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K or KH
- Like the
presented in lesson one, this consonant also has two forms:
- The
is written in the beginning or in
the middle of a word and has the Hebrew name "Kaf".
- The
(the vertical being extended beneath the line) is the form used always at the end of a word and has the Hebrew name "Kaf
sofit" (final Kaf).
- As for the consonant
, explained in lesson two, the has two sounds,
depending on its place in the word, or whether the consonant is doubled by a
"doubling dot" for grammatical reasons.
- If the
is at the beginning of a word or follows a closed syllable, its sound is as in European languages, "K" (plosive palatal); in vocalized
text there is a dot in it ( ).
- If the consonant is doubled for grammatical reasons, it is pronounced "k", while
in vocalized text it has also a dot in it.
- In all other cases, the
is a fricative palatal, ie. a scraping sound, as
the "ch" in the German word "ach".
- In modern Hebrew, the
is always fricative, but in the Bible there are
many cases where the has a dot; for example:
"wettissa et qolah wattevk" (and she lifted up her voice and wept) (Gen. 21:16)
"we'ehye immkha wa'avarekhekka" (and I will be with thee, and will bless thee.) (Gen. 26:3)
"bekhol yom avarekhekka" (Every day will I bless thee)(Ps. 145:2)
"wattipol lifney raglaw wattevk wattithannen lo" (and fell down at his feet, and wept, and beseeched him) (Est. 8:3)
End of explanation of the consonant "Kaf".
Back to lesson six
N
- Like the
we explained in lesson one, this consonant also has two forms:
- the
is written in the beginning or in the middle of a word and has the Hebrew name "Nun".
- The
(the vertical being extended beneath the line) is the form used at the end of a word and has the Hebrew name "Nun
sofit" (final Nun).
- The sound is like the sound of the "n" in European languages.
End of explanation of the consonant "Nun".
Back to lesson six
A
- The name of this vowel is
"Hataf pattah" (ie. snatched Pattah).
- Its sound is shorter than
(Pattah), explained in lesson
four.
- The
is connected to the Swa explained in lesson three, and appears in its stead of it when the consonant is a gutteral, which can not take a mobile .
- In the case of the word
, which is in the pattern
XeXuXXah like "pe'ulla"
(action) and
"ge'ulla (redemption), the
cannot take a mobile (shwa); thus it becomes a .
End of explanation of the vowel "Hataf pattah".
Back to lesson six
U
- The Hebrew name of the vowel
is "Qubbuts".
- It sounds like "ou" in French, "oo" in English and "u" in German.
- We transliterate the vowel by "u".
- Another character is used with the same sound, namely
(Shuruq), but the
latter was originally a longer vowel.
- In the Bible, the same word is sometimes written with a
on one
occation and with an on another, for example:
"wayyaqumu mishsham ha'anashim" (And the men rose up from thence) (Gen. 18:16)
"wayyaqumu vaboqer" (and they rose up in the morning) (Gen. 24:54), for the fricative see lesson two.
- In modern, unvocalized Hebrew texts, the U sound is always written as
.
End of explanation of the vowel "Qubbuts".
Back to lesson six
The Department for Jewish
Zionist Education
The Pedagogic Center
Web Site Manager: Esther Carciente
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