Hebrew vowels – Being Taught that We may Teach

Table of Contents

Study this first or this video. This video shows how to put the consonants and vowels together so that you can read the text. If you like, you can study the history of the Hebrew vowel system.

The A-class vowels make some variation of the “a” sound in English. They are:

patah	אַ	short vowel; pronounced as the a in father
qamats	אָ	long vowel; pronounced as the a in father
hataf-patah	אֲ	very short or reduced vowel; pronounced as the a in anniversary
qamats-hey	דָּה	pronounced as the a in father

The E-class vowels make some variation of the “e” sound in English. They are:

segol	אֶ	short vowel; pronounced as the e in met
sere	אֵ	long vowel; pronounced as the ey in they
sere-yod	נֵי	long vowel; pronounced as the ey in they
hataf-segol	אֱ	very short or reduced vowel; pronounced as the e in enemy

The I-class vowels make some variation of the “i” sound in English. They are:

hiriq	אִ	pronounced as the e in she
hiriq-yod	אִי	pronounced as the e in she

The O-class vowels make some variation of the O sound in English. They are:

holem	אֹ	long vowel; pronounced as the o in role
holem-vav (see plene)	אוֹ	long vowel; pronounced as the o in role
qamats-hatuf	אָ	short vowel; pronounced as the o in odd
hataf-qamats	אֳ	very short or reduced vowel; pronounced as the o in odd

The U-class vowels make some variation of the u sound in English. They are:

qibbuts	אֻ	pronounced as the u in rule
shureq	אוּ	pronounced as the u in rule

Gutturals prefer the half vowels rather than taking a simple sheva.