Quartz Hill School of Theology

Lesson 2: Vowels

The vowel symbols were developed some while after the language had ceased to be a living language. Various systems were developed, with the system developed by the scribes in Tiberias called Masoretes becoming dominent. The vowels are a series of dashes and dots placed above and below the consonents.

The vowel symbols are in Hebrew referred to as niqqud (נִקּוּד).

For the purposes of learning the vowels, they are being associated here with the consonent bet ב or, in the case of the hatef shewas, the letter het ח (because the hatef shewas will appear only under het  ח, he ה, aleph א or ayin ע since those four letters are not allowed to have a plain shewa). Please keep in mind that the vowels, in reality, can otherwise be associated with any consonent.

Vowel Name   Vowel   Pronunciation
qamets בָ a as in father
patah בַ‎ a as in cat
hiriq בִ‎ i as in pin
sere בֵ‎ e as in they
segol בֶ‎ e as in met
holem בֹ‎ o as in hole
kubutz בֻ‎ u as in brute
shewa בְ‎ a half vowel like the second and fourth i in indivisible or the a in infant

Additionally, there are several special combinations of vowels and consonents called diphthongs, as follows:

Vowel Name   Vowel   Pronunciation
holem   בוֹ o as in hole
shureq   בוּ u as in brute
hiriq yod   בִי‎ i as in machine
hiriq sere   בֵי e as in they
hatef patah   חֲ‎a half vowel like the second and fourth i in indivisible or the a in infant
hatef segol   חֱ‎a half vowel like the second and fourth i in indivisible or the a in infant
hatef qamets   חֳ‎a half vowel like the second and fourth i in indivisible or the a in infant
qamets hatuph   בָ‎ o as in hole

Notice that וֹ is pronounced as a single sound -- "o" -- the vav ו is no longer treated as a consonent. It is just the vowel and nothing else. The same goes for וּ, which is just a "u", and all the combinations of vowels with consonents.

Usually the qamets represents the vowel "a". Under certain conditions the same sign represents the vowel "o". When qamets stands for "o" it is called qamets hatuph. This is very rare and so you should initially assume that any qamets you see is an "a" unless you are told otherwise.

One other, admittedly confusing aspect of the shewa needs to be pointed out. Although the Masoretes used it to represent a half vowel, sometimes they used it just as a place holder, when there was no vowel at all. In those cases, the shewa is silent. We will explain how to tell the difference in later lessons.


Reading

Please read pages 29-39 in Biblical Hebrew Step-by-Step.

Exercises

1. Memorize the vowel signs.

2. Do the Exercises on pages 37-39.


Contact Details

Telephone: (661) 722-0891
Email: info@theology.edu
Website: www.theology.edu

Quartz Hill School of Theology
43543 51st Street West
Quartz Hill, CA 93536
USA

Join our Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter for all the
latest news and information