All Questions
Tagged with hebrew aleph-bet-letters
58 questions
48
votes
5
answers
10k
views
Which alphabet were the original Torah scrolls in?
I've assumed that the Torah scrolls we read today as the same that Moses wrote. I always assumed it's been the same alphabet.
However lately I came across documents explaining the evolution of the ...
- 2,689
23
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why does the Hebrew alphabet not have letters representing vowels?
The Hebrew alphabet is actually an abjad rather than a "true" Western-style alphabet, in that every letter represents a consonant, and vowels, if they're indicated at all, require diacritics.
This ...
- 91.1k
23
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Relationship between Samekh and Sin
What is the relationship between the letters samekh and sin? Did they ever have distinct sounds? Why do they exist as separate letters?
- 4,008
15
votes
6
answers
2k
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Have any of you ever heard anyone pronouncing ayin as "ng"?
I have read that historically the letter ayin was pronounced by some Dutch, Portuguese, and Italian Jews as a velar nasal consonant (ng as in sing). Reference to this can be found here, here, and here....
- 5,587
13
votes
3
answers
2k
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Did Rembrandt really get the 'mene, mene' inscription in his painting of Belshazzar's Feast wrong?
Forgive me if you feel this is not the best forum to ask this question on, but it seems the most apposite one out of those currently available.
The inscription that appears on the wall in Daniel 5:25 ...
- 268
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why shin and sin?
Why does Hebrew use the same letter to represent two different sounds: shin and sin? As far as I know, with the exception of when using a dagesh kal, no other Hebrew letter has this property.
- 4,008
8
votes
3
answers
614
views
Resources for learning Hebrew from scratch?
I was raised as a Jewish identifying secular child, and it's only in my adolescence/adulthood I've really become at all observant. One of the problems is, of course, I've never had a Hebrew class! I'...
- 371
8
votes
1
answer
885
views
How to pronounce the name of the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet?
I have heard mixed answers as to how to pronounce the letter תּ
Is it taf or tav?
(I'm referring to the halachic pronunciation not the common street way.)
Is there a difference between Ashkenazi or ...
- 21.5k
8
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Why is the Aleph diminished in size in Vayikra 1:1?
Vayikra 1:1 "And He called to Moshe and spoke..."
In some Torah scrolls the Aleph in the first word is diminished in size. What is the significance of this anomaly? (The very next word — to Moshe — ...
- 751
7
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Silent aleph (no, I mean really silent)
Please explain what is going on with the letter Aleph in certain places in Tanakh (e.g. the second to last word of Devarim 3:12, the first word of Tehillim 34:10), where the Aleph contributes neither ...
- 4,008
7
votes
1
answer
3k
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How do I pronounce "yod" when there is a dot inside of it?
I'm trying to brush up on my Hebrew. As an American Jew, it is still important to me to be able to recite my prayers from the siddur in their original Hebrew.
How do I pronounce "yod" when there is a ...
- 159
7
votes
3
answers
647
views
How is there Torah about Hebrew letters if the letters are not original?
Occasionally I hear Torah that relates to the iconography of Hebrew letters, like the significance around the fact that the yud is a small point, and how the hey has two openings, allowing repentants ...
- 383
7
votes
1
answer
397
views
Why do older Anglo Ashkenaz texts transliterate ת as "th" and how was it pronounced?
Many older (19th and 20th century) Anglo Ashkenaz seforim translate ת (without a dagesh) as "th" - resulting in transliterations like "Sukkoth", "haftaroth", "mishnayoth" - when the general Ashkenazi ...
- 1,351
6
votes
3
answers
758
views
Is there a chart available displaying all Hebrew letters and vowels?
I'm looking for a nice chart that will give me the following things, so I can print it out and keep it handy:
Picture of each letter in traditional "book" font =
Picture of each letter in ...
- 3,964
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Interchangeable usage of Hebrew letters (such as Beis and Vav, etc.)
I don't know if there is another post about this issue, but forgive me if there is.
Here is my question. I recently read somewhere that there are letters that can be interchanged for various reasons....
- 187
6
votes
2
answers
430
views
Can we teach reading Hebrew without using the full names of the letters and vowels?
I've heard in Chabad and elsewhere that when teaching children to read Hebrew, one must call the letters and vowels only by their full traditional name. This is in my opinion very distracting for a ...
user2709
6
votes
2
answers
652
views
The letter Dalet
The fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is "dalet" and not "daled." Why, then, do Ashkenazi Jews not pronounce it as "dales." I have heard an answer that "dales" sounds too much like "dalus", ...
- 627
6
votes
0
answers
227
views
Good resource for learning vowel pronunciation
In trying to improve my leyning, I'm trying to get the finer points of vowel pronunciation down.
What is a good resource to learn, e.g., the difference between a patach and chataf-patach or a ...
- 6,946
5
votes
1
answer
506
views
Is the letter Aleph (א) also a word that means "to teach, inculcate"?
This Aish article about the meaning of the word "Adam" states the following:
The letter aleph is also a word which means to teach or inculcate. It similarly indicates leadership, as implied by ...
- 525
5
votes
1
answer
750
views
Meaning of Mappik in יה
One more question about mappik
(I don't know what happened to me, but this topic somewhat disturbs me lately :))
What is the meaning of the mappik in the following Hebrew words:
יָהּ
הַלְלוּיָהּ
I ...
- 6,084
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Hebrew Letters and corresponding body parts
When I was a little child, I remember being taught that each of the Hebrew letters had a corresponding body part. I am sure I learned what they were at the time, but I've long forgotten most of them.
...
- 53
5
votes
2
answers
208
views
ב (bet) mi yodeya (the pronunciation)?
What are the correct ways to pronounce the ב (bet)? Are there variant traditions? Is there an academic/linguistic opinion on how it was most likely pronounced from the time of the giving of the Torah ...
- 17.9k
5
votes
2
answers
980
views
Correcting tav/sav
If someone who usually pronounces the letter "ת" without a dagesh as "sav" is leining Torah, and he accidentally says "tav" in a place where he would normally say "sav", should the gabbai correct him? ...
- 25.1k
5
votes
1
answer
400
views
What is the origin of the Rashi script?
I believe the script which is called "Rashi script" was invented to avoid using the normal Hebrew alphabet for things which weren't strictly Torah. Is this true?
If so - why are only TWO letters ...
- 69
5
votes
2
answers
762
views
Unexpected Dagesh in Reish
I learned that a rule of Dageshim is that gutteral letters (אהחע''ר) reject dageshim.
My question is why do we find 17 reishs (1 Samuel 1:6, 1 Samuel 10:24, 1 Samuel 17:25, 2 Kings 6:32, Jeremiah 39:...
- 3,692
4
votes
2
answers
353
views
Are there any letters that do not have a distinct pronunciation?
Are there any two letters which do not have a distinction between their pronunciation in any tradition of pronunciation? To ask the inverse, is there at least one tradition of pronunciation for each ...
- 59.1k
3
votes
4
answers
434
views
Computer Support for Nekudos [closed]
Can it hurt to include Nekudos (vowel marks) when typing Hebrew? Do all systems that support Hebrew lettering automatically support Nekudos? If not, do they at least degrade gracefully?
- 38.8k
3
votes
1
answer
157
views
What's the significance of the dot in "bqr" in Danial vs the omission of the same in Genesis
In researching the phrase "evening and morning" I noticed a very small difference in the Hebrew text between Genesis 1 (e.g. 1:4) and Daniel 8:14, where the latter has a tiny dot in the first letter ...
- 133
3
votes
1
answer
361
views
Altering the Spelling out the Hebrew Year
In 1983-1984, the Hebrew year was 5744. Normally, the year would have been spelled out in Hebrew letters תשמ״ד, but according to my rabbi then, Rabbi Phillip Rabinowitz, zt'l, as pronounced the word ...
- 16.3k
3
votes
1
answer
114
views
Midrash Genesis Rabbah 1.11 -- clarification to the answer the children recieved about the two forms for mem, nun, zade, peh, & kaf?
I'm currently reading Midrash Rabbah (Bereshis), and I'm intrigued by the story in 1:11, where the children attend the House of the Assembly on a stormy day and ask why there are two forms to the ...
3
votes
1
answer
166
views
א mi yodeya (the pronunciation)?
What is the correct way to pronounce the א (aleph)? Are there variant traditions? Is there an academic/linguistic opinion on how it was most likely pronounced from the time of the giving of the Torah ...
- 17.9k
3
votes
0
answers
88
views
Minhag Hebrew Pronunciation each letter
Is the pronunciation of the Hebrew letters a minhag or is the pronunciation of each individual letter each an individual minhag itself?
For example would the pronunciation of the letter dalet be one ...
user17175
2
votes
1
answer
452
views
Reason for different punctuation of the prefix vav?
In the Siddur, the prefix vav is seen with various punctuations (e.g., shva, kamatz, patah, shuruk). When is each of these different punctuations used with a prefix vav and how does each affect the ...
- 8,383
2
votes
1
answer
108
views
Translation of Hebrew letters [closed]
I hope that this is not off-topic for this forum. If so, please let me know and I will delete it.
I'm trying to understand the meaning of these letters which I believe are Hebrew. Can someone who is ...
- 123
2
votes
1
answer
920
views
What is the reason that the Torah uses a ן (final "Nun") at the end of 2nd person plural verbs?
Frequently, the Torah uses a final nun (ן) at the end of verbs. They seem to be 2nd person plural verbs. An example:
Deuteronomy 5:30:
בְּכָל־הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֜ה יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם ...
- 71.5k
2
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is there math in Torah?
I have watched a nice movie back in the day that deals with numbers.
In one of the scenes. A Jewish man comes to The Mathematician and tells about how the Hebrew uses the same "letters" as letters ...
2
votes
2
answers
291
views
Why werent Rashi letters changed back
What is the basis of the change in Rashi's letters from the standard Hebrew ones?
And if it was something that was dependent on a specific factor then, why weren't they changed back?
- 731
2
votes
2
answers
403
views
Why is the HEY enlarged in Deut. 32:6?
"To" Ha Shem.... In some Torah scrolls the HEY is enlarged for the word "To" which proceeds Ha Shem, What is the significance? I have not seen this in other verses of Torah where the word proceeding ...
- 751
2
votes
1
answer
351
views
Is a ש after a holam always a "shin" and never a "sin"?
In some siddurim that are printed in certain Hebrew fonts, you will find words such as משה (Moshe) or חשך (darkness) that do not print with two nekudot. The most explicit way to point these words ...
- 5,587
2
votes
0
answers
101
views
Group symmetry in the letters of Genesis [closed]
Forgive me if this is not the sort of question you like. I'm new here.
Several years ago I came across the work of Stan Tenen, available at meru.org, who appears to have made some impressive ...
- 141
2
votes
0
answers
191
views
ג (gimel) mi yodeya (the pronunciation)?
From a halachik perspective, what are the correct ways to pronounce the ג (gimel)? Are there variant traditions? Is there an academic/linguistic opinion on how it was most likely pronounced from the ...
- 17.9k
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
Why is hebrew, the holy language, so messy?
Something that has always bothered me and I've never really understood is why Hebrew is so messy. If it is the language of G-d, the language in which the world was created and the language in which ...
- 4,666
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Peh at the end of a word
Is there any where in Tanach a word that ends with a "feh sofit" (the form of the letter feh/peh that comes at the end of a word) but has the sound of a "peh" (and not "feh".)
Similarly I would ask ...
- 16.2k
1
vote
1
answer
227
views
Did the Masoretes add the yud symbols?
My unfamiliarity with the history of the Hebrew language has created some confusion for me. I believe that that it was the Masoretes who had added some of the vowel points and markings which did not ...
1
vote
1
answer
394
views
Does Psalm 37's 1st verse in the Dead Sea Scroll named 11QPsd start with Aleph?
My question is whether Psalm 37's 1st verse in the Dead Sea Scroll known as 11QPsd starts with the letter "Aleph," because it is supposed to be an alphabetical acrostic poem. The reason why I'm asking ...
- 125
1
vote
2
answers
191
views
Dagesh in pe lefufah
If you were writing pointed text with a pe lefufah (or doubled/spiral pe, or pe kefulah) for pedagogical purposes, and the pe had a dagesh, would you write the dagesh inside the inner spiral, or ...
- 71
1
vote
1
answer
100
views
Are there words in the Hebrew bible where we find the letter Hei/Yod subsituted for an Alef?
For example, עמק הבכא in Psalams 84:6 is often translated as "Valley of weeping", even though we should expect the word weeping to be בכי, and not at all with an Alef.
Do we have more ...
- 492
1
vote
1
answer
191
views
Was the world really created by the Hebrew letters?
There’s a somewhat-famous Kabbalistic concept, recorded first in the Sefer Yetzirah, that Hashem created the world by using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Assuming Hebrew indeed evolved from an ...
- 1,912
1
vote
1
answer
122
views
Where can one find a complete guide to Hebrew numerals?
I am looking for an instruction resource on Hebrew numerals that is comprehensive, insofar as it:
lists all (or nearly all) of the euphemistic exceptions in frequent use (such as "chai" for 18, רחץ ...
- 20.2k
1
vote
0
answers
63
views
Body part associations with letters [duplicate]
I was curious, since I meditate by first focusing on each of my body parts to help calm myself, if there is designated corresponding letters for each part. I figured this would further deepen my ...
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