Tutorial and Exercises in the Reading of Hebrew Text and in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Consonants and Vowels by Charles Abzug
Warm-Up Exercises: 1. From “Jack-and-the-Beanstalk”, modified:
op©
«up
hp©
hp¦
Fahm
Foh
Fahy
Fee
op©
«up
hp©
hp¦
Page 1 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 2. “Jack-and-the-Beanstalk”, extended:
oP©
«uP
hP©
hP¦
Pahm
Poh
Pahy
Pee
oP©
«uP
hP©
hP¦
op© oP©
«up «uP
hp© hP©
hp¦ hP¦
Review:
`
Page 2 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 3. Miscellaneous 1:
h¥f
hf¦
h¥F
hF¦
hn¦
vn¤
vn¨
Khey
Khee
Kehy
Kee
Mee
Meh
Mah
h¥f
hf¦
h¥F
hF¦
hn¦
vn¤
vn¨
«up hp© hp¦ «uP hP© hP¦ h¥F hF¦ hn¦ vn¤
vn¨
Review:
op© oP© h¥f
hf¦
Page 3 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 4. Miscellaneous (2):
xIyn©
,Iyn©
mah-TOHS
mah-TOTE
xIyn©
,Iyn©
xCª e© kah-BOOS
xCª e©
xUn©c
oUn
xUn
vah-MOOS
MOOM
MOOS
xUn©c
oUn
xUn
Review:
op© oP©
h¥f xIyn©
«up hp© hp¦ «uP hP© hP¦ hf¦ h¥F hF¦ hn¦ vn¤ vn¨ ,Iyn© xCª e© xUn©c oUn xUn
Page 4 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 5. Sh’va Na and truncated vowels:
hr£ ¥jt©
rP¨ x§ n¦ h,œ ¥ n§
ah-cha-REY mis-PAR m’TEY
hr£ ¥jt©
rP¨ x§ n¦ h,œ ¥ n§
as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ§
hkœ ¦ F§
k’ley-KOH-desh
k’LIY
as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ§
hkœ ¦ F§
Review:
op© oP©
«up hp© hp¦ «uP hP© hP¦ h¥f hf¦ h¥F hF¦ hn¦ vn¤ vn¨ xIyn© ,Iyn© xCª e© xUn©c oUn xUn hr£ ¥jt© rP¨ x§ n¦ h,œ ¥ n§ as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§ hkœ ¦ F§
Page 5 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 6. Segholate nouns:
,¤eJ «¤ y¤e«k¤ Q¤kn«¤ oj¤ r«¤ ry«¤ P¤ oj«¤ k¤ sr«¤u¤ SHEH-qet
LEH-qet MEH-lech REH-chem PEH-tehr LEH-chem VEH-red
,¤eJ «¤ y¤e«k¤ Q¤kn«¤ oj¤ r«¤ ry«¤ P¤ oj«¤ k¤ sr«¤u¤
Review:
op© oP©
«up hp© hp¦ «uP hP© hP¦ h¥f hf¦ h¥F hF¦ hn¦ vn¤ vn¨ xIyn© ,Iyn© xCª e© xUn©c oUn xUn hr£ ¥jt© rP¨ x§ n¦ h,œ ¥ n§ as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§ hkœ ¦ F§ ,¤eJ «¤ y¤e«k¤ Q¤kn«¤ oj¤ r«¤ ry«¤ P¤ oj«¤ k¤ sr«¤u¤ Page 6 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds 7. Careful Distinctions:
i¤cKœ§v©
i¥Ck§ v©
t«k£v
IkFª
UCUC«
ve«ª eª
ha-L’VEN
hal-BEYN
ha-LOW
koo-LOW
BOO-boo
KOO-koo
i¤cKœ§v©
i¥Ck§ v©
t«k£v
IkFª
UCUC«
ve«ª eª
Review:
op© oP©
«up hp© hp¦ «uP hP© hP¦ h¥f hf¦ h¥F hF¦ hn¦ vn¤ vn¨ xIyn© ,Iyn© xCª e© xUn©c oUn xUn hr£ ¥jt© rP¨ x§ n¦ h,œ ¥ n§ as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§ hkœ ¦ F§ ,¤eJ «¤ y¤e«k¤ Q¤kn«¤ oj¤ r«¤ ry«¤ P¤ oj«¤ k¤ sr«¤u¤ i¤cKœ§v© i¥Ck§ v© t«k£v IkFª UCUC« ve«ª eª Page 7 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds More-Challenging Super-Review:
i¥Ck§ v©
h,œ ¥ n§
ry«¤ P¤
hp©
hn¦
y¤e«k¤
t«k£v
Q¤kn«¤
ve«ª eª
hkœ ¦ F§
oUn
oj«¤ k¤
hp¦
hF¦
rP¨ x§ n¦
,¤eJ «¤
as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§
oj¤ r«¤
xUn©c
i¤cKœ§v©
,Iyn©
«up
vn¨
h¥F
UCUC«
h¥f
oP©
h,œ ¥ n§
as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§
sr«¤u¤
op©
vn¤
xCª e©
rP¨ x§ n¦
y¤e«k¤
IkFª
oUn
«uP
h¥f
xUn©c
ry«¤ P¤
hkœ ¦ F§
,Iyn©
oj¤ r«¤
hr£ ¥jt©
Q¤kn«¤
UCUC«
h,œ ¥ n§
hP©
hf¦
UCUC«
sr«¤u¤
xUn
i¥Ck§ v©
,¤eJ «¤
IkFª
hr£ ¥jt©
oj«¤ k¤
h¥f
hP¦
ve«ª eª
y¤e«k¤
xIyn©
i¤cKœ§v©
Q¤kn«¤
Page 8 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
IkFª
oUn
rP¨ x§ n¦
ry«¤ P¤
hkœ ¦ F§
oj¤ r«¤
t«k£v
xCª e©
ve«ª eª
oj«¤ k¤
as¤«e« Îh¥kFœ«§
sr«¤u¤
hr£ ¥jt©
i¥Ck§ v©
xUn
Page 9 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
Names and Soundings of the Vowels: Name
oJ¥ .n¨ e¨
Qah-MAHTZ
Pah-TACH
TZEY-reh Mah-LEY
©
Ah
¥
Ey
i¥
Eyy
¤
Eh
kIdx¤
Choh-LAHM Chah-SEHR
rx¥ j¨ o¨kIj
Choh-LAHM Mah-LEY
t¥kn¨ o¨kIj
Chiy-RIQ Chah-SEHR
rx¥ j¨ ehrh ¦ j¦
Chiy-RIQ Mah-LEY
¨
rx¥ j¨ vrhÅm¥
t¥kn¨ v¤rm¥Å
t¥kn¨ ehrh ¦ j¦
Sound Ah (in most cases) Oh (clipped: rarely)
jT©P
TZEY-reh Chah-SEHR
Seh-GOHL
v¨gUbT§
Vowel
Ÿ
Aw (close to Oh)
F
Oh
¦ i¦
Ih
Iy
Page 10 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds Name
oJ¥
Vowel
Qooh-BOOHTZ
.UCeª
Shooh-ROOHQ
erUJ ª
E
Uu (as in “put”)
Oo (as in “root”)
¢
jT©P ;y£ ©j
£
Ah (clipped)
kIdx¤ ;y£ ©j
¡
Eh (clipped)
j¨b t¨uJ§
§
(no sound)
g¨b t¨uJ§
œ§ or §
Chah-TAHF Pah-TACH
Chah-TAF Seh-GOHL
Sche-VAH NAH
ª
Sound
Oh (clipped)
Chah-TAHF Qah-MAHTZ
Sche-VAH NACH
.n© e¨ ;y£ ©j
v¨gUbT§
Uh (extremely clipped)
Page 11 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
Diphthongs: Diphthong
v¨gUbTÎUS §
Sound
Example of Use in
h,I ¨ m§ n¦
i¨
Ai (in most cases: rhymes with “Hi!”) Oy (clipped O: rarely)
i©
Ahy
ht© y£ ¨j
iF
Ohy
hIt
iE
Oohy
1
(hUChr) ¦
uhJ¨ s¨e¨
Ahv
However, note:
l©bT©
ei ¨ Nota Bene the difference in the use of the
u
(Vav) between
hIt (vocal) and h,I ¨ m§ n¦ (consonantal). Also, compare the use of the 1
h (Yood)
in
hIt
and in
o¦hIcm§
.
1. This word does not, insofar as I know, appear in the Tanakh. It appears here only as a place-holder, until I can identify an example that does appear in the Tanakh. .
Page 12 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
Comprehensive Consonant-and-Vowel Exercises:
t¡ t£ t¢ Ut tª ht¦ t¦ It «t t¤ ht¥ t¥ t© t¨ :t Cœ§ UC Cª hC¦ C¦ IC «C C¤ h¥C C¥ C© C¨ :C cœ§ Uc cª hc¦ c¦ Ic «c c¤ h¥c c¥ c© c¨ :c dœ§ Ud dª hd¦ d¦ Id «d d¤ h¥d d¥ d© d¨ :d sœ§ Us sª hs¦ s¦ Is «s s¤ hs¥ s¥ s© s¨ :s v¡ v£ v¢ Uv vª hv¦ v¦ Iv «v v¤ hv¥ v¥ v© v¨ :v œ§u Uu uª hu¦ u¦ Iu «u u¤ h¥u u¥ u© u¨ :u œz§ Uz zª h¦z z¦ Iz «z z¤ h¥z z¥ z© z¨ :z j¡ j£ j¢ Uj jª hj¦ j¦ Ij «j j¤ hj¥ j¥ j© j¨ :j yœ§ Uy yª hy¦ y¦ Iy «y y¤ hy¥ y¥ y© y¨ :y œ§h Uh hª h¦h h¦ Ih «h h¤ h¥h h¥ h© h¨ :h Fœ§ UF Fª hF¦ F¦ IF «F F¤ h¥F F¥ F© F¨ :F ‚ :L fœ§ Uf fª hf¦ f¦ If «f f¤ h¥f f¥ f© f¨ :f Page 13 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
kœ§ nœ§ œb§ xœ§ g¡ g£ g¢ Pœ§ pœ§ mœ§ eœ§ rœ§
:l :k :n :o Ub bª h¦b b¦ Ib «b b¤ h¥b b¥ b© b¨ :b :i Ux xª hx¦ x¦ Ix «x x¤ h¥x x¥ x© x¨ :x Ug gª hg¦ g¦ Ig «g g¤ h¥g g¥ g© g¨ :g UP Pª hP¦ P¦ IP «P P¤ h¥P P¥ P© P¨ :P Up pª hp¦ p¦ Ip «p p¤ h¥p p¥ p© p¨ :p :; Um mª hm¦ m¦ Im «m m¤ h¥m m¥ m© m¨ :m :. Ue eª he¦ e¦ Ie «e e¤ h¥e e¥ e© e¨ :e Ur rª hr¦ r¦ Ir «r r¤ hr¥ r¥ r© r¨ :r
Q W Uk kª hk¦ k¦ Ik «k k¤ h¥k k¥ k© k¨ Un nª hn¦ n¦ In «n n¤ hn¥ n¥ n© n¨
Page 14 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug
Exercises in the Pronunciation of Hebrew Sounds
J Ϥ GϤ ,Ϥ
UJ Jª hJ¦ J¦ IJ «J J¤ hJ¥ J¥ J© J¨ :J UG Gª hG¦ G¦ IG «G G¤ hG¥ G¥ G© G¨ :G U, ,ª h,¦ ,¦ I, «, ,¤ h,¥ ,¥ ,© ,¨ :,
Page 15 Last revised 18 Sep 2006 © 2006 Charles Abzug