Niqqud
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Other diacritics | cantillation, geresh, gershayim |
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"Let the waters be collected". Letters in black, niqqud in red, cantillation in blue[1] |
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In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikkud (Hebrew: נִקּוּד, Modern [nikud] Error: {{Transl}}: unrecognized transliteration standard: (help), Tiberian niqqûḏ ; "dotting, pointing" or Hebrew: נְקֻדּוֹת, Modern [nekudot] Error: {{Transl}}: unrecognized transliteration standard: (help), Tiberian nəquddôṯ ; "dots") is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems 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 in the second half of the first millennium AD in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is called ktiv menuqad.
Niqqud marks are small compared to consonants, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them.
In modern Israeli orthography niqqud is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or for new immigrants. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling without niqqud, known in Hebrew as ktiv maleh (<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />כתיב מלא, literally "full spelling") has developed. This was formally standardised in the Rules for Spelling without Niqqud (<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996.[2]
Among those who do not speak Hebrew, niqqud are the sometimes unnamed focus of controversy regarding the interpretation of the name written with the Tetragrammaton—written as <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />יְהֹוָה in Hebrew. The interpretation affects discussion of the authentic ancient pronunciation of the name whose other conventional English forms are "Jehovah" and "Yahweh".
Contents
Demonstration
This table uses the consonants ב, ח or ש, 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. It works very well when "dir=rtl" is added in the HTML source. 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 (long) forms appear after.
- Note concerning IPA: the transcription symbols are linked to the articles about the sounds they represent. The diacritic ˘ (breve) indicates a short vowel; the triangular colon symbol ː indicates that the vowel is long.
Symbol | Type | Common name | Alternate names | Scientific name | Hebrew | IPA | Transliteration | Comments | |||||||||||||||
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<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בְ | Israeli | Sh'va | sheva | shva | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שְׁוָא | [e̞] or Ø | ə, e, ’, or nothing |
In modern Hebrew, shva represents either /e/ or Ø, regardless of its traditional classification as shva naḥ (שווא נח) or shva na (שווא נע), see the following table for examples:
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Tiberian | šəwâ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שְׁוָא | [ɐ̆] [ɛ̆] [ĕ] [ĭ] [ɔ̆] [ŏ] [ŭ] |
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<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֱ | Israeli | Reduced segol | hataf segol | ẖataf seggol | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטַף סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ səḡôl | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטֶף סְגוֹל | [ɛ̆] | ĕ | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲ | Israeli | Reduced patach | hataf patah | ẖataf pataẖ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטַף פַּתַח | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ páṯaḥ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטֶף פַּתַח | [ɐ̆] | ă | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֳ | Israeli | Reduced kamatz | hataf kamats | ẖataf kamats | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטַף קָמָץ | [o̞] | o | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ qāmeṣ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֲטֶף קָמָץ | [ɔ̆] | ŏ | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בִ | Israeli | Hiriq | hiriq | ẖirik | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חִירִיק | [i] | i | Usually promoted to Hiriq Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥîreq | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חִירֶק | [i] or [iː]) | i or í | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בִי | Israeli | Hiriq malei | hiriq yod | ẖirik male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חִירִיק מָלֵא | [i] | i | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥîreq mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חִירֶק מָלֵא | [iː] | î | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֵ | Israeli | Zeire | tsere, tzeirei | tsere | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />צֵירֵי | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ṣērê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />צֵרֵי | [eː] | ē | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֵי, בֵה, בֵא | Israeli | Zeire malei | tsere yod, tzeirei yod | tsere male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />צֵירֵי מָלֵא | [e̞] | e | More commonly ei (IPA [ei̯]). | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ṣērê mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />צֵרֵי מָלֵא | [eː] | ê | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֶ | Israeli | Segol | segol | seggol | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | səḡôl | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />סְגוֹל | [ɛ] or [ɛː] | e or é | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֶי, בֶה, בֶא | Israeli | Segol malei | segol yod | seggol male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />סֶגּוֹל מָלֵא | [e̞] | e | With succeeding yod, it is more commonly ei (IPA [ei̯]) | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | səḡôl mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />סְגוֹל מָלֵא | [ɛː] | ệ | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בַ | Israeli | Patach | patah | pataẖ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />פַּתַח | [a] | a | A patach on a letters ח, ע, ה at the end of a word is sounded before the letter, and not after. Thus, נֹחַ (Noah) is pronounced /ˈno.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 ganuv, or "stolen" patach (more formally, "furtive patach"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | páṯaḥ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />פַּתַח | [ɐ] or [ɐː] | a or á | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בַה, בַא | Israeli | Patach malei | patah yod | pataẖ male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />פַּתַח מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | páṯaḥ mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />פַּתַח מָלֵא | [ɐː] | ậ | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בָ | Israeli | Kamatz gadol | kamats | kamats gadol | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמַץ גָּדוֹל | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ gāḏôl | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמֶץ גָּדוֹל | [ɔː] | ā | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בָה, בָא | Israeli | Kamatz malei | kamats he | kamats male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמַץ מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמֶץ מָלֵא | [ɔː] | â | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בָ | Israeli | Kamatz katan | kamats hatuf | kamats katan | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמַץ קָטָן | [o̞] | o | Usually promoted to Holam Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. Also, not to be confused with Hataf Kamatz. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ qāṭān | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קָמֶץ קָטָן | [ɔ] | ||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֹ | Israeli | Holam | holam | ẖolam | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חוֹלָם | [o̞] | 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 | ḥōlem | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֹלֶם | [oː] | ō | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בוֹ, בֹה, בֹא | Israeli | Holam malei | holam male | ẖolam male | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חוֹלַם מָלֵא | [o̞] | 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 | ḥōlem mālê | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />חֹלֶם מָלֵא | [oː] | ô | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֻ | Israeli | Kubutz | kubuts | kubbuts | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קֻבּוּץ | [u] | u | Usually promoted to Shuruk in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qibbûṣ | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />קִבּוּץ | [u] or [uː] | u or ú | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בוּ, בוּה, בוּא | Israeli | Shuruk | shuruk | shuruk | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שׁוּרוּק | [u] | u | The shuruk is written after the consonant it applies to (the consonant after which the vowel /u/ is pronounced). The dot in the shuruk is identical to a dagesh, thus shuruq and vav with a dagesh are indistinguishable. (see below). | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | šûreq | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שׁוּרֶק | [uː] | û | |||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בּ | Israeli | Dagesh | dagesh | dagesh | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />דָּגֵשׁ | varied | varied | Not a vowel, "dagesh" refers to two distinct grammatical entities:
For most letters the dagesh is written within the glyph, 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). The guttural consonants (אהחע) and resh (ר) are not marked with a dagesh, although the letter he (ה) (and rarely א) may appear with a mappiq (which is written the same way as dagesh) at the end of a word to indicate that the letter does not signify a vowel but is consonantal. To the resulting form, there can still be added a niqqud diacritic designating a vowel. |
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Tiberian | dāḡēš | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />דָּגֵשׁ | |||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />בֿ | Israeli | Rafe | rafe | רָפֵא No longer used in Hebrew. Still seen in Yiddish (especially following the YIVO standard) to distinguish various letter pairs. 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 | 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שׁ | Israeli | Shin dot | shin dot | šin dot | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שִׁי"ן, <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שִׁי״ן יְמָנִית or <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />יְמִינִית, "right Shin" | [ʃ] | š/sh | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of a letter before the shin with the shin dot). The dot for shin is written over the right (first) branch of the letter. It is usually transcribed "sh". | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שׂ | Israeli | Sin dot | sin dot | śin dot | <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שִׂי"ן, <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />שִׁי״ן שְׂמָאלִית, "left Sin" | [s] | ś/s | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of the sin with the sin dot). The dot for sin is written over the left (third) branch of the letter | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | Some linguistic evidence indicates that it was originally IPA [ɬ], though poetry and acrostics show that it has been pronounced /s/ since quite ancient times). |
Keyboard
Both consonants and niqqud can be typed from virtual graphical keyboards available on the World Wide Web, or by methods integrated into particular operating systems.
Microsoft Windows
- In Windows 8 or later, niqqud can be entered using the right alt + the first Hebrew letter of the name of the value, when using the standard Hebrew keyboard layout. On earlier versions, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing CapsLock, placing the cursor after the consonant letter, and then pressing Shift and one of the keys in the chart below.
- The user can configure the registry to allow use of the Alt key with the numeric plus key to type the hexadecimal Unicode value.[4]
- The user can use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to produce a custom keyboard layout, or can download a layout produced by another party.[5]
Linux
In GTK+ Linux systems, niqqud can be entered by holding down AltGR and pressing the same keys as for Windows below. Or by pressing ctrl+shift+u followed by the appropriate 4 digit Unicode.
Macintosh
Using the Hebrew keyboard layout in Mac OS X, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing the Option key together with a number on the top row of the keyboard. Other combinations such as sofit and hataf can also be entered by pressing either the Shift key and a number, or by pressing the Shift key, Option key, and a number at the same time.[6][7]
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Notes:
- [1] The letter "ס" represents any Hebrew consonant.
- [2] For sin-dot and shin-dot, the letter "ש" (sin/shin) is used.
- [3] The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different uses, but the same graphical representation, and hence are input in the same manner.
- [4] For shuruk, the letter "ו" (vav) is used since it can only be used with that letter.
- A rafe can be input by inserting the corresponding Unicode character, either explicitly or via a customized keyboard layout.
SIL International have developed another standard, which is based on Tiro, but adds the Niqqud along the home keys.[8] Linux comes with "Israel — Biblical Hebrew (Tiro)" as a standard layout. With this layout, niqqud can be typed without pressing the Caps Lock key.
See also
- The Arabic equivalent, harakat.
- Hebrew diacritics
- Q're perpetuum
- Dagesh
- Hebrew spelling
- Tiberian Hebrew
Bibliography
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, especially §7, §8, §9
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
References
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de:Hebräisches Alphabet#Masoretische Vokalisation
- ↑ Cantillation
- ↑ Rules for Spelling without Niqqud
- ↑ Transliteration standards from November 2006
- ↑ http://www.fileformat.info/tip/microsoft/enter_unicode.htm
- ↑ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964665.aspx
- ↑ http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/software/0307978AHEBRLKITUM.PDF
- ↑ comprehensive guide
- ↑ http://www.sbl-site.org/Fonts/BiblicalHebrewTiroManual.pdf