Read from right to left 26 letters, some consonants, some vowels No capital letters 5 letters change form at the end Inconsistent Pronunciation (cat vs.

Read from right to left

26 letters, some consonants, some vowels

No capital letters

5 letters change form at the end

Inconsistent Pronunciation (cat vs. circle)

Pronunciation sometimes varies around the world

Pronunciation sometimes varies around the world

22 letters, all consonants

Almost always consistent

Read from left to right

Uppercase and lowercase letters

Letters do not change form at end

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח Khet Zayin Vav He Dalet Gimel Bet Aleph

Ayin Samek Nun Mem Lamed Kaf Yod Tet

Tav Shin Sin Resh Qof Tsade Pe

ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע

פ צ ק ר ש ש ת

The Aleph-Bet is made up entirely of Consonants.

Within the Aleph-Bet are special groups of Consonants

See if you can find the members of these categories…

4 (plus ר) 5 6

אSound: Silent

Aleph is unpronounced and takes on the sound of the vowel it is given.

Aleph is a guttural consonant.

Example: אאב (father)

בב

ב

Sound: “B” as in “Boy” “V” as in “Vet”

Bet has two pronunciations and is a member of the Begadkephat. The “B” sound has a dagesh lene and the “V” sound does not.

Bet can be confused with Kaf (כ).

ב כExamples: ן בב (son)

בבל ב� (Abel)

גSound: “G” as in “Good”

Gimel is a member of the Begadkephat but now has only one pronunciation. Anciently it also had a “Gh” sound as in “ghost”.

Example: ד בגא (Gad)

דSound: “D” as in “Dog” Dalet is a member of the Begadkephat but now has only one pronunciation. Anciently it also had a “th” sound as in “then”.

Dalet can be confused with Resh (ר).

ד ר Example: ו�ד בדא (David)

�Sound: “H” as in “Help”

He is easily confused with Khet (ח) and Tav (ת).

� ח ת He is a guttural consonant.

Example: בבל ב� (Abel)

�Sound: “V” as in “Velvet” Vav is easily confused with Zayin (ז) and final Nun (ן).

� ז ן

Example: ו� (and, or, also, even)

זSound: “Z” as in “Zoo” Zayin is easily confused with Vav (�) and final Nun (ן).

ז � ן The sound of Zayin “z” is easily confused with the sound of Tsade “ts”.

Example: אז�ן (old man, elder)

חSound: “Ch” as in “Bach”

Khet is easily confused with He (ה) and Tav (ת).

ח � ת Khet is a guttural consonant.

Example: ובר�ן בח (Hebron)

טSound: “T” as in “Talk”

Tet shares the “T” sound with Tav (בת ).

Example: ט�ב (good)

יSound: “Y” as in “Yes”

Yod is often confused with Vav.

י ו

Example: י��ף (Joseph)

בכ כ

ך

Sound: “K” as in “KitKat” “Ch” as in “Bach”

Khet has two pronunciations and is a member of the Begadkephat. The “K” sound has a dagesh lene and the “Ch” sound does not.

Kaf is often confused with Bet.

כ ב

Final Form: ך

Example: ן�בכ (priest)

ל Sound: “L” as in “Like”

Example: ו�י (Levi) ל

מ

ם

Sound: “M” as in “Mom”

Mem can be confused with Samech (�).

מ ם �

Final Form: ם

Example: ומאד (very)

נ

ן

Sound: “N” as in “Next”

Nun may be confused with Bet or Kaf.

נ ב כ

Final Form: ן

Example: וביא אנ (prophet)

�Sound: “S” as in “Son”

Samech can be confused

with Mem (מ).

Example: נני ו�י (Sinai)

� מ ם

עSound: Silent

Ayin is unpronounced and takes on the sound of the vowel it is given.

Ayin is easily confused with Tsade (צ).

צ ע

Ayin is a guttural consonant.

Example: בבד בע (servant)

ב$ $

ף

Sound: “P” as in “Pay” “F” as in “Fast”

Pe has two pronunciations and is a member of the Begadkephat. The “P” sound has a dagesh lene and the “F” sound does not.

Final Form: ף

Example: אלל ב$א (pray)

ב$% בנ (spirit)

צץ

Sound: “Ts” as in “Lets”

Tsade is easily confused with Ayin (ע).

צ ע

Final Form: ץ

Example: בי�ן וצ (Zion)

�Sound: “K” as in “KitKat”

Qof shares the “K” sound with Kaf (כ).

Example: וין נ� (Cain)

רSound: “R” as in “Right”

Resh can be confused with Dalet (ד).

ד ר Resh acts like a guttural consonant and should be included when you list gutturals.

Example: נרב (much)

%Sound: “Sh” as in “Shell”

Shin can be confused with Sin (%).

% %

Example: ת בבא (Sabbath) %נ

%Sound: “S” as in “Sin”

Sin can be confused with Shin (%).

% %

Example: �אר (Sarah) %א

תSound: “T” as in “Test”

Tav is a member of the Begadkephat but now has only one pronunciation. Anciently it also had a “th” sound as in “thin”.

Tav is easily confused with He .(ח) and Khet (ה)

� ח ת

Example: �אר בת� (Torah, law)

א � ח ע

( (ר

בג בב ב ג ד כ $ ת בת ב$ בכ בד

כ מ נ $ צך ם ן ף ץ

Gutturals are pronounced in the back of the throat.

Resh (ר) acts like a guttural sometimes, even though it is not pronounced at the back of the throat.

Gutturals have special rules and are notorious for changing vowels from the expected.

(Honestly, Gutturals are sort of a pain in the neck.)

( א � ח ע (ר

ב ג ד כ $ ת

בת ב$ בכ בד בג בב

When a Begadkephat has a dagesh, the basic sound changes to a softer pronunciation.

“T” “F” “CH” “D” “G” “V”

“T” “P” “K” “D” “G” “B”

Only 3 ($ ב כ) have a different sound for Biblical and Modern Hebrew.

These consonants have special forms when placed at the end of a word.

כ מ נ $ צ

ך ם ן ף ץ

Tsade Pe Nun Mem Kaf

Tsade Pe Nun Mem KafSofit Sofit Sofit Sofit Sofit