Help:IPA/Hebrew

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Modern Hebrew language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. Since Modern Hebrew has both non-Oriental and Oriental pronunciations in Israel, certain letters may be transcribed differently depending on the background of the speaker. See Hebrew phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Hebrew.

Note: An image of the chart is also available.
Consonants
IPA ClassicalIPA ModernLetter(s)RomanizationEnglish approximation
bבּ‬ (Beť dǝgušah)bbet
dדּ‬ (Daleť dǝgušah)ddark
ðdד‬ (Ďaleť rafah)ď, dh, dthis
fפ ף‬ (Fei rafah)f or p̄fool
ɡגּ‬ (Gimel dǝgušah)ggo
ɣɡג‬ (Ǧimel rafah)ǧ, gh, ggo
hה‬ (Hei)hhen
ħ[1]χח‬ (Ḥeť)ḥ or chno English equivalent; like hen but with the tongue against the pharynx
jי‬ (Yoď)yyes
kכּ‬ (Kaf dǝgušah)
kskin
lל‬ (Lameď)lleft
mמ ם‬ (Mem)mman
nנ ן‬ (Nun)nno
pפּ‬ (Pei dǝgušah)pspin
q[1]kק‬ (Qof)q or kk is equivalent to skin. q has no English equivalent; like cup but with the tongue further back
r[2]ʁר‬ (Resh)rSomewhat like run/French rouge
sס‬ (Samekh)
שׂ‬ (Sin smalit)		ssee
sˤts[3]צ ץ‬ (Ṣadi)ṣ, ts (or tz)cats
ʃשׁ‬ (Šin Yemanit)š or shshe
tתּ‬ (Taw)tsting
tˤtט‬ (Ṭeť)ṭ, tsting
θtת‬ (Ťaw)ť, th, tthing
vב‬ (Veť rafah)
vvoice
wvו‬ (Vav)vvote
w[4]וו‬ (double Vav)wwe
xχח‬ (Chet)[1]
כ ך‬ (Ǩaf rafah)		ǩ or ch/khSimilar to Scottish loch
zז‬ (Zayin)zzoo
ʕ[1]ʔע‬ (Ayin)ʿ or 'no English equivalent
ʔא‬ (Alef)
ʾ or 'uh-(ʔ)oh


Marginal sounds (used in transliteration and loan words)
IPALetter(s)RomanisationEnglish
dʒ[3]ג׳‬ (Gimel with gereš)ǧ or jjoy
ðד׳‬ (Dalet with geresh)ď, dhthis
ŋנג‬ (Nun-Gimel)ngring
ʒז׳‬ (Zayin with geresh)žbeige
tʃ[3]צ׳ ץ׳‬ (Ṣadi with geresh)č or chchair
θת׳‬ (Tav with geresh)ththing
Vowels
IPA ClassicalIPA ModernLetter(s)RomanisationEnglish approximation
aHebrew Patah.svg (Patach)afather
eHebrew Zeire.svg (Zeire)ebed
ɛeHebrew Segol.svg (Segol)ɛ, ebed
ǝe, ∅Tilde Schwa.svg (Shva)ǝ, ebed
iי‬Hebrew Hiriq.svg(Hiriq-Yud), Hebrew Hiriq.svg(Hiriq)isee
oֹ‬  (Holam alone), וֹ‬ (with any mater lectionis)ostory
ɔoָ‬  (Kamatz katan)ɔ, ostory
aָ‬ (Kamatz)ɔ, aall
uוּ‬ (Vav with shuruk), Hebrew Backslash Qubuz.svg (Kubutz)uboot


Diphthongs
IPALetter(s)RomanizationEnglish approximation
eiי‬Hebrew Segol.svg (Segol-Yud), Hebrew Zeire.svg (Zeire)eiday
aiי‬Hebrew Patah.svg (Patach-Yud), ָי‬ (Kamatz-Yud)aiwhy
oiוֹי‬ (Vav with holam male-Yud)oiboy
uiוּי‬ (Vav with shuruq-Yud)uiwe
ao (rare)או‬ (Alef-Vav)aocow
ju (rare)יוּ‬ (Yud-Vav with shuruk)yucute
ij (rare)יְ‬Hebrew Hiriq.svg(Hiriq-Yud with Shva Nach)
i.e. "נִיְלֵן‬" [nijˈlen]		iylike see


Other symbols
IPAExplanation
ˈPrimary stress (placed before the stressed syllable): אֹכֶל‬ ('food') /ˈʔoχel/, אוֹכֵל‏‬ ('eating' [participle]) /ʔoˈχel/
ˌSecondary stress, e.g. הַאֻמְנָם?‬ ('oh, really?') /ˌhaʔumˈnam/
ːLong vowels (in Tiberian Hebrew) can be transcribed using the IPA gemination sign ː: the word for "hand" would be יָד‬ /jaːd/ in absolute state and יַד־‬ /jad/ in construct state.[5] Indicating normative consonant gemination uses a double consonant: גַּנָּב‬ ('a thief') /ɡanˈnav/ not /ɡaˈnːav/
  • notes

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /ħ, ʕ, q/ have merged with /χ, ʔ, k/ respectively, but /ħ, ʕ/ are still distinguished by Oriental Hebrew speakers.
  2. ^ is uvular for most speakers, but a few speakers, mostly Orientals, and some news broadcasters, retain an alveolar pronunciation: [r]~[ɾ].
  3. ^ a b c /dʒ, ts, tʃ/ are officially written with a tie-bar in the IPA /d͡ʒ, t͡s, t͡ʃ/ respectively, but the tie-bar is omitted for simplification.
  4. ^ In Modern Israeli Hebrew, /w/ appears in a few words, mostly loanwords: וואו (wow) /waw/. In some words that originally had /w/, it is approximated to [v].
  5. ^ Vowel length and quality in Tiberian Hebrew is a matter of debate, and that is just one possible example.
Other Languages
বাংলা: উইকিপিডিয়া:বাংলা ভাষায় হিব্রু শব্দের প্রতিবর্ণীকরণ
اردو: معاونت:بین الاقوامی اصواتی ابجدیہ برائے عبرانی