Hanukkah

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



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