Introduction to the Hebrew Alphabet and Vowels 

 
The Hebrew alphabet contains twenty-two letters, with five final (​sofit​) letters. 
Hebrew is written and read from right to left, and there are several types of script.  The most common 
scripts are block print (which is used in most Hebrew books) and script or cursive, which is used by 
Israelis in everyday handwriting, like English cursive. 
In the Hebrew Tanakh (​Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim​ - the “Old Testament”) and the ​siddur​ (prayer 
book), there are many different markings below, above, to the side, or inside the Hebrew letters. 
Some of these are vowels, some are cantillation marks.  A ​dagesh​ is a dot inside letters that change 
the pronunciation of some letters.  For example, a ​bet​ makes a “v” sound ​without​ a ​dagesh​ (‫)ב‬, and a 
“b” sound ​with​ a dagesh (‫)בּ‬. 

A comparison of the two major Hebrew scripts.

Block print is at the top, and cursive (script) is at the
bottom.

All Hebrew letters are consonants - there are no vowels, which is why in the ​Tanakh​ and the ​siddur
vowel points are added to clarify pronunciation of words. Normally Hebrew words without vowels are
pronounced based on the spelling of the word and its context. Two letters, the ​Alef​ and the ​ Ayin​, are
silent letters, meaning that they are pronounced based on the vowel associated with it.

There are also two different pronunciations of Hebrew: Ashkenazi and Sephardic. The difference is in
how some letters are pronounced, such as the ​tav​ (‫ )ת‬and some of the vowels. The Ashkenazic
pronunciation is the way Jews originating from Eastern Europe pronounce Hebrew. Most of the
Jewish people in the United States came from that region, so they usually pronounce Hebrew this
way. Israelis, however, pronounce Hebrew the Sephardic way because when Hebrew was revived as
a spoken language in Israel, they adopted the Sephardic pronunciation. Many Jews in the U.S.,
however, are starting to adopt the Sephardic pronunciation as well. We will be learning the Sephardic
pronunciation here.

Rashi script is an older Hebrew script used by

Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi) for his
commentary on the Torah, as well as many
Sephardic Jews.
 The Hebrew Alphabet
Hebrew Name Sound Numerical value
Letter

‫א‬ Alef silent 1

‫ב‬ Bet B/V 2

‫ג‬ Gimel G ​(as in goat) 3

‫ד‬ Dalet D 4

‫ה‬ Heh H 5

‫ו‬ Vav V, “oh” or “ooh” 6

‫ז‬ Zayin Z 7

‫ח‬ Chet CH ​(as in ba​ch​) 8

‫ט‬ Tet T 9

‫י‬ Yud Y 10

*​‫ך‬ \‫כ‬ Kaf K, CH ​(same as chet) 20

‫ל‬ Lamed L 30

*​‫ם‬ \‫מ‬ Mem M 40

*​‫ן‬ \‫נ‬ Nun N 50

‫ס‬ Samech S 60

‫ע‬ Ayin silent 70

*​‫ף‬ \‫פ‬ Pey P, F 80

*​‫ץ‬ \‫צ‬ Tzade TZ ​(as in pre​tz​el) 90

‫ק‬ Kof K 100

‫ר‬ Resh R 200

‫ש‬ Shin SH 300

‫ת‬ Tav T 400

*These letters are ​sofit ​letters. When these letters are at the end of a word, the ​sofit​ form is used.
 The Hebrew Vowels
Vowel Name Sound

‫ְא‬ Sh’va Silent, pronounced as a

segol​ in some cases

‫אָ‬ Kamatz ah​*

‫ֳא‬ Chataf Kamatz oh

‫אַ‬ Patach ah

‫ֲא‬ Chataf Patach ah

‫ֶא‬ Segol eh

‫ֱא‬ Chataf Segol eh

‫ֵא‬ Tzerei ey, eh

‫ֵאי‬ Tzerei Malei ey

‫ִא‬ Chirik ee

‫ִאי‬ Chirik Malei ee

ֹ‫א‬ Cholam oh

‫וֹ‬ Cholam Malei oh

‫וּ‬ Shuruk ooh

‫ֻא‬ Kubutz ooh

→‫בּ‬ Dagesh Changes sound of some

consonants

‫שׁ‬ Shin Dot Makes ‫ ש‬an “sh” sound

‫שׂ‬ Sin Dot Makes ‫ ש‬an “s” sound

*Some words such as ​kol​ (‫ ) ָכל‬and ​chochma​ (‫)ח ְכמָה‬
ָ have a ​kamatz​, but the ​kamatz​ is pronounced as
“oh” instead of “ah”. This is called a ​kamatz katan​ (little ​kamatz​), and is written exactly like a ​kamatz
in most publications. One must be familiarized with these Hebrew words that use the ​kamatz katan​ to
know they are pronounced that way.