The ancient language of ivrit ( עברית ) - ChetsteemCreated with Sketch.

in #hebrew7 years ago

Like the Alphabet, The letters in Hebrew are called the Alef - Beyt They are presented on my blog from bottom to the top so you can learn them order, then to read them right to left. You will see what the original "Bible" said and what the names meant as they went through the stories of old.

Here is Chet: Symbolizing a fence or wall, to cut in two or separate.

It is the eighth letter. It is a consonant . It is also the number 8

Some cultures pronounce Chet like a "K" due to European influence on the language.

Some read this letter with the sound coming from the throat, like the Spanish "J" - in English it is transliterated as "kh" to simulate that sound. I have always pronounced Chet with the back of my throat because it's what I hear it most.

bc3d3ea5-d47a-47b2-ba5f-0b88be6c1249.jpg

Compare Chet with He and note the difference.

94001e1e-dbe0-4258-a66a-d11870e34ed4.jpg The left side of Chet touches the top . Not on He.

Let's do some reading

I will only be using words that contain letters that you have already learned.

Vowels are markings that appear below, and sometimes above or within the letters. Vowel pointings, as they are called, can define the sound of a vowel or they are the sound after a consonant.

I will help you with the sounds explaining each word and how it's read. The transliterations are representations of how someone who speaks English might write the word using the alphabet. When I can I put in the way a Spanish speaker might write what he hears in Hebrew.)

one

This one is famous. It is the word "one" not the number 1. Look up an audio of Ha Sh'ma - quoted "Hear oh Israel YHVH our God is One"

Here we read top right moving down: aleph then the vowel segol (three dots)
ey
Next letter: Chet then the vowel kamatz
kha
Next letter: Dalet
d

eykhad - or - aykh-odd - or (Spanish representations "ejad")

  • * one * the * and

Here is how we say 'and the one' - I added blue marks to point to the three words contained in this one Hebrew word.
Vav witha a Shva below it ":" = "and"
V'
He with a kamatz below it = "the"
Hah
Then our first word from this lesson...
eykhad

v'hah ekhad - or (Spanish representation "veja ejad")

Bald forhead

The group of three letters means "bald forehead"

We have a Gimel with a Hiriq under it "."
geeh
Then a Bet with tzeire ".." under it
be
Last we have Chet with a patakh "_" under it
(to read from bottom right to upper left)
akh

geeh-be-ak - or - gee-bay-akh - or (Spanish: gibeaj)

A complicated one

We have a Vav with a shva under it ":" = "and"
V'
Then a Zayin with kamatz under it
Zah
Next, a Vet with a shva under it ":"
V'
Next, a Chet alone followed by Vav as a vowel (shuruk)
(the two letters are pronounced..)
Khu (Spanish: "ju")

v'zah-v'khu - or - ve-za-ve-khu - or (Spanish: v'zav'ju)


Where we are so far

These are the letters you have learned so far - good job!


source

Only 14 more letters and you will be reading!

the vowels only have about five sounds - and I will keep telling you how they sound as we go

  • don't worry about the names of the vowels unless you plan to teach Hebrew.

I hope to add meaning to these little lessons each Shabbath as we go. Then we can read together with the vowel points in place and see how it all jives with English.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

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Many Arabic words are derived from Hebrew, which proves that the Jews lived long with the Arabs, and that our two languages are very close.
In fact we lived side by side without serious problems, unfortunately this is not the case today and it is a pity.
I hope that in the future all this animosity will be reabsorbed and we will be able to live in peace with our very close cousins.

really a friend, now there is a striking difference. but seeing from the alphabet is almost similar. why @hebrew ?

really a friend, now there is a striking difference. but seeing from the alphabet is almost similar. why @hebrew ?

Thanks for sharing, you're doing a fine job. I have been looking forward to this your post, I had to follow you, to stick close. I have been doing some research trying to find a Bible that contains both Hebrew and English, I could only find "Kingdom Interlinear" for the greek scriptures. Do you have a suggestion?

Here - read on line or download. This is the one I use.

https://archive.org/details/ESVInterlinearOT

Thanks for the response. I'll go and check it out asap. It'll be handy from time to time, because some Bibles translation tend to be obsolete these days.

Great lesson again mate! I am having great pleasure learning this language and I can say I can see a little bit of similarities with Arabic words. The world is wonderful indeed.

It looks so much like the letter Heh.... it takes a lot of practice to differentiate. But eventually, one (ekhad) day we will all speak Hebrew ....

We will all speak Hebrew when we meet God one day.

Thank you for the lesson! Audio helps very much.

This is a great lesson. I like to see the letters in words like that it really helps. Every lesson is getting better and better. It is working - I am learning Hebrew. UpVoted.

I think i'll need some more training haha. Great job there!

Great lesson again mate! I am having great pleasure learning this language and I can say I can see a little bit of similarities with Arabic words. The world is wonderful indeed.

very nice.