Second Edition The First HEBREW PRIMER for Adults Biblical and Prayerbook Hebrew Ethelyn Simon Nanette Stahl Linda Motzkin Joseph Anderson A self-teaching text designed for people who have not studied in years. EKS Publishing Company, Oakland, CaliforniaChapter 1 The Hebrew Alphabet Consonants The First Hebrew Primer for Adults is designed in a simple, straightforward way to teach you this ancient language. In these 33 lessons, you will be given enough informa- tion and practice to enable you, with the aid of a Hebrew-English dictionary, to under- stand most Biblical texts and Hebrew pray- ers. As you progress, you will discover and delight in the clear, strong rhythms of original Hebrew — a joy unattainable through reading even the best of translations. Why grammar? Because grammar is the short cut to leaning a new language. The rules of grammar, in an almost magical way, make it possible to understand and compose an infinite number of sentences without learning them one by one. Forexample, ifwe know that the addition of s or es to a word changes the sense of the word from one to more than one, we immediately understand the difference between dog and dogs wish and wishes Each language has its own method of organ- izing and altering words to communicate meaning, Vocabulary is not enough. For instance, a three word sentence in Hebrew requites an eight word sentence to express the same idea in English: I went to his house in the city. ya pa? D2 In this book we will acquaint you with just enough grammar for you to understand how the Hebrew language works. Vocabu- lary is also kept to a minimum. Once you understand the organization of the language, you will be able to increase your own vocab- ulary at will, with the use of a dictionary. Itis our intention to present this material in such an uncomplicated way that the language of Hebrew will speak directly to you. Note to All Students Students new to Hebrew will need to work carefully through the first three chapters covering the alphabet and the tules for pro- nunciation. Even those who already know how to read Hebrew are encouraged to study these chapters, both to eam new information and to review what they have previously learned. Changes in the Second Edition Nothing has been added and nothing of any importance has been deleted. All the changes in the Second Edition are so small that they will not prevent using this edition of the Primer along with the previous edition. In spite of our best efforts, we made some mistakes in the first edition of this text. These. minor mistakes have been corrected In some parts of the text, we found that we had offered too much material for beginners. Instead of deleting this information, we moved it to a separate section, Wherever we removed any information, we placed a note indicating that additional information can be found on page 272, In some cases we have improved the original presentation by rearranging the placement of items on a page to make that page more readable. For additional fun_and practice in reading Biblical Hebrew, EKS also publishes Tall Tales Told and Retold in Biblical He- brew. The tales start very simply with the grammar and vocabulary of Chapter 10 in this text and progress chapter by chapterwith increased complexity.1 The Hebrew Alphabet | Consonants English Alphabet 1. English is read from left to right. 2. Inthe English alphabet there are 26 let- ters: some are vowels (a, @, i, 0, u.) some are consonants (b,c, d, g, etc.), Ty Hebrew Alphabet 1. Hebrew is read from right to left. 2. In the Hebrew alphabet there are 22 letters, all of which are consonants. The vowels are added to the con- sonants in a special way which we discuss in the next chapter. and one is both (y). The Alphabet Chart 1. In column 1 you will find the pronunciation for each Hebrew letter. In this book we use the Sephardic pronunciation — the pronunciation officially accepted by the State of Israel. 2. In column 2 you will find the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as they will appear through- out the book. This type of lettering is called “Book Print.” 3. InHebrew, five letters of the alphabet appear in a different form when found at the end of word. These “final forms” appear in column 3, 4, The names of the Hebrew letters are shown in column 4, We will always refer toa letter by its official name (Bet = 1, 2). 5. Incolumns§, 6, and 7, you will find the three types of lettering generally used for Hebrew. They are: Book Print, used in printed material; Block Letters, a simplified form of written Hebrew; and Script Letters, the commonly used type of written Hebrew. In order to read these lessons it is necessary to learn to read Book Print To write the exercises it will be necessary to learn to write either the Block or the Script Letters. Final Forms Five letters have a different shape when they appear at the end of a word, as noted above. ‘They are called final forms, and are shown separately in column 3, and along with their regular forms in columns 5, 6, and 7. Tsade Pey Nun Mem Kaf 3 a 2 a 3 Regular r q ? a 7 Final The Pronunciation of the Shin 7 There are two ways to pronounce a shin W. When the dotis on the rightside WF itis pronounced sh as in ship; and when it is on the left B, itis pronounced s as in sun. 2‘The Habrew Alphabet | Consonants | 1 Alphabet Chart (yy 2 @ 4 6) ©) @ Book Final Name of Book Pronunciation Print Form Letter Print Block Script Silent letter N Aleph | N id le Bas in Boy 2 Bet 2 | a Vas in Vine S 3 al 2 Gasin Girl a Gimmel | A A ¢€ Das in Door 5 Dalet sl al 3 Has in House 4 Hey n n BD) Vas in Vine 4 Vav 4 1 | Zas in Zebra } Zayin ; Tt 5 CHasinBacH | A Chet n 7 0 Tas in Tall Db Tet Db u 6 Y as in Yes 5 Yod 7 7 7 K as in Ki 2 2 J ° Ch cH 5 T | kat 5 J 5 T 5 > Las in Look Ss Lamed | § 7 o Masin Mother | 2 | @ | Mem 2H | AD | NP Nas in Now a | [yen 37} 114] 4] Sas in Sun 3 Samech| 9 Dv 0 Silent letter J Ayin 3 Vv 3 P as in People 5 5 g e F asin Food 5 | Pey BF Si of TSasinnuts | 3 | P |tsade | SP | XV | 37 Kas in Kitty p Qof P V P Ras in Robin 5 Resh al alee SH as in SH. vy ; ypfiw ie SesinSun | By Sin |» lw le Tas in Tall rn Tav n nl D 3TT 1| The Hebrew Alphabet | Consonants The Dagesh and the BeGeD-KeFeT Letters ‘The dagesh is a dot in the center ofa letter. The dagesh performs various functions in Hebrew. The first function that we will learn concems the letters referred to in Hebrew as the BeGeD- KeFeT letters. The word BeGeD-KeFeT NED—"723. issimplya memory device made from the sounds of six letters: bet 1, gimmel 3, dalet ‘J, kaf 2, pey B, fav. It is useful to remember these letters together because they all follow the same rules in relation to the dagesh. Three of these letters change their pronunciation when a dagesh is added. At one time, all the BeGeD-KeF eT letters were sounded one way with a dagesh and another way withoutit, Today in Sephardic Hebrew the pronunciation changes in only three of the six letters. With a Dagesh Without a Dagesh BasinBoy = 2 Vas in Vine =2 KasinKity = 3 CH as in BaCH = 3 Pas in People = 8 FasinFood =8 The pronunciation of the other three letters remains the same, with or without the dagesh With a Dagesh Without a Dagesh GasinGir = 3 GasinGil = 1 Das in Door = 7 Das in Door = 7 TasinTal =F TasinTal = 0 The Throaty Five -X, 7. 1, ¥. 9 There are five letters — aleph X, hey 71, chet 1, ayin Y, and resh | — which were, at one time, all sounded in the throat. It is almost impossible for, speakers of English to pronounce all these sounds. Most speakers of English pronounce these letters as follows: The Naleph and Y ayin are silent letters. ‘The 77 hey is pronounced like the English H ‘The M1 chet is pronounced like the gutteral German ch as in Bach. ‘The "1 resh should be tilled in the throat, but most speakers of English pronounee it lke the English R. The important thing to remember about the throaty five letters —X, 71, 11, ¥, and —is thata dagesh can never be added to them. These are the onlly letters in the Hebrew alphabet that cannot take a dagesh.‘The Hebrew Alphabet | Consonants | 1 Letters That Look Alike Some letters look alike and may be confused by the beginning reader. You must learn to distinguish between each of the letters in the following groups. ROR a-a 1-1-7 a-a v-n y= 4-3 n-n-a 2-1 y-x d-o t-1-? 7-9 Letters That Sound Alike Notice that the following letters in the Hebrew alphabet sound alike: SasinSun — & 0 Vas in Vine -~ a KasinKity — 3 > silent letter -— y 8 TasinTal - DO OT CHasinBocH - 2 7 Note: Be careful not to confuse the letters 71 and 11. Though we have no English equivalent for the Mit should not be sounded like the English H. Remember, the letter 11 sounds like the German guttural eh, found in the name of the composer Bach. Exercises ‘The exercises included in each chapter are designed to help you leam the material. It will be of great benefit to you to complete all the exercises before you go on to the next chapter. Choose either block orscript letters to use for all the exercises in this book. We have chosen block letters. Section A The first eight letters: MT 47 GF Exercise 1A, Write a line of each of the first eight letters. Name the letter and sound it as you write. Example: aleph NNNNNNNNNNNNN bet daaaaada Exercise 2A. Repeat aloud the Hebrew names of the following letters: 2,7 2 8 7 1 8 a Exercise 3A. Rearrange the letters in each group so that they are alphabetically ordered. DN TART 4 8 AT 2 TR Exercise 4A. Write an English word beginning with the sound of the following Hebrew letters: Examples: goat — 1 dog — 7 a a tT| 1| The Hebrew Alphabet | Consonants Section B In this section you will be practicing the next group ofletters:1 jm ,5 ,23 .> ,0 Three of these letters have a different shape when they appear at the end of a word, regiar— 2, B,D Here are some examples: final form J, DB, 4 wa ow mae 345 abe Exercise 1B. Write a line of each of the second group of etters, including the final forms. Name the letter and sound it as you write. Example: tet ._ UUHUubnuHNYHuY Exercise 2B. Repeat the Hebrew names of these letters. 2 ,B 2,9 > Exercise 3B, Rearrange the letters in each group so that they are alphabetically ordered. ppp 1,9.m.2 2.07.09 03 Dy Td DAP ALT DTD RS i Exercise 4B. Write an English word beginning with the sound of the following Hebrew letters. Examples; can — D near — 2 > > oo pb 3 Section C In this section we leam the end of the alphabet! N WY. Pp ok BSW ,o ‘Two of these letters have a different shape when they appear at the end of a word. regular— 3, BD Here are some examples: final form — Ps *] yas 330 2p Remember that the letter @ can be pronounced two ways, depending on where the dot on top of the letter appears. @ — sh asin ship & —sasin sun Exercise 1C. Write a line of each letter from this group. Name the letter and sound it as you write Example. samech . DDDDDDDD Exercise 2C. Repeat aloud the following letters. x: on op 0 2 Exercise 3C. Rearrange the letters in each group so that they are alphabetically ordered BPAY NY 4 OLY 3 PLN .2 B.DYyk 1‘The Hebréw Alphabet | Consonants | 1 Exercise 4C. Write an English word beginning with the sound of the following Hebrew letters: Examples: pan~S river —7 poe mn op oe & 7 Exercise 5C. Fill in the missing letters so that each group of letters is alphabetically arranged, va Exercise 6C. Alphabetize the following words according to the first letter of each word. wmby pag jnab ty on be PT 2D Xen ma 2» an ap 1 ABD PPT VT Dae M,N Na Exercise 7C. List the five letters that cannot take a dagesh. Exercise 8C. Which three letters are pronounced differently with and without a dagesh? Exercise 9C, Which five letters have a different shape at the end of a word? Exercise 10C. Copy each of these words into script or block print, whichever you have chosen. Dy LOR Nip esses geet ppp ol asec sreeseeee ea mbpn te arsane cece selseseetseseeee Neva) ee eee eee TTT aa eee cece eee ace eee Ira Sy eee tape eee I Heat oD Seer eee SEE ery fee eceemeceeeeceeeeee ee ge eee) ey, apyChapter 2 Vowels In Hebrew the vowels are added to the consonants by means of dots and dashes. Usually these are found written below the letter, but sometimes you may see one written above or to the side ofaletter. The following chart shows the sounds of the vowels. When discussing the vowels, we will use the sign X as a substitute for the consonant, which could be any Hebrew letter. Name Vowel Sound Vowel Sign gamets a.as in yacht x patach as in yacht x chireq ee as in bee x chireg with yod ee as in bee * tsere ay as in hay x tsere with yod ay as in hay %* segol eh as in bed x cholem as in row x cholem with vav © as in row ix gamets chatuf © as in dog x qibbuts 00 as in pool Sue shureq 90 as in pool 4. ‘Vowel names are listed for your information only. You need not memorize them. *Rarely used,Vowels | 2 How to Read the Vowel Signs with the Consonants A. The vowel signs in Hebrew usually appear below the consonant, as in J. One utters first the sound of the letter, and then the sound of the vowel. The sound produced is thus d+a= da. B, The vowels 1X and 1X are placed after the consonant. Remember that Hebrew is read from tight to left. These vowels are sounded with the letters that precede them. Example: MW" is pronounced root — the Hebrew name for Ruth. Vowel-letters — the Vav and the Yod In English, the letter y can be either a consonant as in yellow, or a vowel, as in pretty. In the same way, the Hebrew letter vav 1 can function as a consonant or a vowel. When the vav is a consonant, it sounds like v as in vine, and usually has a vowel sign under it. 1. the consonant with the vowel eh, as in veteran }. the consonant with the vowel ay, as in vacation 1. the consonant with the vowel ee, as in veal When the vav functions as a vowel, it has the sound of o as in row or the sound of oo as in pool. The vav is not a vowel and a consonant at the same time. When a vav functions as a vowel, sounded 0 or 09, it does not have the sound of v as in vine With a dot above it, the vav sounds like o as in row: 1 With a dot in its center, the vav sounds like 00 as in pool: 7 Note: This dot in the center of the vav is not a dagesh. The yod » isa consonant, and may also function as part of a vowel. When it isa consonantit has the sound of y as in yellow, and is pronounced together with the vowel under or beside it: the consonant with the vowel a, as in yacht the consonant with the vowel ay, as in yea the consonant with the vowel e, as in yell P the consonant with the vowel 00, as in youET 21 Vowels The Vowel Sounds Not all of the words in the following exercises are actual Hebrew words. The vowel sound a— X, X. The vowel sound a, as in yacht, is shown by the signs X or X. At one time, the vowel X was pronounced as a longer sound than the vowelX. However, most people today do not distin- guish between these vowels. Exercises for X and X. Read the following. bee nay nbYy APR TN ABD ABD By ABD Ma PY The vowel sound ee— X, °K. The vowel sound ee, asin bee, is shown by the signs X or X. The addition of the yod does not change the sound of the vowel. There is no difference in the pronunciation of "PY and ‘WY. Both sound like the English word ear, Exercises for X, X, °X, and X. RD PME DET PD 20k a OR? kek oe on de The vowel sound ay— X, °X. The vowel sound ay, as in hay, is shown by the signs X or ?X. The addition of the yod does not change the sound of the vowel. There is no difference in the pronunciation of OY and OY, Both sound like the English word shame. Exercises for X, X, X, %, X, and %%. TERT? PY , 27 72 SY NX WS PY 72 ony DY The vowel sound eh— x The vowel sound eh, as in bed, is shown by the sign X. The Hebrew form "TY is pronounced shed. Exercises for X, X, X, %, X, K,and X. WY PPR PRTNN TT Ne aR Wwe WE mB Tay py by The vowel sound o— “x, 5X. ‘The vowel sound o, as in row, is shown by the sign ‘Xor 4X, and appears after the letter. The sound is the same whether the vowel has the vav with the dot, or just the dot. Therefore, both THY and TY sound like the English word ode. Exercises for X, X, X, ™% X, °X, X “X, and |X. ora .ox ,napis xia Pa wa jofby min xia pk op bi NdVowels | 2 The vowel sound oo— 4X, X. ‘The vowel sound 00, as in pool, is shown by the signs 1X orX. The vowel sign "Xis written after the consonant; the vowel signX is written beneath it. Both vowels have the same sound. There is no difference in pronunciation between M7 and nm Both sound like the English word root. Exercise for all the vowels. Ty WX Mp Wap ID AIT NT 7D poe miso vei Ppp ,7y) Dab vin joys 72y .0%0 , 777. iam Tax The Silent Letters — X and y Since the letters X and 9 are silent, they take the sound of the vowels that are either under or beside them. Here are some English words written in Hebrew letters to show you how to sound the vowels with the silent letters, These words will help you read the sounds correctly. Examples: ear—"PR, WY cat_Py, DX oddT8, TY egg—I, 19 coed—T¥ip, TRIP The following are examples of English words spelled with Hebrew letters. Practice reading the sounds correctly. cot — np rain Soaae ye mama — 729 rule =e ” need Hee sega red finsttstea a suit _ pio goat a vi shame — ow Exercises Exercise 1. Combine each letter of the alphabet with each of the vowel signs, sounding the letters with the vowels as you write them. Example: IN NX IN NNN NON NAN « Baaaaaa Exercise 2. Read the following words aloud. Copy them down and then read aloud the words that you have written. yi TED DY DYE DR aay na wn) ayD Exercise 3. In each of the following groups of three words, one word does not sound like the other two. Pick out the word that is different. Tay Wan, PAR 5 olde .wey ppd .3 ait yi ayn 1 55x /POR JY .6 DX ,OY ,ON .4 npe may MID .2—_—_— —.:.:200Y”O#?_<_!_ _ _—_ __O—_———— 2| Vowels Exercise 4a. In each of the following pairs of words, there is one word in which the vav is a consonant, and another in which it is a vowel. Pick out the word in which the vav is a consonant. WI - 74 ORM — OP 3 WR Wy 2 mad — nt Exercise 4b. In each of the following pairs of words, there is one word in which the yod is a consonant, and another in which it is part of a vowel. Pick out the words in which the yod isa consonant OR-w 6 mama. po-se 3s Dp-pe 2 opI-mp a Exercise 5. In each of the following words there are letters that have a dagesh. Circle only those letters in each word whose sound changes by the addition of the dagesh. PY 72D IPE iss OPN) AW .nha Exercise 6. Circle the letters in the following words that never take a dagesh. AND ay NOR TPS TR DAD) ond .nm wa Exercise 7. Practice reading the following words aloud. Be careful not to confuse the letters that look alike but sound different, a eee B- BR Bhat oy — oy ?- Bp cay — 1P om — 773 y2 -— ry — 02 Exercise 8, The following Hebrew forms approximate actual English words. However, they have no meaning in Hebrew, Practice reading and pronouncing the Hebrew. Find the English word in the list below which matches each Hebrew form. RW PIA PR Ds Wo Wo Ra m2 1. WB TT 4 10 tO OW 27 O28 RA 19 Mts tt 7p 3 NP 28 od 24 wo bye py 2 Tas pow English Words: tell, yacht, loom, name, pod, car, bed, key, tar, doze, bead, lone, seen, raid, sheets, goat, hate, two, seed, odd, cave, deaf, meat, rate, zoom, net, ooze, oats Exercise 9. Write the following English words using Hebrew letters and vowels. Many words can be written several ways. 1. cots 3. date 5. seam 7. Bach 9. bell il. mean 13. pane 2. so 4 head 6. goof 8. nose. «10. room = 12. got_—14. yesChapter 3 Syllables More Vowels and Odd Endings Hebrew Syllables A syllable in Hebrew never begins with a vowel. It always consists of either: A. a consonant plus a vowel Example: sha @ B. a consonant plus a vowel plus a consonant Example: teesh WA Itis offen easier to read Hebrew words that have many letters when they are broken down into syllables. Examples: ta/meed van ay/leem mbx sha/iom aby ha/a/rehts risa sho/meh/reht maw The Sheva A sheva is a half-vowel written as two vertical dots under the consonant X. It is called a half-vowel because it is pronounced so quickly that it is hard to hear. A. The Sheva at the Beginning of a Word When the sheva appears under the first letter of a word, it has a short, quick sound, like the a in among or the o in occur. We call this a short-sound sheva. Examples: Ktov ind dvr 2} shima yRw B. The Sheva in the Middle of a Word 1. When a sheva appears under the second consonant of a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable such as 8M, it marks the end of that syllable and is not pronounced. This sheva is called a silent sheva Examples: teesh/mor Ta/@n = “avin yeegidal SYP = dap Occasionally a sheva in the middle of a word is a short-sound sheva. We will point out these special cases when they occur. 13 i———— OO MWO§ONO 8! Syllables | More Vowels | Odd Endings. 2. When two consecutive consonants in the middle of a word both have a sheva, the first sheva is always a silent sheva, and the second is always a short-sound sheva. me i} Examples: yeesh/m’roo teechit'voo C. The Sheva at the End of the Word Sometimes the sheva appears at the end of a word; when it does, the sheva is silent. Examples: at ay/naych do/da/taych Sheva Reading Exercises pata aay oye vane? qin pba ade b> ,33> abn ar Rules About BeGeD-KeFeT Letters and the Dagesh A. BeGeD-KeFeT Letters at the Beginning of a Word When a BeGeD-KeFeT letter) ,B ,2 ,"7 1,2 begins a word, it always takes a dagesh. Examples: bayn B pa/neem DvD = DIB ga/dol Divt = ding oe Wt=- 74 B. BeGeD-KeFeT Letters in the Middle of a Word When a BeGeD-KeFeT letter appears in the middle of a word, it takes a dagesh if it is preceded by a silent sheva. If you see a dagesh in a BeGeD-KeF eT letter following a sheva, you know that this sheva is a silent sheva. Examples: ehch/tov sA/D8 = IRDN Jeesh/pot v/v = vey teev/kehh mp/an = 7BIn C. BeGeD-KeFeT Letters at the End of a Word When a BeGeD-KeF eT letter appears at the end of a word it rarely takes a dagesh.Sylabies | More Vowels | Odd Endings |3 Exercise for BeGeD-KeFeT Letters In the following words, add a dagesh to the BeGed-KeFet letters where required by the BeGeD-KeFeT tule. Alll shevas here are silent shevas. When you have finished, practice reading the words aloud. Dap qa jangn wx 727 Tt? yin ww ois Combination Vowels Of the throaty five — 8,1, 11, ¥, 1 — the 8, 17, ¥ and M1 are difficult to pronounce with sheva. In words where these four letters have a sheva, a full vowel is added to this sheva to make it easier to sound the syllable. Only three full vowels may be added to the sheva to form a combination vowel. The combina: tion vowels are X, X and X. The combination vowel X sounds like the X, the combination vowel X sounds like the vowel X, but the combination vowel X is pronounced © as in dog. Examples: eh/meht no/x = TX alcha/ray vyoR = IR o/nee VR = OR Combination Vowel Exercises Circle the combination vowel in the following words, and read the word aloud. boyd 6 oo mbni 5 ae sting? 3 Tay Odd Endings The Furtive Patach— X You have leamed that the vowel sign appearing under a word is read after the consonant. However, this rule does not apply when the last consonant of a word is TI and the vowel undemeath itis X — 1]. When you see Mat the end of a word, the vowel is pronounced first: ach not cha. iba) n> Examples roofach ita} kofach n/a Additional information on this subject can be found on page 272, note 1 15— OO 3 | Syllables | More Vowels | Odd Endings The “Eye” Ending When the last vowel of a word is the X vowel followed by a yod—X, the two are pronounced together to form the vowel sound eye as in fie. Examples: do/die 1/37 = 7717 allie 2/y = %%y Exercises Exercise 1. The following words have been broken down into syllables. Read them aloud and copy them without the syllable divisions. an/p/ .5 bip/a 4 avin. b/n.2 in/ORK a1 Wx/in 10 PaPIK 9 MY .8 wal 7 TWh 6 Exercise 2. Divide the following words into syllables. AN 5 ww) 4 vy .3 ong .2 0 nha a1 apy? .10 npbin .9 yaNy? .8 YR .7 OFT 6 Exercise 3. The following are the names of Hebrew letters written in Hebrew. Write them in alphabetical order. AOR PE 7B TWD AD TP aR NT pe be we nbs AD PY HP PY TE PT WRB Exercise 4. Read aloud the opening sentence from the book of Ruth. “P83 AV veda wy ya 1 Exercise 5. Read aloud the following blessing from the prayerbook which is recited when the Torah is taken from the Ark. Satin tay) ain nw ya Exercise 6. If you have a prayerbook or Bible available, practice reading Hebrew as much as possible.