Lesson 1

The Hebrew Alphabet Then and Now

Lesson Description:
Welcome! – After introducing ourselves, we will start to learn about the history of the Hebrew
alphabet. We will discuss its relationship with the Latin alphabet and learn our first 8 Hebrew
letters.

→ ‫א‬
New Words in this Lesson 15

Total New Words 15

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 Vocabulary
Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English
‫ָאח‬ ’āh ‟ah brother (m.s.)
‫ֵאם‬ ’ēm ‟em mother (f.s.)
mountain,
‫ַהר‬ har har
hill (m.s.)
‫ֶל ֶחם‬ léhem léhem bread, food (m.s.)
Nouns ‫ָהר‬
ָ‫נ‬ nāhār nahar stream, river (m.s.)
young man,
‫ַער‬
ַ‫נ‬ ná‘ar ná‟ar
lad (m.s.)
‫נֵר‬ nēr ner lamp (m.s.)
people,
‫ַעם‬ ‘am ‟am
nation (m.s.)
Proper Noun ‫ֲא ָרם‬ ’ărām ‟aram Aram (Syria)
‫ֶאל‬ ’el ‟el to, towards
Prepositions ‫ִמן‬ min min from
‫ַעל‬ ‘al ‟al upon
Negative
‫לֹא‬ lō’ lo no, not
Particle
‫ָאמר‬
ַ ’āmar ‟amar he said
Verbs
‫ָרָאה‬ rā’āh ra‟a he saw

m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular

Note: All Hebrew words are accented on the final syllable unless otherwise marked.
See this website for more practice with the Hebrew alphabet:
http://hebrewverb.hul.huji.ac.il/newtest/pre_abc.html

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 Grammatical Remarks
In this lesson, we meet the Hebrew alphabet for the first time. The Hebrew alphabet has a very
long history. In fact, the Western (Latin) alphabet and the Hebrew alphabet have the same origin.
The earliest form of this script that we have is from the Sinai desert and represents a Canaanite
dialect of the 16th century B.C.E. The Proto-Canaanites developed their letters by drawing a
picture of something that began with the sound they wanted to represent – e.g. water, which they
pronounced “maym,” for the sound [m]; a fish, which they pronounced “digg,” for [d], etc.
This script developed from Proto-Canaanite (ca. 1500 B.C.E.) to Ancient Hebrew (ca. 950
B.C.E.) to Classical Greek to the Latin that we use for English today. The two main historical
changes we see are that the letters became more abstract (e.g. developing from a fish into a
simple triangle) and/or turned 90° or 180°.
In Lessons 1-2, we will learn the 23 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, all consonants. We will not
learn these in alphabetical order; rather, we will group the letters according to their common
features.
In the charts below, there are five columns for each letter:
1. The Hebrew letter
2. The Hebrew name of the letter
3. The transliteration of the letter (i.e. how we represent the letter in Latin script)*
4. The Modern Hebrew pronunciation of the letter
5. An example of this sound in an English word

* We learn the transliteration because unlike the pronunciation, the transliteration system
distinguishes between every letter. Also, this is how Hebrew words will be transliterated in
printed material, both in this course and in other Hebrew tools (e.g. commentaries) that you
may use.

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The Letters ‫ר‬-‫נ‬-‫מ‬-‫ל‬
Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example
‫ל‬ lámed l l light
‫ם‬/‫מ‬ mem m m map
‫ן‬/‫נ‬ nun n n new
‫ר‬ resh r r air

 The “final letters” ‫ ם‬and ‫ ן‬are the forms that the letters ‫ מ‬and ‫ נ‬take at the end of a word.
 The ‫ ר‬is not pronounced like an English [r], but is more alveolar (pronounced with the
tongue close to the upper middle part of the mouth).

The Letters ‫ע‬-‫ח‬-‫ה‬-‫א‬

Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example
‫א‬ álef ‟ ‟ honor/uh*oh
‫ה‬ heh h h horse
‫ח‬ het h h Bach
‫ע‬ áyin „ ‟ honor/uh*oh

 These four are known as the guttural letters, since they are pronounced in the throat.
 The ‫ א‬is the glottal stop (brief cutting-off of the air flow) that is usually heard at the
beginning of English words with a “silent [h]” (honor, honest), before most words that start
with a vowel (apple, enter, in, open, up), and in the middle of the expression “uh-oh.”
 The ‫ ח‬sounds like the “ch” in the name of the German composer Bach, the Scottish word
loch (“lake”), and expressions such as “lachaim!” or “chutzpah.” (The sign [h]
technically represents a pharyngeal fricative in the International Phonetic Alphabet,
though we pronounce the ‫ ח‬today more as the uvular fricative “ch” described above.)
 Even though in Modern Hebrew the ‫ ע‬is usually pronounced the same way as the ‫א‬, the
original pronunciation was a more emphatic sound (almost like gulping) at the back of
the throat. We‟ll see in later lessons how this makes the ‫ ע‬behave differently from the ‫א‬.
 The ‫א‬, ‫ה‬, and ‫ ע‬can be silent in modern pronunciation when they appear at the end of a
word (e.g. in words like ‫ק ָרא‬
ָ , ‫ ָבנָה‬, and ‫) ָש ַמע‬.

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 Homework
1. Practice writing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Read the letters aloud (using
their names and/or their pronunciations with any vowel) as you write them.
* The lower part of the starred letter should continue below the line.

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2. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in
the middle and to their definitions on the right.

3. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the
consonants of the appropriate word under each picture below.

‫נֵר‬ ‫ֵאם‬ ‫ָהר‬

ָ‫נ‬ ‫ֶל ֶחם‬ ‫ַהר‬ ‫ַעם‬ ‫ַער‬
ַ‫נ‬ ‫ָרָאה‬

a) ‫אם‬ b) c) d)

e) f) g) h)

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4. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate their consonants into
Latin script.

‫ַחל‬ַ‫נ‬ n a h a l “nahal”
‫ָה ַלם‬ __ā__a__
‫נָא‬ __ā__
‫ָח ָרה‬ __ā__ā__
‫ַאחר‬
ַ __a__a__
‫ָמה‬ __ā__
‫ָאמן‬
ַ __ā__a__
‫ָענָה‬ __ā__ā__

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 ‫‪Homework Answers‬‬
‫‪1. Practice writing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Read the letters aloud (using‬‬
‫‪their names and/or their pronunciations with any vowel) as you write them.‬‬

‫אאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאאא‬ ‫א__‬
‫‪’ālep --- ‟a, ‟e, ‟i, ‟o, ‟u‬‬

‫ההההההההההההההההההההההההה‬ ‫ה__‬
‫‪hē --- ha, he, hi, ho, hu‬‬

‫חחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחח‬ ‫ח__‬
‫‪hēt --- ha, he, hi, ho, hu‬‬

‫ללללללללללללללללללללללללללללל‬ ‫ל__‬
‫‪lāmed --- la, le, li, lo, lu‬‬

‫ממממממממממממממממממממממממ‬ ‫מ__‬
‫םםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםםם‬ ‫ם__‬
‫‪mēm --- ma, me, mi, mo, mu‬‬

‫נננננננננננננננננננננננננננננננננננננ‬ ‫נ__‬
‫ןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןןן‬ ‫ן__‬
‫‪nûn --- na, ne, ni, no, nu‬‬

‫עעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעעע‬ ‫ע__‬
‫‪‘áyin --- ‟a, ‟e, ‟i, ‟o, ‟u‬‬

‫רררררררררררררררררררררררררררר‬ ‫ר__‬
‫‪rēš --- ra, re, ri, ro, ru‬‬

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2. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in
the middle and to their definitions on the right.

‫ָאח‬ ’āh brother

‫ֲא ָרם‬ ’ărām Aram
‫ֶאל‬ ’el to, towards
‫ִמן‬ min from
‫ַעל‬ ‘al upon
‫לֹא‬ lō’ no, not
‫ָאמר‬
ַ ’āmar he said

3. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the
consonants of the appropriate word under each picture below.

a) ‫אם‬ b) ‫הר‬ c) ‫נר‬ d) ‫ראה‬

e) ‫עם‬ f) ‫לחם‬ g) ‫נהר‬ h) ‫נער‬

4. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate their consonants into
Latin script.

‫ַחל‬ַ‫נ‬ nahal “nahal”

‫ָה ַלם‬ hālam “halam”
‫נָא‬ nā’ “na”
‫ָח ָרה‬ hārāh “hara”
‫ַאחר‬
ַ ’ahar “‟ahar”
‫ָמה‬ māh “ma”
‫ָאמן‬
ַ ’āman “‟aman”
‫ָענָה‬ ‘ānāh “‟ana”

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 Recommended Bibliography
1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second
English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley,
Oxford, 1910. (§5-6 = pp. 24-35)
2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§5 = pp. 18-33)
3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XIII-XVI)

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