The Hebrew alphabet is an abajad, that means that it is made up of consonants only. Hebrew does have vowels, they are added as dots above, below or next to the letters. Vowels are only used in newspapers, dictionaries, and documents written for beginning readers. It also helps to know that Hebrew is read from right to left.
Sound | Name | Hebrew Letter |
---|---|---|
No sound on it's own, often given a vowel | alif | |
b as in boy | bet | |
v as in vowel | vet | |
g as in get | gimel | |
d as in dog | dalet | |
h as in hey | he | |
v as in vowel | vav | |
z as in zoo | zayin | |
German hard H as in Bach | het | |
t as in tot | tet | |
y as in boy | yod | |
k as in cough | kaf kaf sofit | ך |
ch as in Bach | chaf chaf sofit | ךּ |
l as in lovely | lamed | |
m as in my | mem mem sofit | ם |
n as in no | nun nun sofit | ן |
s as in sum | samek | |
no sound, often given a vowel | ayin | |
p as in pie | pe | |
f as in fun | fe fe sofet | ף |
tz, similar to zoom | tsadi | ץ |
q as in quiet,c as in coot | qof | |
r as in right | resh | |
sh as in sheep | shin | |
s as in sin | sin | |
t as in toy | tav |
You will notice that more than one letter has the same sound, this is for historical reasons and my Hebrew teacher told us there is no rule as to which letter is used in which word.
Learning the Hebrew Alphabet - Vowels
Learning the Hebrew Alphabet - Foreign Sounds
Order Everyday Hebrew - an excellent self-study introduction to Hebrew
ZigZagWorld's Hebrew Keyboard Tutor - a fun and easy way to learn to type in Hebrew