Learn the Aleph-Bet (Hebrew Alphabet)

[Shemtov]

Welcome to Shemtov's Learn the Aleph-Bet (Hebrew Alphabet) lessons.
The Hebrew alphabet is used for a language with 5.3 million speakers. It is also the Alphabet of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), the Talmud, and literature spanning over 2000 years. It is the Alphabet of Hebrew and Judeo-Aramaic, and is the basis for the Yiddish alphabet, though one will need further training to read that.
I call it an alphabet based on the colloquial term, however it is properly an abjad, meaning it only has consonants. Do not worry about this, as a.) beginners almost always use "niqqud", a system of markings that denote vowels. Think of them as training wheels. and b.) as a Semitic language, Hebrew's structure will allow you to accurately predict what the vowels are, once you are practiced enough at reading. This is especially helped by the Matres Lectionis, but we will discuss the when we get to the letters "Vav" and "Yud"
I will teach the alphabet according to the Modern Israeli Pronunciation, however, there are others, like General Ashkenazic, Mizrachi, and Yemenite, to name a few.
The Aleph-Bet has 22 consonant letters and 12 niqqud-vowel signs.
The first letter is aleph:
א
In modern Hebrew it simply takes the value of the Niqqud on it, but it originally represented the glottal stop.
Now I will teach some niqqud, using the Aleph as an example:
Patach:
אַ
it is pronounced [a] as in mat
Kamatz:
אָ
Prounounced the same as Patach, but originally represented [ɔ]
Chirik:
אִ
Pronounced as in meet
Tzere:
אֵ
Pronounced [e] as in mate
Segol:
אֶ
Pronounced [ɛ] as in met
Cholam:
אֹ
Pronounced [o] as in moat
Shuruk
אֻ
Pronounced as in moot

[kanejam]

Yup sounds good I await more.

[plathhs]

The first letter is aleph:
א

That's me!

[Xing]

Is this course just about the alphabet? Couldn't one just look up the Wikipedia page?

[Shemtov]

Is this course just about the alphabet? Couldn't one just look up the Wikipedia page?

The difference is, is that I will be providing exercises.
And also, some people would like to learn a writing system through lessons, then through a dry description.

[Shemtov]

Lesson 2:
The second letter is Bet:
בּ
pronounced as in bad
It has another form known as Vet:
ב
pronounced [v] as in vat
There are certain rules for whether it is bet or vet, but we will discuss them when we learn about Dagesh.
To remember the letter, think of the fact that it has a base.
The third letter is Gimmel:
ג
it is pronounced as [g] as in G-d.
To remember the letter, think of the fact that it looks like a giraffe
The fourth letter is Dalet:
ד
it is pronounced as [d] as in Dad.
To remember the letter, think of the fact that it looks like a doorframe. In fact, Dalet in Hebrew means door.
Some exercises:
Trancribe the following into IPA. Remember that hebrew is read right to left.
דֻגִא אָב בֹּא אַבָּא אָבֵד בֶּגֶד גֵד גַד דָג דֶבֶב

[nzk13]

Lesson 2:
it is pronounced as [g] as in G-d.

Wouldn't it be better to use an example like 'good' or 'dog'? "G-d" could be confusing.

[kanejam]

Lesson 2:
...
Some exercises:
Trancribe the following into IPA. Remember that hebrew is read right to left.
דֻגִא אָב בֹּא אַבָּא אָבֵד בֶּגֶד גֵד גַד דָג דֶבֶב

I really really like the little mnemonics that you have for these, they are actually very helpful! And I don't think you mentioned it so it might be good to say explicitly what a niqqud over a consonant does.

Spoiler:

/dugiʔ av boʔ avaʔ bɛgɛd ged gad dag dɛvɛv/ - I wan't sure what to do about the aleph at the ends of words. Also, is there an easy way to remember that the letter with the dagesh is the hard version?

[Shemtov]

And I don't think you mentioned it so it might be good to say explicitly what a niqqud over a consonant does.

So, if anyone is confused, a Niqqud on the consonant means that the Consonant is followed by the vowel the niqqud represents.

Spoiler:

/dugiʔ av boʔ avaʔ bɛgɛd ged gad dag dɛvɛv/ - I wan't sure what to do about the aleph at the ends of words. Also, is there an easy way to remember that the letter with the dagesh is the hard version?

Spoiler:

All are fine, except אַבָּא is [aba], not [ava]. Also, you didn't do אָבֵד.

Word-final Aleph is silent.
To remember that a Dagesh means that the letter is a stop, think of the fact that a dagesh is a "dot" a word whose only consonants are stops.
Note that there are some letters which are only pronounced hard in the Modern dialect, and Dagesh has another meaning in certain other letters, though that is not pronounced tin the Modern dialect, either.

[kanejam]

Sorry I just missed that. Here are my revised answers:

Spoiler:

/dugi av bo aba aved bɛgɛd ged gad dag dɛvɛv/

[Testyal]

I've been wanting to learn a Semitic abjad for a while now. Best make the most of this.

[mbrsart]

I'm taking Hebrew next year, so might as well get a head start, unlike I did with Greek.

[plathhs]

I should really learn to speak Hebrew properly some day … Being named after a letter in the alphabet (or abjad, whatever was auch immer) and not speaking the languages is pretty embarassing.

[Shemtov]

I'm sorry I haven't gotten a new lesson up in a while.....I've been busy.
Should be one up later today (Thursday)

[Shemtov]

Lesson 3:
The fifth letter is He:
הpronounced [h] as in had
At the end of a word it is seilent.
To remember the letter, think of the fact that it has a half-line as part of it.
The sixth letter is Vav:
ו
it is pronounced as [v] as in vat.
I do not have a mnemonic for Vav.
Vav also functions a a matres Lectiones- like a vowel in an alphabet. It has two vowel sounds:
[o] and
In fully marked script, the former is denote as וֹ and the latter as וּ.
The seventh letter is Zayin:
ז
It is pronounced [z] as in zed.

Some exercises:
Trancribe the following into IPA. Remember that hebrew is read right to left.
הוֹד הַדָג בָּה גוּדוֹ וַדַאָה זֶבֶד זַבָּד זוּגָה

[kanejam]

Spoiler:

הוֹד הַדָג בָּה גוּדוֹ וַדַאָה זֶבֶד זַבָּד זוּגָה
/hod hadag ba gudo vadaa(?) zɛvɛd zabad zuga/

[MrKrov]

I should really learn to speak Hebrew properly some day … Being named after a letter in the alphabet (or abjad, whatever was auch immer) and not speaking the languages is pretty embarassing.

Maybe, if only, for your parents. Seems weird to obligate yourself for such a slight manifestation of someone else's obsession and/or laziness.

[Shemtov]

Spoiler:

הוֹד הַדָג בָּה גוּדוֹ וַדַאָה זֶבֶד זַבָּד זוּגָה
/hod hadag ba gudo vadaa(?) zɛvɛd zabad zuga/

Correct!

[Shemtov]

I'm sorry I havn't been on top of this; I will post more lessons soon.

[kanejam]

Lol looking forward to it