| Niqqud | |||||||
| Other diacritics | cantillation,geresh, gershayim | ||||||
| Example | |||||||
 | |||||||
| Gen. 1:9, "And God said, Let the waters be collected". Letters in black,niqqud in red, cantillation in blue[1] | |||||||
| Niqqud articles | |||||||
| Shva · Hiriq · Zeire · Segol · Patach · Kamatz · Holam · Dagesh · Mappiq · Shuruk · Kubutz · Rafe · Sin/Shin dot | |||||||
InHebreworthography,niqqud ornikud (Hebrew:נִקּוּד,Modern: nikúd,Tiberian: niqqūḏ, "dotting, pointing" orHebrew:נְקֻדּוֹת,Modern: nekudót,Tiberian: nəquddōṯ, "dots") is a system ofdiacritical signs used to representvowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of theHebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in theEarly Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by theMasoretes ofTiberias in the second half of the first millennium AD in theLand of Israel (seeMasoretic Text,Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is calledktiv menuqad.
Niqqud marks are small compared to the letters, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them.
In modern Israeli orthography,niqqud is mainly used in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or new immigrants to Israel.[2] For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling without niqqud, known in Hebrew asktiv maleh (כְּתִיב מָלֵא, literally "full spelling") had developed before the introduction ofniqqud. This was formally standardised in theRules for Spelling without Niqqud (כְּלָלֵי הַכְּתִיב חֲסַר הַנִּקּוּד) enacted by theAcademy of the Hebrew Language in 1996,[3] and updated in 2017.[4] Nevertheless,niqqud is still used occasionally in texts to prevent ambiguity and mispronunciation of specific words.
One reason for the lesser use of niqqud is that it no longer reflects the current pronunciation. Inmodern Hebrew,tzere is pronounced the same assegol, although they were distinct inTiberian Hebrew, andpataḥ the same asqamatz. To the younger generation of native Hebrew speakers, these distinctions seem arbitrary and meaningless; on the other hand, Hebrew language purists have rejected out of hand the idea of changing the basics of niqqud and fitting them to the current pronunciation – with the result that in practice niqqud is increasingly going out of use.[5]
According toGhil'ad Zuckermann, the lack of niqqud in what he calls "Israeli" (Modern Hebrew) often results in "mispronunciations".[6]: 49 For example, the Israeli lexical itemמתאבנים is often pronounced asmitabním (literally "becoming fossilized (masculine plural)") instead ofmetaavním "appetizers", the latter deriving fromתאבוןteavón "appetite", the former deriving fromאבןéven "stone".[6]: 49 Another example is thetoponymמעלה אדומים, which is often pronounced asmaalé edomím instead ofmaalé adumím, the latter appearing in theHebrew Bible (Joshua 15:7 and 18:17).[6]: 49 The hypercorrectyotvetá is used instead ofyotváta for the toponymיטבתה, mentioned in Deuteronomy 10:7.[6]: 49 The surname of American actressFarrah Fawcett (פארה פוסט) is often pronouncedfost instead offóset by many Israelis.[6]: 49
This table uses the consonant lettersב,ח orש, where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced after. Any other letters shown are actually part of the vowel. Note that there is some variation among different traditions in exactly how some vowel points are pronounced. The table below shows how mostIsraelis would pronounce them, but the classicAshkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects.
Note concerningIPA: the transcription symbols are linked to the articles about the sounds they represent. Thediacritic ˘ (breve) indicates ashort vowel; thetriangular colon symbol ː indicates that the vowel islong.
| Symbol | Common name | Alternative names | Type | Scientific name | Hebrew | IPA | Transliteration | Comments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְ | Sh'va | sheva | Israeli | švaʾ | שְׁוָא | [e̞] orØ | ə, e, ', or nothing | In modern Hebrew, shva represents either/e/ orØ, regardless of its traditional classification as shva naḥ (Hebrew:שווא נח) or shva na (Hebrew:שווא נע). Examples:
| |||||||||
| Tiberian | šəwāʾ | שְׁוָא | |||||||||||||||
| חֱ | Reduced segol | hataf segol | Israeli | ẖataf seggōl | חֲטַף סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e or é | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ səgōl | חֲטֶף סְגוֹל | [ɛ̆] | ĕ | |||||||||||||
| חֲ | Reduced patach | hataf patah | Israeli | ẖataf pattaẖ | חֲטַף פַּתָּח | [a] | a or á | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ páṯaḥ | חֲטֶף פַּתַח | [ă] | ă | |||||||||||||
| חֳ | Reduced kamatz | hataf kamats | Israeli | ẖataf qamaṣ | חֲטַף קָמָץ | [o̞] | ŏ | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ qāmeṣ | חֲטֶף קָמֶץ | [ɔ̆] | ŏ | |||||||||||||
| בִ | Hiriq | hiriq | Israeli | ẖīrīq | חִירִיק | [i] | ī | Usually promoted to Hiriq Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | |||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥīreq | חִירֶק | [i] or[iː] | ī | |||||||||||||
| בִי | Hiriq malei | hiriq yod | Israeli | ẖīrīq maleʾ | חִירִיק מָלֵא | [i] | ī | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥīreq mālēʾ | חִירֶק מָלֵא | [iː] | ī | |||||||||||||
| בֵ | Zeire | tsere, tzeirei | Israeli | ṣērē | צֵירֵי | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | ṣērē | צֵרי | [eː] | ē | |||||||||||||
| בֵי,בֵה,בֵא | Zeire malei | tsere yod, tzeirei yod | Israeli | ṣērē maleʾ | צֵירֵי מָלֵא | [e̞] | ē | More commonlyei (IPA[ei̯]) | |||||||||
| Tiberian | ṣērē mālēʾ | צֵרֵי מָלֵא | [eː] | ē | |||||||||||||
| בֶ | Segol | segol | Israeli | seggōl | סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | səḡōl | סְגוֹל | [ɛ] or[ɛː] | e or é | |||||||||||||
| בֶי,בֶה,בֶא | Segol malei | segol yod | Israeli | seggōl maleʾ | סֶגּוֹל מָלֵא | [e̞] | e | With succeeding yod, it is more commonlyei (IPA[ei̯]) | |||||||||
| Tiberian | səḡōl mālēʾ | סְגוֹל מָלֵא | [ɛː] | ệ | |||||||||||||
| בַ | Patach | patah | Israeli | pattaẖ | פַּתָּח | [a] | a | A patach on a lettersח,ע,ה at the end of a word is soundedbefore the letter, and not after. Thus,נֹחַ (Noah) is pronounced/ˈno.ax/. This only occurs at the ends of words and only with patach andח,ע, andהּ (that is,ה with a dot (mappiq) in it). This is sometimes called apatach ganuv (פַּתָּח גָּנוּב), or "stolen" patach (more formally, "furtive patach"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable. | |||||||||
| Tiberian | páṯaḥ | פַּתַח | [a] or[aː] | a or á | |||||||||||||
| בַה,בַא | Patach malei | patah he | Israeli | pattaẖ maleʾ | פַּתָּח מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | páṯaḥ mālēʾ | פַּתַח מָלֵא | [aː] | a | |||||||||||||
| בָ | Kamatz gadol | kamats | Israeli | qamaṣ gadōl | קָמָץ גָּדוֹל | [a] | a | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | qāmeṣ gāḏōl | קָמֶץ גָּדוֹל | [ɔː] | ā | |||||||||||||
| בָה,בָא | Kamatz malei | kamats he | Israeli | qamaṣ maleʾ | קָמָץ מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||
| Tiberian | qāmeṣ mālēʾ | קָמֶץ מָלֵא | [ɔː] | â | |||||||||||||
| בׇ | Kamatz katan | kamats hatuf | Israeli | qamaṣ qatan | קָמָץ קָטָן | [o̞] | o | Usually promoted to holam malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. Also, not to be confused with Hataf Kamatz. | |||||||||
| Tiberian | qāmeṣ qāṭān | קָמֶץ קָטָן | [ɔ] | ||||||||||||||
| בֹ | Holam | holam | Israeli | ẖolam | חוֹלָם | [o̞] | o | Usually promoted to holam malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. The holam is written above the consonant on the left corner, or slightly to the left of (i.e., after) it at the top. | |||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥōlem | חֹלֶם | [oː] | ō | |||||||||||||
| בוֹ,בֹה,בֹא | Holam malei | holam male | Israeli | ẖōlam mālēʾ | חוֹלָם מָלֵא | [o̞] | ō | The holam is written in the normal position relative to the main consonant (above and slightly to the left), which places it directly over thevav. | |||||||||
| Tiberian | ḥōlem mālēʾ | חֹלֶם מָלֵא | [oː] | ō | |||||||||||||
| בֻ | Kubutz | kubuts (shuruk - Ashkenazi) | Israeli | qubūṣ | קֻבּוּץ | [u] | u | Usually promoted to Shuruk in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | |||||||||
| Tiberian | qībūṣ | קִבּוּץ | [u] or[uː] | u or ú | |||||||||||||
| בוּ,בוּה,בוּא | Shuruk | shuruk (melopum - Ashkenazi) | Israeli | šūrūq | שׁוּרוּק | [u] | ū | The shuruk is written after the consonant it applies to (the consonant after which the vowel/u/ is pronounced). The dot in the shuruk is identical to a dagesh, thus shuruq and vav with a dagesh are indistinguishable. (see below). | |||||||||
| Tiberian | šūreq | שׁוּרֶק | [uː] | ū | |||||||||||||
| בּ | Dagesh | dagesh | Israeli | dageš | דָּגֵשׁ | varied | varied | Not a vowel, "dagesh" refers to two distinct grammatical entities:
| |||||||||
| Tiberian | dāḡēš | דָּגֵשׁ | |||||||||||||||
| בֿ | Rafe | rafe | Israeli | rafe | רָפֵה | Ø | a˺, e˺, i˺, o˺, or u˺ | No longer used in Hebrew. Still seen in Yiddish (especially following theYIVO standard) to distinguish various letter pairs. Some ancient manuscripts have adagesh or arafe on nearly every letter. It is also used to indicate that a letter likeה orא is silent. In the particularly strange case of theTen Commandments, which have two different traditions for theircantillations which many texts write together, there are cases of a single letter with both a dagesh and a rafe, if it is hard in one reading and soft in the other. | |||||||||
| Tiberian | rāfa | [◌̆] | ă, ĕ, ĭ, or ŭ | Niqqud, but not a vowel. Used as an "anti-dagesh", to show that aבגדכפת letter is soft and not hard, or (sometimes) that a consonant is single and not double, or that a letter likeה orא is completely silent | |||||||||||||
| שׁ | Shin dot | shin dot | Israeli andTiberian | šin dot | שִׁי"ן,שִׁי״ן יְמָנִית, "right Shin" | [ʃ] | š/sh | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of a letter before the shin with the shin dot). The dot for shin is written over the right (first) branch of the letter. It is usually transcribed "sh". | |||||||||
| שׂ | Sin dot | sin dot | Israeli | śin dot | שִׂי"ן,שִׁי״ן שְׂמָאלִית, "left Shin" | [s] | ś/s | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of the sin with the sin dot). The dot for sin is written over the left (third) branch of the letter | |||||||||
| Tiberian | Some linguistic evidence indicates that it was originally IPA[ɬ]. |
Both consonants and niqqud can be typed from virtual graphical keyboards available on theWorld Wide Web, or by methods integrated into particular operating systems.
| Niqqud | Right Alt (=AltGr) + Hebrew-keyboard key: | Explanation (usually the first Hebrew letter of the niqqud's name) |
|---|---|---|
| אָ | AltGr+ק forקָמץ (kamatz) | first Hebrew letter of the niqqud's name |
| אַ | AltGr+פ forפַתח (patach) | |
| בְ | AltGr+ש forשְׁווא (sheva) | |
| בּ וּ הּ | AltGr+ד forדּגש (dagesh) | |
| אִ | AltGr+ח forחִירִיק (hiriq) | |
| אֶ | AltGr+ס forסֶגול (segol) | |
| אֵ | AltGr+צ forצֵירֵי (tsere) | |
| אֹ | AltGr+ו forחוֹלם (holam) | theו key (like the 'o' vowel), since theח key is already used for hiriq |
| אֻ | AltGr+\ forקֻבּוּץ (kubuts) | because the line \ visually resembles ֻ |
| אֲ | AltGr+[ for reduced patachפַתח | the key to the right ofפ |
| אֳ | AltGr+ר for reduced kamatsקָמץ | the key to the right ofק |
| אֱ | AltGr+ב for reduced segolסֶגול | the key to the right ofס |
| שׁ | AltGr+W for the Shin dot | the key aboveש, right-side, since the dot is placed aboveש, right-side |
| שׂ | AltGr+Q for the Sin dot | the key aboveש, left-side, since the dot is placed aboveש, left-side |
| אֿ | AltGr+] forרפֿה (rafe) |
InGTK+Linux systems, niqqud can be entered by holding downAltGR and pressing the same keys as for Windows, above, or by pressing ctrl+shift+u followed by the appropriate 4 digit Unicode.
Using the Hebrew keyboard layout inmacOS, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing the Option key together with a number on the top row of the keyboard. Other combinations such assofit andhataf can also be entered by pressing either the Shift key and a number, or by pressing the Shift key, Option key, and a number at the same time.[13]
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Notes:
SIL International have developed another standard, which is based on Tiro, but adds the Niqqud along the home keys.[14] Linux[specify] comes with "Israel — Biblical Hebrew (Tiro)" as a standard layout. With this layout, niqqud can be typed without pressing the Caps Lock key.
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, especially§7,§8,§9The notable exception is the newspaperשער למתחיל Sha'ar LaMatchil 'Gate for the Beginner', intended for children and students of Hebrew, which is printed in 'easy Hebrew' with a limited vocabulary and partial vocalization applied to scriptio plena.
Supposedly, the teachers who taught my generation knew Hebrew perfectly. They had a thorough knowledge of all the Hebrew classics as well as of modern Hebrew literature. But Hebrew was not their natural language. They had gained their knowledge of Hebrew from books, by tremendous effort. But they did not dream nor curse and did not read in Hebrew. And they subjected us, who grew up with Hebrew as our mother tongue, to a terrible torture. They demanded that we master perfectly all the niceties and nuances of a language purism which meant nothing to us. I remember when I was asked to write words with nikkud on the blackboard and made a hash of it, the teacher said "You are a total ignoramus".
