Hebrew has a long and complicated history having gone through many different iterations before finally coming to the language that it is today. Hebrew uses a writing system that is very different from the one used in English; however, the phonology is considered very similar. Lastly, Hebrew is still used today and has a thriving culture.

General History

Hebrew is the only language ever to be successfully revived! Hebrew has evolved from many different languages: Afro-Asiatic, Egypto-Semitic, Proto-Semitic, West Semitic, Northwest Semitic, Canaanite, evolving into what is now modern Hebrew. This means that Hebrew is related to many languages like Arabic, Amharic (Ethiopian), and Assyrian (Iraq and Syria).

Currently, Hebrew is the official language of Israel; however, the language is spoken in many other countries, including the United States. Hebrew is also seen as the language of Judaism, as the Torah is written in Hebrew, and the language originated with the Israelis. There are four major eras of Hebrew. The first is Biblical/Classical Hebrew which is what the Torah was written in. Second is Mishnaic/Rabinic Hebrew, which was only written. Medieval Hebrew was spoken from the 6th to 13th centuries, and borrowed many words from other languages: mainly Akkadian, Arabic, Farsi, Greek, Latin, Spanish, and Sumerian. Lastly, Modern Hebrew, which is spoken today. The language was revived by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who based Modern Hebrew on Biblical Hebrew. Eliezer was able to revive Hebrew when many others had failed by modernizing it. For example, Eliezer took the word “hour” in Hebrew שעה (Sha’ah) and made the word “clock” in Hebrew שעון (Sha’on). He also decided to use the pronunciation of the Sephardic Jews over the Ashkenazi Jews. The main difference is the pronunciation of the letter ת (tav) which in Sephardic Hebrew is pronounced “t” while in Ashkenazi Hebrew ת (tav) is pronounced “s”.  Eliezer also created the syntax of the language using the Mishna which is the oldest publication of Hebrew oral laws. 

The Phonology (Sounds) of Hebrew

Terms

Modern Hebrew has 21 consonant sounds, 19 of which are shared with English. Every sound has three criteria: voiceless or voiced, placement, and manner. Voiceless refers to when one makes a sound without the use of the vocal cords. For example, “s,” as in snake. Voiced refers to when one makes a sound with the use of the vocal cords. For example, “z,” as in zoo. Placement is where in the mouth and throat the sound is being made. This can range from the lips to the larynx. In Modern Hebrew, there are eight placements. Finally, manner is how a sound is made. For example, the sound /p/ is called a voiceless bilabial plosive. In layman terms, it is a sound made without vocal cords, using only the lips, and a burst of air. 

Plosives

Plosives are sounds made when one stops airflow and then releases it in a burst of air. In Modern Hebrew there are seven plosives.  First are the voiceless and voiced bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/ which are just like they look. /p/ as in pack or פקיד (pakid), and /b/ as in aback or בית (bayit). Next are the voiceless and voiced alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/ which again sound just like they look. /t/ as in tick or תמונה (tmu’nah), and /d/ as in dash or דואר (do’ar). Then, there are the voiceless and voiced velar plosives /k/ and /g/ which sound how they look /k/ as in kiss or כסף (kesef) and /g/ as in good or גב (gav). Lastly, is the glottal stop /ʔ/ as in the sound one makes when they say uh-oh or מאמר (ma’mar). 

Fricatives

Fricatives are defined by closing the mouth to the point where only a small airstream can be pushed out, creating friction and therefore a sound. The first two sounds are the voiceless and voiced labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/. These are pronounced just like in English. /f/ can be seen in the words fill or סופר (sofer), and /v/ can be seen in words like vote or גב (gav). The next sounds are the voiceless and voiced alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/. Ding! Ding! You are correct that they are also s and z in English. /s/ can be seen in words like sit or ספר (sefer), and /z/ can be heard in zoo or זאב (ze’ev). Then there is the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. This is the “sh” sound in English. /ʃ/ can be seen in sheep or שלום (shalom). Lastly is the voiceless glottal fricative /h/. This is the “h” sound in English. /h/ can be heard in words like high or הר (har). 

Affricates 

The next sounds are affricates, meaning one must make a plosive sound immediately followed by a fricative. The only affricate is the voiceless alveolar affricate /ts/ which is the sound of, you guessed it, a /t/ and /s/ combined. /ts/ can be seen in the word pits or צל (tsel). 

Nasals

Next are the nasal sounds, which are defined as air stream passing through the nose in order to make the sound. The nasal sounds are the voiced bilabial nasal sound /m/ and the voiced alveolar nasal sound /n/. Both sound like how they look in English. /m/ can be seen in words like him or אמא (ima). /n/ can be found in words like nice or נבון (navon). 

Approximants 

The next group is the approximants. This is more of a catch-all term for anything that does not nicely fit into the other categories. The first sound is the voiced alveolar approximant /l/. This sounds like an “l”. /l/ is in words like let or גל (gal). Then there is the voiced palatal approximant /j/. This sound is not pronounced like the English “j’ but instead the English “y”. It is seen in words like you or ילד (yeled). 

 Loan Words

The next four sounds are only found in loan words. Therefore, they use the same letter as other sounds; however, they are not the common sound of said letters. The first two sounds are the voiceless and voiced postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. These are the “ch” and “j” sounds in English. For example, /tʃ/ is found in the words beach or תשובה (chuva), and /dʒ/ can be found in the words jeans or ג’וק (juk). Next is the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/. This is the sound “sio” in English but it is more commonly written as “zh”. /ʒ/ can be seen in vision or ז׳אנר (zhaner). Lastly, the voiced labial-velar approximant /w/. This sound sounds like the English “w”. /w/ is in words like weep or כוה (kowah). 

Hebrew Sounds

Now, you might have been asking yourself why there were only 19 constants, but I previously said there are 21. You would be correct- the last two are the sounds we do not have in English and could be hard for English speakers to pronounce. The first of the two is the voiceless velar fricative /x/. This is the sound of the French “r” in très, the German word dach, the European Spanish word ojo, and the Hebrew word מלך (melekh). The last sound is the most difficult to pronounce in my opinion, which is the voiced uvular approximant /ʁ̞/. This sounds like the French word rester, the German word rost, the European Portuguese word carro, and the Hebrew word עורב (orev).

Interactive Pulmonic Consonant IPA Chart

Vowels 

We have gotten to the point where we need to answer the question: what about vowels? Vowels are a little tricky in Hebrew for reasons we will go into, but for now, all you need to know is Hebrew works on a five-vowel system: a, e, i, o, u, all of which are in English. The first sound is the open-front unrounded vowel /a/. It sounds like the English “a” in at or אַבַּא (aba). The next sound is the open-mid front unrounded vowel /ɛ/. It is found in words like bed and בֶּגֶד (beged). Then there is the close front unrounded vowel /i/. It sounds like the English “e” in free or מִגְבָּח (migbakh). Furthermore, there is the mid-back rounded vowel /o̞/. This makes the English “o” sound like in Cambodia or דוֹב (dov). Lastly, the close back rounded vowel /u/. This makes the English “oo” sound like in boot or הֻלֶדֶת (huledet). 

Interactive Vowel IPA Chart

The Orthography (Writing) of Hebrew

אלפבית – Alphabet

Hebrew, much like Arabic, is written right to left, opposite of English. The Hebrew script consists of 22 letters. You may be asking yourself, what about the vowels that we just covered? Hebrew, unlike English, is not an alphabet, but an abjad. This means that unlike an alphabet where every sound, both constant and vowel, has a symbol, only the constants have a symbol. Instead, the vowels are not written in most cases unless you are reading a children’s book or the Torah where the vowels are marked around the symbols, as seen above. These are called נִקּוּד or niqqud. They can change the sound of a constant or add a vowel sound to the words. But first the אָלֶפְבֵּית (alefbet). 

The first letter of the alef-bet is alef, of course. Alef/אָלֶף it looks like this א. It is silent and only has a sound when the niqqud gives it one. The next letter is a little special, it is bet/בֵּית it looks like this בּ and it makes the “b” sound. Bet has a brother named vet/בֵית, it looks like this ב and it makes the “v”. They look the same! This is another thing that makes Hebrew hard, you do not know which vowels are being used or the sounds of the letters! The next letter is gimel/גִימֵל and it looks like this ג, it makes the “g” sound. Then is dalet/דָלֶת which looks like this ד and makes the “d” sound. Furthermore, he/הֵיא which looks like this ה and makes the “h” sound. Next is vav/וָו which looks like this ו and makes the “v” sound. This letter can also be silent, acting as a placeholder for a vowel. Zayin/זַיִן looks like this ז and makes the “z” sound. Then is chet/חֵית which looks like this ח and makes the “kh” sound. This letter is commonly romanized as “ch ” while another is romanized as “kh” but they make the same sound. Additionally, tet/טֵית looks like this ט and makes the “t” sound. Then is yod/יוֹד which looks like this י and makes the “y” sound. This letter can also be silent and a placeholder! The next letter is also very special. Some letters in Hebrew have an ending form, meaning if it is the last letter of a word it looks slightly different. This letter also does the same thing as bet/vet. This letter is kaf/כֵּף and khaf/כֵף and they look like this כ/כּ. Their final forms are called kaf sofit/כּף סוֹפִית and khaf sofit/כֵף סוֹפִית and they look like this ך/ךּ. Kaf makes the “k” sound and khaf makes the “kh” sound. Next is lamed/לָמֶד which looks like this ל and makes the “l” sound. Then is mem/מֵם which looks like this מ and makes the “m” sound. Mem sofit/מֵם סוֹפִית looks like this ם. After is nun/נוּן which looks like this נ and makes the “n” sound. Nun sofit/נוּן סוֹפִית look like this ן. Then is samekh/סָמֶךְ which looks like this ס and makes the “s” sound. Aiyn/עַיִן looks like this ע. It is silent and only has a sound when the niqqud gives it one. It can also work as the glottal stop. The next letter is exactly like kaf and khaf. This letter is pe/פֵּה and fe/פֵה and they look like this פ/פּ. Their final forms are called pe sofit/פֵּה סוֹפִית and fe sofit/פֵה סוֹפִית and they look like this ף/ףּ. Tsadi/צָדִי looks like this צ and makes the “ts” sound. tsadi sofit/צָדִי סוֹפִית looks like this ץ. Then is qof/קוֹף which looks like this ק and makes the “k” sound. This letter is commonly romanized as “q” while another is romanized as “k” but they make the same sound. Next is resh/רישׁ which looks like this ר and makes the “r” sound. The next letter is special yet again and it follows the principle as bet/vet. The letter is shin/שִׁין and sin/שִׂין. Shin makes the “sh” sound and sin makes the “s” sound. Last is the letter tav/תָו which looks like this ת and makes the “t” sound. 

Niqqud

Next is the niqqud or the vowel. Most of the vowels have two ways to write them. There used to be a slight pronunciation difference between the niqqud; however, that is no longer the case. The first two niqqud types are Patach/פַּתָח and Kamats/קָמָץ which look like אַ and אָ both make the “a” sound. For example, חַיָה, is read as follows, chet with patach, yod with kamats, and  he. So we can find that it is pronounced chayah! This means animal in Hebrew. Yay, you now know your first Hebrew word! חיה meaning animal! The next two make the “e” sound and are called tsere/צֵירֵי and segol/סֶגּוֹל. They look like this אֵ and אֶ respectively. For example, גֵאֶה, can you read it? The correct answer is ge-eh. Did you get it right? גאה means proud. The next niqqud type is Chirik/חִירִיק it looks like this אִ and it makes the “i” sound. For example, חַם לִי, can you read? The correct answer is חם לי and it means I’m hot. The next type is called Cholam/חוֹלָם and it can be written on the vowel like this אֹ or it can be next to the letter attached to vav like this אוֹ. Both make the “o” sound. For example, דוֹב אוֹ אַריֵה, can you read it? The correct answer is dov oh aryeh. דוב או אריה means bear or lion. The next type makes the “u” and it works the same as cholam. This is called Kubuts/קֻבּוּץ and it looks like this אֻ or אוּ. For example, יוֹם–הֻלֶדֶת, can you read this? The correct answer is yom-huledet. יום–הולדת means birthday. The next type of niqqud can be a little tricky as it can either make an “e” sound or just be silent. It is called shva/שְׁנָא and it looks like this אְ. For example, הוּא בַּא וְאַבַּא בַּא, can you read this? The correct answer is hu ba veaba ba. הוא בא ואבא בא means he’s coming and Dad’s coming. Shva can also make the vowels shorter when combined with other niqquds types. They can look like this אֲ אֳ אֱ which just make a short sound of their original niqquds.

Positives

As you have probably noticed, Hebrew has no capital letters. Everything is in one case. Hebrew also has no special punctuation, unlike languages like Greek. Hebrew also has no accent marks, which can make the language easier to learn, if you set aside how vowels are not written and almost every letter can be silent. 

אם אין אני לי מי לי? וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני? ואם לא עכשיו, אימתי? – פרקי אבות

Useful Phrases

1. What’s up – מָה נִשְׁמַע

2. Hello/Good-bye – שָׁלוֹם
3. I’m Sorry – סִלְחָא
4. My name is _____ – שְׁמִי
5. How much is this? – כַּמַּה זֶה עוֹלֶה?
6. I don’t speak Hebrew – אֲנִי לֹא מְדַבֵּר עִבְרִית 
7. Do you speak English? – אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר אַנְגְּלִית 
8. What time is it? – מָה הַשָּׁעָה?
9. Yes – כֵּן
10. No – לֹא
11. Good morning– בֹּקֶר טוֹב
12. Good evening – עֶרֶב טוֹב
13. One – אֶחָד
14. Two – שְׁתַיִם
15. Three – שְׁלוֹשָׁה
16. Four – אַרְבַּע 
17. Five – חָמֵשׁ
18. Six – שֵׁשׁ
19. Seven – שׁבַע
20. Eight – שְׁמוֹנֶה
21. Nine – תֵּשַׁע
22. Ten – עֶשֶׂר

The Finale

In all, Hebrew is the only language to have ever been revived, it is closely related to languages like Arabic, and the language uses sephardic pronunciation. Hebrew is a thriving language with it being used in many pop songs and showing up on the international stage. The Hebrew language contains 22 consonants and five vowels, combining for 27 sounds: /p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ, ts, tʃ, dʒ, f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, x, ʁ, h, m, n, l, j, w/. The Hebrew language uses its own script with 22 characters: א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת. As Hebrew is an abjad it has no characters for vowels but instead use dots called niqqud: אָ אַ אֵ אֶ אִ אֹ אוֹ אֻ אוּ אְ אֲ אֳ אֱ. Hebrew is a very interesting language as it brings up many challenges; however, the language has so much history and culture behind it. You cannot lose, if you choose to learn it.