Beit Yeshua

Hebrew Aleph-Bet
   
   


 

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The Letters
 
 

 
 

A good place to start learning the Hebrew Aleph-Beth is through song.
Here's one by Curtis & Carolyn Loftin to the tune "Shalom Aleichem"
 
 

To Hear the "Aleph-Bet" Song
CLICK HERE

(The song is only a simple audio version recorded on our computer)
 
 
 

The Aleph-Bet Song - Lyrics

by Curtis & Carolyn Loftin

Tune: "Shalom Aleichem"
 

Aleph, Bet, Vet, Gimel, Dalet, Hey, Vav, Zayin - Chet, Tet, Yod,
Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samech, Ayin, Peh, Feh,
Tsade, Qof, Resh, Shin Sin, Tov

Now you've learned the Hebrew Aleph-Beth,
You can read Torah in Ivrit (Hebrew).

Twenty-two letters written by the hand of God,
Giving Torah to lead the way.

Shalom Aleichem, Shalom B'Yeshua,
Shabbat Shalom B'Adonainu.
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION:
  1.  The Hebrew language has 22 letters - all consonants.
  2.  Five of the Hebrew letters have a different form when they appear at the end of a word.
  3.  Hebrew is written from right to left.
  4.  There are no vowels in Hebrew, but a modern system of vowel points (dots & dashes) is occasionally used in school books and prayer books.
  5.  These dots and dashes are written above, below or inside the letter, in ways that do not alter the spacing of the line.
  6.  There are no vowel points used in newspapers, magazines, signs and other printed material in Israel today.
 
 

Hebrew 4 Christians has a wonderful website designated for the Aleph-Bet & Language at:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/aleph-bet.html

 
 
Hebrew Letter Letter
Name		 Alternate Letter Letter
Name		 Final Form (Sofit) Letter
Name		 Sound Numerical Value            
                           

Aleph
Aleph

         (Silent) 1            
                           

Bet (Hebrew)
Bet

 
Vet (Hebrew)
 
Vet

 

     B

V		 2            
                           

Gimmel (Hebrew)
Gimmel

         G 3            
                           

Dalet (Hebrew)
Dalet

         D 4            
                           

Hey (hebrew)
Hey

         H 5            
                           

Vav (Hebrew)
Vav

         V 6            
                           

Zayin (Hebrew)
Zayin

         Z 7            
                           

Chet (Hebrew)
Chet

         Ch
(Not like chair)
More like
Kh		 8            
                           

Tet (Hebrew)
Tet

         T 9            
                           

Vav (Hebrew)
Yod

         Y 10            
                           

Kaf (Hebrew)
Kaf

Haf (Hebrew)
Haf

Kaf (Hebrew)
Kaf
Sofit

 K

H		 20            
                           

Lamed (Hebrew)
Lamed

         L 30            
                           

Mem (Hebrew)
Mem

    

Mem (Hebrew)
Mem
Sofit

 M 40            
                           

Nun (Hebrew)
Nun

    

Nun (Hebrew)
Nun
Sofit

 N 50            
                           

Samech (Hebrew)
Samech

         S 60            
                           

Ayin (Hebrew)
Ayin

         (Silent) 70            
                           

Pay (Hebrew)
Pey

Fey (Hebrew)
Fey

Fey (Hebrew)
Fey
Sofit

 P

F		 80            
                           

Tsadie (Hebrew)
Tsadie

    

Tsadie (Hebrew)
Tsadie
Sofit

 Ts or Tz 90            
                           

Kof (Hebrew)
Qof

         K 100            
                           

Resh (Hebrew)
Resh

         R 200            
                           

Shin (Hebrew)
Shin

Sin (Hebrew)
Sin

     Sh

C		 300            
                           

Tav (Hebrew)
Tav

         T 400            
                           
                           
 
 
 
 

Additional Information
 
 
Some Letters - Two Sounds
Note that some Hebrew letters have two pronunciations. Bet, Kaf, and Pay have a "hard" sound (the first sound in the chart above) and a "soft" sound (the second sound). In pointed texts, these letters have dots in the center when they are to be pronounced with the hard sound. (See the examples in the chart above).
 
Shin is pronounced "sh" when it has a dot over the right branch and "s" when it has a dot over the left branch.
 

 
Vav, usually a consonant pronounced as a "v," is sometimes a vowel pronounced "oo" or "oh." When it is pronounced "oo", pointed texts have a dot in the middle. When it is pronounced "oh", pointed texts have a dot on top.
 
Some Letters - Two Forms
Some of the Hebrew letter have two forms.  Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pay and Tsadi all are written differently when they appear at the end of a word than when they appear in the beginning or middle of the word. The version used at the end of a word is referred to as Kaf Sofit (Final Kaf), Mem Sofit (Final Mem), etc. The version of the letter on the left in the chart above (in black) is the final version. In all cases except the Mem Sofit, the final version has a long tail
 
VOWELS:
Like most early Semitic alphabetic writing systems, the Alef-Bet has no vowels. People who are fluent in the language do not need vowels to read Hebrew, and most newspapers, magazines, or books of general use written in Hebrew are written without vowels. Siddurim (Prayer Books) and Tanach (Torah, Neviyim, and Kethubim ) are the exceptions to the rule. Around the 8th century, the Rabbis realized the need for aids to pronunciation, so they developed a system of dots and dashes called Nikud (points). These dots and dashes are written above, below or inside the letter, in ways that do not alter the spacing of the line. Text containing these markings is referred to as "pointed" text
 

The line of text above would be pronounced in Sephardic pronunciation, (which is what most people today use): V-ah-hav-ta L'ray-a(ch)a ka-moh-(ch)a. (And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Vayikra - Leviticus 19:18)
 
TRANSLITERATION:
The process of writing Hebrew words in the Roman (English) alphabet is known as transliteration. Transliteration is more an art than a science, and opinions on the correct way to transliterate words vary widely. This is why the Jewish festival of lights (in Hebrew, Chet-Nun-Kaf-Hay) is spelled Chanukah, Channukkah, Hanuka, and many other interesting ways. Each spelling has a legitimate phonetic and orthographic basis; none is right or wrong.

 
NUMERICAL VALUE of the ALEPH-BET:
Each letter in the Aleph-Bet has a numerical value. These values can be used to write numbers, as the Romans used some of their letters (I, V, X, L, C, M) to represent numbers.