Hebrew diacritics, also known as “nikkud” or “niqqud,” are a system of diacritical marks used to represent vowels and other phonetic details in the Hebrew script. Here is a mapping of the main Hebrew diacritics and their corresponding vowel sounds:
- Kamatz (ָ ) - “a” as in “father”
- Example: אָ (kamatz under aleph) is pronounced “a”
- Patach (ַ ) - “a” as in “cat”
- Example: אַ (patach under aleph) is pronounced “a”
- Tzere (ֵ ) - “e” as in “they”
- Example: אֵ (tzere under aleph) is pronounced “e”
- Segol (ֶ ) - “e” as in “bed”
- Example: אֶ (segol under aleph) is pronounced “e”
- Hiriq (ִ ) - “i” as in “machine”
- Example: אִ (hiriq under aleph) is pronounced “i”
- Holam (ֹ ) - “o” as in “go”
- Example: אֹ (holam above aleph) is pronounced “o”
- Kubutz (ֻ ) - “u” as in “put”
- Example: אֻ (kubutz under aleph) is pronounced “u”
- Shuruk (וּ ) - “u” as in “rule”
- Example: וּ (shuruk after vav) is pronounced “u”
- Sheva (ְ ) - a very short “e” or silent, depending on its position
- Example: אְ (sheva under aleph) can be silent or pronounced as a quick “e”
- Chataf Kamatz (ֳ ) - a reduced form of “a” as in “father”
- Example: אֳ (chataf kamatz under aleph) is pronounced “a”
- Chataf Patach (ֲ ) - a reduced form of “a” as in “cat”
- Example: אֲ (chataf patach under aleph) is pronounced “a”
- Chataf Segol (ֱ ) - a reduced form of “e” as in “bed”
- Example: אֱ (chataf segol under aleph) is pronounced “e”
Additional Diacritics:
- Dagesh (ּ ) - a dot placed inside a letter that can indicate a doubling of the consonant or change in pronunciation.
- Example: בּ (dagesh in bet) is pronounced “b” rather than “v”.
- Mappiq (ׇ ) - a dot in the final letter “hey” (ה) indicating it should be pronounced as a consonant.
- Example: הּ
These diacritics are typically used in texts like the Torah, prayer books, and language-learning materials to aid in pronunciation. In modern Hebrew, which is mostly written without diacritics, the vowel sounds are inferred from context.
