Chapter 2 — Vowel Identification Exercise

BBH Chapter 2 · Hebrew Vowels · 23 items

Instructions: For each Hebrew form shown, identify: (1) Vowel Name, (2) Vowel Class (A / E / I / O / U / Reduced), (3) Quantity (Long / Short / Reduced), (4) Notes (mater lectionis, composite Shewa, etc.).
The letter מ (mem) serves as the carrier consonant for most items; א (aleph) is used for word-final ה items.
# Form Vowel Name Class Quantity Notes
1 מָ
✓ מָ Qamets A Long Standard long A; T-bar shape below consonant; most common long vowel in Hebrew
2 מֵ
✓ מֵ Tsere E Long Standard long E; two horizontal dots below consonant
3 מִ
✓ מִ Hireq I Short Standard short I; single dot below consonant
4 מֹ
✓ מֹ Holem O Long Long O; single dot above the letter to the upper left
5 מֻ
✓ מֻ Qibbuts U Short Short U; three diagonal dots below consonant
6 מְ
(word-initial)
✓ מְ Vocal Shewa Reduced Reduced Word-initial position → always vocal; pronounced as ultra-short murmur /ə/ (schwa)
7 מַ
✓ מַ Pathach A Short Standard short A; horizontal bar below consonant; most common short A vowel
8 מֶ
✓ מֶ Seghol E Short Standard short E; three dots in inverted triangle below consonant
9 מִי
✓ מִי Hireq Yod I Long Hireq with yod mater lectionis; yod is quiescent (no consonantal sound); long I vowel
10 מוֹ
✓ מוֹ Holem Waw O Long Holem with waw mater lectionis; waw is quiescent; same sound as plain Holem
11 מוּ
✓ מוּ Shureq U Long Long U; waw with a dot in its center; waw is the mater lectionis
12 מְ
(word-final)
✓ מְ Silent Shewa — — Word-final position → always silent; marks the close of the final syllable; no vowel sound produced
13 מָ
(closed, unaccented syllable)
✓ מָ Qamets Hatuf O Short Same glyph as Qamets (long A) — context distinguishes them: closed + unaccented syllable → Qamets Hatuf (short O)
14 מֵי
✓ מֵי Tsere Yod E Long Tsere with yod mater lectionis; yod is quiescent (no consonantal sound)
15 כִּי
✓ כִּי Hireq Yod I Long Long I with yod mater; dagesh lene in kaph (begadkephat, word-initial); word means "because/that/when"
16 מֲ
✓ מֲ Hateph Pathach A Reduced Composite Shewa; A-class; used under gutturals (א ה ח ע) instead of vocal Shewa; most common Hateph
17 מֱ
✓ מֱ Hateph Seghol E Reduced Composite Shewa; E-class; used under gutturals; less common than Hateph Pathach
18 מֳ
✓ מֳ Hateph Qamets O Reduced Composite Shewa; O-class; rarest of the three hateph shewas; used under gutturals
19 הֲ
✓ הֲ Hateph Pathach A Reduced Composite Shewa under ה guttural; most common hateph Shewa; under gutturals instead of vocal Shewa
20 אָה
(word-final ה)
✓ אָה Qamets He A Long Word-final ה as mater lectionis; ה is quiescent (no vowel under it); marks long A (e.g., תּוֹרָה)
21 אֶה
(word-final ה)
✓ אֶה Seghol He E Short Word-final ה as mater lectionis; ה is quiescent; marks short E (e.g., שָׂדֶה "field")
22 אֵה
(word-final ה)
✓ אֵה Tsere He E Long Word-final ה as mater lectionis; ה is quiescent; marks long E
23 אֹה
(word-final ה)
✓ אֹה Holem He O Long Word-final ה as mater lectionis; ה is quiescent; marks long O
Reflection Questions
  1. Qamets or Qamets Hatuf? You encounter the form מָ in an unaccented, closed syllable with no Metheg. How do you determine whether this is a long A (Qamets) or a short O (Qamets Hatuf)? What two pieces of information are most diagnostic?
  2. Shewa identification: The word יִקְטְלוּ contains two shewas — one after the qoph and one after the tet. Without looking ahead to Chapter 3, use the rules from the lesson to determine which of these shewas is silent and which (if either) is vocal.
  3. Mater lectionis vs. consonant: In the word בֵּית ("house"), the yod (י) appears between two consonants with a Tsere under the bet. Is the yod functioning as a consonant or as a mater lectionis? What feature of its pointing (or lack thereof) tells you which role it is playing?