Hebrew Consonants
The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 consonants; the vowel pointing system, nikud, was added at a later date (AD 500-900). The pronunciation here represents the modern/Ashkenazi vocalization. In most cases there is a direct correspondence between Hebrew and Latin characters, however, the variations are noted in the transliterations below.
Observations
· The transliteration symbols are used to represent uniquely each letter of the Hebrew alphabet
· There are no capitals in Biblical Hebrew
· Certain letters have a final form, but there is no difference in their pronunciation. In the table above they have been placed on the same line, but separated with a “ / ” (final form/initial-medial form)
· The consonant א should not be confused with the English vowel “A”. Though it may occasionally quiesce at the end of certain words (e.g. כִּסֵּא ), it bears a consonantal value. Aleph represents a guttural stop, the sound of the glottis opening when pronouncing “apple”
· Six Hebrew consonants ( בּ גּ דּ כּ פּ תּ ) may appear with or without a dot, dagesh, inside of them. They are known as BeGaD KeFaT letters (LINK).
o ג (“g”) originally pronounced as a soft “g”, as in “gin”
o ד (d) historically a dull “th” sound, as in “that”
o ת (t) originally pronounced “th” as in “cloth”, hence the word “Bethlehem”.
· Of the 22 consonants, three sometimes represent vowels on certain occasions ( ה \ י \ ו)
· ו was original pronounced like English “w”
· ח in Sephardic reading traditions is pronounced differently from the כ, and more like the ה with a forced constriction of the larynx.
· ע within Sephardic reading tradition, and most probably historically, was pronounced with a deeper guttural sound than the א.
· ר is traditionally a guttural sound that is rolled at the back of the throat
· שׂ and שׁ are variants of the same letter, the diacritic point determines its pronunciation.