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TheHebraization of English (orHebraicization)[1][2] is the use of theHebrew alphabet to writeEnglish. Because Hebrew uses anabjad, it can render English words in multiple ways. There are many uses for hebraization, which serve as a useful tool forIsraeli learners of English by indicating the pronunciation of unfamiliar letters. An example would be the English name spelled "Timothy", which can be Hebraized as "טימותי" in the Hebrew alphabet.
Forfull spelling, when a reader is likely to err in the reading of a word, the use ofniqqud orpartial niqqud is recommended. This is especially true when writing foreign words, unfamiliar words, ambiguous words, or words that take adagesh.
| Single letters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Variations | Hebrew | English Examples | IPA |
| a | ||||
| b | none | בּ (Bet) (full spellingב) | but, web | b |
| c | Hard C | ק (Kuf) | cat,kid, unique | k |
| Soft C | ס (Samekh), שׂ (Sin)(sin not normally used for transliterations) (full spellingש) | city,center, facade | s | |
| d | none | ד (Dalet) | do,David | d |
| e | ||||
| f | none | פ ף (Fe) | fool, leaf | f |
| g | Hard G | ג (Gimel) | go,get, beg | ɡ |
| Soft G | ג׳ (Gimel withgeresh) | gym,joy, module | dʒ | |
| French soft G | ז׳ (Zayin withgeresh) | seizure, massage, vision, equation, déjà vu | ʒ | |
| h | none | ה (He) | hen | h |
| j | Affricative J | ג׳ (Gimel withgeresh) | job,gentle, education | dʒ |
| Fricative J | ז׳ (Zayin withgeresh) | Jacques,genre, déjà vu | ʒ | |
| k | none | ק (Kuf), | car,keep, skill | k |
| l | none | ל (Lamed) | like, cool | l |
| m | none | מ ם (Mem) | man,mom | m |
| n | none | נ ן (Nun) | nice, tan | n |
| o | ||||
| p | none | פּ (Pe) (full spellingפ) | pen, spin, tip | p |
| q | Q followed by U | קְו (Kuf-Vav) (full spellingקוו) | quick,quite | kw |
| Q not followed by U | ק (Kuf), | tranq, sheqels | k | |
| r | none | ר (Reish) | royal, brighter | ɹ,ɚ |
| s | Voiceless S | ס (Samekh), שׂ (Sin)(sin not normally used for transliterations) (full spellingש) | smile, rocks,caesar | s |
| Voiced S (Z sound) | ז (Zayin) | rose, doɡs, tubs | z | |
| Voiceless postalveolar S (SH sound) | שׁ (full spellingש) | sure,suɡar, ocean, caution | ʃ | |
| Voiced postalveolar S | ז׳ (Zayin withgeresh) | pleasure, vision | ʒ | |
| t | none | ט (Tet), ת (Tav)(tav not normally used for transliterations) | two, sting, bet, walked | t |
| u | ||||
| v | none | ו (Vav)(at beginning of a word or in the middle, when not next to avav acting as a vowel [/o/ or /u/]) (full spellingוו:Vav is doubled in the middle of a word but not at the beginning except if initialaffix letter except "and" prefix), ב (Vet)(at end of a word or in the middle, when next to avav acting as a vowel [/o/ or /u/]) | voice, live, of | v |
| w | none | ו (Vav)(transliterated as a 'v' sound, but often pronounced with 'w' sound though prior knowledge), (full spelling: follows rule for Vav above) ו׳ (Vav withgeresh)(non-standard (indicates 'w' sound), and not used in general transliterations) | we, kuala, persuasion | w |
| y | Consonant | י (Yud) (full spellingיי:Yud is doubled in the middle of a word for/ei,ai/ but not at the beginning or afteraffix letters) | yes, fjord,eureka, onion | j |
| Vowel | ||||
| x | Z sound | ז (Zayin) | xylophone,xerox,xeno | z |
| KS sound | קְס (Kuf-Samekh) כְּס (Kaph-Samekh)full spellingכס | fox, text, exit | ks | |
| EX sound | אֶקְס (Aleph withsegol-Kuf withsh'va-Samekh) (full spellingאקס) | X-ray,X’s and O’s | e̞ks | |
| z | none | ז (Zayin) | zebra, realize | z |
| Multiple letters | ||||
| Letters | Variations | Hebrew | English Examples | IPA |
| ng | none | נג (Nun-Gimel), | thank, anger, song | ŋ |
| ch | Normal CH | צ׳ (Tsadi withgeresh) | chair, nature,cello | tʃ |
| K sound | כ ך (Chaph)(transliterated as an/x/ soundⓘ (like German CH below), because a 'ch' making a 'k' sound is from theGreek letterChi which also makes the /x/ sound.), ק(Kuf)(indicates 'k' sound, only used for a direct transliteration) | chaos,character, psychology | k | |
| German CH | ח (Het) (at beginning of a word), כ ך (Chaph)(usually in the middle of a word, always at end of a word) | Scottish loch,chanukah | χ | |
| th | Voiceless dental fricative | ת (Tav)(transliterated as a 't' sound), ת׳ (Tav withgeresh)(more accurate (indicates 'th' sound), but not used in general transliterations) | thing, teeth | t~θ~s |
| Voiced dental fricative | ד (Dalet)(transliterated as a 'd' sound), ד׳ (Dalet withgeresh)(more accurate (indicates 'th' sound), but not used in general transliterations) | this, breathe, father | d~ð~z | |
| sh | none | שׁ (Shin) (full spellingש) | she, flash,chef, crotchet | ʃ |
| ts | none | צ ץ (Tsadi), תס (Tav-Samekh)(tav-samekh not normally used for transliterations) תשׂ (Tav-Sin)(tav-sin not normally used for transliterations) (full spellingתש) | pizza, pretzel,tsunami, hats | ts |
Five letters in Hebrew,Nun,Mem,Tsadi,Pe/Fe, andKaf, all have final or sofit (Hebrew: סוֹפִיתsofit) forms. That means, that the letters' appearances change when they are at the end of words fromכ,פ,צ,מ,נ toך,ף,ץ,ם,ן respectively. Final forms are used in transliteration when appropriate, with the exception of foreign words ending in a [p] sound, which retain the non-final form ofפ, such as "קטשופ" ("ketchup"), as the word with a normal final form would be pronounced "ketchuph".
Since vowels are not consistent in English, they are more difficult to transliterate into other languages. Sometimes they are just transcribed by the actual English letter, and other times by its actual pronunciation (which also varies). For the most accurate transliteration, below is a table describing the different vowel sounds and their corresponding letters.
Hebrew has only 5 vowel sounds, with lack of discrimination in Hebrew between long and short vowels. In comparison, English which has around 12 vowel sounds (5 long, 7 short) depending on dialect. As a result, words such as sit/seat (/sɪt/ and/siːt/), hat/hut (/hæt/ and/hʌt/), and cop/cope (/kɒp/ and/koʊp/) are transliterated as the Hebrew vowels/i/,/a/ and/o/. The English pronunciation can be known through prior context.
Vowels will sometimes be put into Hebrew by their letters, and not by their sounds, even though it is less accurate phonetically. For example, any sort of "a" sound written with the letter "o", (ex. mom, monitor, soft), will often be transliterated as an "o" vowel, that is, with a vav (ו). The same is the case for an -or ending (pronounced -er), it will also often be transliterated with a vav as well. If the word with the "a" sound (such as "a" or "ah"), as in "ta ta", or "spa", it will be treated as an "a".
Forfull spelling, theniqqud (the "dots") is simply omitted, ifpartial vowelling is desired, especially for letters like Vav, then the niqqud is retained.
The picture of the "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
| Vowels | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Hebrew | English Examples | IPA | IPA aftertrans. |
| a | סָ (letter withkamatz), (letter withpatah),אַ/אָ (Alef withkamatz orpatach)(Not part of ordinary Hebrew spelling but sometimes used in transliterations) | run, enough | a/ʌ | ä |
| Note for below: This sound (æ) (ex. hat) does not exist in Hebrew. As a result, it is always transliterated as if it were an (a) sound (ex. hut). | mat, hat | æ | ||
| סָ (letter withkamatz), (letter withpatah), אַ/אָ (Alef withkamatz orpatach)(Not part of ordinary Hebrew spelling but sometimes used in transliterations) | ||||
| Note for below: These sounds (ɑ/ɒ) (ex. pawn) do not exist in Hebrew. As a result, it is transliterated as if it were an (a) sound (ex. pun). | spa, pot, law | ɑː/ɒː | ||
| סָ (letter withkamatz), (letter withpatah), אַ/אָ (Alef withkamatz orpatach)(Not part of ordinary Hebrew spelling but sometimes used in transliterations) | ||||
| e |  (letter withsegol), (letter withzeire) (moreambiguous) | met, ɡet,enter | e | e̞ |
| i | י (Yud preceded by letter withhirik), (letter withhirik) (not used infull spelling) | tiny, key, he, swing | iː | i |
| Note for below: This sound (ɪ) (ex. mitt) does not exist in Hebrew. As a result, it is always transliterated as if it were an (i) sound (ex. meet). | tip, myth | ɪ | ||
| י (Yud preceded by letter withhirik), (letter withhirik) (not used infull spelling) | ||||
| o | וֹ (Vav withholam),סֹ (succeeding letter withcholom) (not used infull spelling) | no, tow, moan, toll | o/əʊ | o̞ |
| Note for below: These sounds (ɑ/ɒ) (ex. cop) do not exist in Modern Hebrew. As a result, it is transliterated as if it were an (o) sound (ex. cope). | mop, hot, wash, tall,awe,on | ɑː/ɒ/ɔː | ||
| וֹ (Vav withholam),סֹ (succeeding letter withcholom) (not used infull spelling) | ||||
| uː | וּ (Vav withshuruk), (letter withkubutz) (not used infull spelling) | tube, soon, through | uː | u |
| Note for below: This sound (ʊ) (ex. look) does not exist in Hebrew. As a result, it is always transliterated as if it were an (u) sound (ex. luke). | look, put, could | ʊ̜/ɯ̽ | ||
| וּ (Vav withshuruk), (letter withkubutz) (not used infull spelling) | ||||
| Diphthongs | ||||
| ei | יי (Yud-Yud)(used specifically in transliterations),י (letter withsegol-Yud) (not normally used for transliterations), (letter withzeire) (not normally used for transliterations, also moreambiguous and used only in certain words) | day, wait, grey | ej | e̞j |
| ai | יי (Yud-Yud)(used specifically in transliterations),יסָ (letter withkamatz-Yud) (not normally used for transliterations), י (letter withpatah-Yud) (not normally used for transliterations) | fine, why | aj | äj |
| oi | וֹי (Vav withholam male-Yud) | loin, boy | oj | o̞j |
| ui | וּי (Vav with shuruk-Yud) | sweep, queen | uj | uj |
| ao | או (Alef-Vav) | town, mouse, pout | aʊ | äw |
| yu | יוּ (Yud-Vav withshuruk) | cute, arɡue,unit, few,you | ju | ju |
| Hiatus | ||||
| ui | וּאִי (Vav withshuruk-Alef-Yud withhirik-Yud) | Louie, gooey, chewy | uːiː | u.i |
The following are special cases for vowels at the beginning or end of a word. "O", "U", or "I" sound different at the beginning of a word, because they have no consonants before them. Therefore,Vav andYud, by themselves, would be assumed to be their consonant versions ("V" and "Y" respectively) and not their vowel versions.
If the sounds (that is, vowels with no consonants before it) are made in the middle of a word, the same thing is done as shown below (or looking up, replace the"ס" with thealeph).
Forfull spelling, theniqqud (the "dots") are simply omitted.
| At the beginning of a word | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Hebrew | English Examples | IPA | IPA aftertrans. |
| o | אוֹ (Aleph-Vav withholam) עוֹ (Ayin-Vav withholam)(not normally used for transliterations) | open | o | o̞ |
| u | אוּ (Aleph-Vav withshuruk) עוּ (Ayin-Vav withshuruk)(not normally used for transliterations) | Uma | u/ʊ | u |
| i/ee | אִי (Aleph withhiriq-Yud) עִי (Ayin withhiriq-Yud)(not normally used for transliterations) Note: The subsequentyud in both theAleph-Yud andAyin-Yud above is only necessary in full spelling. | into,eel | ɪ/i | i |
| ei/ai | איי (Aleph-Yud-Yud) | ice,ace,eiɡht | ej/aj | e̞j/äj |
| a | אָ (Aleph withkamatz) orאַ (Aleph withpatach) עָ/עַ (Ayin withkamatz orpatach)(not normally used for transliterations) | all,off | a | ä |
| e | אֶ (Aleph withsegol) עֶ (Ayin withsegol)(not normally used for transliterations) | Edward | e | e̞ |
| At the end of a word | ||||
| a | הסָ (Letter withkamatz-He) orה (Letter withpatach-He) א orע (Aleph orAyin)(not normally used for transliterations) | cola | a | ä |
| e | ה (Letter withsegol-He) | almeh | e | e̞ |
