Biblical HebrewLesson 2

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א Textbook: Cook & Holmstedt’s Biblical Hebrew: A Student Grammar (2009)Found here online: http://individual.utoronto.ca/holmstedt/Textbook.html

Review�ר�ה ח�ז

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�ר�ה ח�ז

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Answer the following about the last lesson:

• Recite the alphabet in order. (Can you write it?)

• What are the begedkefet (פ�״ת�� ?letters and why are they special (ב��ג�״ד כ

• How many letters have two different forms, and what are these letters? What is the second form used for?

• What letters are these?יוד כף ש�ין אלף עין גימל נון צדי מם פא ←

דלת

• What names are spelled out here?רחל תמר יש�ראל אדם מש�ה יוסף כנען לוי ←

עש�ו

Slide 3

Hebrew Vowelsעו�ת ה ש��פ�ה ת�נו

ית ה�ע�ב�ר�The Hebrew Caféthehebrewcafe.com/forumSlide 4

ית עו�ת ה ש��פ�ה ה�ע�ב�ר� ת�נו

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There are basically five full vowel sounds in Hebrew. They are the same as those in Spanish (a, e, i, o, u). You should not think of them like the vowels in English, in which a might sound like apple. They are consistent and do not change between words (as we have apple, want and acorn with no predictability in terms of the sound of the letter a). In Hebrew a always sounds like the a in the word father.

Slide 5

a = father or want e = sent or met

i = unique or machine o = hope or drove

u = flute or suit

ית עו�ת ה ש��פ�ה ה�ע�ב�ר� ת�נו

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Class Sound Long Short Half

a a ם� \ ם�ה ם� ם

ie ם! \ ם!י ם� ם"i ם# \ ם#י ם# -

uo ם$ \ ו$ �ם ם%u � ם& \ ו ם& -

Syllabificationק ל ה�ב�רו�ת ו ח�ל

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ק ל ה�ב�רו�ת ו ח�ל

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Syllables• We don’t think too much about syllables in English. To tell the truth,

Israelis don’t think about them much in Hebrew either!

• When you study biblical Hebrew, you need to know a few things about syllables.

• A syllable can be either open or closed.

• An open syllable ends in a vowel; a closed syllable ends in a consonant. Simple as that!

• If we let C be a consonant and v be a vowel, we have:Cv (open) or CvC (closed)

Slide 8

ק ל ה�ב�רו�ת ו ח�ל

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Syllables (cont.)• Every syllable in Hebrew begins with a consonant (with only one

exception).

• In the word ר��ב� �|ב�ר :davar, we have two syllables ד� ) The first .ד �� is (דopen, since it ends in a vowel (Cv). The second (ר� is closed, since it (בends in a consonant (CvC).

• In the word ה�� �ה :malkah, we have two syllables מ�ל)כ� ל)|כ ל)) The first .מ� (מ�is closed, since it ends in a consonant (CvC). The second (ה�� ,is open (כsince it ends in a vowel (Cv).

Notes:1. Vowel letters (such as the ה in ה�� .do not count as consonants (מ�ל)כ2. Sheva usually closes a syllable in the middle of a word.

Slide 9

ק ל ה�ב�רו�ת ו ח�ל

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Syllables (cont.)

Examples from the Vocabulary

ש��|לו$ם …two syllables: first open; second closed – ש��לו$ם

יש�)|ר�|א!ל …three syllables: first closed; second open; third closed – יש�)ר�א!ל

ר�ץ |ר�ץ …two syllables: first open; second closed – א�� א��

א#ש�)|ש��ה …two syllables: first closed; second open – א#ש���הThe dagesh represents doubled shin.

א"ל$|ה#ים …two syllables: first open; second closed – א"ל$ה#יםHalf vowels and sheva do not count for full syllables.

Slide 10

Verbless Clauses�ים �י �מ�נ�מ�ש��פ�ט�ים ש

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�ים �י �מ�נ�מ�ש��פ�ט�ים ש

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Introduction• In English, all true sentences have verbs (words that indicates actions or

states of being).

• This isn’t the case in Hebrew. In Hebrew, we can make sentences without verbs, as long as we have a noun as the subject and something in the predicate.

• He doctor. = “He is a doctor.”

• They my friends. = “They are my friends.”

• She beautiful. = “She is beautiful.”

• This is found on page 11 of the book with the sentence ה�מ� �ל$א א"ל$ה#ים ה� .

Slide 12

Goals of Lesson 2�י �נ�ר ה ש �עו�מ ט�רו�ת ה ש

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�י �נ�ר ה ש �עו�מ ט�רו�ת ה ש

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The second lesson’s goals are basically as follows:

• Learn the nikkud (the marks that represent the vowel sounds).

• Uses of Sheva.

• Dividing words into syllables.

• Verbless clauses.

Welcome to Hebrew!!!

Slide 14

Biblical HebrewLesson 2

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א Textbook: Cook & Holmstedt’s Biblical Hebrew: A Student Grammar (2009)Found here online: http://individual.utoronto.ca/holmstedt/Textbook.html