Bible HebrewThe Hebrew alphabet, with its biblical sounds
Hebrew is written from right to left with 22 letters, all consonants. Here is each letter as it was read in the Hebrew Bible, the way scholarly grammars teach it, with a recording you can play.
The 22 letters
Six letters, ב ג ד כ פ ת, have two sounds: hard with a dot inside, soft without it. Both are listed. Where Modern Israeli Hebrew says a letter differently, the last column shows how.
| Letter | Name | Biblical sound | Modern Hebrew |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Aleph | ʾ A catch in the throat, like the break in “uh-oh”. Often silent at the end of a syllable. | same |
| בּ | Beth | b With a dot: b | same |
| ב | Beth (soft) | v Without the dot: v | same |
| גּ | Gimel | g With a dot: g | same |
| ג | Gimel (soft) | gh Without the dot: a soft, gargled g, made at the back of the mouth | g, as in go |
| דּ | Daleth | d With a dot: d | same |
| ד | Daleth (soft) | dh Without the dot: “th” as in “this” | d, as in day |
| ה | He | h Silent at the end of a word unless it has a dot (הּ) | same |
| ו | Waw | w A “w”, as in water. Also writes the vowels וֹ (ō) and וּ (ū). | v, as in vine |
| ז | Zayin | z | same |
| ח | Heth | ḥ A strong h from deep in the throat. Different from soft Kaph (כ). | kh, like the ch in Bach |
| ט | Teth | ṭ An “emphatic” t, said with the back of the tongue raised | t, as in top |
| י | Yod | y Also helps write the long vowels ī and ē | same |
| כּ | Kaph | k With a dot: k | same |
| כ | Kaph (soft) | kh Without the dot: like “ch” in Bach | same |
| ל | Lamed | l | same |
| מ | Mem | m | same |
| נ | Nun | n | same |
| ס | Samekh | s | same |
| ע | Ayin | ʿ A squeezed sound from deep in the throat. Not silent. | silent, or a light catch in the throat |
| פּ | Pe | p With a dot: p | same |
| פ | Pe (soft) | f Without the dot: f | same |
| צ | Tsade | ṣ An “emphatic” s, said with the back of the tongue raised | ts, as in cats |
| ק | Qoph | q A k made further back, near the throat | k, as in king |
| ר | Resh | r | same |
| שׁ | Shin | sh Dot on the right: sh | same |
| שׂ | Sin | ś Dot on the left: an s sound (in ancient times probably different from ס) | same |
| תּ | Taw | t With a dot: t | same |
| ת | Taw (soft) | th Without the dot: “th” as in “thin” | t, as in top |
Five letters change shape at the end of a word
These letters have a different form when they are the last letter of a word. The sound stays the same.
| Normal | Final | Name |
|---|---|---|
| כ | ך | Kaph |
| מ | ם | Mem |
| נ | ן | Nun |
| פ | ף | Pe |
| צ | ץ | Tsade |
Next
The letters are consonants. The vowel marks add the vowels, and the pronunciation guide explains why the biblical sounds differ from the modern ones.
Bible Hebrew teaches this with practice questions and reviews that come back right before you forget. The alphabet, the lessons, the vocabulary and the guided readings are recorded in the biblical pronunciation. Free, no ads, and it works offline.
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