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:''This article concerns the vowel points or vowel marks of Hebrew. For those of Arabic, see Harakat.''
In Hebrew orthography, 'Niqqud' or 'Nikkud' () is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Several orthographic systems for representing Hebrew vowels were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system (and the only one still used to a significant degree today) was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew) in the second half of the first millennium in the Land of Israel.
Niqqud marks are small compared to the consonants they are positioned adjacent to, and thus can be added without requiring the retranscription of texts the writers of which did not anticipate their eventual addition.
Non-speakers of Hebrew give their greatest attention to vowel points (usually without using the word "niqqud") in the context of controversy over the interpretation of those written with the Tetragrammaton -- written as 'ְהָה' in Hebrew. The interpretation affects discussion of the authentic ancient pronunciation of the name whose other conventional English forms are "Jehovah" and "Yahweh".
Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, /i e a o u/, but many more written symbols for them. Niqqud consists of the following vowels.
'Note Ⅰ:' The symbol "'O'" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
'Note Ⅱ:' The letter "'ש'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter..
'Note Ⅲ:' The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different, however, they look the same and are inputted in the same manner.
'Note Ⅳ:' The letter "'ו'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
This table uses the consonants '' ,'' or '', where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced ''after''. Any other consonants 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 most Israelis would pronounce them, but the classic Ashkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects.
:''This demonstration is known to work in Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers in at least some circumstances, but in most other Windows browsers the niqqud do not properly combine with the consonants. This is because, currently, the Windows text display engine does not combine the niqqud automatically. Except as noted, the vowel pointings should appear directly beneath the consonants and the accompanying "vowel letter" consonants for the mālê (unchangeable long) forms appear after.''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! rowspan=1 | Symbol
! Type
! Common Name
! Alternate Names
! Scientific Name
! Hebrew
! IPA
! Transliteration
! Comments
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Sh'va
| rowspan=2 | ''sheva''
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| ə, e, ', or nothing
| See also shva.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
|
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Segol
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf segol''
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ĕ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Patach
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf patach''
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| ă
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Kamatz
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf kamatz''
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| o
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ŏ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Hiriq
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| i
| Usually promoted to Hiriq Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 | or )
| i or í
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Hiriq Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''hiriq yod''
|
| {{hebrew|ק מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| i
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ק מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| î
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Zeire
| rowspan=2 | ''tzeirei'', ''tsere''
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| ē
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Zeire Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''tsere yod'', ''tzeirei yod''
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| More commonly ''ei'' (IPA ).
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ê
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Segol
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ְ
| rowspan=1 | or
| e or é
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Segol Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''segol yod''
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| With succeeding yod, it is more commonly ''ei'' (IPA )
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ְ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ệ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Patach
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| A patach on a letter ח at the end of a word is sounded ''before'' the letter, and not after. Thus, נֹחַ (Noah) is pronounced /''no-ax''/. This only occurs at the ends of words and only with patach and ח, ע, and הּ (that is, ה with a dot (mappiq) in it). This is sometimes called a ''patach g'nuvah'', or "stolen" patach (more formally, "furtive patach"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ
| rowspan=1 | or
| a or á
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Patach Malei
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ậ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Gadol
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ā
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz he''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| comm
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| â
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Katan
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz hatuf''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ קָָ
| rowspan=1 |
| rowspan=2 | o
| Usually promoted to Holam Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. Also, not to be confused with Hataf Kamatz.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ קָָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Holam
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| 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
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| ō
| comm
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Holam Malei
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| o
| The holam is written in the normal position relative to the main consonant (above and slightly to the left), which places it directly over the vav.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ô
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kubutz
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ק
| rowspan=1 |
| u
| Usually promoted to Shuruk in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 | or
| u or ú
| comm
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Shuruk
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| u
| The shuruk is written after the main consonant, because it is essentially a vav with a piercing; the piercing is written identically to a dagesh (see below).
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| û
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Dagesh
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 | ''varied''
| ''varied''
| Though Standard Hebrew indicates doubled consonants in transliteration, such doubling (but not consonant hardening) is almost universally ignored in Israeli Hebrew. For most consonants the dagesh is written within the consonant, near the middle if possible, but the exact position varies from letter to letter; some letters do not have an open area in the middle, and in these cases it is written usually beside the letter, as with yod. A dagesh used to signify a hardening (of letters פ), but not a doubling is known as a ''dagesh qal'', whereas that which doubles the length of a letter is known as a ''dagesh hazaq''. The guttural consonants (הע) and resh () do not take a dagesh, although the letter he (ה) may appear with a ''mappiq'' (which is written the same way as dagesh) at the end of a word to indicate that the letter is not only being used to signify a vowel, but is consonantal. See Dagesh.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 |
|
| Not actually a vowel. It hardens or doubles the consonant it modifies. The resulting form can still take a niqqud vowel.
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Shin dot
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| š/sh
| Niqqud, but not a vowel. The dot for shin is written over the right (first) branch of the letter. It is usually written as sh.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| š
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Sin dot
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| s
| Niqqud, but not a vowel. The dot for sin is written over the left (third) branch of the letter
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ś
| Some linguistic evidence indicates that it was originally IPA , though poetry and acrostics show that it has been pronounced /s/ since quite ancient times).
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Rafe
| colspan=6 | Not used in Hebrew. Still occasionally seen in Yiddish (actually more often as the spelling becomes more standardized, embracing YIVO rules) to distinguish פּ /p/ from ֿפ /f/ (note that this letter is always pronounced /f/ when in the final position). Some ancient manuscripts have a dagesh or a rafe on nearly every letter. It is also used to indicate that a letter like ה or א is silent. In the particularly strange case of the Ten Commandments, which have two different traditions for their Cantillations 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
| colspan=6 | Niqqud, but not a vowel. Used as an "anti-dagesh", to show that a בגדכפת letter is soft and not hard, or (sometimes) that a consonant is single and not double, or that a letter like ה or א is completely silent
|-
|}
For the Hebrew letters there is a standardized Hebrew keyboard. But when it comes to niqqud, different computer systems and programs provide for adding the signs in different ways.
Nevertheless, a standard is beginning to emerge in the keystrokes that enter niqqud in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word and Open Office alike. In these applications, to enter niqqud the typist first switches to a Hebrew layout, then presses "Caps Lock." Then, to enter any specific niqqud, one presses "shift" and simultaneously presses one of the following keys:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! colspan=4 | 'Niqqud Input'
|-
!! colspan=1 | Input
!! colspan=1 | Key
!! colspan=1 | Type
!! colspan=1 | Result
|-
| align="center" | ~
|
| Sh'va
|
|-
| align="center" | 1
|
| Reduced Segol
|
|-
| align="center" | 2
|
| Reduced Patach
|
|-
| align="center" | 3
|
| Reduced Kamatz
|
|-
| align="center" | 4
|
| Hiriq
|
|-
| align="center" | 5
|
| Zeire
|
|-
| align="center" | 6
|
| Segol
|
|-
| align="center" | 7
|
| Patach
|
|-
| align="center" | 8
|
| Kamatz
|
|-
| align="center" | 9
|
| Sin dot (left)
|
|-
| align="center" | 0
|
| Shin dot (right)
|
|-
| align="center" | -
|
| Holam
|
|-
| rowspan = 2 align="center" | =
| rowspan = 2 |
| rowspan = 2 | Dagesh or Mappiq
Shuruk
|
|-
|
|-
| align="center" |
|
| Kubutz
|
|-
|}
'Note Ⅰ:' The letter "'O'" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
'Note Ⅱ:' The letter "'ש'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter..
'Note Ⅲ:' The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different, however, they look the same and are inputted in the same manner.
'Note Ⅳ:' The letter "'ו'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
In modern Israeli orthography ''niqqud'' is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling-without-niqqud (known in Hebrew as כתיב מלא [''ktiv male'', literally "full spelling"]) has developed. This was formally standardised in the Rules for the Spelling-Without-Niqqud (כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996.[1]
Protestant literalists who believe that the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God are divided on the question of whether or not the vowel points should be considered an inspired part of the Old Testament. In 1624, Louis Cappel, a French Huguenot scholar at Saumur, published a work in which he concluded that the vowel points were a later addition to the biblical text and that the vowel points were added not earlier than the fifth century AD. This assertion was hotly contested by Swiss theologian Johannes Buxtorf in 1648. Brian Walton's 1657 polyglot bible followed Cappel in revising the vowel points. In 1675, the 2nd and 3rd canons of the so-called Helvetic Consensus of the Swiss Reformed Church confirmed Buxtorf's view as orthodox and affirmed that the vowel points were inspired.
★ The Arabic equivalent Harakat
★ Q're perpetuum
★ Dagesh
1. Rules of the Spelling-Without-Niqqud
★ A free online course to learn the Hebrew Vowel System
★ Rules of the Spelling Without ''Niqqud'' - a simplified version of the Rules, published on the Academy of the Hebrew Language website.
★ 'Important:' There is currently a serious bug affecting niqqud in all Wikimedia projects. See for a discussion of the problem in English, and click the language link in the sidebar for an extensive analysis of the problem in Hebrew.
In Hebrew orthography, 'Niqqud' or 'Nikkud' () is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Several orthographic systems for representing Hebrew vowels were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system (and the only one still used to a significant degree today) was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew) in the second half of the first millennium in the Land of Israel.
Niqqud marks are small compared to the consonants they are positioned adjacent to, and thus can be added without requiring the retranscription of texts the writers of which did not anticipate their eventual addition.
Non-speakers of Hebrew give their greatest attention to vowel points (usually without using the word "niqqud") in the context of controversy over the interpretation of those written with the Tetragrammaton -- written as 'ְהָה' in Hebrew. The interpretation affects discussion of the authentic ancient pronunciation of the name whose other conventional English forms are "Jehovah" and "Yahweh".
'Gen. 1:9 And God said, "Let the waters be collected".'
'Letters in black, vowel points in red, trope in blue'
'Letters in black, vowel points in red, trope in blue'
Short table
Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes, /i e a o u/, but many more written symbols for them. Niqqud consists of the following vowels.
| Name | Symbol | Israeli Hebrew | Keyboard Input | Hebrew | Alternate Names | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Transliteration | English Example | Letter | Key | ||||
| 'Hiriq' |  | i | s'ee'k | 4 |  | ‒ | ||
| 'Tzeire' |  | and | e and ei | m'e'n | 5 |  | ‒ | |
| 'Segol' |  | , ''( with succeeding yod)'' | e, ''(ei with succeeding yod)'' | m'e'n | 6 |  | ‒ | |
| 'Patakh' |  | a | f'a'r | 7 |  | ‒ | ||
| 'Kamatz' |  | , ''(or )'' | a, ''(or o)'' | f'a'r | 8 |  | ‒ | |
| 'Sin dot (left)' |  | s | 's'our | 9 |  | ‒ | ||
| 'Shin dot (right)' |  | sh | 'sh'op | 0 |  | ‒ | ||
| 'Holam' |  | o | c'o'ne | - |  | ‒ | ||
| 'Dagesh or Mappiq' 'Shuruk' |  | N/A | N/A | N/A | = |  | or | ‒ |
 | u | c'oo'l | ‒ | |||||
| 'Kubutz' |  | u | c'oo'l |  | ‒ | |||
| ''Below'': Two vertical dots underneath the letter (called ''sh'va'') make the vowel very short. | ||||||||
| 'Sh'va' |  | or | apostrophe, e, or nothing | ''silent'' | ~ |  | ‒ | |
| 'Reduced Segol' |  | e | m'e'n | 1 |  | ''Hataf Segol'' | ||
| 'Reduced Patakh' |  | a | f'a'r | 2 |  | ''Hataf Patakh'' | ||
| 'Reduced Kamatz' |  | o | c'o'ne | 3 |  | ''Hataf Kamatz'' | ||
'Note Ⅰ:' The symbol "'O'" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
'Note Ⅱ:' The letter "'ש'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter..
'Note Ⅲ:' The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different, however, they look the same and are inputted in the same manner.
'Note Ⅳ:' The letter "'ו'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
Vowel comparison table
| Vowel Comparison Table | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel Length | IPA | Transliteration | English Example | ||
| Long | Short | Very Short | |||
| /a/ | a | f'a'r | |||
| /e/ | e | t'e'mp | |||
| ֳ | /o/ | o | c'o'ke | ||
| ''n/a'' | /u/ | u | t'u'be | ||
| /i/ | i | sk'i' | |||
| 'Note Ⅰ:' | By adding two vertical dots (sh'va) the vowel is made very short. | ||||
| 'Note Ⅱ:' | The short o and long a have the same ''niqqud''. | ||||
| 'Note Ⅲ:' | The short o is usually promoted to a long o in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | ||||
| 'Note Ⅳ:' | The short u is usually promoted to a long u in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation | ||||
Long table
This table uses the consonants '' ,'' or '', where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced ''after''. Any other consonants 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 most Israelis would pronounce them, but the classic Ashkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects.
:''This demonstration is known to work in Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers in at least some circumstances, but in most other Windows browsers the niqqud do not properly combine with the consonants. This is because, currently, the Windows text display engine does not combine the niqqud automatically. Except as noted, the vowel pointings should appear directly beneath the consonants and the accompanying "vowel letter" consonants for the mālê (unchangeable long) forms appear after.''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! rowspan=1 | Symbol
! Type
! Common Name
! Alternate Names
! Scientific Name
! Hebrew
! IPA
! Transliteration
! Comments
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Sh'va
| rowspan=2 | ''sheva''
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| ə, e, ', or nothing
| See also shva.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
|
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Segol
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf segol''
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ĕ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Patach
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf patach''
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| ă
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Reduced Kamatz
| rowspan=2 | ''hataf kamatz''
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| o
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ŏ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Hiriq
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| i
| Usually promoted to Hiriq Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 | or )
| i or í
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Hiriq Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''hiriq yod''
|
| {{hebrew|ק מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| i
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ק מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| î
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Zeire
| rowspan=2 | ''tzeirei'', ''tsere''
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| ē
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Zeire Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''tsere yod'', ''tzeirei yod''
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| More commonly ''ei'' (IPA ).
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ê
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Segol
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ְ
| rowspan=1 | or
| e or é
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Segol Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''segol yod''
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| e
| With succeeding yod, it is more commonly ''ei'' (IPA )
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ְ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ệ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Patach
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| A patach on a letter ח at the end of a word is sounded ''before'' the letter, and not after. Thus, נֹחַ (Noah) is pronounced /''no-ax''/. This only occurs at the ends of words and only with patach and ח, ע, and הּ (that is, ה with a dot (mappiq) in it). This is sometimes called a ''patach g'nuvah'', or "stolen" patach (more formally, "furtive patach"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ
| rowspan=1 | or
| a or á
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Patach Malei
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ַַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ậ
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Gadol
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| ‒
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ā
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Malei
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz he''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| a
| comm
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| â
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kamatz Katan
| rowspan=2 | ''kamatz hatuf''
|
| {{hebrew|קָמַ קָָ
| rowspan=1 |
| rowspan=2 | o
| Usually promoted to Holam Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. Also, not to be confused with Hataf Kamatz.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|קָמ קָָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Holam
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 |
| 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
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 |
| ō
| comm
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Holam Malei
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ַ מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| o
| The holam is written in the normal position relative to the main consonant (above and slightly to the left), which places it directly over the vav.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew| מָ
| rowspan=1 |
| ô
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Kubutz
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ק
| rowspan=1 |
| u
| Usually promoted to Shuruk in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|
| rowspan=1 | or
| u or ú
| comm
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Shuruk
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| u
| The shuruk is written after the main consonant, because it is essentially a vav with a piercing; the piercing is written identically to a dagesh (see below).
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| û
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Dagesh
| rowspan=2 |
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 | ''varied''
| ''varied''
| Though Standard Hebrew indicates doubled consonants in transliteration, such doubling (but not consonant hardening) is almost universally ignored in Israeli Hebrew. For most consonants the dagesh is written within the consonant, near the middle if possible, but the exact position varies from letter to letter; some letters do not have an open area in the middle, and in these cases it is written usually beside the letter, as with yod. A dagesh used to signify a hardening (of letters פ), but not a doubling is known as a ''dagesh qal'', whereas that which doubles the length of a letter is known as a ''dagesh hazaq''. The guttural consonants (הע) and resh () do not take a dagesh, although the letter he (ה) may appear with a ''mappiq'' (which is written the same way as dagesh) at the end of a word to indicate that the letter is not only being used to signify a vowel, but is consonantal. See Dagesh.
|-
!Tiberian
|
| {{hebrew|ָ
| rowspan=1 |
|
| Not actually a vowel. It hardens or doubles the consonant it modifies. The resulting form can still take a niqqud vowel.
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Shin dot
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=2 |
| š/sh
| Niqqud, but not a vowel. The dot for shin is written over the right (first) branch of the letter. It is usually written as sh.
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| š
| ‒
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Sin dot
| rowspan=2 |
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| s
| Niqqud, but not a vowel. The dot for sin is written over the left (third) branch of the letter
|-
!Tiberian
|
|
| rowspan=1 |
| ś
| Some linguistic evidence indicates that it was originally IPA , though poetry and acrostics show that it has been pronounced /s/ since quite ancient times).
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center" |
!! colspan=1 | Israeli
| rowspan=2 | Rafe
| colspan=6 | Not used in Hebrew. Still occasionally seen in Yiddish (actually more often as the spelling becomes more standardized, embracing YIVO rules) to distinguish פּ /p/ from ֿפ /f/ (note that this letter is always pronounced /f/ when in the final position). Some ancient manuscripts have a dagesh or a rafe on nearly every letter. It is also used to indicate that a letter like ה or א is silent. In the particularly strange case of the Ten Commandments, which have two different traditions for their Cantillations 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
| colspan=6 | Niqqud, but not a vowel. Used as an "anti-dagesh", to show that a בגדכפת letter is soft and not hard, or (sometimes) that a consonant is single and not double, or that a letter like ה or א is completely silent
|-
|}
Niqqud and the Keyboard
For the Hebrew letters there is a standardized Hebrew keyboard. But when it comes to niqqud, different computer systems and programs provide for adding the signs in different ways.
Nevertheless, a standard is beginning to emerge in the keystrokes that enter niqqud in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word and Open Office alike. In these applications, to enter niqqud the typist first switches to a Hebrew layout, then presses "Caps Lock." Then, to enter any specific niqqud, one presses "shift" and simultaneously presses one of the following keys:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!! colspan=4 | 'Niqqud Input'
|-
!! colspan=1 | Input
!! colspan=1 | Key
!! colspan=1 | Type
!! colspan=1 | Result
|-
| align="center" | ~
|
| Sh'va
|
|-
| align="center" | 1
|
| Reduced Segol
|
|-
| align="center" | 2
|
| Reduced Patach
|
|-
| align="center" | 3
|
| Reduced Kamatz
|
|-
| align="center" | 4
|
| Hiriq
|
|-
| align="center" | 5
|
| Zeire
|
|-
| align="center" | 6
|
| Segol
|
|-
| align="center" | 7
|
| Patach
|
|-
| align="center" | 8
|
| Kamatz
|
|-
| align="center" | 9
|
| Sin dot (left)
|
|-
| align="center" | 0
|
| Shin dot (right)
|
|-
| align="center" | -
|
| Holam
|
|-
| rowspan = 2 align="center" | =
| rowspan = 2 |
| rowspan = 2 | Dagesh or Mappiq
Shuruk
|
|-
|
|-
| align="center" |
|
| Kubutz
|
|-
|}
'Note Ⅰ:' The letter "'O'" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
'Note Ⅱ:' The letter "'ש'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter..
'Note Ⅲ:' The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different, however, they look the same and are inputted in the same manner.
'Note Ⅳ:' The letter "'ו'" is used since it can only be represented by that letter.
Rules for Writing Without Niqqud
In modern Israeli orthography ''niqqud'' is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling-without-niqqud (known in Hebrew as כתיב מלא [''ktiv male'', literally "full spelling"]) has developed. This was formally standardised in the Rules for the Spelling-Without-Niqqud (כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996.[1]
Disputes among Protestant Christians
Protestant literalists who believe that the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God are divided on the question of whether or not the vowel points should be considered an inspired part of the Old Testament. In 1624, Louis Cappel, a French Huguenot scholar at Saumur, published a work in which he concluded that the vowel points were a later addition to the biblical text and that the vowel points were added not earlier than the fifth century AD. This assertion was hotly contested by Swiss theologian Johannes Buxtorf in 1648. Brian Walton's 1657 polyglot bible followed Cappel in revising the vowel points. In 1675, the 2nd and 3rd canons of the so-called Helvetic Consensus of the Swiss Reformed Church confirmed Buxtorf's view as orthodox and affirmed that the vowel points were inspired.
See also
★ The Arabic equivalent Harakat
★ Q're perpetuum
★ Dagesh
References
1. Rules of the Spelling-Without-Niqqud
External links
★ A free online course to learn the Hebrew Vowel System
★ Rules of the Spelling Without ''Niqqud'' - a simplified version of the Rules, published on the Academy of the Hebrew Language website.
Technical problems on Wikimedia
★ 'Important:' There is currently a serious bug affecting niqqud in all Wikimedia projects. See for a discussion of the problem in English, and click the language link in the sidebar for an extensive analysis of the problem in Hebrew.
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