Hebrew spelling is the way words are spelled in theHebrew language. TheHebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are primarilyconsonants. This is because theHebrew script is anabjad, that is, its letters indicate consonants, notvowels orsyllables. An early system to overcome this, still used today, ismatres lectionis, where four of these letters,alef,he,vav andyud also serve as vowel letters. Later, a system of vowel points to indicate vowels (Hebrew diacritics), calledniqqud, was developed.
Throughout history, there have been two main systems of Hebrew spelling. One is vocalized spelling, the other is unvocalized spelling.
In vocalized spelling (ktiv menuqad), all of the vowels are indicated by vowel points (calledniqqud). In unvocalized spelling (ktiv hasar niqqud, orktiv male), the vowel points are omitted, but can be substituted by other vowels – vav andyud. This system is the spelling system commonly used inModern Hebrew today.
Vowel points are always optional in Hebrew. They can be used fully, partially or not used at all. The recommended approach endorsed today by theAcademy of the Hebrew Language and other Israeli educational institutions is to useplēnē spelling (matres lectionis) when not adding vowel dots (which is the usual case), and place a vocalization sign on a letter only when ambiguity cannot be resolved otherwise. The"defective" spelling is recommended for a fully vocalized text, hence its use is becoming rare. Texts older than 50–60 years may be written in an unvocalizeddefective spelling (for example, the wordḵamiším "fifty", was writtenחמשים on banknotes issued inMandatory Palestine or by theBank of Israel in its early days. Today, the common spelling isחמישים). A vocalizedplene spelling system is common inchildren's books, when it is better to accustom the children to the more popularplene spelling, while still letting them benefit from the vowel dots as a reading aid in early learning stages.
A third system that was endorsed in the past by the Academy of the Hebrew Language as an optimal system, but abandoned due to low popularity, calls for the use ofḥolám (וֹ),šurúq (וּ),dagéš inBet,Kaf andPe (בּ, כּ, פּ vs.ב, כ, פ),Šin Smalít (שׂ) andmappíq (הּ), while abandoning all other vowel dots (in everyday writing). According to this system,matres lectionis are still introduced to mark vowels, but the letterVav is used only as a consonant, while its variantsḥolám andšurúq serve as vowel letters. This system also makes clear distinction between finalHe used as a vowel marker (e.g.ילדה/jalˈda/ "a girl" ) and as a consonant (e.g.ילדהּ/jalˈdah/ "her child"). This system was never extensively used, and the Academy of the Hebrew Language finally abandoned it in 1992, when new rules were published not assuming any use of vowel dots.
Unvocalized spelling rules were instituted by the Hebrew Language Committee in 1890 (which became theAcademy of the Hebrew Language in 1953) and formally standardised in 1996. Even though the rules are established, some of the rules and specific spellings are disputed by writers and publishers, who often create their own in-house spelling system. Also, because having two spelling systems within the same language is confusing, some would like to reform it. In 2004,Mordechai Mishor, one of the academy's linguists, proposed in a session of the Academy of the Hebrew Language a modest reform.[1]
There are three systems of spelling used forModern Hebrew.
| Word | Ktiv haser | Ktiv menuqad | Ktiv male (Ktiv haser niqqud) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | IPA | |||
| courage | /ˈˀomets/ | אמץ1 | אֹמֶץ | אומץ |
| air | /ˀaˈvir/ | אויר2 | אֲוִיר | אוויר |
| distribution | /χaluˈka/ | חלקה3 | חֲלֻקָּה | חלוקה |
| two | /ˈʃnajim/ | שנים4 | שְׁנַיִם | שניים |
To illustrate the problem with Ktiv haser:
1 spelled the same asאמץ – /i'mets/ = "he adopted" – in Ktiv menuqadאִמֵּץ
2 spelled the same asאויר – /u'jar/ = "he was drawn" – in Ktiv menuqadאוּיָר
3 spelled the same asחלקה – /ħelˈqa/ = "land plot" – in Ktiv menuqadחֶלְקַה
4 spelled the same asשנים – /ʃaˈnim/ = "years" – in Ktiv menuqadשָׁנִים
In practice, many times two or more spelling systems are used in one text. The most common example of this is a word may be vowelized (usingniqqud, the "dots") partially, for instance withאוֹמץ, where only the vav (ו) is vowelized. This clarifies that the vowel is an "o" (וֹ) and not "u" (וּ). In addition, 3 letters (historically 6), can take a different sound depending on if there is a dot (called adagesh) in the middle of the letter (abet,kaf, andpe). In full spelling, the dot is not included, regardless if it is making one sound or the other. An example when a mixture of systems would be used is to clarify when the letter is taking adagesh. An example of this is shown in the adjacent picture, where for the word kosher (כָּשֵׁר(with niqqud),כשר(full spelling),/kaˈʃer/) may be written asכּשר (a mixture of the two systems) to be unambiguous that it is the letterכּ[k] and notכ[χ]. Words may be written inktiv haser ("missing spelling") if it is unambiguous and clear enough (ex.חנכה/χanuˈka/ instead of the "full" formחנוכה). In this case, the reader deciphers the word mostly by its context.
Also, some words are almost always written in the "missing" form (ktiv haser) in everyday life:לא (/lo/, no),אמא (/ima/, mother),אם (/im/, if), andכנרת (/kiˈneret/,Kinneret); however, the Academy of the Hebrew Language favorsאימא andכינרת, as well asצוהריים andמוחרתיים.
