Читать книгу Hebrew For Dummies - Jill Suzanne Jacobs - Страница 25
Deciphering the consonant letters
ОглавлениеTable 1-5 shows the Hebrew letters and their sounds.
TABLE 1-5 The Hebrew Alphabet
| Name of the Letter | Pronunciation | Hebrew Character | The Sound It Makes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aleph | ah-lehf | א | Makes no sound. |
| Bet | beht | בּ | Makes a B sound as in boat. |
| Vet | veht | ב | Makes a V sound as in veterinarian. |
| Gimmel | gee-mehl | ג | Makes a G sound as in girl. |
| Dalet | dah-leht | ד | Makes a D sound as in door. |
| Hey | hey | ה | Makes a soft H sound as in hello. |
| Vav | vahv | ו | Also makes a V sound as in veterinarian. (Don’t ask me why.) |
| Zayin | zah-een | ז | Makes a Z sound as in zipper. |
| Chet | ḥeht | ח | Makes a strong guttural H”sound. In this book, this letter is represented as ḥ. |
| Tet | teht | ה | Makes a T sound as in teaspoon. |
| Yod | yohd | י | Makes a Y sound at the beginning of a word, as in young. This letter also behaves like a vowel at times. I discuss it in “Those dots and dashes they call vowels” later in this chapter. |
| Kaf | kahf | כּ | Makes a K sound as in kite. |
| Khaf | khahf | כ | Makes a strong guttural H sound. This letter is represented in this book as kh. |
| Lamed | lah-mehd | ל | Makes an L sound as in lemon. |
| Mem | mehm | מ | Makes an M sound as in mouse. |
| Nun | noon | נ | Makes an N sound as in no. (And you thought only Catholics had nuns.) |
| Samekh | sah-mehḥ | ס | Makes an S sound as in soda. |
| Ayin | ah-yeen | ע | Makes a barely audible guttural sound in the back of the throat. (For practical purposes, as most non-native speakers can’t make this sound, this letter is a silent letter. You pronounce the vowels that are placed below it, but the letter itself doesn’t make a sound.) |
| Pey | pay | פּ | Makes a P sound as in popsicle. |
| Fey | fay | פ | Makes an F sound as in fish. |
| Tzadi | tzah-dee | צ | Makes a hard Tz sound as in pizza. In this book, I represent it as tz. |
| Kof | kohf | ק | Makes a K sound as in Kansas. |
| Reish | raysh | ר | Makes an R sound as in round. This letter is actually a guttural letter. Roll it like a Spanish R and pronounce it from the back of the throat. |
| Shin | sheen | שׁ | (Not Charlie’s brother or Martin’s long-lost son.) When the dot is on the right side of the letter, it makes a Sh sound. as in show. In this book, I represent it as sh. |
| Sin | seen | שׂ | When the dot is on the left side of the letter, it makes an S sound as in Sam. |
| Tav | tahv | ת | Makes a T sound as in toe. |
