BBH Chapter 2 — Hebrew Vowels¶

Learn the Hebrew vowel system as introduced by the Masoretes: long vowels (Qamets, Tsere, Holem), short vowels (Pathach, Seghol, Hireq, Qamets Hatuf, Qibbuts), and reduced vowels (Hateph Pathach, Hateph Seghol, Hateph Qamets). Learn the vowel letters written with He, Waw, and Yod; defective writing; Shewa; and the Daghesh Forte.

Resource	Link
Exercises	View exercises →
Flashcard Decks	View decks →

Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Pratico & Van Pelt — Chapter 2

The Vowel System¶

Ancient Hebrew was written with consonants only. In the second half of the first millennium AD, a group of scribes called the Masoretes developed an elaborate system of vowel notation called pointing, placing vowel symbols under, inside, or above the consonants in order to preserve the spoken tradition. Their work is the vowel-pointed text used today.

Each vowel has: - A vowel class (a, e, i, o, u) - A vowel type (long, short, or reduced) - A vowel name

Vowels are pronounced after the consonant with which they are associated: בַּ = ba (not ab); בֹּ = bo (not ob).

Long Vowels (§2.3)¶

i-class and u-class long vowels are not attested. These are often called "changeable" long vowels.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
a-class	בָּ	Qamets	a as in father
e-class	בֵּ	Tsere	e as in they
o-class	בֹּ	Holem	o as in role

Short Vowels (§2.4)¶

All five vowel classes are attested in the short type.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
a-class	בַּ	Pathach	a as in bat
e-class	בֶּ	Seghol	e as in better
i-class	בִּ	Hireq	i as in bitter
o-class	בָּ	Qamets Hatuf	o as in bottle
u-class	בֻּ	Qibbuts	u as in ruler

Reduced Vowels (§2.5)¶

i-class and u-class reduced vowels are not attested.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
a-class	בֲּ	Hateph Pathach	a as in amuse
e-class	בֱּ	Hateph Seghol	e as in metallic
o-class	בֳּ	Hateph Qamets	o as in commit

Summary Vowel Chart (§2.6)¶

Type	a-class	e-class	i-class	o-class	u-class
Long	בָּ Qamets	בֵּ Tsere	—	בֹּ Holem	—
Short	בַּ Pathach	בֶּ Seghol	בִּ Hireq	בָּ Qamets Hatuf	בֻּ Qibbuts
Reduced	בֲּ Hateph Pathach	בֱּ Hateph Seghol	—	בֳּ Hateph Qamets	—

A printable one-page chart showing all vowels — including vowel letters — organized by class and type is available as a PDF: ch2-vowel-chart.pdf

Vowel Letters (§2.7–2.11)¶

Certain Hebrew consonants — ה, ו, and י — can function as vowel letters, marking long vowel sounds. These are also known by the Latin term matres lectionis (singular: mater lectionis, "mother of reading"), a name widely used in grammars, lexicons, and scholarly literature. The most common are Hireq Yod (ִי), Holem Waw (וֹ), and Shureq (וּ).

With ה (§2.8)¶

ה functions as a vowel letter only at the end of a word.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
a-class	בָּה	Qamets He	a as in father
e-class	בֵּה	Tsere He	e as in they
e-class	בֶּה	Seghol He	e as in better
o-class	בֹּה	Holem He	o as in role

With ו (§2.9)¶

These are often called unchangeable long vowels because they do not reduce or change.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
o-class	בּוֹ	Holem Waw	o as in role
u-class	בּוּ	Shureq	u as in ruler

With י (§2.10)¶

These are also unchangeable long vowels.

Class	Symbol	Vowel Name	Pronunciation
e-class	בֵּי	Tsere Yod	e as in they
e-class	בֶּי	Seghol Yod	e as in better
i-class	בִּי	Hireq Yod	i as in machine

Summary: Vowel Letters (§2.11)¶

	a-class	e-class	i-class	o-class	u-class
with ה	בָּה Qamets He	בֵּה Tsere He / בֶּה Seghol He	—	בֹּה Holem He	—
with ו	—	—	—	בּוֹ Holem Waw	בּוּ Shureq
with י	—	בֵּי Tsere Yod / בֶּי Seghol Yod	בִּי Hireq Yod	—	—

Defective Writing (§2.12)¶

Sometimes vowel letters are written without their consonant. This is called defective writing; writing with the consonant is full writing. Defective writing does not change the meaning.

Full Writing	Defective Writing	Change	Example (full → defective)	Gloss
בּוֹ	בֹּ	Holem Waw → Holem	שׁוֹפָר → שֹׁפָר	ram's horn
בּוּ	בֻּ	Shureq → Qibbuts	מַדּוּעַ → מַדֻּעַ	why?
בִּי	בִּ	Hireq Yod → Hireq	דָּוִיד → דָּוִד	David

There is no certain way to predict when a vowel will be written defectively. Familiarity with vocabulary is the best guide.

Shewa (§2.13)¶

The symbol בְּ (two vertical dots under a consonant) is called Shewa. It is not classified as long, short, or reduced, and has no vowel class. There are two types:

Silent Shewa — zero value; never pronounced
Vocal Shewa — hurried pronunciation, like the a in amuse

How to distinguish them is covered in chapter 3 (§3.6).

Holem over שׂ and שׁ (§2.14)¶

When Holem (בֹּ) appears over שׂ (Sin), the two dots merge into one. Both the Sin dot and the Holem dot occupy the same position — upper left of the letter — so a single dot does double duty: it identifies the letter as Sin (not Shin) and simultaneously functions as the vowel Holem. With שׁ (Shin) this does not happen: the Shin dot sits on the upper right while Holem sits on the upper left, so both dots remain visually distinct.

Daghesh Forte (§2.15)¶

The Daghesh Forte looks identical to the Daghesh Lene (introduced in ch1) but has a different function: it doubles the consonant in which it appears. For example, הַשָּׁמַיִם ("the heavens") has a Daghesh Forte in the Shin, meaning there are technically two Shins.

The Daghesh Forte can appear in any consonant except the gutturals (א, ה, ח, ע) and ר
When it appears in a begadkephat consonant, it doubles the hard pronunciation
How to distinguish Daghesh Lene from Daghesh Forte in begadkephat letters is covered in chapter 3 (§3.5)

Chapter 2 Summary (§2.16)¶

Memorize each vowel's form, name, pronunciation, vowel class, and vowel type (see Summary Chart §2.6).
Memorize each vowel letter's form, name, pronunciation, and vowel class (see §2.11).
Vowel letters written with ה occur only at the end of a word.
Vowel letters written with ו and י are unchangeable long vowels — they do not reduce or change.
Three patterns of defective writing: Holem Waw → Holem; Shureq → Qibbuts; Hireq Yod → Hireq.
Daghesh Forte doubles the consonant in which it appears; it cannot occur in gutturals or ר.

Additional Information¶

Alternative Vowel Classification (§2.18)¶

Some grammarians divide Hebrew vowels into three classes (a, i, u) rather than five, with e-class as a subset of i-class and o-class as a subset of u-class. BBH uses the five-class system.

The Spelling of the Divine Name (§2.19)¶

The divine name יהוה (the tetragrammaton, "four letters") is the most frequent proper noun in the Hebrew Bible (6,828×). Jewish tradition substitutes אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, "Lord") when reading aloud, and so the vowels of אֲדֹנָי were applied to יהוה, producing יְהוָה. When אֲדֹנָי already appears alongside יהוה in a text, the vowels of אֱלֹהִים are used instead, producing יְהוִה — to avoid the repetition Adonai Adonai. The tetragrammaton is discussed further in §§24.18, 25.15, 26.17, and 27.19.