BIBS2300

Biblical H ebrew A
By David Vanlalnghaka Sailo

Hebrew Vowels Continuation

BBH Chapter 02

David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
‫בוקר טוב‬
bo-ker tov
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Full & Half (Reduced) Vowels

 Vowel Class a e i o u
• Long Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Short Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Reduced Vowels
They represent full vowel,
‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
but they are abbreviated for
phonetical purposes
Never form syllable

David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Full & Half (Reduced) Vowels

 Vowel Class a e i o u
• Long Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Short Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Reduced Vowels
They represent full vowel,
‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
but they are abbreviated for
phonetical purposes
Never form syllable

David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Rules of Shewa ‫ב‬- Ə/e

1. A shewa is silent if the previous vowel is

short
Short
2. In most other circumstances, it is vocal Vowel

3. The vocal shewa will always occur in an

open syllable

David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Vowel Letters

‫היו‬
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
 Hebrew Vowel Letters with ‫ה ו י‬
 Vowel Class a e i o u
• With ‫ה‬
Qamets He occurs
‫בה‬ ‫בה‬/‫בה‬ ‫בה‬
Only at the end of a word Qamets He Tsere He Holem He
â - fâther ê - thêy ô - rôle
‫( תֹורה‬law) Seghol He
• With ‫ו‬ ê - bêtter
‫בֹו‬ ‫בּו‬
-|---------------|-
Unchangeable
Long Vowels
Not reduced
Not change

Holem Waw Shureq

ô - rôle û - rûler

• With ‫י‬ ‫בי‬/‫בי‬ ‫בי‬

Tsere Yod
ê - thêy Hireq Yod
Seghol Yod î - bîtter
ê - bêtter
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Summary of Hebrew Vowels – Pointings (Niqquds) and the Transliteration
 Vowel Class a e i o u
• Long Vowels ‫ב‬ ā ‫ב‬ ē
‫ב‬ ō
Qamets Tsere Holem

• Short Vowels ‫ב‬ a ‫ב‬ e ‫ב‬ i ‫ב‬ o ‫ב‬ u

Pathach Seghol Hireq Qamets Hatuf Qibbuts
• Half-Vowels ‫ב‬
Hateph
ǎ ‫ב‬
Hateph
ě ‫ב‬
Hateph
ǒ

Pathach Seghol Qamets

• With ‫ה‬ ‫בה‬ ‫בה‬/‫בה‬ ‫בה‬ ô

Vowel Letters

â ê

‫ו‬
Qamets He Seghol/Tsere He Holem He
• With
‫בֹו‬ ô ‫בּו‬ û

• With ‫י‬ ‫בי‬/‫בי‬ ‫בי‬ Holem Waw Shureq

ê î
Seghol/Tsere Yod Hireq Yod
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Summary of the Hebrew Vowels – Pointings (Niqquds)
 Vowel Class a e i o u
• Long Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Short Vowels ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• Half-Vowels
‫ב‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
• With ‫ה‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬/ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
Vowel Letters

• With ‫ו‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬

• With ‫י‬ ‫ב‬/ ‫ב‬ ‫ב‬
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Defective Writing –Vowel Letters drops the consonant

• There are some inconsistencies and irregularities

• Sometime ‫ י‬and ‫ ו‬are missing when we should otherwise

have expected them (does not effect their meaning

• The shorter spelling is called defective writing ‫דוד‬

• The longer spelling is called full writing ‫דויד‬
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Defective Writing –Vowel Letters drops the consonant
Full Writing Defective Writing

‫בֹו‬ ‫ב‬ Holem Waw to Holem

Example ‫שֹׁופר‬ ‫שׁפר‬ Ram’s Horn

‫בּו‬ ‫ב‬ Shureq to Qibbuts

Example ‫מדּוע‬ ‫מדע‬ Why?

‫בי‬ ‫ב‬ Hireq Yod to Hireq

Example ‫דויד‬ ‫דוד‬ David
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
 Daghesh Forte ‫ד‬+‫ד = ד‬
• Daghesh Forte • Daghesh Lene
• All letters except Gutturals • In Begadkephat letters
‫אעהח ר‬ ‫ב ּג ד ּכ ּפ ּת‬
• Double the consonant • Hard pronunciation
‫ = השּׁמים‬haššāmayim ‫ = ב‬hard b / ‫ = ב‬soft v
‫ֹלהים את השּׁמים‬
ִ֑ ‫ בראשׁית ברא א‬1:1Gen. •
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Hebrew Vowel Rules
 Hebrew Vowel Rules. A vowel’s preference for a particular type of syllable
is determined by two primary factors for Vowel Preference: the type of
syllable (open or closed) and the proximity of the syllable to the accent
(tonic/pretonic/ propretonic or accented/unaccented). Awareness of a
vowel’s syllable preference will help with syllabification and pronunciation,
and it will enable you to identify and explain changes in a word’s spelling.3
 1. In an open tonic syllable, Hebrew prefers a short vowel.
 2. In an open pretonic (and post-tonic) syllable, Hebrew requires a long
vowel.
 3. In an originally open propretonic syllable, Hebrew requires a Vocal
Shewa or (Hateph vowel under guttural consonants).
 4. In a closed accented syllable, Hebrew prefers a long vowel.
 5. In a closed unaccented Syllable, Hebrew requires a short vowel.
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
Summary of Hebrew Vowels – Pointings (Niqquds) and the Transliteration
 Vowel Class a e i o u
• Long Vowels ‫ב‬ ā ‫ב‬ ē
‫ב‬ ō
Qamets Tsere Holem

• Short Vowels ‫ב‬ a ‫ב‬ e ‫ב‬ i ‫ב‬ o ‫ב‬ u

Pathach Seghol Hireq Qamets Hatuf Qibbuts
• Half-Vowels ‫ב‬
Hateph
ǎ ‫ב‬
Hateph
ě ‫ב‬
Hateph
ǒ

Pathach Seghol Qamets

• With ‫ה‬ ‫בה‬ ‫בה‬/‫בה‬ ‫בה‬ ô

Vowel Letters

â ê

‫ו‬
Qamets He Seghol/Tsere He Holem He
• With
‫בֹו‬ ô ‫בּו‬ û

• With ‫י‬ ‫בי‬/‫בי‬ ‫בי‬ Holem Waw Shureq

ê î
Seghol/Tsere Yod Hireq Yod
David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg
‫תֹודה‬
Thank you

David V. Sailo
BIBS1300 Biblical Hebrew A David.Sailo@pau.ac.pg