View source for Hebrew alphabet

The '''Hebrew alphabet''' (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי, ''Alephbet 'Ivri''), known variously by scholars as the '''Jewish script''', '''square script''', '''block script''' is used in the writing of the [[Hebrew language]], as well as other [[Jewish languages]], most notably [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], [[Ladino language|Ladino]], and [[Judeo-Arabic languages|Judeo-Arabic]]. There have been two script forms in use. The original old Hebrew script is known as the [[paleo-Hebrew script]] (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the [[Samaritan script]]), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the [[Aramaic script]]. Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a [[cursive Hebrew]] script, which has also varied over time and place. 

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, five of them have different forms when they are used at the end of a word. Hebrew is [[Writing system#Directionality|written from right to left]]. Originally, the alphabet was an [[abjad]] consisting only of [[consonant]]s. Like other abjads, such as the [[Arabic alphabet]], means were later devised to indicate [[vowel]]s by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as ''[[niqqud]]''. In rabbinic Hebrew, the letters א ה ו י are also used as ''[[mater lectionis|matres lectionis]]'' to represent vowels. In modern usage of the alphabet, as in the case of [[Yiddish]] (except that ע replaces ה) and to some extent modern [[Israeli Hebrew]], vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward [[Ktiv male|full spelling]] with these letters acting as true vowels.

Before the adoption of the present script, Hebrew was written by the ancient [[Israelites]], both [[Jews]] and [[Samaritans]], using the [[paleo-Hebrew alphabet]]. During the 3rd century BC, Jews began to use a stylized form of the [[Aramaic alphabet]],<sup>[1]</sup> while the Samaritans continued to use a form of the paleo-Hebrew script, called the [[Samaritan script]]. The present "square script" Hebrew alphabet is a stylized version of the Aramaic alphabet which was adopted from that used by the [[Persian Empire]] (which in turn was adopted from the [[Arameans]]). After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Aramaic form. For a limited time thereafter, the use of the paleo-Hebrew script among Jews was retained only to write the [[Tetragrammaton]], but soon that custom was also abandoned.

==History==

''See Also [[History of the Hebrew alphabet]]''

[[image:Aleppo Codex Joshua 1 1.jpg|300px|left|thumb|[[Aleppo Codex]]: 10th century CE [[Hebrew Bible]] with [[Masoretic]] pointing. Text of [[Joshua 1:1]]]]

According to contemporary scholars, the original Hebrew script developed alongside others used in the region during the late second and first millennia BC. It is closely related to the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician script]], which itself probably gave rise to the use of alphabetic writing in [[Greece]] ([[Greek alphabet|Greek]]). A distinct Hebrew variant, called the [[paleo-Hebrew alphabet]], emerged by the 10th century BCE,<sup>[2]</sup> an example of which is represented in the [[Gezer calendar]]. It was commonly used in the ancient Israelite kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]].

Following the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BC, in the [[Babylonian captivity of Judah|Babylonian exile]], [[Jew]]s adopted the [[Aramaic script]], which was another offshoot of the same family of scripts, evolved into the Jewish, or "square" script, that is still in use today and known as the "Hebrew alphabet". The [[Samaritan script]], used in writing [[Samaritan Hebrew]], is descended directly from the paleo-Hebrew script.

The Hebrew alphabet was later adapted and used for writing languages of the [[Jewish diaspora]] - such as [[Karaim language|Karaim]], [[Judeo-Arabic language|Judæo-Arabic]], [[Ladino language|Ladino]], [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], etc. The Hebrew alphabet came again into everyday use with the rebirth of the [[Hebrew language]] as a spoken language in the 18th and 19th centuries.

==Description==
[[image:Mariamagdalena grt.jpg|thumb|Hebrew script on the [[bustier]] of [[Jan van Scorel]]'s ''[[Maria Magdalena]]'', 1530.]]

===General===
In the traditional form, the Hebrew alphabet is an [[abjad]] consisting only of [[consonant]]s, [[Writing system#Directionality|written from right to left]]. It has 22 letters, five of which use different forms at the end of a word. The Hebrew alphabet has only one [[case (orthography)|case]]; there are no distinct capital or lowercase letters.

===Vowels===
In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak [[consonant]]s [[Aleph]] (א), [[He (letter)|He]] (ה), [[Waw (letter)|Vav]] (ו), or  [[Yodh]] (י) serving as vowel letters, or [[matres lectionis]]: the letter is combined with 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 [[Israeli Hebrew]], [[vowel]]s may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward [[Ktiv male|full spelling]] with the weak letters acting as true vowels.

When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using certain letters, either with or without [[niqqud]]-diacritics (e.g., respectively: "אָ", "יִ" or "י", "ע", see [[Yiddish orthography]]), 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 ''[[niqqud]]'' (ניקוד, literally "applying points"). One of these, the [[Tiberian vocalization|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 [[Bible|Biblical]] books intended for study, in [[poetry]] or when teaching the language to children.  The Tiberian system also includes a set of [[cantillation]] marks used to indicate how scriptural passages should be chanted, used in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear in the scrolls), called "trope". In everyday writing of modern Hebrew, ''niqqud'' are absent; however, patterns of how words are derived from Hebrew roots (called shorashim, or [[triliteral root]]s) allow Hebrew speakers to determine the vowel-structure of a given word from its consonants based on the word's context and part of speech.

===The alphabet===
Neither the old Hebrew script nor the modern Hebrew script have [[case (orthography)|case]], but five [[letter (alphabet)|letters]] have special [[final form]]s, called '''sofit''' ([[Hebrew language|Heb.]] סופית, meaning in this case "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in the [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] and [[Mandaic alphabet]]s. These are shown below the normal form, in the following table (letter names are [[List of Unicode characters#Hebrew|Unicode]] standard; see variants of names and their pronunciation [[#Pronunciation of letter names|below]]). Hebrew is written from right to left.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center;" class="wikitable" dir="rtl"
|-
!'''[[Aleph|Alef]]'''||'''[[Bet (letter)|Bet]]'''||'''[[Gimel]]'''||'''[[Dalet]]'''||'''[[He (letter)|Hey]]'''||'''[[Waw (letter)|Vav]]'''||'''[[Zayin]]'''||'''[[Heth|Het]]'''||'''[[Teth|Tet]]'''||'''[[Yodh|Yod]]'''||'''[[Kaph|Kaf]]'''
|- style="font-family:David,SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:300%; text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2" |א
| rowspan="2" |ב
| rowspan="2" |ג
| rowspan="2" |ד
| rowspan="2" |ה
| rowspan="2" |ו
| rowspan="2" |ז
| rowspan="2" |ח
| rowspan="2" |ט
| rowspan="2" |י
| |כ
|- style="font-family:David,SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:300%; text-align:center;"
||ך
|-
!'''[[Lamedh|Lamed]]'''||'''[[Mem]]'''||'''[[Nun (letter)|Nun]]'''||'''[[Samekh]]'''||'''[[Ayin]]'''||'''[[Pe (letter)|Pe]]'''||'''[[Tsade|Tsadik]]'''||'''[[Qoph|Qof]]'''||'''[[Resh]]'''||'''[[Shin (letter)|Shin]]'''||'''[[Taw|Taf]]'''
|- style="font-family:David,SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:300%; text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"|ל
||מ
||נ
| rowspan="2"|ס
| rowspan="2"|ע
||פ
||צ
| rowspan="2"|ק
| rowspan="2"|ר
| rowspan="2"|ש
| rowspan="2"|ת
|- style="font-family:David,SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo,  Chrysanthi  Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New  Roman; font-size:300%; text-align:center;"
||ם
||ן
||ף
||ץ
|}

<small>'''Note:''' The chart reads from right to left.</small>

==Pronunciation of letter names==

See [[Hebrew phonology]] and [[Yiddish phonology]] for phonetic guides to the phonemic transcriptions.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan=2|<small>letter</small>
!colspan=2|<small>Name of letter</small>
!rowspan=2|<small>Established pronunciation<br />in English</small><sup>[]</sup>
!rowspan=2|<small>[[standard language|standard]] [[Israeli Hebrew|Israeli]]<br />pronunciation</small>
!rowspan=2|<small>[[colloquial]] [[Israeli Hebrew|Israeli]]<br />pronunciation (if differing)</small>
!rowspan=2|<small>[[Yiddish]] / [[Ashkenazi Hebrew|Ashkenazi]]<br />pronunciation</small>
|-
!<small>MW</small><sup>[]</sup>
!<small>[[List of Unicode characters#Hebrew|Unicode]]</small>
|-
|א||[[Aleph]]||Alef||/ˈɑːlɛf/, /ˈɑːlɨf/||/ˈalef/||&nbsp;||/ˈalɛf/
|-
|בּ
|rowspan=2|[[Bet (letter)|Beth]]
|rowspan=2|Bet
|rowspan=2|/bɛθ/, /beɪt/
|rowspan=2|/bet/
|rowspan=2|&nbsp;||/bɛɪs/
|-
|ב||/vɛɪs/
|-
|ג||[[Gimel]]||Gimel||/ˈɡɪməl/||ˈɡimel/||&nbsp;||/ˈɡimːɛl/
|-
|ד||[[Daleth]]||Dalet||/ˈdɑːlɨθ/, /ˈdɑːlɛt/||/ˈdalet/||/ˈdaled/||/ˈdalɛd/
|-
|ה||[[He (letter)|He]]||He||/heɪ/||/he/||/hej/||/hɛɪ/
|-
|ו||[[Waw (letter)|Waw]]||Vav||/vɑːv/||/vav/||&nbsp;||/vɔv/
|-
|ז||[[Zayin]]||Zayin||/ˈzaɪ.ɨn/||/ˈzajin/||/ˈza.in/||/ˈzajin/
|-
|ח||[[Heth]]||Het||/hɛθ/, /xeɪt/||/ħet/||/χet/ ||/ χɛs/
|-
|ט||[[Teth]]||Tet||/tɛθ/, /teɪt/||/tet/||&nbsp;||/tɛs/
|-
|י||[[Yodh|Yod]]||Yod||/jɔːd/||/jod/||/jud/||/jud/
|-
|כּ
|rowspan=2|[[Kaph]]
|rowspan=2|Kaf
|rowspan=2|/kɑːf/
|rowspan=2|/kaf/
|rowspan=2|&nbsp; ||/kɔf/
|-
|כ||/χɔf/
|-
|ך||&nbsp;||Final Kaf||&nbsp;||/kaf sofit/||&nbsp;|| /laŋɡɛ χɔf/
|-
|ל||[[Lamedh|Lamed]]||Lamed||/ˈlɑːmɛd/||/ˈlamed/||&nbsp;||/ˈlamɛd/
|-
|מ||[[Mem]]||Mem||/mɛm/||/mem/||&nbsp;||/mɛm/
|-
|ם||&nbsp;||Final Mem||&nbsp;||/mem sofit/||&nbsp;||/ʃlɔs mɛm/
|-
|נ||[[Nun (letter)|Nun]]||Nun||/nuːn/||/nun/||&nbsp;||/nun/
|-
|ן||&nbsp;||Final Nun||&nbsp; ||/nun sofit/||&nbsp;||/laŋɡɛ nun/
|-
|ס||[[Samekh]]||Samekh||/ˈsɑːmɛk/||/ˈsameχ/||&nbsp;||/ˈsamɛχ/
|-
|ע||[[Ayin]]||Ayin||/ˈaɪ.ɨn/||/ˈʕajin/||/ˈa.in/||/ˈajin/
|-
|פּ
|rowspan=2|[[Pe (letter)|Pe]]
|rowspan=2|Pe
|rowspan=2|/peɪ/
|rowspan=2|/pe/
|rowspan=2|/pej/ ||/pɛɪ/
|-
|פ||/fɛɪ/
|-
|ף||&nbsp;||Final Pe||&nbsp;||/pe sofit/||/pej sofit/|| /laŋɡɛ fɛɪ/
|-
|צ||[[Tsade|Sadhe]]||Tsadi||/ˈsɑːdə/, /ˈsɑːdi/||/ˈtsadi/||/ˈtsadik/ ||/ˈtsɔdi/, /ˈtsɔdik/, /ˈtsadɛk/
|-
|ץ||&nbsp;||Final Tsadi||&nbsp;|/ˈtsadi sofit/||/ˈtsadik sofit/|| /laŋɡɛ ˈtsadɛk/
|-
|ק||[[Qoph]]||Qof||/kɔːf/||/kof/||/kuf/||/kuf/
|-
|ר||[[Resh]]||Resh||/rɛʃ/, /reɪʃ/||/reʃ/||/rejʃ/||/rɛɪʃ/
|-
|ש||[[Shin (letter)|Shin]]||Shin||/ʃiːn/, /ʃɪn/||/ʃin/||&nbsp;||/ʃin, sin/
|-
|תּ
|rowspan=2|[[Taw|Tav]]
|rowspan=2|Tav
|rowspan=2|/tɑːf/, /tɔːv/
|rowspan=2|/tav/
|rowspan=2|/taf/||/tɔv/, /tɔf/ 
|-
|ת||/sɔv/, /sɔf/
|}

==Orthographic variants==

''See Also [[Cursive Hebrew]], [[Rashi script]], [[Ashuri alphabet]]''

The following table displays orthographic variants of each letter. For the five letters that have a different final form used at the end of words, the final forms are displayed beneath the regular form. 

The three lettering variants currently in use are block, cursive and Rashi. Block and Rashi are used in books. Block lettering dominates, with Rashi lettering typically used for certain editorial inserts (as in the glosses of Isserles to the Shulchan Aruch) or biblical commentaries (as in the commentary of Rashi) in various standard literary works. Cursive is used almost exclusively when handwriting, unless block lettering is desired for stylistic purposes (as in signage).

For additional ancestral scripts, see [[History of the Hebrew alphabet#Ancestral scripts and script variants|Ancestral scripts and script variants]].

{|class="wikitable" style="overflow:visible; width:500px"
|- 
! rowspan="3" style="width:13%;"| Letter<br />name<br />([[Unicode]])
! colspan=8 | Variants
|-
! colspan=4 | Modern Hebrew
! colspan=4 | Ancestral
|-  style="line-height:.7em;"
! style="width:12%;"|<small>[[Serif]]</small>
! style="width:12%;"|<small>[[Sans-serif|Sans-<br />serif]]</small>
! style="width:12%;"|<small>[[Monospaced font|Mono-<br />spaced]]</small>
! style="width:12%;"|<small>[[cursive Hebrew|Cursive]]</small>
! style="width:12%;"|<small>[[Rashi script|Rashi]]</small>
! style="width:13%;"|<small>[[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]</small>
! style="width:13%;"|<small>[[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]]</small>
! style="width:13%;"|<small>[[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]</small>
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Alef</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">א</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">א</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">א</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Alef handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Alef Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician aleph.png|25px|Aleph]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - alef.png|Aleph]]
| [[image:Aleph.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Bet</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ב</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ב</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ב</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Bet handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Bet Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician beth.png|25px|Beth]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - bet.png|Bet]]
| [[image:Beth.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Gimel</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ג</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ג</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ג</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Gimel handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Gimel Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician gimel.png|25px|Gimel]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - gimmel.png|Gimel]]
| [[image:Igimel.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Dalet</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ד</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ד</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ד</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Daled handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Daled Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician daleth.png|25px|Daleth]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - daled.png|Daled]]
| [[image:daleth.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">He</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ה</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ה</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ה</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter He handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter He Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician he.png|25px|He]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - heh.png|Heh]]
| [[image:he0.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Vav</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ו</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ו</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ו</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Vav handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Vav Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician waw.png|25px|Waw]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - vav.png|Vav]]
| [[image:waw.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Zayin</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ז</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ז</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ז</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Zayin handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Zayin Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician zayin.png|25px|Zayin]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - zayin.png|Zayin]]
| [[image:zayin.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Het</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ח</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ח</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ח</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Het handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Het Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician heth.png|25px|Heth]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - khet.png|Khet]]
| [[image:heht.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Tet</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ט</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ט</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ט</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Tet handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Tet Rashi.png]]
| [[image:Phoenician teth.png|25px|Teth]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - tet.png|Tet]]
| [[image:teth.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Yod</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">י</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">י</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">י</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Yud handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Yud Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician yodh.png|25px|Yodh]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - yud.png|Yud]]
| [[image:yod.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Kaf</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">כ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">כ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">כ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Kaf handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Kaf-nonfinal Rashi.png]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:phoenician kaph.png|25px|Kaph]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - khof.png|Khof]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:kaph.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Final Kaf</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ך</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ך</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ך</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Kaf-final handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Kaf-final Rashi.png]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Lamed</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ל</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ל</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ל</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Lamed handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Lamed Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician lamedh.png|25px|Lamedh]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - lamed.png|Lamed]]
| [[image:lamed.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Mem</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">מ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">מ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">מ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Mem handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Mem-nonfinal Rashi.png]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:phoenician mem.png|25px|Mem]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - mem.png|Mem]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:mem.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Final Mem</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ם</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ם</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ם</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Mem-final handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Mem-final Rashi.png]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Nun</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">נ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">נ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">נ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Nun handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Nun-nonfinal Rashi.png]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:phoenician nun.png|25px|Nun]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - nun.png|Nun]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:nun.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Final Nun</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ן</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ן</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ן</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Nun-final handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Nun-final Rashi.png]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Samekh</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ס</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ס</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ס</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Samekh handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Samekh Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician samekh.png|25px|Samekh]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - samekh.png|Samekh]]
| [[image:samekh.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Ayin</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ע</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ע</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ע</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Ayin handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Ayin Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician ayin.png|25px|Ayin]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - ayin.png|Ayin]]
| [[image:ayin.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Pe</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">פ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">פ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">פ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Pe handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Pe-nonfinal Rashi.png]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:phoenician pe.png|25px|Pe]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - pey.png|Pey]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:pe0.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Final Pe</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ף</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ף</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ף</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Pe-final handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Pe-final Rashi.png]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Tsadi</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">צ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">צ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">צ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Tsadik handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Tsadik-nonfinal Rashi.png]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:phoenician sade.png|25px|Sade]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - tzadi.png|Tzadi]]
|rowspan=2| [[image:sade 1.png|20px]], [[image:sade 2.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Final Tsadi</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ץ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ץ</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ץ</span>
| [[image:Hebrew letter Tsadik-final handwriting.png|17px]]
| [[image:Hebrew letter Tsadik-final Rashi.png]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Qof</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ק</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ק</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ק</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Kuf handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Kuf Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician qoph.png|25px|Qoph]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - quf.png|Quf]]
| [[image:qoph.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Resh</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ר</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ר</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ר</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Resh handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Resh Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician res.png|25px|Res]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - resh.png|Resh]]
| [[image:resh.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Shin</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ש</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ש</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ש</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Shin handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Shin Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician sin.png|25px|Sin]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - shin.png|Shin]]
| [[image:shin.png|20px]]
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:200%;"
|<span style="font-size:10pt;">Tav</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', SBL Hebrew, David, Narkisim, serif;">ת</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Arial';">ת</span>
|<span style="font-family:'Courier New';">ת</span>
|[[image:Hebrew letter Taf handwriting.png|17px]]
|[[image:Hebrew letter Taf Rashi.png]]
| [[image:phoenician taw.png|25px|Taw]]
| [[image:Paleo-hebrew - tof.png|Tof]]
| [[image:taw.png|20px]]
|}

===Yiddish symbols===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!!| Symbol
! Explanation
|-
| align=center | <span style="font-size:180%;">װ ױ ײ ײַ</span>
| These are intended for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew d. ''See: [[Yiddish orthography]]''.
|-
| align=center | <span style="font-size:180%;">בֿ</span>
| The ''[[rafe (diacritic)|rafe]]'' (רפה) [[Hebrew diacritics|diacritic]] is no longer regularly used in Hebrew. In [[masoretic]] manuscripts and some other older texts the soft fricative consonants and sometimes ''matres lectionis'' are indicated by a small line on top of the letter. Its use has been largely discontinued in modern printed texts. It is still used to mark fricative consonants in the [[YIVO]] orthography of [[Yiddish]].
|}

==Numeric values of letters==

''See Also [[Hebrew numerals]]''

Hebrew letters are also used to denote numbers, nowadays used only in specific contexts, e.g. denoting dates in the [[Hebrew calendar]], denoting grades of school in Israel, other listings (e.g. שלב א׳, שלב ב׳ – "phase a, phase b"), commonly in [[Kabbalah]] ([[Judaism|Jewish]] [[mysticism]]) in a practice known as [[gematria]], and often in religious contexts.

{|class=wikitable
|-
!<small>letter</small>!!<small>numeric value</small>
|rowspan=10| 
!<small>letter</small>!!<small>numeric value</small>
|rowspan=10| 
!<small>letter</small>!!<small>numeric value</small>
|-
|א||1||י||10||ק||100
|-
|ב||2||כ||20||ר||200
|-
|ג||3||ל||30||ש||300
|-
|ד||4||מ||40||ת||400
|-
|ה||5||נ||50||ך||500
|-
|ו||6||ס||60||ם||600
|-
|ז||7||ע||70||ן||700
|-
|ח||8||פ||80||ף||800
|-
|ט||9||צ||90||ץ||900
|}

The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 are often represented by the juxtapositions <span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override; text-direction:ltr;">ק״ת, ר״ת, ש״ת, ת״ת, and ק״תת</span> respectively.
Adding a [[geresh]] ("׳") to a letter multiplies its value by one thousand, for example, the year 5769 is portrayed as ה׳תשס״ט, where ה represents 5000, and תשס״ט represents 769.

==Transliterations and transcriptions of Hebrew letters==
''Main articles: [[Romanization of Hebrew]], [[Hebrew phonology]]'' 

The following table lists transliterations and transcriptions of Hebrew ''letters'' used in [[Modern Hebrew]]. For Hebrew ''vowel diacritics'', see ''[[niqqud]]''; for the phonology of Biblical Hebrew, see ''[[Biblical Hebrew#Phonology|Biblical Hebrew]]''; for the [[Yiddish language]], see ''[[Yiddish orthography]]'' and ''[[Yiddish phonology]]''.

Clarifications:
*For some letters, the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]] offers a ''precise'' transliteration which differs from the ''regular'' standard it has set. When omitted, no such precise alternative exists and the regular standard applies.
*The [[IPA]] [[phoneme|phonemic]] transcription is specified whenever it uses a different symbol than the one used for the '''regular''' standard Israeli transliteration.
*The [[IPA]] [[phonetics|phonetic]] transcription is specified whenever it differs from IPA '''phonemic''' transcription.

Note: [[Society of Biblical Literature|SBL's]] transliteration system, recommended in its ''Handbook of Style'',<ref name=SBL>See online overview at [http://biblical-studies.ca/hebrew/pdfs/Hebrew_Alphabet.pdf Biblical Hebrew Resources]</ref> differs slightly from the 2006 ''precise'' transliteration system of the Academy of the Hebrew Language; for "[[ו]]" SBL uses "v" (≠ AHL "w"), for "[[צ]]" SBL uses "{{Unicode|ṣ}}" (≠ AHL "{{Unicode|ẓ}}"), and for [[Begadkefat|בג״ד כפ״ת]] with no dagesh, SBL uses the same symbols as for with dagesh (i.e. "b", "g", "d", "k", "f", "t").<!-- THIS INFORMATION RELIES ON http://biblical-studies.ca/hebrew/pdfs/Hebrew_Alphabet.pdf, IF BETTER SOURCE AVAILABLE, PLEASE CORRECT! -->

{|class=" wikitable collapsible collapsed" 
!colspan=15 style="text-transform: uppercase; font-size:xx-small; width:414px;" |Click&nbsp;"show"&nbsp;to&nbsp;view&nbsp;extended&nbsp;table&nbsp;including&nbsp;examples.
|-
!<small>Hebrew letter</small> ||<small>example</small>
!<small>Translation</small> 
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
!<small>Standard<br />Israeli<br />transliteration<br />– ''regular''</small><ref name=akademya>[http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/PDF/taatiq2007.pdf Transliteration guidelines] by the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]], November 2006</ref>||<small>example</small>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
!<small>standard<br />Israeli<br />transliteration<br />– ''precise''</small><ref name=akademya/>||<small>example</small>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white; border-bottom-color:white;"| 
!<small>[[IPA]]&nbsp;[[phoneme|phonemic]]<br />transcription</small>||<small>example</small>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
!<small>[[IPA]]&nbsp;[[phonetics|phonetic]]<br />transcription</small>||<small>example</small>
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal, in<br />initial word<br />positions</div></small>||אִם || <small>if</small> || <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A1_eg|A1|}} || im || || || ||  || {{IPAblink|ʔ}} || {{IPA|[ʔim]}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal, in<br />non initial word<br />positions</div></small>|| שָׁאַל || <small>asked</small> || <big>'</big> || sha<big>'</big>ál || <big>{{Unicode|ʾ}}</big> || {{Unicode|sha<big>ʾ</big>ál}} || {{IPAslink|ʔ}} || {{IPA|/ʃaˈʔal/}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">silent</div></small> || רִאשׁוֹן || <small>first</small> || <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A2_eg|A2|}} || rishón   || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">בּ</span>|| בֵּן || <small>son</small> || b || ben  || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ב</span>|| טוֹב || <small>good</small> || v || tov || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">גּ</span>
|rowspan=2| גַּג 
|rowspan=2| <small>roof</small>
|rowspan=2| g 
|rowspan=2| gag 
| g
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|gaḡ}}
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ג</span>||{{Unicode|ḡ}}
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ג׳</span>|| ג׳וּק || <small>roach</small> ||{{Unicode|[[ǧ]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B1_eg|B1|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds>[http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/PDF/Tatik.pdf Transliteration guidelines preceding 2006-update], p. 2 [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]</ref>||{{Unicode|ǧuk}} || || || {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} || {{IPA|/d͡ʒuk/}} || ||
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">דּ</span>
|rowspan=2| דּוּד 
|rowspan=2| <small>boiler</small> 
|rowspan=2| d 
|rowspan=2| dud 
| d
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|duḏ}}
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ד</span>||{{Unicode|ḏ}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ה</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || הֵד || <small>echo</small> || h || hed || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ה</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">silent</div></small> || פֹּה || <small>here</small> || <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A3_eg|A3|}} || po || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ו</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || וָו || <small>hook</small> || v || vav || w || waw || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">וּ</span> || הוּא || <small>he</small> || u || hu || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">וֹ</span> || לוֹ || <small>to him</small> || o || lo || || || || || {{IPAblink|o̞}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ɔ̝}} || {{IPA|[lo̞, lɔ̝]}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ז</span> || זֶה || <small>this</small> || z || ze || || || || || || 
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ז׳</span>|| זָ׳רְגוֹן || <small>jargon</small> ||{{Unicode|[[ž]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B2_eg|B2|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds/>||{{Unicode|žargón}}|| || || {{IPAslink|ʒ}} ||  {{IPA|/ʒarˈɡon/}} || ||
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ח</span> 
|rowspan=2| חַם 
|rowspan=2| <small>hot</small> 
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ẖ}} {{ref label|ch_C1_eg|C1|}}
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ẖam}} 
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ḥ}}
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ḥam}} || {{IPAslink|x}} <small>or</small> {{IPAslink|χ}} || {{IPA|/xam/}} || {{IPAblink|χ}} || {{IPA|[χam]}} 
|-
|valign=bottom|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAblink|ħ}} 
|valign=bottom| {{IPA|[ħam]}} 
|  
| 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ט</span> || קָט || <small>tiny</small> || t || kat || {{Unicode|ṭ}} || {{Unicode|kaṭ}} || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || יָם || <small>sea</small> || y || yam || || || {{IPAslink|j}} || {{IPA|/jam/}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:200%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">part of hirik male<br />(/i/&nbsp;vowel)</div></small> || בִּי || <small>in me</small> || i || bi || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">part of tsere male<br />(/e/&nbsp;vowel or<br />/ei/&nbsp;diphthong)</div></small> || מֵידָע  || <small>information</small> || e || medá || é || médá || {{IPAslink|e̞|showsymbol=e}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|/ej/}} || {{IPA|/meˈda/}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|/mejˈda/}} || {{IPAblink|e̞}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|/e̞j/}} || {{IPA|[me̞ˈda]}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|[me̞jˈda]}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%; line-height:1em;">כּ, ךּ</span><span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override"><ref name="kaf_sofit"/></span> || כֹּה || <small>so</small> || k || ko || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%;">כ, ך</span> || סְכָךְ || <small>branch-roofing</small> || kh {{ref label|ch_C2_eg|C2|}} || skhakh || {{Unicode|ḵ}} || {{Unicode|sḵaḵ}} || {{IPAslink|x}} <small>or</small> {{IPAslink|χ}} || {{IPA|/sxax/}} || {{IPAblink|χ}} || {{IPA|[sχaχ]}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ל</span> || לִי || <small>to me</small> || l || li || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">מ, ם</span> || מוּם || <small>defect</small> || m || mum || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">נ, ן</span> || נִין || <small>great-grandson</small> || n || nin || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ס</span> || סוֹף || <small>end</small> || s || sof  || || || || || || 
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ע</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">in initial or final<br />word positions</div></small>
|rowspan=2| עַדְלֹאיָדַע
|rowspan=2| <small>[[Purim]]-parade</small>
|rowspan=2| <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A4_eg|A4|}} 
|rowspan=2| adloyáda 
|rowspan=2| <big>{{Unicode|ʿ}}</big>
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|<big>ʿ</big>adloyáda<big>ʿ</big>}}
| || ||<small>only in initial<br />word position<br /></small>{{IPAblink|ʔ}} || {{IPA|[ˌʔadlo̞ˈjada]}}
|-
|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAslink|ʕ}}
|valign=bottom| {{IPA|/ˌʕadloˈjadaʕ/}} || || 
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ע</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">in medial<br />word positions</div></small>
|rowspan=2| מוֹעִיל
|rowspan=2| <small>useful</small>
|rowspan=2| <big>'</big>
|rowspan=2| mo<big>'</big>íl
|rowspan=2| <big>{{Unicode|ʿ}}</big>
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|mo<big>ʿ</big>íl}}
|{{IPAslink|ʔ}} || {{IPA|/moˈʔil/}} || || 
|-
|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAslink|ʕ}} || {{IPA|/moˈʕil/}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%; line-height:1em;">פּ</span><span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override">{{ref label|final_pe_D_eg|D|}}</span> || טִיפּ  || <small>tip</small> || p || tip || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">פ, ף</span> || פִסְפֵס || <small>missed</small> || f || fisfés || || || || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">צ, ץ</span> || צִיץ || <small>bud</small> || ts || tsits || {{Unicode|ẓ}} || {{Unicode|ẓiẓ}} || {{IPAslink|t͡s}} || {{IPA|/t͡sit͡s/}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">צ׳, ץ׳</span> ||ריצ׳רץ׳ || <small>zip</small> ||{{Unicode|[[č]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B3_eg|B3|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds/>||{{Unicode|ríčrač}}|| || || {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} || {{IPA|/ˈrit͡ʃrat͡ʃ/}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ק</span> || קוֹל || <small>sound</small> || k || kol || q || qol || || || || 
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ר</span> ||rowspan=2| עִיר ||rowspan=2| <small>city</small> ||rowspan=2| r ||rowspan=2| ir ||rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| || {{IPAblink|ʀ}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ʁ}} || {{IPA|[iʀ]}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|[iʁ]}}
|-
| <small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAblink|r}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ɾ}} ||valign=bottom| {{IPA|[ir]}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|[iɾ]}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">שׁ</span> || שָׁם || <small>there</small> || sh || sham || {{Unicode|š}} || {{Unicode|šam}} || {{IPAslink|ʃ}} || {{IPA|/ʃam/}} || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">שׂ</span> || שָׂם || <small>put</small> || s || sam || {{Unicode|ś}} || {{Unicode|śam}} || || || ||
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">תּ</span>
|rowspan=2| תּוּת
|rowspan=2| <small>strawberry</small>
|rowspan=2| t 
|rowspan=2| tut 
| {{Unicode|t}} 
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|tuṯ}} 
|rowspan=2| 
|rowspan=2| 
|rowspan=2| 
|rowspan=2| 
|-
| valign=bottom| <span style="font-size:180%">ת</span>
| valign=bottom| {{Unicode|ṯ}}
|}

{|class="wikitable collapsible" 
|-
!<small>Hebrew letter</small> 
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
!<small>Standard<br />Israeli<br />transliteration<br />– ''regular''</small><ref name=akademya/>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
! <small>standard<br />Israeli<br />transliteration<br />– ''precise''</small><ref name=akademya/>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white; border-bottom-color:white;"| 
!<small>[[IPA]]&nbsp;[[phoneme|phonemic]]<br />transcription</small>
| rowspan="45" style="background:white;"| 
!<small>[[IPA]]&nbsp;[[phonetics|phonetic]]<br />transcription</small>
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal, in<br />initial word<br />positions</div></small>|| <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A1|A1|}} || || || {{IPAblink|ʔ}} 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal, in<br />non initial word<br />positions</div></small>|| <big>'</big> || <big>{{Unicode|ʾ}}</big> || {{IPAslink|ʔ}} || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">א</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">silent</div></small> || <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A2|A2|}} || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">בּ</span>|| b || || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ב</span>|| v || || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">גּ</span>
|rowspan=2| g 
| g
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ג</span>||{{Unicode|ḡ}}
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ג׳</span>||{{Unicode|[[ǧ]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B1|B1|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds/>|| || {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">דּ</span>
|rowspan=2| d 
| d
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ד</span>||{{Unicode|ḏ}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ה</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || h || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ה</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">silent</div></small> || <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A3|A3|}} || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ו</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || v || w || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">וּ</span> || u || || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">וֹ</span> || o || || || {{IPAblink|o̞}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ɔ̝}} 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ז</span> || z || || || 
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">ז׳</span>||{{Unicode|[[ž]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B2|B2|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds/>|| || {{IPAslink|ʒ}} || 
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ח</span> 
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ẖ}}{{ref label|ch_C1|C1|}} 
|rowspan=2| {{Unicode|ḥ}}
| {{IPAslink|χ|showsymbol=x}} <small>or</small> {{IPAslink|χ}} || {{IPAblink|χ}}
|-
|valign=bottom|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAblink|ħ}} ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ט</span> || t || {{Unicode|ṭ}} || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">consonantal</div></small> || y || || {{IPAslink|j}} ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">part of hirik male<br />(/i/&nbsp;vowel)</div></small> || i || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">י</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">part of tsere male<br />(/e/&nbsp;vowel or<br />/ei/&nbsp;diphthong)</div></small> || e || é || {{IPAslink|e̞|showsymbol=e}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|/ej/}} || {{IPAblink|e̞}} <small>or</small> {{IPA|[e̞j]/}} 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%; line-height:1em;">כּ, ךּ</span><span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override"><ref name="kaf_sofit"/></span> || k || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%;">כ, ך</span> || kh{{ref label|ch_C2|C2|}}  || {{Unicode|ḵ}} || {{IPAslink|x}} <small>or</small> {{IPAslink|χ}} || {{IPAblink|χ}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ל</span>  || l || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">מ, ם</span> || m || || ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">נ, ן</span> || n || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ס</span> || s || || ||  
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ע</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">in initial or final<br />word positions</div></small>
|rowspan=2| <small>''none''</small>{{ref label|silent_A4|A4|}} 
|rowspan=2| <big>{{Unicode|ʿ}}</big> || || <small>only in initial<br />word position<br /></small>{{IPAblink|ʔ}} 
|-
|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAslink|ʕ}} ||
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ע</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;">in medial<br />word positions</div></small>
|rowspan=2| <big>'</big>
|rowspan=2| <big>{{Unicode|ʿ}}</big>
|{{IPAslink|ʔ}}  || 
|-
|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAslink|ʕ}} || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%; line-height:1em;">פּ</span><span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override">{{ref label|final_pe_D|D|}}</span> || p || || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">פ, ף</span> || f || || ||
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">צ, ץ</span> || ts || {{Unicode|ẓ}} || {{IPAslink|t͡s}} ||  
|-
|<span style="font-size:180%">צ׳, ץ׳</span>||{{Unicode|[[č]]}}{{ref label|geresh_B3|B3|}}<ref name=foreign_sounds/>|| || {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">ק</span> || k || q || || 
|-
|rowspan=2| <span style="font-size:180%">ר</span> ||rowspan=2| r ||rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| || {{IPAblink|ʀ}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ʁ}}
|-
|<small>[[dialect]]ical</small><br />{{IPAblink|r}} <small>or</small> {{IPAblink|ɾ}}
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">שׁ</span> || sh || {{Unicode|š}} || {{IPAslink|ʃ}} ||  
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">שׂ</span> || s || {{Unicode|ś}} || || 
|-
| <span style="font-size:180%">תּ</span>
|rowspan=2| t 
| {{Unicode|t}}
|rowspan=2| 
|rowspan=2| 
|-
| valign=bottom| <span style="font-size:180%">ת</span>
| valign=bottom| {{Unicode|ṯ}}
|}
;Notes:
{{note label|silent_A1_eg|}}{{note label|silent_A2_eg|}}{{note label|silent_A3_eg|}}{{note label|silent_A4_eg|}}<sup>'''A'''1{{note|silent_A1}}2{{note|silent_A2}}3{{note|silent_A3}}4{{note|silent_A4}}</sup>In transliterations of modern Israeli Hebrew, initial and final ע (in regular transliteration), silent or initial א, and silent ה are ''not'' transliterated. To the eye of readers orientating themselves on Latin (or similar) alphabets, these letters might seem to be transliterated as vowel letters; however, these are in fact transliterations of the vowel diacritics – [[niqqud]] (or are representations of the spoken vowels). E.g., in אִם ("if", {{IPA|[ʔim]}}), אֵם ("mother", {{IPA|[ʔe̞m]}}) and אֹם ("[[nut (hardware)|nut]]", {{IPA|[ʔo̞m]}}), the letter א always represents the same consonant: {{IPAblink|ʔ}} ([[glottal stop]]), whereas the vowels /i/, /e/ and /o/ respectively represent the spoken vowel, whether it is orthographically denoted by diacritics or not. Since the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]] ascertains that א in initial position is not transliterated, the symbol for the glottal stop &nbsp;<big>{{Unicode|ʾ}}</big>&nbsp; is omitted from the transliteration, and only the subsequent vowels are transliterated (whether or not their corresponding vowel diacritics appeared in the text being transliterated), resulting in "im", "em" and "om", respectively.

{{note label|geresh_B1_eg|}}{{note label|geresh_B2_eg|}}{{note label|geresh_B3_eg|}}<sup>'''B'''1{{note|geresh_B1}}2{{note|geresh_B2}}3{{note|geresh_B3}}</sup>The [[diacritic]] [[geresh]] – "׳" – is used with some other letters as well (ד׳, ח׳, ט׳, ע׳, ר׳, ת׳, see ''[[geresh]]''), but only to transliterate ''from'' other languages ''to'' Hebrew – never to spell Hebrew words; therefore they were not included in this table (correctly translating a Hebrew text with these letters would require using the spelling in the language from which the transliteration to Hebrew was originally made). The non-standard "ו׳" and "וו" {{ref label|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_1|e1|}} are sometimes used to represent {{IPAslink|w}}, which like {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}, {{IPAslink|ʒ}} and {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} appears in Hebrew slang and loanwords; see ''[[Waw (letter)#Hebrew Vav|Hebrew Vav]]'' for the orthographic variants of vav.

{{note label|ch_C1_eg|}}{{note label|ch_C2_eg|}}<sup>'''C'''1{{note|ch_C1}}2{{note|ch_C2}}</sup>The Sound {{IPAslink|χ}} (as "ch" in [[loch]]) is often transcribed "ch", inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]: חם {{IPA|/χam/}} → "cham"; סכך {{IPA|/sχaχ/}} → "schach".

{{note label|final_pe_D_eg|}}<sup>'''D'''{{note|final_pe_D}}</sup>Although the Bible does include a single occurrence of a final pe with a dagesh ([[Book of Proverbs]] 30, 6: "{{Hebrew|אַל-תּוֹסְףְּ עַל-דְּבָרָיו: פֶּן-יוֹכִיחַ בְּךָ וְנִכְזָבְתָּ.}}"), in modern Hebrew {{IPAslink|p}} is always represented by [[Pe (letter)|pe]] in its regular, not final, form "פ", even when in final word position, which occurs with loanwords (e.g. שׁוֹפּ {{IPA|/ʃop/}} ''"shop"''), foreign names (e.g. פִילִיפּ {{IPA|/ˈfilip/}} ''"Philip"'') and some slang (e.g. חָרַפּ {{IPA|/χaˈrap/}} ''"slept deeply"'').

==Pronunciation==
{{further|[[Hebrew phonology]] and [[WP:IPA for Hebrew]]}}

The descriptions that follow are based on the pronunciation of modern standard Israeli Hebrew. For a concise summary, see the article International Phonetic Alphabet for Hebrew. For further information on regional and historical variations in pronunciation, see Hebrew phonology.

{|class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top"
!| Letters
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| א
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  בּ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  ב
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  ג
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  גּ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  ג׳
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  ד
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  דּ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|  ד׳
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ה
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ו
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| וּ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| וֹ
| style="text-align:center;"| <span style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"> וו , ו׳</span><small><div style="line-height:1em;"><br />(non-standard)</div></small>{{ref label|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_2|e2|}}
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ז
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ז׳
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ח
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ט
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| י
|-
! [[WP:IPA for Hebrew|IPA]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ʔ}}, {{IPAlink|∅}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|b}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|v}}
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| {{IPAblink|ɡ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| {{IPAblink|d}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ð}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|[h~ʔ]}}, {{IPAlink|∅}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|v}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|[u]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|[o̞]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|w}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|z}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ʒ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|χ}}~{{IPAblink|ħ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|t}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|j}}
|- style="vertical-align:top"
!| Letters
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|<span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override; direction:rtl;">‏ִי</span>  
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| כּ ךּ<div style="font-size:10pt; line-height:1em; direction:ltr;"><br /><ref name="kaf_sofit"/></div>
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ך כ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ל
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ם מ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ן נ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ס
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ע
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| פּ 
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| פ ף
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ץ צ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ץ׳ צ׳
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ק
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ר
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|שׁ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"|שׂ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| תּ
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ת
| style="text-align:center; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman; font-size:200%;"| ת׳
|-
! [[WP:IPA for Hebrew|IPA]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|i}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|k}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|χ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|l}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|m}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|s}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ʔ}}~{{IPAblink|ʕ}}, {{IPAlink|∅}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|p}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|f}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|t͡s}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|tʃ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|k}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ʁ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|s}}
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| {{IPAblink|t}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|θ}}
|}

===Shin and sin===
{{Further|[[Shin (letter)]]}}

''Shin'' and ''sin'' are represented by the same letter, {{hebrew|ש}}, but are two separate [[phoneme]]s. They are not mutually [[allophone|allophonic]]. When vowel diacritics are used, the two phonemes are differentiated with a ''shin''-dot or ''sin''-dot; the ''shin''-dot is above the upper-right side of the letter, and the ''sin''-dot is above the upper-left side of the letter.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!!| Symbol
!!| Name
!!| [[Transliteration]]
!!| [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!!| Example
|-
| style="text-align:center; padding-top:9px; padding-bottom:9px;"| שׂ (left dot)
| ''sin''
| style="text-align:center;"| s
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/s/}}
| style="text-align:center;"| '''s'''our
|-
| style="text-align:center; padding-top:9px; padding-bottom:9px;"| שׁ (right dot)
| ''shin''
| style="text-align:center;"| sh
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
| style="text-align:center;"| '''sh'''op
|}

Historically, ''left-dot-sin'', corresponds to [[Proto-Semitic]] *{{transl|sem|ś}}, which in biblical-Judaic-Hebrew corresponded to a [[voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]]  {{IPA|/ɬ/}}, as is evident in Greek transliteration of Hebrew words such as ''Balsam'' (בֹּשֶׂם) (the ''ls'' - 'שׂ') as is evident in the [[Targum Onkelos]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}. Rendering of proto-semitic *{{transl|sem|ś}} as {{IPA|/ɬ/}}, is still evident in the [[Soqotri language]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}.

===Dagesh===

''See Also [[Dagesh]]''

Historically, the consonants ב ''bet'',''beis'', ג ''gimel'', ד ''dalet'', כ ''kaf'',''kof'', פ ''pe'',''pey'', and ת ''tav'' each had two sounds: one hard ([[plosive consonant|plosive]]), and one soft ([[fricative consonant|fricative]]), depending on the position of the letter and other factors. When vowel diacritics are used, the hard sounds are indicated by a central dot called ''dagesh'' (דגש), while the soft sounds lack a ''dagesh''. In modern Hebrew, however, the ''dagesh'' only changes the pronunciation of ב ''bet'', כ ''kaf'', and פ ''pe''.  The differences are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! colspan=5 | With dagesh
!! colspan=5 | Without dagesh
|-
!!|Symbol
! Name
! Transliteration
! [[WP:IPA for Hebrew|IPA]]
! Example
!!|Symbol
! Name
! Transliteration
! [[WP:IPA for Hebrew|IPA]]
! Example
|-
| align=center | בּ
| ''bet''
| b
| /b/
| '''b'''un
| align=center | ב
| ''vet''
| v
| /v/
| '''v'''an
|-
| align=center | כּ ךּ
| ''kaph''
| k
| /k/
| '''k'''angaroo
| align=center | כ ך
| ''khaph''
| kh/ch/k
| /χ/
| lo'''ch'''
|-
| align=center | פּ
| ''pe''
| p
| /p/
| '''p'''ass
| align=center | פ ף
| ''phe''
| ph/f
| /f/
| '''f'''ind
|}

In other dialects (mainly liturgical) there are variations from this pattern.
*In some [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardi]] and [[Mizrahi Hebrew|Mizrahi]] dialects, ''bet'' without dagesh is pronounced {{IPA|[b]}}, like ''bet'' with dagesh
*In [[Syrian Jews#Pronunciation of Hebrew|Syrian]] and [[Yemenite Hebrew]], ''gimel'' without dagesh is pronounced {{IPA|[ɣ]}}
*In Yemenite Hebrew, and in the Iraqi pronunciation of the word "Adonai", ''dalet'' without dagesh is pronounced {{IPA|[ð]}} as in "these"
*In [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]], ''tav'' without dagesh is pronounced {{IPA|[s]}} as in "silk"
*In Iraqi and [[Yemenite Hebrew]], and formerly in some other dialects, ''tav'' without dagesh is pronounced {{IPA|[θ]}} is in "thick"

===Identical pronunciation===
In [[Israel]]'s general population, many consonants have the same pronunciation. They are:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! style="text-align:center;" colspan="4"| Letters !! Transliteration !! Pronunciation (IPA)
|-
| align=center | א<br />''Alef''*
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| ע <br />''Ayin''*
| align=center | -
| align=center | (vowel)
|-
| align=center | ב<br />''Bet'' (without ''dagesh'')
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"|ו<br />''Vav''
| align=center | v
| align=center | {{IPA|/v/}}
|-
| align=center | ח<br />''Het''
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| כ<br />''Kaf'' (without ''dagesh'')
| align=center | kh/ch/h
| align=center | {{IPA|/χ/}}
|-
| align=center | ט<br />''Tet''
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3''|Tav''<br />
| align=center | t
| align=center | {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
| align=center | כּ<br />''Kaf'' (with ''dagesh'')
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"|ק<br />''Qof''
| align=center | k
| align=center | {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
| align=center | ס<br />''Samekh''
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; padding-top:9px;"| שׂ<br />''Sin'' (with left dot)
| align=center | s
| align=center | {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| align=center | צ<br />''Tsadi''*
| align=center | תס<br />''Tav-Samekh''*
| align=center | <small>''and''</small>
| style="text-align:center; padding-top:9px;"| תשׂ<br />''Tav-Sin''*
| style="text-align:center;"|ts/tz
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|/ts/}}
|}
<small>* Varyingly</small>

===Ancient Hebrew pronunciation===
Further [[Biblical Hebrew]]

Some of the variations in sound mentioned above are due to a systematic feature of Ancient Hebrew. The six consonants {{IPA|/b ɡ d k p t/}} were pronounced differently depending on their position. These letters were also called [[Begadkefat|''BeGeD KePHeT'']] letters ({{pron-en|ˌbeɪɡɛdˈkɛfɛt}} in English). (The full details are very complex; this summary omits some points.) They were pronounced as [[stop consonant|stops]] {{IPA|b ɡ d k p t}} at the beginning of a syllable, or when doubled. They were pronounced as [[fricative]]s {{IPA|v ɣ ð x f θ}} when preceded by a vowel (commonly indicated with a macron, {{unicode|ḇ ḡ ḏ ḵ p̄ ṯ}}). The stop and double pronunciations were indicated by the ''dagesh''. In Modern Hebrew the sounds {{unicode|ḏ}} and {{unicode|ḡ}} have reverted to {{IPA|[d]}} and {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, respectively, and {{unicode|ṯ}} has become {{IPA|[t]}}, so only the remaining three consonants {{IPA|/b k p/}} show variation. ר "reish" may have also been a "doubled" letter, making the list ''BeGeD KePoReS''. ([[Sefer Yetzirah]], 4:1)

*ח ''chet'' and ע ''ayin'' represented [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] [[fricative consonant|fricatives]], צ ''tsadi'' represented the [[emphatic consonant]] {{IPA|/sˤ/}}, ט ''tet'' represented the emphatic consonant {{IPA|/tˤ/}}, and ק ''qoph'' represented the [[uvular consonant|uvular plosive]] {{IPA|/q/}}. All these are common [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[consonant]]s.
*שׂ ''sin'' (the {{IPA|/s/}} variant of ש ''shin'') was originally different from both שׁ ''shin'' and ס ''samekh'', but had become {{IPA|/s/}} the same as ס ''samekh'' by the time the vowel pointing was devised. Because of [[cognate]]s with other [[Semitic language]]s, this phoneme is known to have originally been a [[lateral consonant]], most likely the [[voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|/ɬ/}} (the sound of modern [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''ll'') or the [[voiceless alveolar lateral affricate]] {{IPA|/tɬ/}} (like [[Náhuatl]] ''tl'').

==Vowels==
===Matres lectionis===

''See Also [[Mater lectionis]]''

א ''aleph'', ה ''he'', ו ''vav'' and י ''yod'' are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be, respectively, {{IPA|/ʔ/, /h/, /v/ and /j/}}). When they do, ו and י 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 א and ה are considered to be mute, their role being purely indicative of the non-marked vowel.

:{|class="wikitable"
|-
!<small>Letter</small>!!<small>Name<br />of letter</small>!!<small>Consonant <br />indicated<br />when letter<br />consonantal</small>||<small>Vowel<br />designation</small>!!<small>Name of<br />vowel designation</small>||<small>Indicated<br />Vowel</small>
|- align=center
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|א
|| ''aleph''|| {{IPA|/ʔ/}} || — || —
|| ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
|- align=center
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|ה
|| ''he''|| {{IPA|/h/}}|| — || — 
|| ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô
|- align=center
|rowspan=2 style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|ו
|rowspan=2| ''vav''
|rowspan=2| {{IPA|/v/}}
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|וֹ
|{{Unicode|ḥolám malé}}
| ô
|- align=center
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|וּ
|{{Unicode|shurúq}}
| û
|- align=center
|rowspan=2 style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|י
|rowspan=2| ''yud''
|rowspan=2| {{IPA|/j/}}
|style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|<span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override, direction:rtl;">‏ִי</span>
|{{Unicode|ḥiríq malé}}
| î
|- align=center
|style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:200%"|<span style="unicode-bidi:bidi-override, direction:rtl;">‏ֵי</span>
|{{Unicode|tseré malé}}
| ê, ệ
|}

===Vowel points===

''See Also [[Niqqud]]''

''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, prayer books, poetry, foreign words, and words which would be ambiguous to pronounce. Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, /i e a o u/, but many more written symbols for them:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! rowspan=2 | Name
!! rowspan=2 | Symbol
!! colspan=3 |[[Israeli Hebrew]]
|-
!!| [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!!| [[Transliteration]]
!!| English<br />example
|-
| [[Hiriq]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Hiriq.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 
| style="text-align:center;"| i
| style="text-align:center;"| s'''ee'''
|-
| [[Zeire]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Zeire.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| <small>([e̞j] with<br />succeeding [[yodh|yod]])</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| e, <small>(ei with<br />succeeding yod)</small> 
| style="text-align:center;"| m'''e'''n
|-
| [[Segol]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Segol.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|e̞}}
| style="text-align:center;"| e
| style="text-align:center;"| m'''e'''n
|-
| [[Patach]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Patah.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|a̠}}
| style="text-align:center;"| a
| style="text-align:center;"| c'''a'''r
|-
| [[Kamatz]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Qamaz.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|a̠}}, (or {{IPAblink|o̞}})
| style="text-align:center;"| a, <small>(or o)
| style="text-align:center;"| c'''a'''r
|-
| [[Holam]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Minus Holam.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|o̞}}
| style="text-align:center;"| o
| style="text-align:center;"| c'''o'''ne
|-
| [[Shuruk]]
| style="text-align:center;"|[[image:Hebrew Equal Shuruk.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|u}}
| style="text-align:center;"| u
| style="text-align:center;"| t'''u'''be
|-
| [[Kubutz]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hebrew Backslash Qubuz.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAblink|u}}
| style="text-align:center;"| u
| style="text-align:center;"| t'''u'''be
|}
<small>'''Note 1:''' The symbol "'''O'''" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.<br />
'''Note 2:''' The pronunciation of ''zeire'' and sometimes ''segol'' - with or without the letter ''yod'' - is sometimes ''ei'' in Modern Hebrew. This is not correct in the normative pronunciation and not consistent in the spoken language.<sup>[]</sup><br />
'''Note 3:''' The ''dagesh'', ''[[mappiq]]'', and ''shuruk'' have different functions, even though they look the same.<br />
'''Note 4:''' The letter ו (''vav'') is used since it can only be represented by that letter.

====Sh'va====

See Also [[Sh'va]]
By adding two vertical dots (called ''[[Sh'va]]'') underneath the letter, the vowel is made very short.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! rowspan=2 | Name
!! rowspan=2 | Symbol
!! colspan=3 |[[Israeli Hebrew]]
|-
!!| [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!!| [[Transliteration]]
!!| English<br />example
|-
| [[Shva]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Tilde Schwa.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| e̞ ''or'' ∅
| style="text-align:center;"| ''apostrophe'', e,<br />''or nothing''
| style="text-align:center;"| sil'''e'''nt
|-
| [[Reduced Segol]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hataf Segol.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| e̞
| style="text-align:center;"| e
| style="text-align:center;"| m'''e'''n
|-
| [[Reduced Patach]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hataf Patah.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| a̠
| style="text-align:center;"| a
| style="text-align:center;"| c'''u'''p
|-
| [[Reduced Kamatz]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[image:Hataf Qamaz.svg|35px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| o̞
| style="text-align:center;"| o
| style="text-align:center;"| c'''o'''ne
|}

====Comparison table====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! colspan=6 | Vowel comparison table
|- align=center
!! colspan=3 | [[Vowel Length]]<br /><small>(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew)</small>
!! rowspan=2 | [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!! rowspan=2 | [[Transliteration]]
!! rowspan=2 | English<br />example
|-
! Long
! Short
! Very Short
|- align=center
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ָ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ַ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֲ}}
| a̠ || a
| sp'''a'''
|- align=center
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֵ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֶ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֱ}}
| e̞ || e
| t'''e'''mp
|- align=center
|style="font-size:24px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|וֹ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ָ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֳ}}
| o̞ || o
| c'''o'''ne
|- align=center
|style="font-size:24px"| {{Hebrew|וּ}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ֻ}}
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| ''n/a''
| u || u
| t'''u'''be
|- align=center
|style="font-size:24px"| {{Hebrew|‏ִי}}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Hebrew|ִ}}
| i || i
| sk'''i'''
|- align=center
!! colspan=2 | '''Note I:'''
| colspan=4 | By adding two vertical dots (''[[sh'va]]'') {{Hebrew|1=<span style="font-size: 24pt;">ְ</span>}} <br />the vowel is made very short.
|-
!! colspan=2 | '''Note II:'''
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| The short ''o'' and long ''a'' have the same ''niqqud''.
|-
!! colspan=2 | '''Note III:'''
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| The short ''o'' is usually promoted to a long ''o''<br />in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation
|-
!! colspan=2 | '''Note IV:'''
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| The short ''u'' is usually promoted to a long ''u''<br />in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation
|}

==Gershayim==

''See Also [[Gershayim]]''

The symbol {{Hebrew|'''״'''}} is called a [[gershayim]] and is a punctuation mark used in the Hebrew language to denote acronyms. It is written before the last letter in the acronym. Gershayim is also the name of a note of [[cantillation]] in the reading of the [[Torah]], printed above the accented letter.

==Sounds represented with diacritic geresh==

''See Also [[Geresh|Hebraization of English]]''

The sounds [t͡ʃ], [d͡ʒ], [ʒ], written "צ׳", "ג׳", "ז׳", and [w], non-standardly sometimes transliterated וו or ו׳, are often found in slang and loanwords that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary. The apostrophe-looking symbol after the Hebrew letter modifies the pronunciation of the letter and is called a ''[[geresh]]''. (As mentioned above, while still done, using ו׳ to represent [w] is non-standard; standard spelling rules allow no usage of ו׳ whatsoever).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! colspan=7 | Hebrew slang and loanwords 
|-
!!| Name
!!| Symbol
!!| [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!!| [[Transliteration]]
!! colspan=3 | Example
|-
| align=center | Gimel with a geresh
| align=center | ג׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [d͡ʒ]
| style="text-align:center;"| ǧ<sup>[]</sup>
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Jachnun|'''ǧ'''áḥnun]] || [ˈd͡ʒaχnun]
| style="text-align:right;"| גָ׳חְנוּן
|-
| align=center | Zayin with a geresh
| align=center | ז׳
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|[ʒ]}} 
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Unicode|ž}}<sup>[]</sup>
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Collage|kolá'''ž''']] || [koˈlaʒ]
| style="text-align:right;"| קוֹלָאז׳
|-
| align=center | Tsadi with a geresh
| align=center | צ׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [t͡ʃ] 
| style="text-align:center;"| č<sup>[]</sup>
| style="text-align:left;"| '''č'''upár (treat) || [t͡ʃuˈpar]
| style="text-align:right;"|  צ׳וּפָּר
|-
| align=center | Vav with a geresh<br />or double Vav
| align=center | וו or ו׳<small>(non standard)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| [w]
| style="text-align:center;"| w
| style="text-align:left;"| a'''w'''ánta (boastful act) || [aˈwanta]
| style="text-align:right;"| עָוָנְטָה
|}

The pronunciation of the following letters can also be modified with the geresh diacritic, the represented sounds are however foreign to [[Hebrew phonology]], i.e., these symbols only represent sounds in foreign words or names when transliterated with the Hebrew alphabet, and never [[loanword]]s.

{| class="wikitable"
!! colspan=7 | Transliteration of non-native sounds
|-
!!| Name
!!| Symbol
!!| [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]
!!| [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic letter]]
!! colspan=2 | Example
! Comment
|-
| align=center | Dalet with a geresh
| align=center | ד׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [ð]
| align=center | [[Ḏāl]] (ذ) <br />[[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]] th
| style="text-align:left;"| '''Dh'''u al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة)&lrm;
| style="text-align:right;"| ד׳ו אל-חיג׳ה
| style="text-align:left;"| * Also used for English voiced th <br />* Often a simple ד is written.
|-
| align=center | Tav with a geresh
| align=center | ת׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [θ]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Ṯāʾ]] (ﺙ)<br />[[Voiceless]] th
| style="text-align:left;"| '''Th'''urston
| style="text-align:right;"| ת׳רסטון
|-
| align=center | Ḥet with a geresh
| align=center | ח׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [χ]
| align=center | [[Ḫāʼ]] (خ)
| style="text-align:left;"| Shei'''kh''' (شيخ)&lrm;
| style="text-align:right;"| <span dir="rtl">שייח׳</span>
| style="text-align:left;"| * Unlike the other sounds in this table, the sound [χ] represented by ח׳ is indeed a native sound in Hebrew; the geresh is however used only when transliteration must distinguish between [χ] and [ħ], in which case ח׳ transliterates the former and ח the latter, whereas in everyday usage ח without geresh is pronounced [ħ] only dialectically but [χ] commonly.
|-
| align=center | Resh with a geresh
| align=center | ר׳
| style="text-align:center;"| [ʁ]
| align=center | [[Ġayn]] (غ)
| style="text-align:left;"| '''Gh'''ajar
| style="text-align:right;"| ר׳ג׳ר
| style="text-align:left;"| Sometimes an Ayin with a geresh (ע׳) is used to transliterate غ – inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]
|}

A ''geresh'' is also used to denote [[Acronym and initialism|initialisms]] and to denote a [[Hebrew numeral]]. Geresh also is the name of one of the notes of cantillation in the reading of the [[Torah]], but its appearance and function is different.

==In Jewish faith==
The letters of the Hebrew alphabet have played varied roles in Jewish religious literature over the centuries, primarily in mystical texts. Some sources in classical [[rabbinical literature]] seem to acknowledge the historical provenence of the currently used Hebrew alphabet and deal with them as a mundane subject (the [[Jerusalem Talmud]], for example, records that "the Israelites took for themselves square calligraphy", and that the letters "came with the Israelites from Ashur [Assyria]"<ref>Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 21b</ref>); others attribute mystical significance to the letters, connecting them with the process of creation or [[Jewish messianism|the redemption]]. In mystical conceptions, the alphabet is considered eternal, pre-existent to the Earth, and the letters themselves are seen as having holiness and power, sometimes to such an extent that several stories from the [[Talmud]] illustrate the idea that they cannot be destroyed.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Pesach 87b, Avodah Zarah 18a</ref>

The idea of the letters' creative power finds its greatest vehicle in the [[Sefer Yezirah]], or ''Book of Creation'', a  mystical text of uncertain origin which describes a story of creation highly divergent from that in the [[Book of Genesis]], largely through exposition on the powers of the letters of the alphabet. The supposed creative powers of the letters are also referenced in the Talmud and [[Zohar]].<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55c</ref><ref>Zohar 1:3; 2:152</ref>

[[image:Tefillin.JPG|thumb|left|200px|The four-pronged Shin.]]

Another book, the 13th-century [[Kabbalistic]] text [[Sefer ha-Temunah]], holds that a single letter of unknown pronunciation, held by some to be the four-pronged shin on one side of the [[teffilin]] box, is missing from the current alphabet. The world's flaws, the book teaches, are related to the absence of this letter, the eventual revelation of which will [[Tikkun Olam|repair the universe]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Book of Letters''. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock. 1990</ref> Another example of messianic significance attached to the letters is the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer that the five letters of the alphabet with final forms hold the "secret of redemption".<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In addition, the letters occasionally feature in [[aggadic]] portions of non-mystical rabbinic literature. In such aggada the letters are often given [[anthropomorphic]] qualities and depicted as speaking to God. Commonly  their shapes are used in parables to illustrate points of ethics or theology. An example from the [[Babylonian Talmud]] (a parable intended to discourage speculation about the universe before creation):

:''Why does the story of creation begin with bet?... In the same manner that the letter bet is closed on all sides and only open in front, similarly you are not permitted to inquire into what is before or what was behind, but only from the actual time of Creation.'' Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, 77c.

Extensive instructions about the proper methods of forming the letters are found in Mishnat Soferim, within [[Mishna Berura]] of [[Yisrael Meir Kagan]].

==Unicode and HTML==

''See Also [[Unicode and HTML for the Hebrew alphabet]]''

The [[Unicode]] Hebrew block extends from U+0590 to U+05FF and from U+FB1D to U+FB40. It includes [[letter (alphabet)|letters]], [[ligature (typography)|ligatures]], [[combining diacritical mark]]s (''[[niqqud]]'' and [[cantillation]] marks) and [[punctuation]]. The [[Numeric character reference|Numeric Character References]] is included for HTML. These can be used in many markup languages, and they are often used in Wiki to create the Hebrew [[glyphs]] compatible with the majority of web browsers.

==See also==
{{Hebrew alphabet}}
*[[Hebrew punctuation]]
*[[Significance of numbers of Judaism]]
*[[Mater lectionis]]
*[[History of the Hebrew language]]
*[[Syriac alphabet]]
*[[Niqqud]]
*[[Dagesh]]
*[[Gershayim]]
*[[Hebrew braille]]
*[[Cursive Hebrew]]
*[[Rashi script]]
*[[Ashuri alphabet]]
*[[Hebrew keyboard]]
*[[Romanization of Hebrew]]
*[[Hebrew phonology]]
*[[Inverted nun]]
*[[Koren Type]]
*[[Help:Hebrew]]

==Notes==

<sup>a{{note|Common_Hebrew_Spelling}}</sup>"Aleph-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the ''maqaph'' (מקף, hyphen), אלפבית עברי, as opposed to with the hyphen, אלף־בית עברי.

<sup>b{{note|Variants_in_Arabic_Mandaic}}</sup>The Arabic letters have, ''in principle (as six of the primary letters can have only two variants)'', four forms, according to their place in the word. The same goes with the Mandaic ones, except for three of the 22 letters, which have only one form. For more information, see [[Arabic alphabet]] and [[Mandaic alphabet]].  

<sup>c{{note|Pronunciation_in_Different_Word_Positions}}</sup>In forms of Hebrew older than Modern Hebrew, '''כ״ף''', '''בי״ת''' and '''פ״א''' can only be read ''b'', ''k'' and ''p'', respectively, at the beginning of a word, while they will have the sole value of ''v'', ''kh'' and ''ph'' in a ''sofit'' (final) position, with few exceptions.<ref name="kaf_sofit"/> In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible. In Modern Hebrew this restriction is not absolute, e.g. פִיזִיקַאי {{IPA|/fiziˈkaj/}} and never {{IPA|/piziˈkaj/}} (= "physicist"), סְנוֹבּ {{IPA|/snob/}} and never {{IPA|/snov/}} (= "snob"). A ''[[dagesh]]'' may be inserted to unambiguously denote the [[plosive]] variant: בּ = {{IPA|/b/}}, כּ = {{IPA|/k/}}, פּ ={{IPA|/p/}}; similarly (though today very rare in Hebrew and common only in [[Yiddish]]) a [[rafe|rafé]] placed above the letter unambiguously denotes the [[fricative]] variant: בֿ = {{IPA|/v/}}, כֿ = {{IPA|/χ/}} and פֿ = {{IPA|/f/}}.

<sup>d{{note|Double_Vav_as_Ligature_or_as_Separate_Letters}}</sup>However, וו (two separate vavs), used in [[Ktiv male]], is to be distinguished from the ''Yiddish ligature'' װ (also two vavs but together as one character).

<sup>e1{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_1}}e2{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_2}}e3{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_3}}e4{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_4}}e5{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_5}}</sup>The [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]] states that both {{IPAblink|v}} and {{IPAblink|w}} be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav.<ref name="trans-into-heb">{{cite web|url=http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/PDF/taatiq2007.pdf|format=PDF|title=Transliteration Rules}} issued by the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]].</ref> Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote {{IPA|[w]}} as opposed to {{IPA|[v]}} but rather, when [[Ktiv male|spelling without niqqud]], to denote the [[phoneme]] /v/ at a non-initial and non-final position in the word, whereas a single Vav at a non-initial and non-final position in the word in [[Ktiv male|spelling without niqqud]] denotes one of the [[phoneme]]s /u/ or /o/. To pronounce foreign words and [[loanword]]s containing the sound {{IPAblink|w}}, Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also [[Waw (letter)#Pronunciation|pronunciation of Hebrew Vav]].

== References==

==Bibliography==
* ff.
* [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/ITB Hoffman, Joel M. 2004. ''In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language.'' New York: New York University Press.]
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521556341 Saenz-Badillos, Angel. 1993. ''A History of the Hebrew Language.'' Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.]
* [http://www.adath-shalom.ca/history_of_hebrew.htm Steinberg, David. ''History of the Hebrew Language.'']
* [[Mathers table]]
* [http://qumran.com/alephbeth.htm ''Aleph-Beth Quick Study Chart.''] February 28, 2005. Qumran Bet Community. Retrieved January 5, 2006.

==External links==
<!--========================({{No More Links}})============================
    | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. WIKIPEDIA  |
    | IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS NOR SHOULD IT BE USED FOR ADVERTISING. |
    |                                                                     |
    |           Excessive or inappropriate links WILL BE DELETED.         |
    | See [[Wikipedia:External links]] & [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details.  |
    |                                                                     |
    | If there are already plentiful links, please propose additions or   |
    | replacements on this article's discussion page, or submit your link |
    | to the relevant category at the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org)   |
    | and link back to that category using the {{dmoz}} template.         |
    =======================({{No More Links}})=============================-->
*[http://hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/unit_one.html Hebrew alphabet lesson]
*[http://www.levsoftware.com/alefbet.htm How to draw letters]
*[http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0590.pdf Official Unicode standards document for Hebrew]
*[http://www.kabalahyoga.com/name Transliterate your English name into Hebrew Letters]
*[http://eteacherhebrew.com/short-lessons Hebrew alphabet video lessons]
*[http://www.jr.co.il/alef-bet.htm Hebrew Alphabet Charts]

'''Keyboards'''
*[http://litetype.com/?lang=hebrew&style=moon LiteType.com] - Virtual & Interactive Hebrew Keyboard
*[http://www.mikledet.com Mikledet.com] - for typing Hebrew with an English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew layout)
*[http://hebrew-keyboard.com Hebrew Writing] - Typing Hebrew and Nikud using extended English keyboard (Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew Writing layout)
*[http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=9 Prize Find: Oldest Hebrew Inscription] Biblical Archaeology Review

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebrew Alphabet}}
[[Category:Hebrew alphabet| ]]
[[Category:Abjad writing systems]]
[[Category:Language and mysticism]]
[[Category:Fertile Crescent]]

{{Donate}}