Help:IPA/Hebrew
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 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hebrew on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hebrew in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Modern and Biblical Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Since Modern Hebrew has different pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Biblical Hebrew phonology and Modern Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.
| BH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization (unofficial) | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | בּ (Beť dǝgušah) | b | bet | |
| d | דּ (Daleť dǝgušah) | d | dark | |
| ð | d | ד (Ďaleť rafah) | ď, dh, d | BH: this MH: dark |
| ɸ | f | פ ף (Fei rafah) | f or p̄ | fool |
| ɡ | גּ (Gimel dǝgušah) | g | go | |
| ɣ | ɡ | ג (Ǧimel rafah) | ǧ, gh, g | BH: Spanish fuego MH: go |
| h | ה (He) | h | hen | |
| ħ | χ (ħ)[1] | ח (Ḥeť) | ḥ or ch | BH: hen but pharyngeal MH: Scottish loch |
| j | י (Yoď) | y | yes | |
| k | כּ ךּ (Kaf dǝgušah) |
k | skin | |
| l | ל (Lameď) | l | left | |
| m | מ ם (Mem) | m | man | |
| n | נ ן (Nun) | n | no | |
| p | פּ (Pei dǝgušah) | p | spin | |
| q | k | ק (Qof) | q or k | BH: cup, but uvular. MH: skin. |
| r | ʁ (r)[2] | ר (Resh) | r | BH: trilled or tapped run. MH: French rouge |
| s | ס (Samekh) שׂ (Sin smalit) |
s | see | |
| sˤ | ts[3] | צ ץ (Ṣadi) | ṣ, ts (or tz) | cats |
| ʃ | שׁ (Šin Yemanit) | š or sh | she | |
| t | תּ (Taw) | t | sting | |
| tˤ | t | ט (Ṭeť) | ṭ, t | sting |
| θ | ת (Ťaw) | ť, th, t | thing | |
| β | v | ב (Veť rafah) |
v | voice |
| w | ו (Vav) | v | BH: would MH: voice | |
| x | χ | כ ך (Ǩaf rafah) | ǩ or ch/kh | Scottish loch |
| ח׳[4] (Heth with geresh) | kh | |||
| z | ז (Zayin) | z | zoo | |
| ʕ | ʔ (ʕ)[1] | ע (Ayin) | ʿ or ' | BH: No equivalent; Arabic 'ayn (ع) MH: uh-(ʔ)oh |
| ʔ | א (Alef) |
ʾ or ' | uh-(ʔ)oh | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanisation (unofficial) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| dʒ[3][5] | ג׳ (Gimel with geresh) | j | joy |
| tʃ[3] | צ׳ ץ׳ (Tsade with geresh) | ch | chair |
| w[6] | וו (double Vav) or ו (single Vav) | w | we |
| ʒ[5] | ז׳ (Zayin with geresh) | zh | beige |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanisation (unofficial) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ð[7] | ד׳ (Dalet with geresh) | dh | the |
| ɣ[8] | ע׳[9] (Ayin with geresh) or ר׳[9] (Resh with geresh) | gh | No equivalent; Arabic Ghayn (غ) |
| ŋ[10] | נג (Nun-Gimel) | ng | ring |
| θ[11] | ת׳[12] (Tav with geresh) | th | thing |
| TH | MH | Letter(s) | Romanization (unofficial) | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a |  (Patach),  (Hataf Patach)
|
a | father | |
| e | ej (e[13]) |  (Zeire)
|
e, ei or ey | bay |
| e | e | Scottish bay | ||
| ɛ |  (Segol),  (Hataf Segol)
|
ɛ, e | TH: bed MH: Scottish bay | |
| ə |  (Shva)
|
ǝ, e | TH: comma | |
| ∅ | ǝ, e or unwritten | |||
| i | י (Hiriq-Yud), (Hiriq)
|
i | see | |
| o |  (Holam alone), וֹ (with any mater lectionis)
|
o | story | |
| ɔ | o |  (Kamatz katan),  (Hataf Kamatz)
|
ɔ, o | TH: off MH: story |
| a | (Kamatz)
|
ɔ, a | TH: maw MH: father | |
| u | וּ (Vav with shuruk),  (Kubutz)
|
u | boot | |
| IPA | Letter(s) | Romanization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ao | אוֹ (Patach-Holam), אוֹ (Kamatz-Holam)
|
ao | cow |
| au | אוּ (Patach-Shuruk), אוּ (Kamatz-Shuruk)
|
au | |
| eu | אוּ (Segol-Shuruk), אוּ (Tzere-Shuruk)
|
eu | |
| ou | וֹאוּ (Holam-Shuruk) | ou | no |
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/ |
| ˌ | Secondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם? ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/ |
| ː | Long vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד /jaːd/ in absolute state and יַד־ /jad/ in construct state.[14] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/ |
Notes
- ^ a b In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ħ, ʕ/ have merged with /χ, ʔ/ respectively, but are still distinguished by some Sephardi, Mizrahi and Arab speakers.
- ^ The sound is uvular for most speakers, but some speakers, mostly Sefardim, Mizrahim, Arab Israelis, Jews from the former USSR and Ethiopian Jews (in the 20th century also news broadcasters and singers) retain an alveolar pronunciation: [r]~[ɾ].
- ^ a b c /dʒ, ts, tʃ/ are officially written with a tie-bar in the IPA /d͡ʒ, t͡s, t͡ʃ/ respectively, but the tie-bar is here omitted for simplicity.
- ^ Only appears in transliterations from Arabic script to transliterate the letter Ḫāʾ (خ)
- ^ a b /dʒ/ and /ʒ/ are sometimes confused by speakers who don't hear a distinction between them (mostly Russian and Arabic speakers).
- ^ Appears in new loanwords: וואלה /wala/ "Wow!, really?, you don't say!, no kidding!". In some old loanwords that originally had /w/, it was approximated to /v/: ואדי /vadi/ "Wadi".
- ^ Usually pronounced /d/ or /z/ by speakers who don't speak English.
- ^ Usually pronounced /ɡ/ or /ʁ/ by speakers who don't speak Arabic.
- ^ a b Only appears in transliterations from Arabic script to transliterate the letter Ghayn (غ).
- ^ Usually pronounced /ŋɡ/ by speakers who don't speak English.
- ^ Usually pronounced /t/ or /s/ by speakers who don't speak English.
- ^ ת׳ is sometimes used for both /ð/ and /θ/ (in words from English) either by speakers who don't hear a distinction between them or as an equivalent to the Th digraph of English which is also used for both sounds.
- ^ Some conservative speakers pronounce it /e/ like in Sephardi Hebrew
- ^ Vowel length and quality in Tiberian Hebrew is a matter of debate, and that is just one possible example.