Hebrew Words That Start With Lamed? Top 50 Best Answers

Good morning…..Böker tov

Good evening…..Erev tov

See you soon…..L’hitra’ot

What’s up?…..Ma nishma

Yes…..Ken

No…..Lo

Thank you…..Todah

Excuse me/I’m sorry…..Slicha

Please/You are welcome…..Bevakasha

What’s your name? (male/female)…..Eich korim lecha/lach?

My name is……..Shmi…

How are you? (male/female)…..Ma shlomcha/shlomech?

Well, OK…..B’seder

Not good…..Lo tov

Excellent…..Metzuyan

I’m tired (male/female)…..Ani ayef/ayefa

Student (Male/Female)…..Talmid/Talmida

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The calamity of Friday the 13th has its origins in Western Christian thought:

The superstitions seem to relate to various things such as the story of Jesus’ last supper and crucifixion where 13 people were present in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday, the 13th of Nisan, the night before his death on Good Friday. While there is evidence that both Friday[4] and the number 13 are considered unlucky, there is no record of the two elements being considered unlucky before “Friday the 13th”, Wikipedia, in the 19th century were called particularly unfortunate

For Jews, however, 13 was a symbol of strength and… (sometimes) even luck. For example, when Israel was founded in 1948, the first provisional government had 13 members – because its founders said they needed all the luck they could get.

Where exactly does 13 have its meaning in Judaism? Well, you just have to look at all the times it shows up:

The meaning of “13”

This article is about the alphabet derived from the Aramaic alphabet (CE 135 – present). For the original Hebrew alphabet derived directly from the Phoenician alphabet (10th century BC – AD 135), see Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. For the descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, see Samaritan alphabet. For the insect see Hebrew character

The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי‎, [a] Alefbet ivri), known variously among scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script, and block script, is an Abjad script used in writing the Hebrew language and others used Jewish languages, especially Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian. It is also used informally in Israel to write Levantine Arabic, particularly among Druze.[2][3][4] It is an offshoot of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet that flourished during the Achaemenid Empire, itself descended from the Phoenician alphabet.

Historically, two separate Abjad scripts were used to write Hebrew. The original, ancient Hebrew script, known as the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, has largely survived in a variant known as the Samaritan alphabet. The current “Jewish script” or “square script,” in contrast, is a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet and was technically referred to as Ashurit (literally “Assyrian script”) by Jewish sages, as its origins are said to have come from Assyria.[5]

There are also various “styles” (in modern terminology, “fonts”) of representing the Jewish scriptures described in this article, including a variety of Hebrew cursive styles. In the rest of this article, the term “Hebrew alphabet” refers to the square script unless otherwise noted.

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. It has no case. Five letters have different forms when used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written from right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants, but is now considered an “impure abjad”. As with other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, over its centuries of use, scribes have developed means of indicating vowels by separate vowel dots, known in Hebrew as the niqqud. In both Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew, the letters י‎ ו‎ ה‎ א‎ can also function as matres lectionis when certain consonants are used to indicate vowels. In modern Hebrew there is a trend towards using matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as “full orthography”.

The Yiddish alphabet, a modified version of the Hebrew alphabet used to write Yiddish, is a true alphabet in which all vowels are rendered in the spelling, with the exception of inherited Hebrew words, which usually retain their Hebrew spelling with only consonants .

The Arabic and Hebrew alphabets share similarities because they are both derived from the Aramaic alphabet, which in turn is derived from either the Paleo-Hebrew or Phoenician alphabets, both slight regional variations of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet used in ancient times to to write the various Canaanite languages ​​(including Hebrew, Moabite, Phoenician, Punic, etc.).

history [edit]

Paleo-Hebrew alphabet with 22 letters, dot, geresh and gershayim

A Hebrew variant of the Phoenician alphabet, called the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet by scholars, appeared around 800 BC. on.[6] Examples of related early Semitic inscriptions from the area include the 10th-century Gezer calendar and the Siloam inscription (ca. 700 BC).[7]

The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After the exile of the kingdom of Judah in the 6th century B.C. (the Babylonian Captivity), Jews began using a form of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, another offshoot of the same script family that flourished during the Achaemenid Empire. The Samaritans who remained in the Land of Israel continued to use the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. During the 3rd century B.C. Jews began using a stylized, “square” form of the Aramaic alphabet used by the Persian Empire (and which in turn had been adopted by the Assyrians),[8] while the Samaritans continued to use a form of paleo- Hebrew script known as the Samaritan alphabet. After the fall of the Persian Empire in 330 B.C. Jews used both scripts before settling on the square Assyrian form.

The square Hebrew alphabet was later adapted and used for the written languages ​​of the Jewish diaspora – such as Karaim, the Judeo-Arabic languages, Judeo-Spanish, and Yiddish. The Hebrew alphabet continued to be used for scholarly writing in Hebrew and returned to everyday use with the rebirth of Hebrew as a spoken language in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in Israel.

Description[edit]

General [edit]

In the traditional form, the Hebrew alphabet is a consonant-only abjad written right-to-left. It has 22 letters, five of which use different forms at the end of a word.

vowels [edit]

In the traditional form, vowels are indicated by the weak consonants aleph ( א), he ( ה), waw/vav ( ו), or yodh ( י), which serve as a vowel letter or matres lectionis: the letter is combined with a previous vowel and silenced, or by imitating such cases in the spelling of other forms. Also, a system of vowel dots was developed to indicate vowels (diacritics), called niqqud. In modern forms of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish and to some extent modern Hebrew, vowels can be indicated. Today the trend is full spelling, with the weak letters functioning as true vowels.

When writing Yiddish, vowels are shown with specific letters, either with niqqud diacritics (e.g. אָ or יִ) or without (e.g. ע or י), except for Hebrew words written in Yiddish in their Hebrew become spelling.

To get the correct vowel sounds, scientists developed several different sets of vowelings and diacritics called nequdot ( נקודות‎, lit. “dots”). One of these, the Tiberian system, eventually prevailed. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher and his family are credited with refining and maintaining the system for several generations. These points are normally only used for special purposes, e.g. B. for Bible books intended for study, in poetry or in teaching the language to children. The Tiberian system also includes a set of cantillation marks, called tropes or teamim, used to indicate how scripture passages should be sung in synagogue recitations of scripture (although these marks do not appear in the scrolls). Niqqud is absent from the everyday script of modern Hebrew; However, patterns of how words are derived from Hebrew roots (called shorashim or “triliterals”) allow Hebrew speakers to determine the vowel structure of a given word by its consonants based on the word’s context and part of speech.

Alphabet[ edit ]

Unlike Paleo-Hebrew cursive, the modern Ashuri script has five letters that have special final forms, [c] called sofit (Hebrew: סופית, meaning “final” or “end” in this context), and only am used at the end of a word, such as in the Greek or Arabic and Mandaean alphabets.[b] These are shown below the normal form in the following table (letter names are Unicode standard[9][10]). Although Hebrew is read and written right-to-left, the following table shows the letters in left-to-right order.

Alef Bet Gimel Dalet He Waw/Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yod Kaf א ב ‎ ג ד ה ‎ ו ‎ ז ח ‎ ט ‎ י ‎ כ ‎ ך ‎ Lamed Mem Nun Samech Ayin Pe Tsadi Qof Resh Shin Tav ל מ נ ס ע ‎ פ צ ‎ ק ר ‎ ש ‎ ת ‎ ם ן ‎ ף ‎ ץ ‎

pronunciation [ edit ]

Alphabet[ edit ]

The following descriptions are based on pronunciation of Modern Standard Israeli Hebrew.

Letter IPA Letter Name Pronunciation Unicode[9][10] Hebrew[11] Modern Hebrew

Pronunciation of Yiddish / Ashkenazi

Pronunciation Sephardic pronunciation Approximate western European equivalent [12] א ‎ ʔ] ∅ Aleph אָלֶף ‎ /ʔalɛf/ /ʔaləf/ /ʔalɛf/ (soft) בּ ‎ b] Bet בֵּית ‎ /bet/ /bɛɪs/ , /bɛɪz/ /bɛt/ b as in black ב ‎ v] בֵית ‎ /vet/ /vɛɪs/ , /vɛɪz/ /vɛt/ v as in vogue גּ ‎ ɡ] Gimel גִּימֵל ‎ /ˈɡimel/ /ˈɡɪməl/ /ˈɡɪməl/ /ˈɡimɛl/ g as in Gourd ג ‎ [ ɣ]~[ʁ] גִימֵל ‎ /ɣɪmεl/ gh as in Arabic gh oul דּ ‎ d] dalet דָּלֶת ‎ /ˈdalɛt/ , /ˈdalɛd/ /ˈdaləd/ , /ˈdaləs/ /ˈdalɛt/ d as in d ת ‎ /ðalεt/ th as in th ה ‎ h] ʔ] ∅ He הֵא ‎ /he/ , /hej/ /hɛɪ/ /he/ h as in halt ו ‎ v] w] Vav וָו ‎ /vav/ / vɔv/ /vav/ v as in v ogue ז ‎ z] zayin זַיִן ‎ /ˈzajin/ , /ˈza.in/ /ˈzajɪn/ /ˈzajin/ z as in z oo ח ‎ x] χ] chet חֵית ‎ /χet/ / χɛs/ /ħɛt/ ch as in bach (IPA is [χ͡ʀ̥]) טּ ‎ t] Tet טֵּית ‎ /tet/ /tɛs/ /tɛt/ t as in t ool ט ‎ θ] טֵית ‎ /sɛs / /θɛt/ th as in thought י ‎ j] Yod יוֹד ‎ /jod/ , /jud/ /jʊd/ /jud/ y as in y olk כּ ‎ k] Kaf כַּף ‎ /kaf/ /kɔf/ /kaf/ k as in king כ ‎ x] χ] כַף ‎ /χaf/ /χɔf/ /χaf/ ch as in bach (IPA is [χ͡ʀ̥]) ךּ ‎ k] כַּף סוֹפִית ‎ /kaf sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə kɔf/ /kaf sofit/ k as in k ing ך ‎ x] χ] כַף סוֹי / /χaf sofit/ ch as in ba ch (IPA is [χ͡ʀ̥]) ל ‎ l] lamed לָמֶד ‎ /ˈlamɛd/ /ˈlaməd/ /ˈlamɛd/ l as in luck מ ‎ m] mem מֵם ‎ /mem/ /mɛm / /mɛm/ m as in m other ם ‎ מֵם סוֹפִית ‎ /mem sofit/ /ˈʃlɔs mɛm/ /mɛm sofit/ m as in m other נ ‎ n] nun נוּן ‎ /nun/ /nʊn/ /nun/ n as in night ן סוֹפִית נוּן / now sofit / / ˈlaŋɡə nʊn / / now sofit / n as in night ס s] Samekh סָמֶך / ˈsamɛ / ˈsam / ˈsam actually / / ˈsam actually / / ˈsam) ʕ] ∅ ayin עַיִן /ʔajin/ , /ʔa.in/ /ʔajɪn/ /ʕajin/ When, ʔ as in butt on [ˈbʌʔn̩] or clip board [ˌklɪʔ⁠ˈbɔɹd]. If ʕ, no English equivalent. פּ ‎ p] Pe פֵּא, פֵּה ‎ /pe/ , /pej/ /pɛɪ/ /pe/ p as in p ool ​​פ ‎ f] פֵא, פֵה ‎ /fe/ , /fej/ /fɛɪ/ /fe/ f as fully ףּ ‎ p] פֵּא סוֹפִית,

פֵּה סוֹפִית ‎ /pe sofit/ , /pej sofit/ /ˈlaŋɡə pɛɪ/ /pe sofit/ p as in pool ף ‎ f] פֵא סוֹפִית,

Tsadi ” k ing ק ‎ x] χ] קוֹף ‎ /χʊf/ /χuf/ ch as in bach (IPA is [χ͡ʀ̥]) ר ‎ ɣ] ʁ] Resh רֵישׁ ‎ /ʁeʃ/ /ʁɛɪʃ/ /reʃ/ r as on French “r” ([ɣ~ʁ]-[ʁ͡ʀ]) שׁ ‎ ʃ] Shin שִׁין ‎ /ʃin/ /ʃɪn/ /ʃin/ sh like in the store שׂ ‎ s] שִׂין ‎ /sin/ /sɪn/ /sin/ s as in sight תּ ‎ t] Tav תָּו ‎ /tav/ , /taf/ /tɔv/ , /tɔf/ /tav/ t as in tool ת ‎ θ] תָו ‎ /sɔv/ , /sɔf/ /θav/ th as in th should

By analogy with the other dotted/dotless pairs, one would expect dotless tav, ת, /θ/ (voiced dental fricative) and dotless dalet ד to be pronounced as /ð/ (voiced dental fricative), but these were lost in most Jews because they didn’t exist in the countries where they lived (as in almost all of Eastern Europe). Yiddish modified /θ/ to /s/ (cf. seseo in Spanish), but in modern Israeli Hebrew it is pronounced simply /t/. Likewise, the historical /ð/ is simply pronounced /d/.

Shin and Sin[edit]

Shin and sin are represented by the same letter ש but are two separate phonemes. When diacritic vowels are used, the two phonemes are distinguished with a shin-dot or sin-dot; The shin-dot is across the upper right side of the letter and the sin-dot is across the upper left side of the letter.

Symbol name Transliteration IPA example שׁ ‎ (right dot) shin sh /ʃ/ shower שׂ ‎ (left dot) sin s /s/ sour

Historically, left-dot-sin corresponds to the Proto-Semitic *ś, which in Biblical Jewish Hebrew corresponded to the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/, as in the Greek transliteration of Hebrew words like balsam ( בֹּשֶׂם) (the ls – ‘שׂ’), as is evident in the Targum Onkelos. [citation required]

Dazh[edit]

Historically, the consonants ב‎ bet, ג‎ gimmel, ד‎ daleth, כ‎ kaf, פ‎ pe, and תtav each had two sounds: a hard (plosive) and a soft (fricative), depending on the position of the letter and other factors. When diacritic vowels 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 and does not affect the name of the letter. The differences are as follows:

Name With dagesh Without dagesh Symbol Transliteration IPA example Symbol Transliteration IPA example bet/vet בּ ‎ b /b/ bun ב ‎ v, ḇ /v/ van kaf [13] כּ ךּ ‎ k /k/ kangaroo כ ך ‎ kh, ch , ḵ, x /χ/ hole pe פּ ףּ ‎ p /p/ pass פ ף ‎ f, p̄, ph /f/ find

In other dialects (mainly liturgical) there are deviations from this pattern.

In some Sephardi and Mizrahi dialects, bet without dagesh is pronounced [b], like bet with dagesh

without dagesh is pronounced as with dagesh. In Syriac and Yemeni Hebrew, gimel is pronounced [ɣ] without dagesh.

without dagesh is pronounced. In Yemeni Hebrew and in the Iraqi pronunciation of the word “Adonai”, Dalet without Dagesh is pronounced [ð] as in “this”.

without Dagesh it is pronounced as in “these”.

without Dagesh is pronounced as in “silk”. In Iraqi and Yemeni Hebrew, and earlier in some other dialects, tav without dagesh is pronounced [θ] as in “dick”.

Sounds represented with diacritic Geresh[edit]

The sounds [t͡ʃ], [dʒ], [ʒ], written ⟨ צ׳‎⟩, ⟨ ג׳‎⟩, ⟨ ז׳‎⟩ and [w], sometimes transliterated non-standard ⟨ וו‎⟩, are often found in slang and loanwords that are part of everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary. The symbol, which resembles an apostrophe after the Hebrew letter, modifies the pronunciation of the letter and is called Geresh.

Hebrew Slang and Loanwords Name Symbol IPA Transliteration Example Gimel with a geresh ג׳ ‎ d͡ʒ] ǧ[14] ǧáḥnun [ˈd͡ʒaχnun] גַּ׳חְנוּן ‎ Zayin with a geresh ז׳ ‎ ʒ] ž[14] koláųʾ [ל׳ʳ ל׳ʳ ׾ []koˈ Tsadi with a Geresh צ׳ ‎ t͡ʃ] č[14] čupár (treat) [t͡ʃuˈpar] צ׳וּפָּר ‎ Vav with a Geresh

or double vav וו ‎ or ו׳ ‎ (non-standard) [] w] w awánta (showing off) [aˈwanta] אַוַונְטַה

The pronunciation of the following letters can also be modified with the diacritic geresh. However, the sounds represented are alien to Hebrew phonology, i.e. these symbols represent mainly sounds in foreign words or names when transliterated using the Hebrew alphabet, and not loanwords.

Transliteration of non-native sounds Name Symbol IPA Arabic letter Example Comment Dalet with Geresh ד׳ ‎ ð] Dhāl ( ذ )

voiced th Dhū al-Ḥijjah ( ذو الحجة )‎ ד׳ו אל-חיג׳ה ‎ * Also used for English voiced th

* A simple ד is often written. Tav with Geresh ת׳ ‎ θ] Thāʼ ( ﺙ )

Voiceless th Thurston ת׳רסטון ‎ Chet with a Geresh ח׳ ‎ χ] Khāʼ ( خ ‎) Sheikh ( شيخ )‎ שייח׳ * Unlike the other sounds in this table, the sound χ] ח׳ ‎ is actually a native sound Hebrew; however, the geresh is used only when transliterating between χ] ħ] ח׳ ‎ requires the former and the latter to be transliterated, while in everyday usage ח without geresh ħ] χ] ayin is pronounced with a geresh

or

resh with a geresh ע׳

or

ר׳ʁ] Ghayn ( غ ) Ghajar ( غجر );

Ghalib ( غالب ) ע׳ג׳ר ‎

ר׳אלב‎ The guidelines established by the Academy of the Hebrew Language favor resh with a geresh (ר׳); However, this policy is not universally followed

Geresh is also used to denote an abbreviation composed of a single Hebrew letter, while gershayim (a double geresh) is used to denote acronyms pronounced as a sequence of letters; geresh and gershayim are also used to denote Hebrew numerals composed of a single Hebrew letter and multiple Hebrew letters, respectively. Geresh is also the name of a cantillation mark used for Torah recitation, although its appearance and function are different in this context.

Identical pronunciation[ edit ]

In much of the Israeli population, especially where Ashkenazi pronunciation is prevalent, many letters share the same pronunciation. They are as follows:

Letters Transliteration Pronunciation (IPA) א ‎

Aleph* ע ‎

Ayin* not

usually transcribed at middle word position:

./

(Separation of vowels in a hiatus) At word start or end word position, sometimes also in middle word order:

mute alternately ʼ ʔ/

(glottal explosive) ב ‎

Bet (without dagesh) Vet å ‎

Vav v v/ ח ‎

Chet* כ

Kaf (without Dazh)

Khaf* kh/ch/h χ/ ט ‎

Tet תּ

Tav t t/ כּ ‎

Kaf (with dagesh) ק ‎

Qof k k/ ס ‎

Samekh שׂ

sin (with left dot) s s/ צ ‎

Tsadi* תס ‎

Tav-Samekh* and תשׂ ‎

Tav-Sin* ts/tz ts/ צ׳ ‎

Tsadi (with Geresh) טשׁ ‎

Tet-Shin* and תשׁ

Tav-Shin* ch/tsh (chair) tʃ/

* Differing

Old Hebrew pronunciation [ edit ]

Some of the sound variations mentioned above are due to a systematic feature of ancient Hebrew. The six consonants /bɡ d k p t/ were pronounced differently depending on their position. These letters were also called BeGeD KeFeT letters. The full details are very complex; this summary omits some points. They were pronounced as plosives /bɡdkpt/ at the beginning of a syllable or when doubling. They were pronounced as fricatives /v ɣ ð x f θ/ when preceded by a vowel (commonly indicated with a macron, ḇ ḡ ḏ ḵ p̄ ṯ). The plosive and double pronunciations were indicated by the dagesh. In modern Hebrew, the sounds ḏ and ḡ have reverted to [d] and [ɡ], respectively, and ṯ has become [t], so only the remaining three consonants /b k p/ show variations. ר resh could also have been a “double” letter, making the list BeGeD KePoReT. (Sefer Yetzirah, 4:1)

Regional and historical differences[ edit ]

The following table contains the pronunciations of the Hebrew letters in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The apostrophe-like symbol after some letters is not a Jew but a Geresh. It is used for loanwords with non-native Hebrew sounds. The dot in the middle of some letters, denoted “dagesh kal”, also modifies the sounds of the letters ב, כ, and פ in Modern Hebrew (in some forms of Hebrew it also modifies the sounds of the letters ג, ד, and/or ת; the “dagesh chazak” – orthographically indistinguishable from the “dagesh kal” – describes a gemination that is rarely realized today – e.g.

velarized or pharyngealized pharyngealized is sometimes referred to as ejective but is more likely glottalized.

vowels [edit]

Matres Lectionis[ edit ]

א‎ alef, ע‎ ayin, ו‎ waw/vav and י‎ yod are letters that can sometimes indicate a vowel instead of a consonant (which would be /ʔ/, /ʕ/, /v/ and /j/ respectively). When this is the case, ו and י combined with a Niqqud symbol are considered part of the vowel designation – a diacritic vowel (regardless of whether the diacritic is marked or not), while א and ע are considered silent. their role is merely a reference to the unmarked vowel.

letter name

of the letter consonant

specified

if letter

consonantal vowel

designation name of

vowel designation given

Vowel א alef /ʔ/ — — ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô ע ‎ ayin /ʔ/ or /ʕ/ — — ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô ו ‎ waw/vav /w/ or /v / וֹ ‎ ḥolám malé ô וּ ‎ shurúq û י ‎ jud /j/ ִי ‎ ḥiríq malé î ֵי ‎ tseré malé ê, ệ

vowel points [ edit ]

Niqqud is the system of dots that help identify vowels and consonants. In Hebrew, all forms of niqqud are often omitted in writing, with the exception of children’s books, prayer books, poems, foreign words, and words whose pronunciation would be ambiguous. Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, /i e a o u/, but many more written symbols for them:

Note 1: The circle represents the Hebrew letter used.

Note 2: The pronunciation of tsere and sometimes segol – with or without the letter yod – is sometimes ei in modern Hebrew. This is incorrect in normative pronunciation and inconsistent in spoken language.[15]

Note 3: Dagesh, Mappiq and Shuruk have different functions although they look the same.

Note 4: The letter å (waw/vav) is used because it can only be represented by that letter.

Meteg [edit]

Adding a vertical line (called a meteg) below the letter and to the left of the vowel point makes the vowel long. The meteg is only used in Biblical Hebrew, not in modern Hebrew.

Adding two vertical dots (called sh’va) under the letter makes the vowel very short. When sh’va is placed on the first letter of the word, it is most often “è” (but in some cases it mutes (vowelless) the first letter without a vowel: e.g. וְ wè to “w”)

Comparison table[ edit ]

Vowel comparison table [16] Vowel length

(phonetically not manifested in Israeli Hebrew) IPA transliteration English

Example long short very short ָ ‎ ַ ‎ ֲ ‎ ä] a fall ֵ ‎ ֶ ‎ ֱ ‎ e̞] e men וֹ ‎ ֹ ‎ ֳ ‎ o̞] o joke וּ ‎ ֻ ‎ u] u duty ִי ‎ ִ ‎ i] i media Note I: By adding two vertical dots (sh’va) ְ ‎

The vowel is very short. Note II: The short o and the long a have the same niqqud. Note III: The short o is usually promoted to a long o

in Israeli script for clarification Note IV: The short u is usually promoted to a long u

in Israeli script for disambiguation purposes

Gershayim[ edit ]

The symbol ״ is called gershayim and is a punctuation mark used in the Hebrew language to denote acronyms. It comes before the last letter of the acronym, e.g. ר״ת. Gershayim is also the name of a cantillation mark in the reading of the Torah, printed above the accented letter, e.g. א֞.

Stylistic variants[ edit ]

The table below shows typographic and chirographic variants of each letter. For the five letters that have a different ending form at the end of words, the ending forms are displayed under the regular form.

The block (square or “print” type) and cursive (“handwriting” type) are the only variants widely used in modern times. Rashi is also used in a handful of standard texts for historical reasons.

letter

Surname

(Unicode) Variants Contemporary Early Modern Ancestral Block Serif Block Sans Serif Italic Rashi Phoenician Paleo-Hebrew Aramaic Alef א א 𐤀 Bet ב ב 𐤁 Gimel ג ג 𐤂 Dalet ד ד 𐤃 He ה ה 𐤄 Vav (Unicode)[17] / Waw א ו Zayin ז 𐤆 𐤆 chet ח 𐤇 ט ט י י 𐤉 𐤉 כ 𐤊 𐤊 Final kaf ך ך ל ל 𐤋 𐤌 𐤌 final mem ם נ נ ן ן ן ס 𐤎 ayin ע ע 𐤏 Pe פ פ 𐤐 Final Pe ף ף Tsadi צ צ 𐤑 , Final Tsadi ץ ץ Qof ק ק 𐤒 Resh ר ר 𐤓 Shin ש ש 𐤔 Tav ת ת 𐤕

Yiddish symbols [ edit ]

Symbol Explanation װ ױ ײ ײַ ‎ These are for Yiddish. They are not used in Hebrew except in loanwords [d]. They can be visually recreated using a string of letters, וו וי יי , except when a diacritic is inserted underneath it does not appear in the middle. בֿ ‎ The diacritic rafe ( רפה ) is no longer regularly used in Hebrew. In Masoretic texts and some other older texts, lenited consonants and sometimes matres lectionis are indicated by a small line above the letter. Its use has largely been phased out in modern printed texts. It is still used to mark fricative consonants in Yiddish’s YIVO orthography.

Numeric values ​​of letters [ edit ]

After adopting the Graeco-Hellenistic alphabetic numbering practice, Hebrew letters became common in the late 2nd century B.C. used to denote numbers [18] and performed this arithmetic function for about a thousand years. Today, alphanumeric notation is only used in certain contexts, e.g. Designation of dates in the Hebrew calendar, designation of school grades in Israel, other listings (e.g. שלב א׳, שלב ב׳ – “phase a, phase b”), commonly used in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a practice that known as gematria, and often in religious contexts.

Letter Numerical value Letter Numerical value Letter Numerical value 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 ו 6 ס 60 ז 7 ע 70 ח 8 ט 9 to 90

The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800, and 900 are commonly represented by the juxtapositions ק״ת, ר״ת, ש״ת, ת״ת, and ק״תת. Adding a Geresh (“׳”) to a letter multiplies its value by a thousand, for example the year 5778 is represented as ה׳תשע״ח, where ה׳ stands for 5000 and תשע״ח for 778.

Transliterations and Transcriptions[ edit ]

The following table lists transliterations and transcriptions of Hebrew letters used in modern Hebrew.

Explanations:

For some letters, the Academy of the Hebrew Language offers an accurate transliteration that deviates from the standard it has set. If omitted, there is no such exact alternative and the regular standard applies.

Transliteration that deviates from the standard that set it. If omitted, there is no such exact alternative and the regular standard applies. IPA phonemic transcription is given when it uses a different symbol than that used for regular Standard Israeli transliteration.

Israeli standard transliteration. IPA phonetic transcription is reported when it differs from IPA phonemic transcription.

Note: SBL’s transliteration system recommended in its Handbook of Style[19] differs slightly from the Academy of the Hebrew Language’s 2006 precise transliteration system; for “צ” SBL uses “ṣ” (≠ AHL “ẓ”), and for בג״ד כפ״ת without dagesh, SBL uses the same symbols as for with dagesh (i.e. “b”, “g”, “d”, “k”, “f”, “t”).

Click View to view an expanded table of examples. Example of Hebrew letters translation standard

Israeli

transliteration

– regular [20] sample standard

Israeli

transliteration

– precise [20] example IPA phonemics

Transcription example IPA phonetic

Transcription example א consonant, in

initial word

Positions אִם if no [A1] im ʔ] [ʔim] א consonant, in

no initial word

Positions asked ‘Sha’ ʾ Sha ʾ á á/ ʃaˈʔal/ א silence ǧ [b1] [14] ǧuk d͡ʒ// d͡ʒuk/ דּ Kessel d duḏ ד ה Consonant הֵד echo hed ה still ה still here none [A3] po ו consonant וָו hook v vavּ w waw ו hu וֹ לוֹ to him o lo o̞] or ɔ̝] [lo̞, lɔ̝] ז זֶה this z ze ז׳ זָ׳רְגוֹן jargon ž[B2][14] žargón ʒ/ /ʒarˈḡon/ ח חַם is called ẖ x/ or χ/ /xam/ χ] [χam] dialectically

ħ] [ħam] ט קָט tiny t kat ṭ kaṭ י consonant יָם meer y yam j/ /jam/ י part of hirik masculine

(/i/ vowel) בִּי in me i bi י part of tsere male

(/e/ vowel or

/ei/ diphthong) מֵידָע information e medá é médá e/ or /ej/ /meˈda/ or /mejˈda/ e̞] or /e̞j/ [me̞ˈda] or [me̞jˈda] כּ, ךּ [13] כֹּה so k ko כ, ך סְכָךְ Ast-Überdachung kh [C2] skhakh ḵ sḵaḵ x/ oder χ/ /sxax/ χ] [sχaχ] ל לִי zu mir l li מ, ם מוּם Defekt m Mutter נ, ן נִין Urenkel n nin sof ע im Anfangs- oder Endwort

Wortpositionen עַדְלֹאיָדַע Purim-Parade keine [A4] adloyáda ʿ ʿ adloyáda ʿ nur in Initiale

Wortstellung

ʔ] [ˌʔadlo̞ˈjada] dialektisch

ʕ/ /ˌʕadloˈjadaʕ/ ע in medial

Wortpositionen מוֹעִיל nützlich ‘mo’ íl ʿ mo ʿ íl ʔ/ /moˈʔil/ dialektisch

ʕ// moˈʕil/ פּ [d] טִיפּ tip t tip פ, ף fehlte ffisfés צ, ץ צִיץ bud ts tsits ẓ ẓiẓ t͡s// t͡sit͡s/ צ׳, ץ׳יצ׳רץ׳ Zip č [b3] [14 ] ríčrač t͡ʃ/ /ˈrit͡ʃrat͡ʃ/ ק קוֹל Laut k kol q qol ר עִיר Stadt r ir ʀ] oder ʁ] [iʀ] oder [iʁ] dialektisch

r] oder ɾ] [ir] oder [iɾ] שׁ שָׁם da sh sham š šam ʃ/ /ʃam/ שׂ שָׂם put s sam ś śam תּ תּוּת Erdbeere t tut t tuṯ ת ṯ

Hebräischer Buchstabe Standard

Israeli

Transliteration

– normaler [20] Standard

Israeli

Transliteration

– präzise [20] IPA phonemisch

Transkription IPA phonetisch

Transkription א Konsonant, in

Anfangswort

Positionen keine [A1] ʔ] א Konsonant, in

kein Anfangswort

Positionen ‘ ʾ ʔ/ א still keine [A2] בּ b ב v גּ g g ג ḡ ג׳ ǧ[B1][14] d͡ʒ/ דּ d d ד ḏ ה Konsonant h ה still keine [A3] ו Konsonant v w וּ u וֹ o o̞] oder ɔ̝] ז z ז׳ ž[B2][14] ʒ/ ח ẖ[C1] ḥ x/ oder χ/ χ] dialektisch

ħ] ט t ṭ י Konsonant y j/ י Teil von Hirik männlich

(/i/ Vokal) i é Teil von tsere male

(/e/ Vokal bzw

/ei/ Diphthong) e é e/ oder /ej/ e̞] oder [e̞j]/ ​​כּ, ךּ [13] k כ, ך kh[C2] ḵ x/ oder χ/ χ] ל l מ, ם m נ, ן n ס s ע am Anfang oder am Ende

Wortpositionen keine [A4] ʿ nur in Initiale

Wortstellung

ʔ] dialektisch

ʕ/ ע im Mittel

Wortpositionen ‘ ʿ ʔ/ dialektisch

ʕ/ פּ [D] p פ, ף f צ, ץ ts ẓ t͡s/ צ׳, ץ׳ č[B3][14] t͡ʃ/ ק k q ר r ʀ] oder ʁ] dialektisch

r] oder ɾ] שׁ sh š ʃ/ שׂ s ś תּ t t ת ṯ

Remarks

A1 ^ 2 ^ 3 ^ 4 ^ In Transliterationen des modernen israelischen Hebräisch werden Anfangs- und Endwort ע (in der regulären Transliteration), stilles oder anfängliches א und stilles ה nicht transkribiert. Für Leser, die sich an lateinischen (oder ähnlichen) Alphabeten orientieren, scheinen diese Buchstaben als Vokalbuchstaben transkribiert zu sein; Dies sind jedoch tatsächlich Transliterationen der diakritischen Vokale – niqqud (oder sind Darstellungen der gesprochenen Vokale). Z.B. in אִם (“wenn”, [ʔim]), אֵם (“Mutter”, [ʔe̞m]) und אֹם (“Nuss”, [ʔo̞m]) steht der Buchstabe א immer für denselben Konsonanten: [ʔ] (Glottal stop), wobei die Vokale /i/, /e/ und /o/ jeweils den gesprochenen Vokal darstellen, ob er orthographisch durch diakritische Zeichen gekennzeichnet ist oder nicht. Since the Academy of the Hebrew Language ascertains that א in initial position is not transliterated, the symbol for the glottal stop ʾ 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.

B1 ^ 2 ^ 3 ^ The diacritic geresh – “׳” – is used with some other letters as well (ד׳, ח׳, ט׳, ע׳, ר׳, ת׳), 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” [e1] are sometimes used to represent /w/, which like /d͡ʒ/, /ʒ/ and /t͡ʃ/ appears in Hebrew slang and loanwords.

C1 ^ 2 ^ The Sound /χ/ (as “ch” in loch) is often transcribed “ch”, inconsistently with the guidelines specified by the Academy of the Hebrew Language: חם /χam/ → “cham”; סכך /sχaχ/ → “schach”.

D ^ Although the Bible does include a single occurrence of a final pe with a dagesh (Book of Proverbs 30, 6: ” אַל-תּוֹסְףְּ עַל-דְּבָרָיו: פֶּן-יוֹכִיחַ בְּךָ וְנִכְזָבְתָּ.‎”), in modern Hebrew /p/ is always represented by pe in its regular, not final, form “פ”, even when in final word position, which occurs with loanwords (e.g. שׁוֹפּ /ʃop/ “shop”), foreign names (e.g. פִילִיפּ /ˈfilip/ “Philip”) and some slang (e.g. חָרַפּ /χaˈrap/ “slept deeply”).

Religious use [ edit ]

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 provenance 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]”);[21] others attribute mystical significance to the letters, connecting them with the process of creation or 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.[22]

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.[23][24]

Another book, the 13th-century Kabbalistic text Sefer HaTemunah, 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 repair the universe.[25] 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”.[25]

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.

Mathematical use [ edit ]

See aleph number and beth number and gimel function.

In set theory, ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} , pronounced aleph-naught or aleph-zero, is used to mark the cardinal number of an infinite countable set, such as Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} } , the set of all integers. More generally, the ℵ α {\displaystyle \aleph _{\alpha }} (aleph) notation marks the ordered sequence of all distinct infinite cardinal numbers.

Less frequently used, the ℶ α {\displaystyle \beth _{\alpha }} (beth) notation is used for the iterated power sets of ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} . The 2nd element ℶ 1 {\displaystyle \beth _{1}} is the cardinality of the continuum. Very occasionally, gimel is used in cardinal notation.

Unicode and HTML [ edit ]

An example of a Hebrew keyboard.

The Unicode Hebrew block extends from U+0590 to U+05FF and from U+FB1D to U+FB4F. It includes letters, ligatures, combining diacritical marks (Niqqud and cantillation marks) and punctuation.[9] The 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.

Standard Hebrew keyboards have a 101-key layout. Like the standard QWERTY layout, the Hebrew layout was derived from the order of letters on Hebrew typewriters.

See also[edit]

Notes [edit]

a ^ “Alef-bet” is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the maqaf (מקף, “[Hebrew] hyphen”), אלפבית עברי, as opposed to with the hyphen, אלף־בית עברי.

b ^ The Arabic letters generally (as six of the primary letters can have only two variants) have 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.

c ^ 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 f in a sofit (final) position, with few exceptions.[13] In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible. In Modern Hebrew this restriction is not absolute, e.g. פִיזִיקַאי /fiziˈkaj/ and never /piziˈkaj/ (= “physicist”), סְנוֹבּ /snob/ and never /snov/ (= “snob”). A dagesh may be inserted to unambiguously denote the plosive variant: בּ = /b/, כּ = /k/, פּ =/p/; similarly (though today very rare in Hebrew and common only in Yiddish) a rafé placed above the letter unambiguously denotes the fricative variant: בֿ = /v/, כֿ = /χ/ and פֿ = /f/. In Modern Hebrew orthography, the sound [p] at the end of a word is denoted by the regular form “פ”, as opposed to the final form “ף”, which always denotes [f] (see table of transliterations and transcriptions, comment[D]).

d ^ 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).

e1 ^ e2 ^ e3 ^ e4 ^ e5 ^ The Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both [v] and [w] be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav.[26] Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote [w] as opposed to [v] but rather, when 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 spelling without niqqud denotes one of the phonemes /u/ or /o/. To pronounce foreign words and loanwords containing the sound [w], Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context.

References[ edit ]

Bibliography[edit]

General [edit]

Do you know Papa in Hebrew? How do you use papa in Hebrew and how do you say papa in Hebrew? How do you write in Hebrew? Now we will learn how to say papa in Hebrew.

Papa translated into Hebrew: אבא.

In other words, אבא in Hebrew is Daddy in English. Click to pronounce

English Hebrew Your browser does not support the audio element. Your browser does not support the audio element. Dad אבא

How do you use papa in Hebrew?

The meaning of papa in Hebrew is: אבא.

Why Should We Learn the Hebrew Language?

There are many, many reasons why learning a new language is a good idea. It allows you to communicate with new people. It helps you see things from a different perspective or get a deeper understanding of another culture. It helps you become a better listener. It even has health benefits, as studies have shown that people who speak two or more languages ​​have more active minds later in life!

7 reasons to learn a Hebrew language

makes you smarter

Increases academic performance.

Offers career and professional benefits.

Provides wider access to education and information.

Gives you more social and global skills.

Increases national security.

Life is more interesting.

How do you say papa in Hebrew?

אבא. This is the most common way to say papa in the אבא language. Click the audio icon to pronounce papa in Hebrew:

English Hebrew Your browser does not support the audio element. Your browser does not support the audio element. Dad אבא

How do you write in Hebrew?

The standard spelling for “Daddy” in Hebrew is: אבא

Alphabet in Hebrew

About the Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically it is considered the language of the Israelites, Judeans and their ancestors. It is the only Canaanite language still spoken and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language, and one of only two Northwest Semitic languages ​​still spoken, the other being Aramaic.

The language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Hebrew Bible, but as Yehudit (“the language of Judah”) or səpaṯ Kəna’an (“the language of Canaan”). [Note 1] Mishnah Gitin 9:8 refers to language as Ivrit, meaning Hebrew; However, Mishnah Megillah refers to the Hebrew language as Ashurit, meaning Assyrian, which is derived from the name of the alphabet used, as opposed to Ivrit, meaning the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BC.

writing system in Hebrew

Hebrew Alphabet, Hebrew Braille, Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet (Archaic Biblical Hebrew), Imperial Aramaic Script (Late Biblical Hebrew)

Hebrew-speaking countries and territories

Hebrew-speaking countries and territories: Israel.

Hebrew native speakers

Native Hebrew speakers: 9 million speakers of modern Hebrew, of which 5 million are native speakers (2017).

Hebrew language code

The Hebrew language code is: er.

Conclusion on Papa in Hebrew

Now that you have learned and understood how papa is called “אבא” in Hebrew, it is time to learn how to say papa in Hebrew. Hopefully this will give you a little motivation to start learning Hebrew today.

אבא means papa in Hebrew in English.

Biblical baby names are traditional and offer deep meaning. They’ve stood the test of time, with many biblical names serving as perennial chart-toppers, like Noah and Jacob for boys and Abigail and Hannah for girls. Not to mention other popular biblical names for girls like Mary, Leah or Rebecca… and don’t forget popular biblical names for boys like Michael, Daniel, Matthew and Elijah.

However, if you’re looking for a biblical baby name that isn’t that common, you can delve a little deeper into The Good Book and the many stories it has to tell. We’ve dug up some of the most unique biblical baby names for boys and girls, as well as ten biblical baby names that work for both genders, to make a list full of fresh — yet fabled — biblical name ideas for your baby.

Biblical baby names for boys

Adino: It’s an Old Testament name meaning ‘jewelry’. Adino was one of David’s “Mighty Men” and you can feminize this for a girl by changing the “o” to read Adina. The female version means “slender, delicate” in Hebrew.

Azel: A Biblical fling from the more popular Axel, this Hebrew baby name from the Bible means ‘noble’.

Barak: The Old Testament name meaning “lightning bolt” given to a son of Abinoam. For a more contemporary context, it’s a nice tribute to the 44th US President, Barack Obama.

Ephron: Meaning “doubly fruitful”, it is one of the more common biblical names on this list and can be written like this or in the Hebrew version – Ephraim.

Ishmael: This Bible baby name means ‘God will hear’, making it a poignant choice for a devout family. He was the son of Abraham; His story is in Genesis chapter 16.

Jemuel: It means ‘Day of God’ and brings a peaceful and restorative quality to this rare biblical name. It’s also a nice answer if you want to name a child in honor of a James or Samuel in the family.

Joah: Far less popular than his rhyming name (Noah), which means ‘brother of God’. There are four men named Joah in the Old Testament, and it’s a unique twist if you want to name your son after a Joseph or Noah.

Kenan: This biblical name has a modern feel as different spellings have popped up in recent years. It’s the Anglicized version of the Irish name Cianán, meaning ‘little old man’.

Lael: The name means “belonging to God”. Though short and simple, it has a unique sound that is both mellow and proud.

Mordecai: This biblical baby name has a special meaning: in the story of the feast of Purim, he helped his cousin Queen Esther save the Jewish people from annihilation. The biblical name, meaning “follower of Marduk,” might be a bit of a bite for a little fella, but Mordi is a cute nickname.

Omri: He was a biblical king of Israel related to the harvest. Appropriately, this strong biblical name for boys means ‘my sheaf’ (or sheaf of grain).

Philemon: This is an elegant solution if you want to name a son Phil but not Phillip. In the New Testament, Philemon was a letter from Paul.

Silvanus: From the Latin “wood, forest”, he was the Roman god of the forest. Referring to the Christian Bible, it is a New Testament name belonging to one of Saint Paul’s companions. He’s also called Silas, which makes for a cool nickname.

Tekoa: A Biblical place name meaning “trumpet”; This phonetic baby name is easy to spell and pronounce despite being so rare.

Zaccai: If you’ve been considering Zachary but want something flashy, this biblical name for boys is a dashing option. The name means “pure”.

Biblical baby names for girls

Adah: There were two women in the Bible with this beautiful maiden name, meaning beautiful.

Apphia: This biblical girl name appears in the New Testament — it’s the Greek version of an ancient Hebrew moniker. The translation is “fertile, growing,” making it an auspicious name. Aphi or Fia are both adorable nicknames.

Atara: In the Bible, Jerahmeel’s wife wore this eye-catching, regal name, meaning “crown,” making it a perfect choice for your little princess.

Galilee: Definitely one of the least used names on our list of biblical baby names, it has a joyful quality and means ‘the province’. Alternative meanings are “wheel, revolution”. Galilee is a region in northern Israel where Jesus lived for at least 30 years. It also lends itself to a variety of cute nicknames, including Gali, Lily, or Leelee!

Hadassah: It is a beautiful biblical name, meaning ‘compassion’ and containing the echo of Hadas, the myrtle tree. This is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther in the Bible.

Junia: The translation is “born in June,” making it a perfect choice for your late spring or early summer girl. Junia is a unique name found in the New Testament.

Keturah: The name of Abraham’s wife also means “scent, sacrifice”. A beautiful name for a little girl.

Mahala: This biblical name for girls means ‘tender’ or ‘tenderness’ and was often seen in colonial America but has lost popularity in today’s world. Mahala was a daughter of Zelophehad in the Book of Numbers, and her built-in nickname (Hala) is a neat way to shorten the three-syllable name.

Naamah: The name, meaning “pleasant” in Hebrew, appears more than once in the Old Testament. Some hold her to be a wife of Noah, while others refute this interpretation. Either way, it is a beautiful sounding and unique biblical baby girl name.

Peninah: She was a wife of Elkanah in the book of Samuel, and the pretty girl’s name means ‘pearl’. Modern wedding enthusiasts will notice the resemblance to world-renowned designer Pnina Tornai.

Prisca: More crisp and modern than Priscilla, the ancient Roman name means “ancient” and appears in the New Testament.

Saphira: A name with a gem-like quality, it refers to the blue stones lapis lazuli and sapphires. While the original Sapphira did not have a good reputation with God himself, it is a lovely name with biblical roots for a modern little girl.

Sherah: She was a descendant of Ephraim and the name means “flesh, relationship”. Unlike the often-used Sarah, this simple and sweet biblical girl name is still quite rare.

Talitha: Talitha, meaning “little girl,” appears briefly in the Gospel of Mark when Jesus Christ resurrects a young girl and says, “Talitha cumi,” or “Little girl, I tell you, arise.” This hopeful and spirited girl name will not often used.

Vashti: The name of the Queen of Persia in the Old Testament, this Persian name means ‘beautiful’ or ‘best’.

Gender neutral biblical names

Abiah: The Biblical name can be given to a boy or a girl and means ‘God is my Father’, making it universally appealing to followers of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

Amal: This biblical unisex baby name with Arabic roots means ‘hope’ or ‘endeavour’, a lovely sentiment to pass on to your little boy or girl. It belonged to an Asherite in the Old Testament.

Aquila: Traditionally a boy’s name of Latin origin meaning “eagle,” this biblical name has been adopted for girls in recent years…probably because it ends in “a,” which is more traditional for girls’ names. Aquila was an early missionary mentioned in the New Testament.

Damaris: In the book of Acts there is a mention of a woman named Damaris. Although traditionally a girl’s name, it has veered into gender-neutral territory in recent years. The name has multiple meanings from Spanish to Greek, including ‘to tame’ or, when used for a girl, ‘dominant woman’.

Elon: The rare biblical name only recently crept into the US Top 1,000 but is still considered fairly rare. Its meaning is “oak tree” from the Hebrew, and Elon was a judge of Israel in the Bible. (Of course, it’s possible that Tesla founder Elon Musk is responsible for his recent popularity!)

Jadon: There are numerous spellings, but the traditional biblical interpretation of this cute baby name is as written here. There are two places where a jadon is mentioned in the Bible and its meanings are “God has heard” and “thankful.”

Jericho: A very cool place name from a battle in the Book of Joshua. Today it is used as a biblical unisex baby name meaning ‘city of the moon’.

Neriah: This beautiful biblical name means ‘light’ or ‘lamp of the Lord’ and can be used as either a boy’s or girl’s name.

Shifrah: From Hebrew, it means beautiful or handsome, making this a great choice for your sweet little girl or boy. Shifrah is a revered midwife in the Old Testament.

Urban: Of Latin origin, the name means ‘of the city’ and has obvious modern connotations, making it a great unisex name choice for an urban kid. It gains biblical credibility from a brief mention in the New Testament.

Final Thoughts on Biblical Baby Names

The Bible has been a source of inspiration for thousands of years, so it comes as no surprise that it has also produced a number of beautiful Biblical baby names. However, it’s not your only source of inspiration when it comes to picking the perfect baby name. Take a look at our other favorite baby names:

Picking the perfect baby name is one of the most important to-dos on your list… but so is figuring out where baby is going to sleep. Find out what makes SNOO Smart Sleeper the safest and smartest baby crib… and learn more about how SNOO adds hours of sleep to babies – and their tired parents – every night!

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Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the initial letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ʾālep 𐤀, Hebrew ʾālef א , Aramaic ʾālap 𐡀, Syriac ʾālap̄ Hbf , Arabic alif ا and North Arabic 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge’ez ʾälef አ.

These letters are believed to have come from an Egyptian hieroglyph depicting an ox’s head[1] to describe the initial sound of *ʾalp, the West Semitic word for ox[2] (compare Biblical Hebrew אֶלֶף‎ ʾelef, “ox “[3] ). From the Phoenician variant emerged the Greek alpha (Α), reinterpreted to express not the glottal consonant but the accompanying vowel, and hence the Latin A and Cyrillic А.

Phonetically, aleph originally represented the beginning of a vowel at the glottis. In Semitic languages, this acts as a prosthetic weak consonant, allowing roots with only two true consonants to be conjugated like a standard Semitic root with three consonants. In most Hebrew dialects, as well as in Syriac, the aleph is the absence of a true consonant, a glottal stop ([ʔ]). In Arabic, the alif stands for the pronunciation of the glottal stop when it is the first letter of a word. In texts with diacritics, the pronunciation of an aleph as a consonant is rarely indicated by a special mark, hamza in Arabic and mappiq in Tiberian Hebrew. In later Semitic languages, aleph could sometimes function as a mater lectionis, indicating the presence of a vowel (usually long) elsewhere. When this practice began is a matter of some controversy, although by the late phase of Old Aramaic (c. 200 BC) it was well established. Aleph is often transcribed as U+02BE ʾ, based on the Greek spiritus lenis ʼ; for example in the transliteration of the letter name itself, ʾāleph.[4]

origin [edit]

The name aleph derives from the West Semitic word for “ox” (as in the Biblical Hebrew word eleph (אֶלֶף) ‘ox'[3]), and the shape of the letter derives from what may be a Proto-Sinaite glyph based on a Egyptian hieroglyph depicting an ox’s head.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the word أليف /ʔaliːf/ literally means “tamed” or “familiar”, derived from the root |ʔ-l-f|, from which the verb ألِف /ʔalifa/ “to be acquainted with; closely related to’.[6] In modern Hebrew, the same root |ʔ-l-p| (alef-lamed-peh) makes me’ulaf, the passive participle of the verb le’alef, meaning “trained” (referring to domestic animals) or “tamed” (referring to wild animals); The IDF rank Aluf, taken from an Edomite noble title, is also related. [Clarification required]

Ancient Egyptian[ edit ]

The Egyptian “vulture” hieroglyph (Gardiner G1), which by convention is pronounced [a], is also known as an aleph because it is traditionally considered to be a glottal stop, although some recent proposals [7] [8] tend towards an alveolar one approximate ([ɹ]) sounds. Despite the name, it does not correspond to any aleph in related Semitic words, where the single “reed” hieroglyph is found instead.

The phoneme is commonly transliterated by a symbol consisting of two semi-rings, in Unicode (as of version 5.1, in the Latin Extended-D range), encoded U+A722 Ꜣ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL ALEF and U+A723 ꜣ LATIN SMALL LETTER EGYPTOLOGY ALEF . A fallback representation is the numeral 3, or the Middle English character ȝ yogh; both are not preferable to the real Egyptological characters.

Aramaic[ edit ]

The Aramaic reflex of the letter is commonly represented in typography with the Hebrew א for convenience, but the actual graphic form has varied considerably over the long history and vast geographical extent of the language. Maraqten identifies three distinct Aleph traditions in East Arabian coins: a succinct Aramaic form realizing it as a combination of a V-shape and a straight line at the top, similar to a Latin K; a cursive Aramaic form he calls the “elaborated X-form”, essentially the same tradition as the Hebrew reflex; and an extremely cursive form of two crossed slanting lines, similar to a plain Latin X.[9]

Italic Aramaic Lapidary Aramaic

Hebrew [ edit ]

“א” redirects here. For the biblical manuscript, see Codex Sinaiticus

It is written as א and spelled as אָלֶף.

In modern Israeli Hebrew, the letter represents either a glottal stop ([ʔ]) or indicates a pause (the separation of two adjacent vowels into distinct syllables with no intervening consonants). It is sometimes silent (literally always, word-medially sometimes: הוּא‎ [hu] “he”, רָאשִׁי‎ [ʁaˈʃi] “head”, רֹאשׁ‎ [ʁoʃ] “head”, רִאשׁוֹן [ʁiˈʃon] “first” ). The pronunciation varies in different Jewish ethnic divisions.

In gematria, aleph represents the number 1, and when used at the beginning of Hebrew years it means 1000 (e.g. א’תשנ”ד in numbers the Hebrew date would be 1754, not to be confused with 1754 AD. ).

Aleph cannot get Dagesh along with ayin, resh, he and heth. (However, there are a few very rare examples of the Masoretes adding a Dagesh or Mappiq to an Aleph or Resh. The verses of the Hebrew Bible for which an Aleph appears with a Mappiq or Dagesh are Genesis 43:26, Leviticus 23:17 , Job 33:21 and Ezra 8:18.)

In modern Hebrew, the frequency of use of alef out of all letters is 4.94%.

Aleph is sometimes used as a mater lectionis to denote a vowel, usually /a/. This usage is more common in words of Aramaic and Arabic origin, in foreign names, and some other borrowed words.

Rabbinic Judaism[ edit ]

Aleph is the subject of a Midrash praising his humility in not demanding to begin the Bible. (In Hebrew, the Bible begins with the second letter of the alphabet, bet.) In the story, Aleph is rewarded with being allowed to begin the Ten Commandments. (In Hebrew, the first word is אָנֹכִי, which begins with an aleph.)

In the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Aleph is king over the breath, formed air in the universe, temperate in the year, and the breast in the soul.

Aleph is also the first letter of the Hebrew word emet ( אֶמֶת ) meaning truth. In Jewish mythology, it was the letter Aleph carved into the golem’s head that finally gave it life.

Aleph also begins with the three words that make up God’s mystical name in Exodus, I am who I am (in Hebrew Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh אהיה אשר אהיה), and Aleph is an important part of mystical amulets and formulas.

Aleph represents the unity of God in Jewish mysticism. The letter consists of an upper yud, a lower yud and a diagonally inclined vav. The upper Jud represents the hidden and indescribable aspects of God, while the lower Jud represents God’s revelation and presence in the world. The vav (“hook”) connects the two kingdoms.

Jewish mysticism relates Aleph to the element of air and the sparkling intelligence (#11) of the path between Kether and Chokmah in the Tree of Sephiroth [citation needed].

Yiddish [ edit ]

In Yiddish[10] aleph is used for various orthographic purposes in native words, usually with various diacritics borrowed from the Hebrew niqqud:

Without diacritics, Aleph is silent; it is written at the beginning of words before vowels spelled with the letter vov or yud. For example, oykh “also” is written אויך. The digraph וי represents the initial diphthong [ oj ], but this digraph is not allowed at the beginning of a word in Yiddish orthography, so it is preceded by a silent aleph. Some publications also use a mute aleph next to such vowels in the middle of a word, when necessary, to avoid ambiguity.

“also” is written אויך. The digraph וי represents the initial diphthong [ ], but this digraph is not allowed at the beginning of a word in Yiddish orthography, so it is preceded by a silent aleph. Some publications also use a mute aleph next to such vowels in the middle of a word, when necessary, to avoid ambiguity. An aleph with the diacritic pasekh, אַ, represents the vowel a]

, אַ, stands for the vowel Ein Aleph with the diacritic comets, אָ, stands for the vowel ɔ]

Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic are written in Yiddish as in their language of origin.

Syriac Alaph/Olaf[ edit ]

Alaph Madnḫaya Alap Serṭo Olaph Esṭrangela Alap

In the Syriac alphabet, the initial letter is Fl, Classical Syriac: Fl Fl Fl, alap (in Eastern dialects) or olaph (in Western dialects). It is used in word-initial position to mark a word beginning with a vowel, but some words beginning with i or u don’t need its help, and sometimes an initial alap/olaph is omitted. For example, when the Syriac first-person singular pronoun emerging in enclitic positions, it is pronounced no/na (West/East again) rather than the full form eno/ana. The letter is very regularly found at the end of words, where it represents the long final vowels o/a or e. In the middle of the word, the letter represents either a glottal stop between vowels (but West Syriac pronunciation often makes it a palatal approximation), a long i/e (less commonly o/a), or is silent.

South Arabic/Ge’ez [ edit ]

In the Old South Arabic alphabet, 𐩱 appears as the seventeenth letter of the South Arabic abjad. The letter is used to represent a glottal stop /ʔ/.

In the Ge’ez alphabet, ʾälef አ appears as the thirteenth letter of its Abyad. This letter is also used to render a glottal stop /ʔ/.

South Arabian Ge’ez 𐩱 አ

Arabic [ edit ]

Written as ا or 𐪑, written as ألف or 𐪑𐪁𐪐 and transcribed as alif, it is the first letter in Arabic and North Arabic. Along with the Hebrew aleph, the Greek alpha and the Latin a, it derives from the Phoenician ʾāleph, from a reconstructed Proto-Canaanite ʾalp “oxen”.

Alif is written in one of the following ways depending on its position in the word:

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ا ‎ ـا ‎ ـا ‎ ا

North Arabic 𐪑

Arabic variants[ edit ]

Alif with Hamza: أ and إ [ edit ]

The Arabic letter was used to represent either a long /aː/ or a glottal stop /ʔ/. This led to orthographic confusion and the introduction of the additional letter hamzat qaṭ’ ﺀ . Hamza is not considered a full letter in Arabic orthography: in most cases it appears on a carrier, either a wāw (Ä), a dotless yā’ (ئ), or an alif.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) أ ‎ ـأ ‎ ـأ ‎ أ ‎

The choice of carrier depends on complicated orthographic rules. Alif إ أ is generally the carrier when the only adjacent vowel is fatḥah. It is the only possible carrier when hamza is the first phoneme of a word. When alif acts as a carrier for hamza, hamza is added above the alif or, for the initial alif-kasrah, below it, indicating that the letter so modified is actually a glottal stop, not a long vowel.

A second type of hamza, hamzat waṣl (همزة وصل), whose diacritic is usually omitted outside of sacred texts, occurs only as the initial of the definite article and in some related cases. It differs from hamzat qaṭ’ in that it is omitted after a preceding vowel. Alif is always the carrier.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ٱ ‎ ـٱ ‎ ـٱ ‎ ٱ ‎

Alif Maddah: آ[edit]

The alif maddah is a double alif expressing both a glottal stop and a long vowel. Essentially it is the same as a أا sequence: آ (final ـآ) ‘ā /ʔaː/, for example in آخر ākhir /ʔaːxir/ ‘last’.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(Help) آ ‎ ـآ ‎ ـآ ‎ آ ‎

“It has become standard that a hamza followed by a long ā is written as two alifs, one vertical and one horizontal.”[11] (the “horizontal” alif is the maddah character).

Alif maqṣūrah: ى [ edit ]

The ى (“restricted/restricted alif”, alif maqṣūrah), commonly known in Egypt as alif layyinah (ألف لينة, “flexible alif”), looks like a dotless yā’ ى (final ـى) and may only appear at the end of a word. Although it looks different from a normal alif, it represents the same sound /aː/, often realized as a short vowel. When written, alif maqṣūrah is indistinguishable from the last Persian ye or Arabic yā’ as written in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes elsewhere.

The letter is transcribed as y in Kazakh and represents the vowel /ə/. Alif Maqsurah is transliterated as á in ALA-LC, ā in DIN 31635, à in ISO 233-2 and ỳ in ISO 233.

In Arabic, alif maqsurah ى is not used initially or medially, and it cannot be connected initially or medially in any font. However, the letter is used initially and medial in the Uyghur Arabic alphabet and the Arabic-based Kyrgyz alphabet, and represents the vowel /ɯ/: (ىـ ـىـ).

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ى ‎ ـى ‎ ـىـ ‎ ىـ ‎

Digit [ edit ]

As a digit, alif stands for the number one. It can be modified to represent other numbers as follows.

Change to alif Number represented One point below 1,000 One line below 10,000 One line above 1,000,000 Two points below 10,000,000

Other uses[ edit ]

mathematics [edit]

In set theory, the Hebrew aleph glyph is used as a symbol to denote the aleph numbers, which represent the cardinality of infinite sets. This notation was introduced by the mathematician Georg Cantor. In older math books, the letter aleph is often accidentally printed upside down, in part because a monotype matrix for aleph was erroneously constructed upside down.[12]

Character encodings [ edit ]

Character information Preview א ا 𐡀 𐫀 𐫀 ℵ ℵ Unicode-name Hebrew letter alef arabic alef Syrian letter alaph alaph samaritan letter alaf ugaritic letter alpa phoenician letter alf imperial letter aleph manicaic letters deco hex. Hex. Hex. Hex. dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex Unicode 1488 U+05D0 1575 U+0627 1808 U+0710 2048 U+0800 66432 U+10380 67840 U+10900 67648 U+10840 68288 U+10AC0 8542 D175.8301 UTF-8301 90 216 167 D8 A7 220 144 DC 90 224 160 128 E0 80 240 142 128 F0 90 240 144 164 128 A4 80 240 144 161 128 F0 90 244 171 128 F0 90 226 132 181 E2 84 B5 UTF-16 1488 05D0 1575 0627 1808 0710 2048 0800 55296 57216 D800 DF80 55298 56576 D802 DD00 55298 56384 D802 DC40 55298 57024 D802 DEC0 8501 2135 Numeric character reference א א ا ا ܐ ܐ ࠀ ࠀ 𐎀 𐎀 𐤀 𐤀 𐡀 𐡀 𐫀 𐫀 ℵ ℵ Named character reference ℵ, ℵ

See also[edit]

This article is about the Semitic letter. For other uses, see WAW

Waw/Vav (wāw “hook”) is the sixth letter of the Semitic Abjads, including Phoenician wāw , Aramaic waw , Hebrew waw/vav ו, Syriac waw emerge and Arabic wāw و (sixth in the Abjadi order; 27th in the modern Arabic order).

It represents the consonant [w] in classical Hebrew and [v] in modern Hebrew, as well as the vowels [u] and [o]. In texts with niqqud, a dot is added to the left or above the letter to indicate the two vowel pronunciations.

It is the origin of Greek Ϝ (digamma) and Υ (upsilon), Cyrillic У, Latin F and U and later Y, and derived Latin or Roman letters V and W.

origin [edit]

The letter probably comes from an Egyptian hieroglyph representing the word mace (transcribed as ḥ(dj)):[1]

In modern Hebrew, the word וָו vav means both “hook” and the name of the letter (the name is also spelled וי״ו).

Arabic Waw[ edit ]

The letter و is called واو wāw and is written in different ways depending on its position in the word:

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) و ‎ ـو ‎ ـو ‎ و ‎

Wāw is used to represent four distinct phonetic features:

A consonant pronounced as a voiced labial-velar approximant /w/, which is always the case when it occurs at the beginning of a word, and sometimes elsewhere.

, which is always the case when it is at the beginning of a word, and sometimes elsewhere. A long /uː/ . The preceding consonant could have either no diacritic or a short wāw vowel mark, damma, to aid pronunciation by pointing to the following long vowel.

. The preceding consonant could have either no diacritic or a short wāw vowel mark, damma, to aid pronunciation by pointing to the following long vowel. A long /oː/ In many dialects, as a result of the monophthongization that the diphthong /aw/ underwent in most words.

In many dialects, as a result of the monophthongization that the diphthong underwent in most words. Part of a diphthong, /aw/ . In this case it has no diacritic, but could be marked with a sukun in some traditions. The preceding consonant could have either no diacritic or fatḥa /a/ in the diphthong.

As a vowel, wāw can serve as a bearer of a hamza: Ä.

Wāw has several functions in Arabic. Perhaps the most important of these is that it is the primary conjunction in Arabic, synonymous with “and”; it is usually prefixed to other conjunctions such as وَلَكِن wa-lākin, meaning “but”. Another function is the “oath” by prefixing the speaker with a noun of great importance. It is often literally translatable as “Through…” or “I swear…” and is often used in this manner in the Qur’an, and also in the generally fixed construction والله wallāh (“By Allah!”). or “I swear to God!”).

Derived letters [ edit ]

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۋ ‎ ـۋ ‎ ـۋ ‎ ۋ ‎

With an additional triple diacritic above the vav, the letter then called ve is used to clearly represent the consonant /v/ in Arabic-based Uyghur.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۆ ‎ ـۆ ‎ ـۆ ‎ ۆ ‎

/o/ in Kurdish; /v/ in Arabic Kazakh; /ø/ in Uyghur.

The thirty-fourth letter of the Azerbaijani Arabic script represents Ô /ɔ/.

It is also used for short vowels /o/ or /u/ in many languages,[specify] for example “u” in b u ll (بۆل)

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۉ ‎ ـۉ ‎ ـۉ ‎ ۉ ‎

for /oː/ or /u/, used in many languages,[specify] for example o in bold (بۉلد)

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۈ ‎ ـۈ ‎ ـۈ ‎ ۈ ‎

/y/ in Uyghur and also in other languages[specify] with a similar vowel.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۊ ‎ ـۊ ‎ ـۊ ‎ ۊ ‎

/ʉː/ in Southern Kurdish.

Position in Word Isolated Final Medial Initial Glyph Shape:

(help) ۏ ‎ ـۏ ‎ ـۏ ‎ ۏ ‎

In Jawi script: Used for /v/.

Other letters[edit]

See Arabic Script in Unicode

Hebrew Waw/Vav[ edit ]

Hebrew spelling: וָו or וָאו or וָיו .

For example, the letter appears with or without a tick on various sans serif fonts

Arial, DejaVu Sans, Arimo, Open Sans: å

Tahoma, Noto Sans Hebrew, Alef, Heebo: å

Pronunciation in Modern Hebrew [ edit ]

Vav has three orthographic variants, each with different phonemic value and phonetic translation:

Variant (with Niqqud) Without Niqqud Name Phonemic value Phonetic conversion English example å as initial letter: å consonantal Waw

(Hebrew: Vav Itsurit ו׳ עיצורית ‎) /v/, /w/ v] w] vote

Wand as middle letter: וו ‎ as end letter: ו ‎ or יו ‎ וּ‎ ו‎ Vav Shruka ([väv ʃruˈkä] / ו׳ שרוקה ‎) or

Shuruq ([ʃuˈruk] / שׁוּרוּק ‎) /u/ u] Kleber וֹ‎ ו‎ Vav Chaluma ([väv χäluˈmä] / ו׳ חלומה ‎) or

Holam male ( [χo̞ˈläm maˈle̞] / חוֹלָם מָלֵא ‎) /o/ o̞] no, no

In modern Hebrew, the frequency of use of vav out of all letters is about 10.00%.

Vav as a consonant[ edit ]

The consonant vav (ו) generally represents a voiced labiodental fricative (like English v) in Ashkenazi, European Sephardic, Persian, Caucasian, Italian, and modern Israeli Hebrew, and was originally a labial-velar approximant /w/.

In modern Israeli Hebrew, some loanwords whose pronunciation contains /w/ and their derivatives are pronounced with [w]: ואחד‎ – /ˈwaχad/ (but: ואדי‎ – /ˈvadi/).

Modern Hebrew has no standardized way of orthographically distinguishing between [v] and [w]. The pronunciation is determined by previous knowledge or must be inferred from the context.

Some non-standard spellings of the sound [w] are sometimes found in modern Hebrew texts, such as and /w/, see table above) or rarely vav with Geresh: ו׳יליאם‎ – /ˈwiljam/.

Vav with a dot on top[ edit ]

Vav can be used as a mater lectionis for an o-vowel, in which case it is known as a ḥolam masculine marked in pointed text as vav with a dot above it. It is pronounced [o̞] (phonemically more easily transcribed as /o/).

The distinction is usually ignored and the HEBREW DOT HOLAM (U+05B9) is used in all cases.

The vowel can be denoted without the vav since only the dot above and to the left of the letter points to it, and it is then called ḥolam ḥaser. Some deficient scripts do not support the distinction between the masculine ḥolam ⟨ וֹ‎⟩ /o/, the consonant vav with a ḥolam ḥaser ⟨ וֺ‎⟩ /vo/ (compare ḥolam masculine ⟨ מַצּוֹת‎⟩ /maˈtsot/ and the consonant olam- ḥvav-ḥ ḥaser ⟨ מִצְוֺת‎⟩ /mitsˈvot/). To correctly represent a consonantal vav with ḥolam ḥaser, the script must support either the vav with the Unicode combining character “HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV” (U+05BA, HTML Entity (decimal) ֺ)[2] or the compound character וֹ ‎ (U+FB4B).

Compare the three:

The vav with the connecting character HEBREW DOT HOLAM: מִצְוֹת ‎ The vav with the connecting character HEBREW DOT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV: מִצְוֺת ‎ The compound character: מִצְוֹת ‎

Vav with a dot in the middle[edit]

Vav can also be used as mater lectionis for [u], in which case it is known as shuruk and is identified in the text with niqqud with a dot in the middle (on the left).

Shuruk and Vav with Dagesh look identical (“וּ”), differing only in that in texts containing Niqqud Vav with Dagesh an additional vowel point is usually assigned, e.g. שׁוּק (/ʃuk/), “a market”, (the ‘וּ’ denoting a shuruk) as opposed to שִׁוֵּק (/ʃiˈvek/), “to bring to market” (the “וּ” denoting a vav with dagesh and becomes additional denoted with a zeire, “ֵ”, which denotes /e/). In the word שִׁוּוּק (/ʃiˈvuk/), “marketing”, the first (“וּ”) denotes a vav with dagesh, the second a shuruk, being the vowel ascribed to the first.

Numeric value[ edit ]

Vav in gematria represents the number six, and when used at the beginning of Hebrew years it means 6000 (i.e. ותשנד in numbers the date would be 6754).

Words written as vav [ edit ]

Vav at the beginning of the word has several possible meanings:

vav subjunctive (Vav Hachibur, literally “the vav of connection” – chibur means “to connect” or “to bring together”) connects two words or parts of a sentence; it is a grammatical conjunction meaning “and”. This is the most common usage.

(Vav Hachibur, literally “the vav of connection” – chibur means “to connect” or “to bring together”) connects two words or parts of a sentence; it is a grammatical conjunction meaning. This is the most common usage. Vav consecutive (Vav Hahipuch, literally “the Vav of reversal” – hipuch means “reversal”), mainly biblical, is often confused with the previous type of Vav; it indicates the consequence of actions and reverses the tense of the following verb: when placed before a verb in the imperfect tense, it changes the verb to the perfect tense. For example, yomar means “he will say” and vayomar means “he said”; When placed before a verb in the perfect tense, it changes the verb to the imperfect tense. For example, ahavtah means “you have loved” and ve’ahavtah means “you will love”.

(Vav Hahipuch, literally “the Vav of reversal” – hipuch means “reversal”), mainly biblical, is often confused with the previous type of Vav; it indicates the consequence of actions and reverses the tense of the verb that follows it:

(Note: Older Hebrew did not have a “tense” in the temporal sense, “perfect” and “imperfect”, but rather denoted aspects of a completed or continued action. Modern Hebrew tenses have approximated their Indo-European counterparts and mostly have a temporal quality rather than aspect In general, modern Hebrew does not use the form “waw consecutive”.)

Yiddish [ edit ]

In Yiddish[3] the letter (known as vov) is used for various orthographic purposes in vernacular words:

A single Vov ו ‎ stands for the vowel u]

‎ represents the vowel

‎, ” ” (‘two vovs’), represents the consonant. The digraph וי, consisting of a vov followed by a jud, represents the diphthong [oj].

The single vov can be written with a dot on the left, if necessary, to avoid ambiguity and distinguish it from other features of the letter. For example, the word vu “where” is spelled וווּ, as tsvey vovn followed by a single vov; The single vov indicating [u] is marked with a dot to distinguish which of the three vovs represents the vowel. Some texts instead separate the digraph from the single vov with a mute aleph.

Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic are written in Yiddish as in their language of origin.

Syrian Vav[ edit ]

Vav Madnḫaya Vav Esṭrangela Vav Serṭo Vav

In the Syriac alphabet, the sixth letter is wesen. Waw ( emerging from the syllabus) is pronounced [w]. When used as a Mater Lectionis, a vav with a dot above the letter [o] is pronounced, and a vav with a dot below the letter is pronounced [u]. Vav has an alphabetic-numeric value of 6.

Character encodings [ edit ]

Character Info Preview ו و lei ࠅ וּ וֹ Unicode Name HEBREW LETTER VAV ARABIC LETTER WAW SYRIAN LETTER WAW SAMARITA LETTER BAA HEBREW LETTER VAV WITH DAGESH HEBREW LETTER VAV WITH HOLAM Encodings Decimal Hex Dec Hex Dec Dec Dec Hex Dec Hex Dec Unicode Dec 1 Hex4 Hex Dec 3 U+ 05D5 1608 U+0648 1816 U+0718 2053 U+0805 64309 U+FB35 64331 U+FB4B UTF-8 215 149 D7 95 217 136 D9 88 220 152 DC 98 224 160 133 E0 A0 7 1 2 7 2 B B 39 139 EF AD 8B Numeric Character Reference ו ו و و emergen lei ࠅ ࠅ וּ וּ וֹ וֹ

Character Info Preview 𐎆 𐡅 𐤅 Unicode Name UGARITIC LETTER WO IMPERIAL ARAMEAN LETTER WAW PHOENICIAN LETTER WAU Encodings Decimal Hex Dec Dec Hex Dec Dec Hex Unicode 66438 U+10386 67653 U+10845 67845 U+10905 18 4 3 2405 18 4 2405 8E8 4 4 2405 UTF-8 161 133 F0 90 A1 85 240 144 164 133 F0 90 A4 85 UTF-16 55296 57222 D800 DF86 55298 56389 D802 DC45 55298 56581 D802 DD05 Reference for numeric characters