The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Biblical, Mishnaic, Samaritan, Tiberian, Yemenite, Mizrahi, Sephardi, Romaniote and Italian, Ashkenazi Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
See Biblical Hebrew phonology, Samaritan Hebrew phonology, Tiberian Hebrew phonology and Sephardi Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.
Consonants
edit| BH | MisH | Reading traditions | Letter(s) | Example | Romanization for Biblical and Tiberian Hebrew | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaH | TH | YH | MizH | SeH | RH | IH | AH | Hebrew alphabet | Paleo-Hebrew alphabet | Samaritan alphabet | ISO 259 and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Handbook of Style | Bible translations | |||||||||
| Arab Jews (Musta'arabi Jews), Berber Jews and Kurdish Jews | Iranian Jews | Bukharan Jews | Mountain Jews | Georgian Jews | North African Sephardim | Spanish and Portuguese Jews | Eastern Sephardim | ||||||||||||||
| b | b | b | b | b | b | b | b | בּ (Beth degushah) | 𐤁 (Bēt) | ࠁ (Bīt) | בַּיִת | b | |||||||||
| β | v | b (β~v) | v | v (b) | v | ב (Veth raphah) |
אַב | ḇ | b | ||||||||||||
| d | d | d | d | d | d | d | דּ (Daleth degushah) | 𐤃 (Dālet) | ࠃ (Dāʾlāt) | דָּם | d | ||||||||||
| ð | ð | d (ð) | ð | ד (Dhaleth raphah) | אֶחָד | ḏ | d | ||||||||||||||
| ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | dʒ (ɡ[1]) | ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | ɡ | גּ (Gimel degushah) | 𐤂 (Gīmel) | ࠂ (Gāʾman) | גַּג | g | ||||||
| ɣ | ɣ~ʁ | ɢ, ɣ~ʁ | ɣ~ʁ | ɣ~ʁ | ɡ (χ) | ɣ | ג (Ghimel raphah) | גַּג | ḡ | g | |||||||||||
| h | ʔ~∅[2] | h | h | h | h~∅ | h | h~∅ | ה (He), הּ (He mappiq) | 𐤄 (Hē) | ࠄ (ʾīy) | הַר | h | h or not written | ||||||||
| ħ | ʔ~∅, ʕ[2] | ħ | ħ | x~χ | ħ | x~χ | x | χ | ח (Heth) | 𐤇 (Ḥēt) | ࠇ (ʿīt) | חַג | ḥ | ||||||||
| j | י (Yodh) | 𐤉 (Yōd) | ࠉ (Yūt) | יָם | y | j/i | |||||||||||||||
| k | k | k | k | כּ ךּ (Kaph degushah) |
𐤊 (Kāp) | ࠊ (Kāf) | כִּי | k | c/ch | ||||||||||||
| x | x~χ | x | χ | כ ך (Khaph raphah) | אַךְ | ḵ | ch/c | ||||||||||||||
| l | ל (Lamedh) | 𐤋 (Lāmed) | ࠋ (Lāʾbāt) | לֹא | l | ||||||||||||||||
| ɬ | s | ʃ | s | שׂ (Sin semalith) | 𐤔 (Śīn) | ࠔ (Šān) | שֶׂה | ś | s | ||||||||||||
| m | מ ם (Mem) | 𐤌 (Mēm) | ࠌ (Mīm) | מָה | m | ||||||||||||||||
| n | נ ן (Nun) | 𐤍 (Nūn) | ࠍ (Nūn) | נָא | n | ||||||||||||||||
| p | p | f, b[3] | p | p | p | פּ (Pe degushah) | 𐤐 (Pē) | ࠐ (Fī) | פֶּה | p | p/ph | ||||||||||
| ɸ | f | f | פ ף (Phe raphah) | אַף | p̄ | ph | |||||||||||||||
| q / kʼ | q (ʔ[4]) | q | ɢ~g (q[1]) | q (k~g~ʔ) | ɢ, ɣ~ʁ | q | ɢ | kʼ | k | ק (Qoph) | 𐤒 (Qōp) | ࠒ (Qūf) | קַו | q | c/k | ||||||
| r~ɾ | ʀ, r~ɾ | r~ɾ | r~ɾ (ʀ~ʁ) | ר (Resh) | 𐤓 (Rēš) | ࠓ (Rīš) | רַע | r | |||||||||||||
| ʁ | ʕ | ʔ~∅, ʕ[2] | ʕ | ʔ~∅ | ʕ | qʼ | ʕ | ŋ | ʔ~∅ (ʕ) | ∅ | ŋ (ɲ) | ∅ | ע (Ayin) | 𐤏 (ʿAyin) | ࠏ (ʿĪn) | עַזָּה | ʿ | g | |||
| s | s | s | s | s | ס (Samekh) | 𐤎 (Sāmek) | ࠎ (Sinʾgå̄t) | סוּס | s | ||||||||||||
| (t)sˤ / tsʼ | sˤ | ts | ts (s) | ts | ts (s) | ts | צ ץ (Tsade) | 𐤑 (Ṣādē) | ࠑ (Ṣå̄ʾdīy) | צִי | ṣ | s/z | |||||||||
| ʃ | ʃ (s) | ʃ | ʃ (s) | ʃ | ʃ (s) | שׁ (Shin Yemanith) | 𐤔 (Šīn) | ࠔ (Šān) | שֵׁן | š | s/sh | ||||||||||
| t | t | t | t | t | t | t | תּ (Taw) | 𐤕 (Tāw) | ࠕ (Tå̄f) | תָּו | t | t/th | |||||||||
| θ | θ | t (θ) | t (d) | θ | d | s | ת (Thaw) | אֵת | ṯ | th | |||||||||||
| tˤ / tʼ | tˤ | tˤ | tʼ | t | ט (Teth) | 𐤈 (Ṭēt) | ࠈ (Ṭīt) | טַל | ṭ | t | |||||||||||
| w | b, w[5] | v | w | w (v) | v | v, w | v | ו (Waw) | 𐤅 (Wāw) | ࠅ (Bå̄) | וָו | w | v/u | ||||||||
| χ | ħ | ʔ~∅, ʕ[2] | ħ | h | ħ | x~χ | ħ | x~χ | x | χ | ח (Heth) | 𐤇 (Ḥēt) | ࠇ (ʿīt) | רָחֵל | ḥ | ch/h | |||||
| z | dz | z (dz) | z | ז (Zayin) | 𐤆 (Zayin) | ࠆ (Zēn) | זֶה | z | |||||||||||||
| ʕ | ʔ~∅, ʕ[2] | ʕ | ʔ~∅ | ʕ | qʼ | ʕ | ŋ | ʔ~∅ (ʕ) | ∅ | ŋ (ɲ) | ∅ | ע (Ayin) | 𐤏 (ʿAyin) | ࠏ (ʿĪn) | עַם | ʿ | not written | ||||
| ʔ | ʔ~∅[2] | ʔ | ʔ~∅ | ∅ | א (Aleph) |
𐤀 (ʾĀlep) | ࠀ (Āʾlāf) | אֵם | ʾ | ||||||||||||
Vowels
edit| MisH | TH | YH | AH | "Sephardi" | Niqqud | Romanization for Tiberian Hebrew | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German Jews | Lithuanian Jews | Hungarian Jews | Polish Jews (Galician Jews) | Bukharan Jews | Iranian Jews | SeH, MizH, IH and RH | Tiberian vocalization | Babylonian vocalization | Palestinian vocalization | ISO 259 | Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Handbook of Style | |||
| æ | a(ː) | æ | a | æ | a |  (Patach)
|
|
|
a, á, ạ | a | ||||
| ă |  (Hataf Patach)
|
ă | ||||||||||||
| eː | e | ej | ej (aj) | e |  (Tzere)
|
|
|
ē | ē | |||||
| י (Tzere-Yodh)
|
י
|
י
|
ê | |||||||||||
| ɛ | ɛː | æ | ɛ | ej | י (Segol-Yodh)
|
י
|
י / י
|
é, ẹ | ||||||
| ɛ(ː) | (Segol)
|
|
/
|
e, é, ẹ | e | |||||||||
| ɛ̆ |  (Hataf Segol)
|
ĕ | ĕ | |||||||||||
| ə | ă | ∅ |  (Shva)
|
|
|
ǝ | ||||||||
| ɪ~i | i(ː) | i |  (Hiriq)
|
|
|
i, ī | i, ī | |||||||
| iː | י (Hiriq-Yodh)
|
י
|
י
|
ī | î | |||||||||
| oː | ø (e[6]) | o~ou (au) | ej | øj | oj | ɵ | o |  (Holam alone)
|
|
|
ō | ō | ||
| וֹ (Vav with holam) | ו
|
ו
|
ô | |||||||||||
| ɔ | ɔ̆ | ɔ | ɔ~ʌ | ɔ, u |  (Hataf Kamatz)
|
|
 /
|
ŏ | ||||||
| ɔ(ː) |  (Kamatz katan)
|
o, ọ | o | |||||||||||
| ʌː~ɑː | ɔː | ɔ | ɒ | a | (Kamatz)
|
/
|
ā | ā | ||||||
| ה (Kamatz-He)
|
ה
|
ה / ה
|
â | |||||||||||
| ʊ~u | u(ː) | u | y | i | u |  (Kubutz)
|
|
|
u, ū | |||||
| uː | וּ (Vav with shuruk) | ו
|
ו
|
ū | û | |||||||||
| IPA | Samaritan vocalization | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| a, ɒ | 
|
father or RP hot |
| e | 
|
Scottish bay |
| e, i | 
|
Scottish bay or see |
| o, u | 
|
Scottish boat or boot |
Notes
edit- ^ a b The phonemes /ɡ/ (גּ) and /q/ (ק) are pronounced as /dʒ/ and /ɢ/~/ɡ/ by most Yemenite Jews, except for Sharʿabi Jews which pronounce them like their original pronunciation
- ^ a b c d e f The laryngeals /ʔ χ ħ h ʁ ʕ/ have become /ʔ/ or null everywhere, except before open vowels where /χ ħ ʁ ʕ/ sometimes become /ʕ/
- ^ /p/ has shifted to /f/ (except occasionally /pː/ > /bː/)
- ^ /q/ is sometimes pronounced as [ʔ], though not in Pentateuch reading, as a result of influence from Samaritan Arabic. /q/ may also be pronounced as [χ], but this occurs only rarely and in fluent reading.
- ^ /w/ has shifted to /b/ everywhere except in the conjunction ו- 'and' where it is pronounced as /w/
- ^ Most Yemenite Jews pronounce Holam as /ø/, but Sharʿabi Jews pronounce it /e/ like Tzere.