Lesson 2 Hebrew Vowels

Genesis 1:9a showing vowels and cantillation marks

Figure 2.1: Genesis 1:9a showing vowels and cantillation marks

To comprehend Biblical Hebrew, we must understand how words are formed and pronounced

As Izzy says in Hebrew Quest, “vowels are important!” Even though our goal may not necessarily be to converse in Biblical Hebrew, hearing the language’s sound aids our learning. Vowels are what give a language its distinctive sound, and are what give words their meaning. Consider the simple English words “bay,” “boy,” and “buy.” These words have identical consonants but mean very different things because of the different vowels. It is the same with Hebrew.

Above, you see Genesis 1:9. The black font shows the text with no vowels. This is how the Hebrew Bible was originally written. Over time, a group known as the Masorites developed the vowel notation we use today. These are the symbols in red. These are usually under, but sometimes in the middle of or over the affected consonant. This vowel system intends to preserve the pronunciation passed down for centuries via the oral tradition. The Hebrew name for these diacritical dots and dashes is nikudot which is the plural form of the word nikkud. The blue font shows additional cantillation marks, which synagogues use for chanting the verses. These marks also show where the word’s accent is. We will talk more about Cantillation marks in Unit 3.

LESSON ITINERARY

  1. Memorize vowels
  2. Learn Vocal Sheva and Silent Sheva
  3. Meet “defective” and “plene” spelling
  4. Meet Dagesh Lene’s twin, Dagesh Forte

EQUIPMENT CHECK

Before continuing, be sure you can recite the following from memory. These are concepts we learned in Lesson 1 and we just want to make sure we are ready to proceed to Lesson 227. Click the “Show” button to check your responses.

  • All twenty-two consonants of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet
  • The six BeGaD KePHaT letters
    • Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Kaph, Pei, Tav: בּ גּ דּ כּ פּ תּ
  • The five KiMNePaTZ letters
    • Sofit forms of Kaph, Mem, Nun, Pei, Tzadi: כך מם נן פף צץ
  • The four guttural letters and the one sometimes-guttural letter
    • Aleph, Hei, Chet, Ayin are the Gutturals, and Resh sometimes acts like a Guttural: א ה ח ע ר
  • The ten SQiN eM LeVY letters
    • Sin, Shin, Samech, Tzadi, Nun, Mem, Lamed, Vav, Yod: שֹשׁסצנ מ לוי

  1. You should have immediate, robot-like recall of EQUIPMENT CHECK questions. If not, we recommend you re-review the prior lesson’s materials and Anki modules. “You must know this like a robot” is a phrase borrowed from Dr. Van Pelt, one of the co-authors of Basics of Biblical Hebrew↩︎