommodation of the Hebrew vowel points. In 1936, the first Hebrew Braille book was published with sponsorship from the Library of Congress: a volume of excerpts from the "Talmud" and other sources. The code underwent further refinements for the better
20661894
Kamatz


'. The Hebrew of the late centuries BCE and early centuries of the Common Era had a system with five phonemic long vowels and five short vowels . In the later dialects of the 1st millennium CE, phonemic vowel length disappeared, and instead was automatically determined by the context, with vowels pronounced long in open syllables and short in closed ones. However, the previous vowel phonemes merged in various ways that differed from dialect to dialect: The result is that the vowel written with qamatz might be pronounced as either [a]
19777058
Ashkenazi Hebrew


, and between "segol" and "șere", and does not make the "qamaṣ" symbol do duty for two different sounds. A distinctive variant of the Tiberian notation was in fact used by Ashkenazim, before being superseded by the standard version. On the other hand, it is unlikely that in the Tiberian system "ṣere" and "ḥolam" were diphthongs as they are in Ashkenazi Hebrew: they are more likely to have been closed vowels. (On the other hand, these vowels sometimes correspond to diphthongs
1722371
Hebrew alphabet


vowel points, known in Hebrew as "niqqud." In both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, the letters     can also function as "matres lectionis", which is when certain consonants are used to indicate vowels. There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of "matres lectionis" to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as "full spelling". The Yiddish alphabet, a modified version of the Hebrew alphabet used to write Yiddish, is a true alphabet, with all vowels rendered in the
13115575
Biblical Hebrew orthography


) but only rarely show full spelling of the Qumran type (but see Genesis 24:41b Samaritan נקיא vs. Masoretic נקי). In general the vowels of Biblical Hebrew were not indicated in the original text, but various sources attest them at various stages of development. Greek and Latin transcriptions of words from the Biblical text provide early evidence of the nature of Biblical Hebrew vowels. In particular, there is evidence from the rendering of proper nouns in the Koine Greek Septuagint (3rd-2nd centuries BCE), and the Greek alphabet transcription of the
17050665
Biblical Hebrew


Pre-Samaritan and Samaritan texts show full spellings in many categories (e.g. vs. Masoretic in Genesis 49:3) but only rarely show full spelling of the Qumran type. In general the vowels of Biblical Hebrew were not indicated in the original text, but various sources attest them at various stages of development. Greek and Latin transcriptions of words from the biblical text provide early evidence of the nature of Biblical Hebrew vowels. In particular, there is evidence from the rendering of proper nouns in the Koine Greek Septuagint (3rd–2nd centuries BCE)
1722164
Biblical Hebrew


influence of Aramaic, and these sounds eventually became marginally phonemic. The pharyngeal and glottal consonants underwent weakening in some regional dialects, as reflected in the modern Samaritan Hebrew reading tradition. The vowel system of Biblical Hebrew changed over time and is reflected differently in the ancient Greek and Latin transcriptions, medieval vocalization systems, and modern reading traditions. Biblical Hebrew had a typical Semitic morphology with nonconcatenative morphology, arranging Semitic roots into patterns to form words. Biblical Hebrew distinguished two genders (masculine, feminine), three numbers (singular,
1722129
Sicilian vowel system


development of the Sicilian vowel system from that of Classical Latin, long was raised to and fused with both quantities of ; short was lowered to with an analogous development with the round vowels; i.e. long was raised to and fused with both quantities of ; short was lowered to . This resulted in a five-vowel system. The exact historical development of the Sicilian vowel system is unknown. In southern dialects with the Sicilian vowel system, the general raising of and to and means that it is impossible to tell whether metaphony originally
5977168
Jehovah


, such as Duane A Garrett's "A Modern Grammar for Classical Hebrew" state that the Hebrew vowel points now found in printed Hebrew Bibles were invented in the second half of the first millennium AD, long after the texts were written. This is indicated in the authoritative "Hebrew Grammar" of Gesenius, "Jehovist" scholars, largely earlier than the 20th century, who believe to be the original pronunciation of the divine name, argue that the Hebraic vowel-points and accents were known to writers of the scriptures in
21129805
Vowel


basic vowel qualities, and a further set of diacritics to denote variations from the basic vowel. The writing systems used for some languages, such as the Hebrew alphabet and the Arabic alphabet, do not ordinarily mark all the vowels, since they are frequently unnecessary in identifying a word. Technically, these are called abjads rather than alphabets. Although it is possible to construct simple English sentences that can be understood without written vowels ("cn y rd ths?"), extended passages of English lacking written vowels can be difficult
14314470
Hebrew spelling


, because having two spelling systems within the same language is confusing, some would like to reform it. In 2004, Mordechai Mishor, one of the academy's linguists, proposed in a session of the Academy of the Hebrew Language a modest reform. There are three systems of spelling used for Modern Hebrew. To illustrate the problem with Ktiv haser:br In practice, many times two or more spelling systems are used in one text. The most common example of this is a word may be vowelized (using niqqud,
13617268
Modern Hebrew


. Israeli Hebrew has 25 to 27 consonants and 5 to 10 vowels, depending on the speaker and the analysis. The following table lists the consonant phonemes of Israeli Hebrew in IPA transcription: Obstruents often assimilate in voicing: voiceless obstruents () become voiced () when they appear immediately before voiced obstruents, and vice versa. Hebrew has five basic vowel phonemes: Long vowels occur unpredictably where two identical vowels were historically separated by a pharyngeal or glottal consonant, and the first was stressed. Any of the five short vowels may
9072879
Hebraization of English


a table describing the different vowel sounds and their corresponding letters. Hebrew has only 5 vowel sounds, with lack of discrimination in Hebrew between long and short vowels. In comparison, English which has around 12 vowel sounds (5 long, 7 short) depending on dialect. As a result, words such as sit/seat ( and ), hat/hut ( and ), and cop/cope ( and ) are transliterated as the Hebrew vowels , and . The English pronunciation can be known through prior context. Vowels
12243967
Biblical Hebrew


some to read biblical texts. The modern reading traditions do not stem solely from the Tiberian system; for instance, the Sephardic tradition's distinction between qamatz gadol and qatan is pre-Tiberian. However, the only orthographic system used to mark vowels is the Tiberian vocalization. The phonology as reconstructed for Biblical Hebrew is as follows: Consonants lost and gained during the lifetime of Biblical Hebrew are color-coded respectively. The phonetic nature of some Biblical Hebrew consonants is disputed. The so-called "emphatics" were likely ejective
1722169
Aaron ben Moses ben Asher


Aaron ben Moses ben Asher (Hebrew: ; Tiberian Hebrew: ʾAhărôn ben Mōšeh benʾĀšēr; 10th century, died c.960) was a Jewish scribe who lived in Tiberias in northern Israel and refined the Tiberian system of writing vowel sounds in Hebrew, which is still in use today, and serves as the basis for grammatical analysis. For over a thousand years ben Asher has been regarded by Jews of all streams as having produced the most accurate version of the Masoretic Text. Since his day, both handwritten manuscripts of the Tanakh and
645774
Abjad


implied" by phonology, and where vowel marks exist for the system, such as nikkud for Hebrew and ḥarakāt for Arabic, their use is optional and not the dominant (or literate) form. Abugidas mark all vowels (other than the "inherent" vowel) with a diacritic, a minor attachment to the letter, or a standalone glyph. Some abugidas use a special symbol to "suppress" the inherent vowel so that the consonant alone can be properly represented. In a syllabary, a grapheme denotes a complete syllable
335801
Hebrew alphabet


prayer books, poetry, foreign words, and words which would be ambiguous to pronounce. Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, , but many more written symbols for them: By adding a vertical line (called "Meteg") underneath the letter and to the left of the vowel point, the vowel is made long. The "meteg" is only used in Biblical Hebrew, not Modern Hebrew. By adding two vertical dots (called "Sh'va") underneath the letter, the vowel is made very short. When
13115594
Palestinian vocalization


and predate most of the known Palestinian biblical fragments. As in the Babylonian vocalization, only the most important vowels are indicated. The Palestinian vocalization along with the Babylonian vocalization are known as the "superlinear vocalizations" because they place the vowel graphemes above the consonant letters, rather than both above and below as in the Tiberian system. Different manuscripts show significant systematic variations in vocalization. There is a general progression towards a more differentiated vowel system closer to that of Tiberian Hebrew over time. The earliest manuscripts use just six graphemes,
2101972
Vowel


to understand; consider "dd", which could be any of "dad, dada, dado, dead, deed, did, died, diode, dodo, dud, dude, odd, add", or "aided". (But note that abjads generally express some word-internal vowels and all word-initial and word-final vowels, whereby the ambiguity will be much reduced.) The Masoretes devised a vowel notation system for Hebrew Jewish scripture that is still widely used, as well as the trope
14314471
Mizrahi Hebrew


countries such as Syria and Morocco, there was a fairly high degree of convergence between the Sephardi and the local pronunciations of Hebrew. Yemenite Hebrew is also considered quite separate, as it has a wholly different system for the pronunciation of vowels. The same terms are sometimes used for the pronunciation of Modern Hebrew by Jews of Mizrahi origins. It is generally a compromise between Modern Standard Hebrew and the traditional liturgical pronunciation as described in this article. A common form of such compromise is the use of and for and , respectively,
1844147
Itamar Ben-Avi


the Romanization of Hebrew. He favored the Latin alphabet, a full alphabet with vowel letters, rather than the traditional Hebrew alphabet, a consonantal orthography of Hebrew (with limited matres lectionis) using "squared Assyrian letters". The Hebrew writing system dates back to the time of Ezra the scribe, 500 BCE. He wrote a Hebrew biography of his father. This biography was titled "Avi" ("My Father") and was printed in his own made-up version of a Hebrew alphabet using Latin letters and
7151078
Marshallese language


", articulated and respectively. The velarized consonants (and, by extension, the rounded consonants) may be velarized or pharyngealized like the emphatic consonants in Arabic or Mizrahi Hebrew. Marshallese has a vertical vowel system of just four vowel phonemes, each with several allophones depending on the surrounding consonants. MED (1976), Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) notate some Marshallese vowels differently. Choi (1992) observes only three vowel phonemes but theorizes that there may be a historical process of reduction from four to three
19438548
Jehovah


lengthy defense of the pronunciation "Jehovah" in its preface. Despite Jehovist claims that vowel signs are necessary for reading and understanding Hebrew, modern Hebrew (apart from young children's books, some formal poetry and Hebrew primers for new immigrants), is written without vowel points. The Torah scrolls do not include vowel points, and ancient Hebrew was written without vowel signs. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1946 and dated from 400 BC to 70 AD, include texts from the Torah or Pentateuch and from other parts of
21129815
Modern Hebrew phonology


in Modern Hebrew, except that is often pronounced as in Ashkenazi Hebrew. Vowel length in Modern Hebrew is environmentally determined and not phonemic, it tends to be affected by the degree of stress, and pretonic lengthening may also occur, mostly in open syllables. When a glottal is lost, a two-vowel sequence arises, and they may be merged into a single long vowel: Modern pronunciation does not follow traditional use of the niqqud (diacritic) "shva". In Modern Hebrew, words written with a shva may
13843787
Jehovah


the Hebrew Bible, and have provided documentary evidence that, in spite of claims to the contrary, the original Hebrew texts were in fact written without vowel points. Menahem Mansoor's "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A College Textbook and a Study Guide" claims the vowel points found in printed Hebrew Bibles were devised in the 9th and 10th centuries. Gill's view that the Hebrew vowel points were in use at the time of Ezra or even since the origin of the Hebrew language is stated in an early 19th-century study
21129816
Romanization of Hebrew


the end of a word with ẖolam ֹ  is also silent and not transliterated. The letter at the end of a word after ẖiriq ִ  is also silent and not transliterated. The situation of the letter at the end of a word after ẕere ֵ  or seggol ֶ  is more complicated, as they are silent in Classical Hebrew and in Hebrew Academy prescription and not transliterated in those systems, but they form diphthongs (ei) in Israeli Hebrew—see the vowels and diphthongs sections further down. In any event, the shewa naẖ
4472190
Romanization of Hebrew


matres lectionis. There was no way to indicate vowels clearly in Hebrew writing until the time of the Second Temple. Since an earlier time, multiple geographically separated communities have used Hebrew as a language of literature rather than conversation. One system of assigning and indicating pronunciation in Hebrew, the Tiberian vocalization, is broadly authoritative for Hebrew text since the end of the Second Temple period (Sáenz-Badillos, page xi). It is possible to accommodate the pronunciations of different communities by transliterating the Tiberian vocalization without attempting to transcribe a
4472201
Schwa


languages, the name "schwa" and the symbol may be used for some other unstressed and toneless neutral vowel, not necessarily mid-central. The word "schwa" is from the Hebrew word ' (  , '  ), designating the Hebrew niqqud vowel sign shva (two vertical dots written beneath a letter): in Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme or the complete absence of a vowel. (The Hebrew shva is also sometimes transliterated using the schwa symbol ə, even if this pronunciation is found neither in
14801843
Palestinian vocalization


reflecting a pronunciation similar to contemporary Sephardi Hebrew: The most commonly occurring Palestinian system uses seven graphemes, reflecting later vowel differentiation in the direction of Tiberian Hebrew: Even so, most Palestinian manuscripts show interchanges between qamatz and patah, and between tzere and segol. Shva is marked in multiple ways. Some manuscripts are vocalized with the Tiberian graphemes used in a manner closer to the Palestinian system. The most widely accepted term for this vocalization system is the "Palestino-Tiberian" vocalization. This system originated in the east, most
2101973
Modern Hebrew phonology


, but now the alternations –, –, and – are phonemic rather than allophonic. In Traditional Hebrew words can end with an H consonant, e.g. when the suffix "-ah" is used, meaning "her" (see "Mappiq"). The final H sound is hardly ever pronounced in Modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew has five vowel phonemes: Long vowels may occur where two identical vowels were historically separated by a pharyngeal or glottal consonant (this separation is preserved in writing, and is still pronounced by some)
13843785
Ojibwe writing systems


ˉ) over short vowels is also reported for several publications in the early 1970s. Development of the double vowel system is attributed to Charles Fiero. At a conference held to discuss the development of a common Ojibwe orthography, Ojibwe language educators agreed that the double vowel system was a preferred choice but recognized that other systems were also used and preferred in some locations. The double vowel system is widely favored among language teachers in the United States and Canada and is taught in a program for Ojibwe language teachers. The double vowel orthography
445152
Hebrew alphabet


Biblical books intended for study, in poetry or when teaching the language to children. The Tiberian system also includes a set of cantillation marks, called "trope", used to indicate how scriptural passages should be chanted in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear in the scrolls). In everyday writing of modern Hebrew, "niqqud" are absent; however, patterns of how words are derived from Hebrew roots (called "shorashim" or "triliterals") allow Hebrew speakers to determine the vowel-
13115582
The Jerusalem Post


edited by Dr. Sarit Yalov. Its target audience is people learning Hebrew language and it is described as "an easy-Hebrew" publication, meant for improving basic Hebrew reading skills. It uses the vowel notation system to make comprehension of the Hebrew alphabet abjad simpler. "The Jerusalem Report", now edited by Steve Linde, is a fortnightly print and online glossy newsmagazine. Until 1989, the paper supported the forerunners of the Labor Party. In 1989, the paper was purchased by Hollinger Inc., owned by Conrad Black
14518588
Begadkefat


vowels for the sake of pronunciation: BeGaDKePaT. The Hebrew term (Modern Hebrew ) denotes the letters themselves (rather than the phenomenon of spirantization). Begedkefet spirantization developed sometime during the lifetime of Biblical Hebrew under the influence of Aramaic. Its time of emergence can be found by noting that the Old Aramaic phonemes , disappeared in the 7th century BC. It persisted in Hebrew until the 2nd century CE. During this period all six plosive / fricative pairs were allophonic. In Modern Hebrew three of the six letters, (bet)
8466131
Hebrew spelling


while still letting them benefit from the vowel dots as a reading aid in early learning stages. A third system that was endorsed in the past by the Academy of the Hebrew Language as an optimal system, but abandoned due to low popularity, calls for the use of "ħolám" (וֹ), "šurúq" (וּ), "dagéš" in "Bet", "Kaf" and "Pe" (בּ, כּ, פּ vs. ב, כ, פ), "Šin Smalít" (שׂ
13617265
Phoenician language


the semi-vowel letters ("bēt" "house" was written bt in contrast to Biblical Hebrew byt). The most conspicuous vocalic development in Phoenician is the so-called Canaanite shift, partly shared by Biblical Hebrew, but in Phoenician going further. The Proto-Northwest Semitic and became not merely as in Tiberian Hebrew, but . Stressed Proto-Semitic became Tiberian Hebrew ( in other traditions), but Phoenician . The shift is proved by Latin and Greek transcriptions like "rūs" for "head, cape
20475419
Palaeography


Hebrew scripts, as well as the Brāhmī script, the parent writing system of most modern abugidas in India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, and Mongolia. Initially, the Aramaic script did not differ from the Phoenician, but then the Aramaeans simplified some of the letters, thickened and rounded their lines: a specific feature of its letters is the distinction between d and r. One innovation in Aramaic is the "matres lectionis" system to indicate certain vowels. Early Phoenician-derived scripts did not have letters for vowels, and so
4839222
Revival of the Hebrew language


especially Aramaic. Hebrew was used not only in written form but also as an articulated language, in synagogues and in batei midrash. Thus, Hebrew phonology and the pronunciation of vowels and consonants were preserved. Despite this, regional influences of other languages caused many changes, leading to the development of different forms of pronunciation: Within each of these groups, there also existed different subsets of pronunciation. For example, differences existed between the Hebrew used by Polish Jewry and that of Lithuanian Jewry and of German Jewry. In the fifty
22140063
Writing system


characters only for consonantal sounds. Vowels are not usually marked in abjads. All known abjads (except maybe Tifinagh) belong to the Semitic family of scripts, and derive from the original Northern Linear Abjad. The reason for this is that Semitic languages and the related Berber languages have a morphemic structure which makes the denotation of vowels redundant in most cases. Some abjads, like Arabic and Hebrew, have markings for vowels as well. However, they use them only in special contexts, such as for teaching. Many scripts derived
19915544
Mater lectionis


letters respectively, monophthongized to simple long vowels and . This epiphenomenal association between consonant letters and vowel sounds was then seized upon and used in words without historic diphthongs. In general terms, it is observable that early Phoenician texts have very few "matres lectionis", and that during most of the 1st millennium BCE, Hebrew and Aramaic were quicker to develop "matres lectionis" than Phoenician. However, in its latest period of development in North Africa (referred to as "Punic"), Phoenician developed a very full use
19317448
Modern Hebrew phonology


, but the position of the stress often remained where it had been, stress has become phonemic, as the following table illustrates. Phonetically, the following word pairs differ only in the location of the stress; orthographically they differ also in the written representation of vowel length of the vowels (assuming the vowels are even written): When a vowel falls beyond two syllables from the main stress of a word or phrase, it may be reduced or elided in colloquial Hebrew. For example: When follows an unstressed vowel, it
13843792
Biblical Hebrew


Biblical Hebrew was a result of loss of final unstressed vowels and a shift away from remaining open syllables (see below). Final unstressed short vowels dropped out in most words, making it possible for long vowels to occur in closed syllables. This appears to have proceeded in two steps: Vowel lengthening in stressed, open syllables occurred "between" the two steps, with the result that short vowels at the beginning of a -VCV ending lengthened in nouns but not verbs. This is most noticeable with short : e.g. "*
1722186
Mater lectionis


earliest method of indicating some vowels in Hebrew writing was to use the consonant letters "yod" , "waw" , "he" ,and "aleph" of the Hebrew alphabet to also write long vowels in some cases. Originally, and were only at the end of words, and and were used mainly to write the original diphthongs and as well as original vowel+[y]+vowel sequences (which sometimes simplified to plain long vowels). Gradually, as it was found to be insufficient for differentiating between similar nouns, and were also
19317452
Old Hungarian script


is because the oldest inscriptions lacked vowels and were rarely written down, similar to other ancient languages' consonant-writing systems (Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, etc.). The alphabet did not contain letters for the phonemes dz and dzs of modern Hungarian, since these are relatively recent developments in the language's history. Nor did it have letters corresponding to the Latin q, w, x and y. The modern revitalization movement has created symbols for these; in Unicode encoding, they are represented as ligatures. For more
3213394
Ashrei


a "remembrance" or a "reminder", and both occur elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, although the long vowel form occurs more often. The short vowel (six dots) reading does appear in this verse in several important early editions of the Hebrew Bible, such as the first four editions of the complete Hebrew Bible, and the Complutensian Polyglot and the First Rabbinic Bible (by Pratensis). But the long vowel (five dots) reading is found in virtually all the more recent and more authoritative editions, including
17735588
Shva


, since it is commonly used in linguistics to denote the vowel Schwa, which does not exist in Modern Hebrew. A shva na can be identified as such by means of the following criteria: "For a more detailed account, see Tiberian vocalization → Vowels." Traditional Hebrew grammar defines shva naḥ, or shva quiescens, as indicating the absence of a vowel. In Modern Hebrew, some shvas classified as shva naḥ are nonetheless pronounced (e.g. the shva under the second dalet in the word שָׁדַדְתְּ – – "you (
21276412
Tiberian vocalization


dominant system for vocalizing all forms of Hebrew and has long since eclipsed the Babylonian and Palestinian vocalization systems. The sin dot distinguishes between the two values of . A "dagesh" indicates a consonant is geminate or unspirantized, and a "raphe" indicates spirantization. The "mappiq" indicates that is consonantal, not silent, in syllable-coda position. The seven vowel qualities of Tiberian Hebrew are indicated straightforwardly by distinct diacritics: The diacritics qubutz and shuruq both represent , but shuruq is used when the text uses full spelling
1722057
Caleb (given name)


Caleb is a Hebrew masculine given name. The Hebrew spelling of the name Caleb – כלב – is identical with the spelling of the word "dog" – "kelev". The composing of the Bible antedates by thousands of years the introduction of the Niqqud system of diacritical signs which modern Hebrew uses to represent vowels. Thus, it is difficult to ascertain how the name was originally pronounced. Many name books and websites list the meaning of "Caleb" as "Dog". Many Biblical characters bore animal names, including
10278783
Yemenite Hebrew


" , represents . The Hebrew character "Tau" (), without a dot of accentuation, represents . The Hebrew character "Gimal" (), with a dot of accentuation, represents . The Hebrew word גנאי (in the above middle column, and meaning 'a thing detestable'), is written in Yemenite Jewish tradition with a vowel "qamaṣ" beneath the , but since it is followed by the letters אי it represents . The vowel "ḥolam" in the Yemenite dialect is transcribed here with , and
1722521
Hypercorrection


", as it is currently spelled in American English). Ghil'ad Zuckermann argues that the following hypercorrect pronunciations in Israeli Hebrew are snobbatives (from "snob" + "-ative", modelled upon comparatives and superlatives): The last two hypercorrection examples derive from a confusion related to the Qamatz Gadol Hebrew vowel, which in the accepted Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation is rendered as but which is pronounced in Ashkenazi Hebrew, and in Hebrew words that also occur in Yiddish. On the other hand, the Qamatz Qaṭan vowel, which is visually
4102602