< Hebrew < Aleph-Bet
Aleph-Bet Lesson 6 — ג ז ח
Lessons on the
Hebrew Aleph-Bet
Introduction
1 א בּ ת • E
2 ב ה נן • E
3 מם שׁשׂ • E
4 ל ו • E
5 ד ר י • E
6 ג ז ח • E
7 ט ככּך • E
8 ס ק • E
9 ע פפּף • E
10 צץ • E
Review
Test • Answers
• talk

Welcome to the sixth lesson of the Hebrew alphabet! In this lesson you will learn three new Hebrew letters - ג, ז and ח and two new niqqud symbols - ħataf-pataħ and ħataf-qamats.

Letters

After reviewing the first nine letters and learning another three, you've already learned more than half the alphabet! Just 10 letters to go.

Now the next three letters:

Gimmel

ג The third letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Gimmel. It makes the "g" sound (IPA: /g/, "g" as in "give").

Zayin

ז The seventh letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Zayin. It makes the "z" sound (IPA: /z/, "z" as in "zoo").

Ħet

ח The eighth letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Ħet.
You must have seen the names of vowels like ħiriq, pataħ and ħolam, and have been thinking: "What is that strange letter?". Well, that letter is called Ħet, and is transliterated in the WikiBook as Ħħ. This is to distinguish between it and Khaf, a letter you will later learn. The traditional sound this letter makes is marked in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and the Maltese language as well as many Semitic transliterations as ħ, which is the phoneme we used. Most Israelis, however, pronounce it the same as Khaf.

Now what is that sound? This sound is called voiceless uvular fricative - same as Resh only that you don't use your vocal cords (IPA: /χ/, "ch" as in German "Bach", in Dutch "acht"). A similar sound is perhaps more familiar to English speakers, the voiceless velar fricative (IPA: /x/, e.g. Spanish "j" as in "rojo").

Vowels

We have learned that Shva can either mean the end of a syllable or stand for the "ə" sound. However, the Shva Na‘ (ə) can't be put in guttural letters. What if one wants to make the "ħə" sound? The "hə" sound? The "ə" sound? For that purpose, three special reduced vowels, known as ħataf ("interrupted") have been devised. In this lesson we're going to learn the first two:

Ħataf-Pataħ

חֲ The Shva and Pataħ under the Ħet[1] are the ħataf-pataħ.

It produces the "a" sound (IPA: /a/, "a" as in "spa").

Ħataf-Qamats

חֳ The Shva and Qamats under the Ħet are the ħataf-qamats.

It produces the "o" sound (IPA: /o/, "o" as in "gore").

Words

אֲנִי ani I
אֲנַחְנוּ anaħnu we
אֳנִיָה oniyyah ship (feminine, singular)
חַג ħag holiday (masculine, singular)
חָבֵר ħaver friend (masculine, singular)
זַחַל zaħal caterpillar (masculine, singular)
חַלָּה ħalah chalah, traditional Jewish bread made on the Sabbath and other festivities (feminine, singular)
גֶּזֶר gezer carrot (masculine, singular)

Summary

In this lesson, you've learned:

  • The letters Gimmel ג, Zayin ז and Ħet ח.
  • The niqqud symbols ħataf-pataħ (ֲ) and ħataf-qamats (ֳ).
  • The words אֲנִי, אֲנַחְנוּ, אֳנִיָה, חַג, חָבֵר, זַחַל, חַלָּה and גֶּזֶר.

Practice what you've learned in the exercises.

Next lesson: Aleph-Bet 7 >>>

Notes

  1. ↑ Ħataf forms can appear only on the guttural letters א, ה, ח and ע (a letter you haven't learned). The standard form for showing these is Ħet.
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