תיב־ףלא Aleph-Bet T

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‫אלף־בית‬
Aleph-Bet
Learning to Write the
Aleph-Bet
in Block & Cursive
by
Tim Hegg
©1999 All rights reserved
The Aleph-Bet
‫ א‬- Aleph
‫ א‬- Aleph (cursive)
Aleph has no sound of its own but
originally was a glottal stop, like
the beginning sound of “uh-huh”.
‫אבא אדני אלהים‬
‫ ב‬- Bet
‫ ב‬- Bet (cursive)
Bet has two different sounds, “B”
if it has a dot (dagesh) in it [‫ ]ּב‬and
“V” if it does not have dagesh [‫]ב‬
‫ּבַית ּבָרּו ְך ּבֵן ָאּבָא טֹוב‬
‫“ = ּב‬b”
‫“ = ב‬v”
‫בן אבא טוב‬
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‫ָאּבָא ָאדֹנ ַי ֱאלֹהִים‬
The Aleph-Bet
‫ ג‬- Gimmel
‫=ג‬G
‫ ג‬- Gimmel (cursive)
Gammal in Hebrew means “camel”.
Does the shape of the Gimmel remind you of a camel?
Gimmel sounds like “G” as in “go”
‫גן גואל הגדה‬
‫גָמָל ג ָדֹול ג ִּבֹור‬
Dalet makes the sound of “D” as
in “dog”
‫אדני הגדול הגדה‬
‫דָן‬
‫דֶ ֶר ְך‬
‫=ד‬D
‫דֹודִי‬
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‫ ד‬- Dalet
‫ ד‬- Dalet (cursive)
Horizontal stroke extends past the
vertical leg of the letter
The Aleph-Bet
Vowel signs (‫)נקודות‬
Vowel signs are written:
Under the letter
‫ָּב‬
Beside the letter
ֹ‫ּב‬
Under & beside the letter
‫ּבִי‬
Two vowels which say “a” as in “fa­ther”
‫ַּב‬
‫ָּב‬
qametz ‫ ָקמֵץ‬
patach ‫ ָּפּתָח‬
Two vowels which say “ee” as in “feet”
‫ִּב‬
chiriq qatan
‫ חִירִיק ָקטָן‬
‫ּבִי‬
chiriq gadol
‫חִירִיק ג ָדֹול‬
ֹ‫ּב‬
cholam
‫חֹולָם‬
‫ּבֹו‬
cholam vav
‫חֹולָם ו ָו‬
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Two vowels which say “o” as in “hole”
The Aleph-Bet
be sure there is a break here
‫ ה‬- Hey
‫ ה‬- Hey (cursive)
Hey sounds like “H” as in “hat”,
but at the end of a word it is
silent.
‫אברהם הגדה התורה‬
‫ ו‬- Vav
‫ ו‬- Vav (cursive)
Vav sounds like the letter “V”,
and sometimes a vav is used to
indicate a vowel.
be sure the top stroke does not go
past the horizontal leg
‫=ו‬V
‫אני ואדי מצוות‬
‫וָעֶד ו ֵאלֹהֵי אֲבֹותֵינּו‬
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‫הֹורָה הַר צּיֹון ִהנ ֵה‬
‫=ה‬H
The Aleph-Bet
‫ ז‬- Zayin
‫ ז‬- Zayin (cursive)
Zayin sounds like the “Z”
in Zoo
‫מזמור לדוד זקן‬
‫ ח‬- Chet
‫ ח‬- Chet (cursive)
Chet sounds like the rough,
German “ch” in “Ach!”. It sounds
like an “h” with the throat closed.
‫רֹאׁש חֹדֶׁש ַחלָה‬
‫=ז‬Z
Note:
no gap like the
‫ה‬
‫ = ח‬ch
Note:
no “foot” like the
‫ת‬
‫יצחק משיח שמחה‬
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‫זָהָב מְזּוז ָה ז ָ ֵקנ ִים‬
the horizontal stroke goes
beyond the verticle leg
The Aleph-Bet
More vowel signs (‫)נקודות‬
Two vowels which say “oo” as in “food”
‫ּבּו‬
‫ֻּב‬
Qibutz
‫ קִּבּוץ‬
Shuruq
‫ׁשּורּוק‬
Vowel which says long “a” as in “fate”
or short “e” as
in “get”
‫ֵּב‬
‫ צֵירֶה‬Tzayreh
Vowel which says short “e” as in “get”
‫ֶּב‬
Vowel which makes a quick short “e”
sound, as in “petunia” or is silent
‫ְּב‬
‫ ְׁשו ָה‬Sheva ©1999 All rights reserved
‫ סֶּגֹול‬Seghol The Aleph-Bet
‫ ט‬- Tet
‫ ט‬- Tet (cursive)
Tet sounds like the “t” in “toy”
‫בטח טטפת חטא‬
‫ י‬- Yod
‫ י‬- Yod (cursive)
Yod sounds like the letter “y” in
“yes” and sometimes is used as a
vowel letter.
‫=י‬y
‫פרי להדליק טלית‬
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‫טֹוב ָטרֵף לָאַט‬
‫י ִ ְׂש ָראֵל י ִ ְצחָק י ָד‬
‫=ט‬t
The Aleph-Bet
Kaf sounds like the ‫ ח‬when it is
written without dagesh, and like
the letter “k” when written with
dagesh. Final kaf has the same
sounds as initial or medial kaf.
‫ך‬/‫ כ‬- Kaf/Kaf soffit
‫ך‬/‫ כ‬- Kaf (cursive) ‫ = כ‬ch ‫ = ּכ‬k
Note: base horizontal does not extend
beyond the verticle
‫ברוך מלך מלכותו‬
‫ ל‬- Lamed
‫ ל‬- Lamed (cursive)
‫לְ ַהדְלִיק לּולָב לֹא‬
‫=ל‬L
‫אלף מלך ישראל‬
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‫ּכֹ ְרעִים ּכֵן ּכׁשֶר‬
The Aleph-Bet
‫ם‬/‫ מ‬- Mem/Mem soffit
‫ם‬/‫ מ‬- Mem (cursive)
‫ם‬
‫המוציא שמע שלום‬
‫ן‬/‫ נ‬- Nun/Nun soffit
‫ן‬/‫ נ‬- Nun (cursive)
‫נֹוּתֵן נ ֵר נָבִיא‬
Note that the mem soffit
has a flat baseline without the corners rounded.
‫=נ‬N
Note that the nun soffit is longer
than the vav (‫ ן‬,‫ )ו‬which is the
only way it is distinguished
‫בן ראש השנה אדני‬
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‫ֶמלֶ ְך ָמג ֵן דָו ִד מְזּוז ָה‬
‫=מ‬M
The Aleph-Bet
‫ ס‬- Samech
‫ ס‬- Samech (cursive)
‫ם‬
mem soffit
‫ס‬
samech
‫סיני סליחה בסדר‬
Ayin is a SILENT LETTER,
though in ancient times it may
have had a deep, glottal stop,
somewhat like the stopped throaty
sound in “uh-huh”. In Arabic the
the equivalent letter is a throaty
“G” sound.
‫ ע‬-Ayin
‫ ע‬- Ayin (cursive)
‫ִע ְברִית ֶערֶב ָעמִידָה‬
Note that the samech has a rounded
baseline or corners which are cut
off, distinquishing it from the mem
soffit
‫שמע העולם ישוע‬
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‫סִּדּור ֻסּכָה ֶספֶר‬
‫=ס‬S
The Aleph-Bet
‫ף‬/‫ פ‬- Peh/Peh soffit
‫ף‬/‫ פ‬- Peh (cursive)
‫ְּפרִי ֶּפסָח ּפֵאֹות‬
‫ = פ‬ph ‫ = ּפ‬p
Note that the peh soffit cursive has the
final tale curling downward and back
toward the verticle stroke
‫ף‬
‫אלף הגפן יום כפור‬
‫ץ‬/‫ צ‬- Tzadi/Tzadi soffit
‫ץ‬/‫ צ‬- Tzadi (cursive)
‫ = צ‬tz
Note that the tzadi soffit cursive
has the final tale curling upward
‫ארץ המוציא מצה‬
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‫צִּיֹון ַצּדִיק ֶארֶץ‬
‫ץ‬
The Aleph-Bet
‫ ק‬- Kof
‫=ק‬K
‫ ק‬- Kof (cursive)
‫קדוש קדיש קידשנו‬
‫=ר‬R
‫ ר‬- Resh
‫ ר‬- Resh (cursive)
Note that the horizontal stroke of the resh
does not cross the verticle stroke as is the
case in the letter dalet
‫ד‬
dalet
‫ַרּבִי רֹאׁש רּוח ַהּקֹדֶׁש‬
‫ר‬
resh
‫ארץ תורה ישראל‬
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‫י ִ ְצחָק י ַ ֲעקֹב לְ ַהּדְלִיק‬
The Aleph-Bet
‫ׁש‬/‫ ׂש‬- Seen/Sheen ‫ = ׂש‬S, ‫ = ׁש‬Sh
‫ ש‬- Seen/Sheen (cursive)
Note: in cursive if no dot is
written the letter is assumed
to be a Sheen
‫ְׁשמָע ִׂש ְמחָה ָׁש ַמי ִם ישראל שבועות שדי‬
‫= ת‬T
‫ ת‬- Tav
‫ ת‬- Tav (cursive)
‫ת ח ה‬
Note the similarities between
no break
no foot
‫ְּת ִפלִין ּתֹורָה ּתֹודָה‬
h
e
y
c
h
e
t
t
a
v
foot
‫שבת תלמיד בית‬
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break
The Aleph-Bet
Complete Aleph/Bet
‫ם‬/‫ך ל מ‬/‫א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ‬
‫ם‬/‫ך ל מ‬/‫א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ‬
‫ץ ק ר ׂש ׁש ת‬/‫ף צ‬/‫ן ס ע פ‬/‫נ‬
‫ץ ק ר ׂש ׁש ת‬/‫ף צ‬/‫ן ס ע פ‬/‫נ‬
Vowels
‫ = ְּב‬
sheva very short “e” as
in “petunia”
‫ּבָי‬/‫“ = ּבַי‬ai” as in “aisle” ‫= ֲּב‬
same as sim­ple patach “a”
‫ = ֳּב‬same as sim­ple qametz “a” sometimes long “o”
‫ = ֱּב‬same as sim­ple seghol “e”
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‫ ָּב‬/ַ‫ = ּב‬patach/qametz “a” as in
“father”
‫ּבִי‬/ִ‫ = ּב‬chiriq qatan/chiriq
gadol “ee” as in “feet”
‫ּבֹו‬/ ֹ‫ = ּב‬cholem/cholem vav
long “o” as in “hole”
‫ּבּו‬/ֻ‫ = ּב‬qibbutz/shuruq “oo” as
in “food”
‫ = ֵּב‬tzere “a” as in “fate” or
“e” as in “get”
‫ = ֶּב‬seghol short “e” as in
“get”
The Aleph-Bet
Additional Vowels
‫“ = ּבֵי‬ay” as in “say”
‫ ֲּב = ֲחטָף ַפתַח‬chataf patach same as sim­ple patach
‫ ֳּב = ָקמֵץ חֲטּוף‬chametz chatuf sometimes long “o”, often same as simple chametz
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‫ = ֱּב‬same as simple seghol