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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-GB"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"/> <title>Hebrew orthography notes</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../shared/style/docs.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../common29/local.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="he.css" /> <script src="../common29/debug.js"></script> <script src="../../shared/code/boilerplate.js"></script> <script src="../../shared/code/toc_2020.js"></script> <script src="../apps/ipa_analyser/propertylist.js"></script> <script src="../../shared/scriptdb/hebr.js"> </script> <script src="he-details.html"> </script> <script src="../../shared/code/show_codepoints.js"></script> <script src="../../shared/code/scriptGroups.js"></script> <script src="../common29/functions.js"></script> <script src="../common29/transliterate.js"></script> <script src="../common29/prompts.js"> </script> <script src="../glossary/glossary.js"> </script> <script src="../common29/egcode.js"></script> <script src="../common29/references.js"></script> <script src="refs.js"></script> <script src="he-langdata.js"></script> <script src="he-examples.js"></script> <script src="he-globals.js"></script> </head> <body class="useBlockExamples"> <header> <div id="header-boilerplate"></div> <script>document.getElementById('header-boilerplate').innerHTML = bp_header('../../shared/images/world.gif','docs');</script> </header> <h1>Modern Israeli Hebrew</h1> <div class="orthographyLine">orthography notes</div> <aside class="sidebar"> <h2 class="notoc flush"><a id="tochead">Contents</a></h2> <div id="toc"></div> <div id="fontsetting" class="closed"> </div> </aside> <p id="status">Updated 9 April, 2024 <span id="versionTop"></span> </p> <div class="intro"> <p>This page brings together basic information about the Hebrew script and its use for the modern Israeli Hebrew language. It doesn't aim to cover Biblical usage. It aims to provide a brief, descriptive summary of the modern, printed orthography and typographic features, and to advise how to write Hebrew using Unicode.</p> <details> <summary class="instructions">Referencing this document</summary> <p class="refLine"><small>Richard Ishida, Modern Israeli Hebrew Orthography Notes, 09-Apr-2024, <a href="https://r12a.github.io/scripts/hebr/he">https://r12a.github.io/scripts/hebr/he</a></small></p> </details> <p id="usage"></p> <script>addPageIntro('Hebrew', 'Hebrew', 'hebr', 'hebr')</script> </div> <section id="sample"> <h2>Sample</h2> <p class="instructions noprint">Select part of this sample text to show a list of characters, with links to more details.<br> Change size: <input id="fontFSSizeSlider" type="range" min="12" max="100" step="1" value="28" oninput="document.getElementById('freeText').style.fontSize = this.value+'px'; document.getElementById('sizeFSIndicator').textContent=this.value+'px'">   <span id="sizeFSIndicator">28px</span></p> <div id="freeText" dir="rtl" lang="he" contenteditable="true"> <p onMouseUp="showtext('freeText')">סעיף א. כל בני אדם נולדו בני חורין ושווים בערכם ובזכויותיהם. כולם חוננו בתבונה ובמצפון, לפיכך חובה עליהם לנהוג איש ברעהו ברוח של אחוה.</p> <p onMouseUp="showtext('freeText')">סעיף ב. כל אדם זכאי לזכויות ולחרויות שנקבעו בהכרזש זו ללא הפליה כלשהיא מטעמי גזע, צבע, מין, לשון, דח, דעה פוליטית או דעה בבעיות אחרות, בגלל מוצא לאומי או חברתי, קנין, לידה או מעמד אחר. גדולה מזו, לא יופלה אדם על פי מעמדה המדיני, על פי סמכותה או על פי מעמדה הבינלאומי של המדינה או הארץ שאליה הוא שייך, דין שהארץ היא עצמאית, ובין שהיא נתונה לנאמנות, בין שהיא נטולת שלטון עצמי ובין שריבונותה מוגבלת כל הגבלה אחרת.</p> </div> <p class="instructions">Source: <a href="https://unicode.org/udhr/d/udhr_he.html" target="_blank">Unicode UDHR</a>, articles 1 & 2</p> </section> <section id="history"> <h2>Usage & history</h2> <div class="ancestry"> <p style="margin-block-end:1.5em;">Origins of the Hebrew script, BCE 3rdC – today.</p> <p>Phoenician</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:1em;">└ Aramaic</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:2em; font-weight: bold;">└ Hebrew</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Nabataean</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Syriac</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Palmyrene</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Edessan</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Hatran</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Elymaic</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Mandaic</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Pallavi</p> <p style="margin-inline-start:3em;">+ Kharosthi</p> </div> <p>The Hebrew script is widely used by the Jewish community and is used to write modern Hebrew in Israel. It is the script used for Jewish sacred texts. It is also used for a number of other languages, including Samaritan, Yiddish, and Judeo-Arabic.</p> <p><span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי</span> <span class="ipa">alefbet ivri</span> <span class="meaning">Hebrew alphabet</span></span></p> <p>Before the Jewish exile in Babylon, Hebrew was written using a Paleo-Hebrew script that resembles the Samaritan alphabet. The current script, known as 'square', or 'block' script, derives from Aramaic writing. It is generally referred to as the Ashuri (Assyrian) script, although there are a few alternate writing styles. It dates from the 5th century BCE.</p> <p class="instructions">More information: <a href="http://scriptsource.org/scr/Hebr">Scriptsource</a> and <a class="more" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet">Wikipedia</a>.</p> </section> <div id="features"> <table> <tbody id="featureTableBody"> </tbody> </table> <p class="ctlink"><a href="../featurelist/">See the comparison table</a></p> </div> <section id="type"> <h2>Basic features</h2> <p>Hebrew is essentially an <a class="termref" href="../glossary/index.html#abjad">abjad</a>. This means that in normal use the script represents consonants but not all vowels. This approach is helped by the strong emphasis on consonant patterns in Semitic languages. See the table to the right for a brief overview of features for the modern Hebrew orthography.</p> <p>Note that the focus of this page is on everyday use for contemporary Israeli Hebrew, including educational materials, but not including biblical texts, prayer books, and the like. The latter tend to include additional characters, such as cantillation marks.</p> <p>Hebrew text runs <a class="seclink" href="#direction">right-to-left</a> in horizontal lines, but numbers and embedded Latin text are read left-to-right.</p> <p>There is no case distinction. Words are separated by spaces.</p>  <p class="addToConsonants">The Modern Israeli Hebrew alphabet uses <a class="seclink" href="#basicC">22 letters</a><mark></mark>, plus <a class="seclink" href="#finals">5 word-final letters </a>that have their own code points. <a class="seclink" href="#extendedC">Additional sounds</a> can be represented using dagesh, shin/sin dots, or geresh.</p> <p><span class="dropFromSection">❯ <a class="secref" title="Read more.">basicV</a></span></p> <p class="addToVowels">Hebrew has <a class="seclink" href="#combiningV">11 vowel diacritics</a> in regular use to express vowel sounds (called <span class="name">niqqud</span> or points), but rarely uses them in normal text. Hebrew readers are usually able to understand the pronunciation from the context and the regular structure of Hebrew words. These and other phonetic diacritics are written, however, where needed to clarify ambiguities or for educational purposes.</p> <p class="addToVowels">Vowel locations can be marked by <a class="seclink" href="#matres">4 matres lectionis</a> (consonants indicating vowel locations).</p> <p class="addToVowels">A <a class="seclink" href="#spelling">spelling innovation</a> introduced by modern Hebrew uses matres lectionis to spell certain short vowels that would not have been marked in older texts. Although the hiding of short vowel <span class="name">niqqud</span> would generally qualify Hebrew as an <a class="termref" href="../glossary/index.html#abjad">abjad</a>, this 'full spelling' approach makes it partially alphabetic.</p> <p class="addToVowels">In vowelled text, there is a diacritic to indicate the <a class="seclink" href="#novowel">absence of a vowel</a> in consonant clusters.</p> <p>Modern Hebrew uses both <a class="seclink" href="#numbers">European digits</a>, and <a class="seclink" href="#phrase">ASCII punctuation</a> marks.</p> </section> <section id="index"> <h2>Character index</h2> <div id="index_intro"></div> <section id="index_letters"> <h3>Letters</h3> <details> <summary class="instructions">Show</summary> <section id="index_letters_consonants"> <h4>Consonants</h4> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="" data-links="">א␣ע␣ט␣ת␣ד␣ק␣ג␣צ␣פ␣ב␣ו␣ש␣ס␣ז␣ח␣כ␣ר␣ה␣מ␣נ␣ל␣י␣ץ␣ף␣ך␣ם␣ן</figure> </section> </details> </section> <section id="index_cchars"> <h3>Combining marks</h3> <details> <summary class="instructions">Show</summary> <section id="index_cchars_vowels"> <h4>Vowels</h4> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="">ִ␣ֻ␣ֵ␣ֶ␣ֱ␣ֹ␣ֳ␣ְ␣ָ␣ַ␣ֲ␣ׇ␣ֺ</figure> </section> <section id="index_cchars_other"> <h4>Other</h4> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="" data-links="">ּ␣ׁ␣ׂ</figure> </section> </details> </section> <section id="index_punctuation"> <h3>Punctuation</h3> <details> <summary class="instructions">Show</summary> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="" data-links="">־␣״␣׳␣’␣”␣„</figure> <section id="index_punctuation_ascii"> <h4>ASCII</h4> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="" data-links="">(␣)␣,␣-␣.␣:␣;␣?␣!␣%␣/</figure> </section> </details> </section> <section id="index_symbols"> <h3>Symbols</h3> <details> <summary class="instructions">Show</summary> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-links="" data-cols="">₪</figure> </details> </section> <section id="index_other"> <h3>Other</h3> <details> <summary class="instructions">Show</summary> <figure class="characterBox noindex indexline" data-cols="" data-notes="<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/2067.png' alt='RLI' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/202B.png' alt='RLE' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/2066.png' alt='LRI' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/202A.png' alt='LRE' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/2068.png' alt='FSI' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/2069.png' alt='PDI' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/202C.png' alt='PDF' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/200F.png' alt='RLM' style='vertical-align:middle'>,<img src='../../c/General_Punctuation/200E.png' alt='LRM' style='vertical-align:middle'>" data-links="">⁧␣‫␣⁦␣‪␣⁨␣⁩␣‬␣‏␣‎</figure> <section id="index_other_tbc"> <h4>To be investigated</h4> <figure class="tbcBox noindex indexline" data-cols="">[␣]␣{␣}␣§␣ʼ␣͏␣‑␣–␣—␣‘␣“␣†␣‡␣…␣‰␣′␣″␣⁠</figure> </section> </details> </section> </section> <div id="showTranscriptions"> <details> <summary>Items to show in lists</summary> <div><label>Codepoint <input type="checkbox" onChange="toggleTranscription('listUnum', this.checked)" checked/></label></div> <div><label>IPA <input type="checkbox" onChange="toggleTranscription('listIPA', this.checked)" checked/></label></div> <div><label>Israeli Academy <input type="checkbox" onChange="toggleTranscription('listTransc', this.checked)"/></label></div> <div> <label>Transliteration <input type="checkbox" onChange="toggleTranscription('listTrans', this.checked)" /></label></div> </details> </div> <section id="phonology"> <h2>Phonology</h2> <p>These are phonemes of Israeli Hebrew.</p> <p class="instructions">Click on the sounds to reveal locations in this document where they are mentioned.</p> <p class="instructions">Phones in a lighter colour are non-native or allophones. Source <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew_phonology">Wikipedia</a>.</p> <section id="phonology_notes"> <h3>Notes on phonology</h3> <p>Modern Israeli Hebrew was born from speakers who brought their own accents and pronunciations from different parts of the world. There are still variations in pronunciation, but two main types predominate today: Oriental and Occidental. Oriental Hebrew was chosen as the preferred accent for Israel by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, but has since declined in popularity. Age is often a factor in individual pronunciation.<tt class="more">wp</tt></p> <p>In particular, there are alternative pronunciations for <span class="ipa">x</span>~<span class="ipa">ħ</span>, <span class="ipa">ʁ</span>~<span class="ipa">r</span>, <span class="ipa">ʔ</span>~<span class="ipa">ʕ</span>. In this document we use the left-hand side of each of these pairings.</p> <p>Younger speakers also tend to make all consonants in a cluster voiced or unvoiced, depending on the last consonant, eg. <span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">לִסְגֹּר</span> <span class="trans">lisᵊgoˑʁ</span> <span class="ipa">lis'ɡoʁ</span> <span class="meaning">to close</span></span> becomes <span class="ipa">liz'ɡoʁ</span>, and <span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">אַבְטָחָה</span> <span class="trans">ʔavᵊtāxāh</span> <span class="ipa">avta'xa</span> <span class="meaning">security</span></span> becomes <span class="ipa">afta'xa</span>.</p> <p class="instructions">For more details, see: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew_phonology#Oriental_and_non-Oriental_accents">Wikipedia</a>.</p> </section> <section id="phonemesV"> <h3>Vowel sounds</h3> <section id="plain_vowels"> <h4>Plain vowels</h4> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="-50 -20 500 240" class="ipaSVG"> <defs> <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solid"> <feflood flood-color="white"/> <fecomposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="xor"/> </filter> </defs> <use xlink:href="#arrowRight" x="155" y="25"></use> <line x1="40" y1="10" x2="240" y2="10" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="240" y1="10" x2="240" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="115" y1="190" x2="240" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="40" y1="10" x2="115" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="65" y1="70" x2="240" y2="70" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="90" y1="130" x2="240" y2="130" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="140" y1="10" x2="177" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" />  <circle cx="40" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="140" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="65" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="152.5" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="90" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="165" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="115" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="177" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <text x="32" y="15" class="ipa" text-anchor="end">i</text> <text x="250" y="15" class="ipa">u</text>  <text x="57" y="75" class="ipa" text-anchor="end">e</text> <text x="250" y="75" class="ipa">o</text>  <text x="158" y="105" class="allophone" text-anchor="middle" filter="url(#solid)">ə</text> <text x="158" y="105" class="allophone" text-anchor="middle">ə</text>  <text x="106" y="195" class="ipa" text-anchor="end">a</text> </svg> </section> <section id="diphthongs"> <h4>Diphthongs</h4> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="-50 -20 500 240" class="ipaSVG"> <defs> <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solidd"> <feflood flood-color="white"/> <fecomposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="xor"/> </filter> </defs> <use xlink:href="#arrowRight" x="155" y="25"></use> <line x1="40" y1="10" x2="240" y2="10" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="240" y1="10" x2="240" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="115" y1="190" x2="240" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="40" y1="10" x2="115" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="65" y1="70" x2="240" y2="70" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="90" y1="130" x2="240" y2="130" stroke="#ccc" /> <line x1="140" y1="10" x2="177" y2="190" stroke="#ccc" />  <circle cx="40" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="140" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="10" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="65" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="152.5" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="70" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="90" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="165" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="130" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <circle cx="115" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="177" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/> <circle cx="240" cy="190" r="3" fill="#ccc"/>  <text x="57" y="75" class="ipa" text-anchor="end">ej</text>  <text x="106" y="195" class="ipa" text-anchor="end">aj</text> </svg> </section> <p>See also the <a class="secref">phonology_notes</a>.</p> </section> <section id="phonemesC"> <h3>Consonant sounds</h3> <table class="ipaTable"> <thead> <tr> <th></th> <th>labial </th> <th>alveolar </th> <th>post-<br> alveolar</th> <th>palatal </th> <th>velar </th> <th>uvular</th> <th>glottal </th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <th>stop</th> <td><span class="ipa">p</span> <span class="ipa">b</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">t</span> <span class="ipa">d</span></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="ipa">k</span> <span class="ipa">ɡ</span></td> <td> </td> <td><span class="ipa">ʔ</span></td> </tr> <tr> <th>affricate</th> <td> </td> <td><span class="ipa">t͡s</span></td> <td><span class="allophone">t͡ʃ</span> <span class="allophone">d͡ʒ</span></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th>fricative </th> <td><span class="ipa">f</span> <span class="ipa">v</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">s</span> <span class="ipa">z</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">ʃ</span> <span class="allophone">ʒ</span><br/></td> <td> </td> <td><span class="ipa">x</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">ʁ</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">h</span></td> </tr> <tr> <th>nasal</th> <td><span class="ipa">m</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">n</span></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th>approximant</th> <td><span class="allophone">w</span></td> <td><span class="ipa">l</span></td> <td> </td> <td><span class="ipa">j</span></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th>trill/flap</th> <td> </td> <td><span class="allophone">r</span> <span class="allophone">ɾ</span></td> <td> </td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th></th> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_labial.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_labial.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_alveolar.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_alveolar.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_postalveolar.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_postavleolar.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_palatal.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_palatal.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_velar.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_velar.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_uvular.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_uvular.png" alt=" "/></a></td> <td class="mouth"><a href="../common29/mouth/mouth_glottal.png" target="_blank"><img src="../common29/mouth/mouth_small_glottal.png" alt=" "/></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span class="ipa">x</span> is sometimes described as <span class="ipa">χ</span>, and <span class="ipa"><span class="ipa">ʁ</span></span> as <span class="ipa">r</span>. For more variants see <a class="secref">phonology_notes</a>.</p> <p>Final <span class="ipa">-h</span> is rarely pronounced in modern Hebrew.<tt>wp,#Loss_of_final_H_consonant</tt></p> </section> <section id="tone"> <h3>Tone</h3> <p>Hebrew is not a tonal language.</p> </section> <section id="structure"> <h3>Structure</h3> <p>tbd</p> </section> </section> <section id="vowels"> <h2>Vowels</h2> <p> <span id="prebase"></span> <span id="circumgraphs"></span> <span id="compositeV"></span> <span id="nasalisation"></span> <span id="tones"></span> </p> <aside class="sectionAside"> <p>This orthography has no special features with respect to the following.</p> <ul> <li><a class="termref" target="_blank" href="../glossary/index.html#prebase">Pre-base vowels</a> or <a class="termref" target="_blank" href="../glossary/index.html#circumgraph">circumgraphs</a>, or <a class="termref" target="_blank" href="../glossary/index.html#compositevowel">multipart vowels</a>.</li> <li>Nasalisation (not a feature of the language).</li> <li>Tones (not a tonal language).</li> </ul> </aside> <div id="vowel_description"></div>  <section id="spelling"> <h3>Hebrew spelling</h3> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_spelling">Wikipedia</a> describes 3 main types of spelling found in contemporary Israeli text.</p> <p><span class="charExample inline" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">כתיב חסר</span></span> <span class="name">Ktiv haser</span> (missing spelling) uses no <span class="name">niqqud</span> or additional matres lectionis. It looks anachronistic and can be ambiguous but can still be found sometimes in newspapers and published books.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אמץ</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אויר</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">חלקה</span></p> <p><span class="charExample inline" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">כתיב מנוקד</span></span> <span class="name">Ktiv menuqad</span> (pointed spelling), rarely used in everyday life because it is too cumbersome, shows all the vowels using the <span class="name">niqqud</span> points. It is used wherever the pronunciation needs to be clear and unambiguous, such as in children's books, poetry, language instruction for newcomers, or ambiguous or foreign terms.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אֹמֶץ</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אֲוִיר</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">חֲלֻקָּה</span></p> <p><span class="charExample inline" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">כתיב מלא</span></span> <span class="name">Ktiv male</span> (full spelling) or <span class="name">ktiv hasar niqqud</span> is the predominant approach, including in personal correspondence, movies subtitles, etc. It adds matres lectionis to words where certain <span class="name">niqqud</span> points would occur in the pointed spelling approach. To avoid confusion, consonantal <span class="ch">ו</span> <span class="ipa">v</span> and <span class="ch">י</span> <span class="ipa">j</span> are doubled in the middle of words.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אומץ</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אוויר</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">חלוקה</span></p> </section> <section id="basicV"> <h3>More vowel details</h3> <p>Hebrew is normally unvocalised (ie. the vowel diacritics are hidden). In this case, vowels are written using a small number of matres lectionis (consonants marking vowel locations), and some vowels are not marked at all. <a class="figref">fig_novowel_grid</a> shows ways of writing Hebrew vowels in unvocalised text. For each letter there are 3 lines, indicating initial, medial, and final forms. In 3 places no vowel is marked at all.</p> <style>.vowel_grid b { color: #ccc; font-weight: normal; }</style> <figure id="fig_novowel_grid"> <table class="vowel_grid" style="margin: auto;"> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">i</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">אי<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">ע<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>י<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b><b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>י</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>יא</span> </td> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">u</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">או<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">ו<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עו<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ו<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ו</span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">e</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">א<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">ע<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b><b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ה</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>א</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>י</span> </td> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">o</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">או<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עו<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ו<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ו</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ה</span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">a</span></td> <td colspan="3" dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">א<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">ע<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b><b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>א<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ה</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>ע</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>א</span> </td> </tr> </table> <figcaption>Vowels in unvocalised Hebrew text.</figcaption> </figure> <p>In vocalised text Hebrew uses a mixture of matres lectionis and combining diacritics to represent vowels. <a class="figref">fig_vowel_grid</a> shows ways of writing Hebrew vowels in vocalised text.</p> <figure id="fig_vowel_grid">  <table class="vowel_grid" style="margin: auto;"> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">i</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <a><span class="ex" lang="he">אִ<b>-</b></span></a> <a><span class="ex" lang="he">אִי<b>-</b></span></a> <a><span class="ex" lang="he">עִ<b>-</b></span></a> <br> <a><span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ִי<b>-</b></span></a> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ִ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ִי</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ִיא</span> </td> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">u</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">אוּ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">וּ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עוּ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>וּ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>וּ</span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">e</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">אֵ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">אֶ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">אֱ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עֵ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֵ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֶ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ְ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֶה</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֶא</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֵא</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֵי</span> </td> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">o</span></td> <td dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">אוֹ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">אֳ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עוֹ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>וֹ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֹ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֳ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>וֹ</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֹה</span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td dir="rtl"><span class="ipa">a</span></td> <td colspan="3" dir="rtl"> <span class="ex" lang="he">אַ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">אֲ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">אָ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עַ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עֲ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he">עָ<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ַ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ָ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ֲ<b>-</b></span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ָא<b>-</b></span> <br> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ָה</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ַע</span> <span class="ex" lang="he"><b>-</b>◌ַא</span> </td> </tr> </table> <figcaption>Vowels in vocalised Hebrew text.</figcaption> </figure> <p>This is the full set of characters needed to represent the vowels of the Hebrew language.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">א␣ה␣ו␣י␣ע</figure> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">ִ␣ֻ␣ֵ␣ֶ␣ֱ␣ֹ␣ֳ␣ְ␣ָ␣ַ␣ֲ␣ׇ␣ֺ</figure> </section> <script> gridItems = document.getElementById('fig_vowel_grid').querySelectorAll('a') for (i=0;i<gridItems.length;i++) gridItems[i].onclick = showCharDetailsInPanel </script> <section id="vletter"> <h3>Vowel basics</h3> <div id="otherV"></div> <section id="matres"> <h4>Matres lectionis</h4> <p id="def-materlectionis" class="explanatoryintro definitionStub"></p> <p>The following consonant letters may indicate the location of a vowel in full spelling text. (They may alternatively indicate the location of a consonant.) In pointed text, when used as matres lectionis, they appear after the <span class="name">niqqud</span> point that indicates the vowel sound.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="trans,transc" data-ipa="∅ a e,∅ a e,u o,i">א␣ה␣ו␣י</figure> <p class="instructions">Click on the characters in the list above for detailed information; here we will just summarise a few key points.</p> <p>There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as <q>full spelling</q>.<tt>ws</tt> For example, compare the pointed vs full spellings of the following:</p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">אישה</span></p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">אלוה</span></p> <p>Since modern Israeli Hebrew doesn't make vowel length distinctive, the use of matres lectionis doesn't correspond to clear distinctions between vowel length or quality in the way they do in Arabic. They may, however, reflect historical differences that are still maintained in the spelling.</p> <p><span class="ch">א</span> is most commonly found as a glottal stop or vowel carrier for standalone vowels (see <a class="secref">standalone</a>), whereas <span class="ch">ה</span> is most likely to be found in word-final position (especially after a word that ends with <span class="ipa">a</span>).</p> </section> <section id="ayin"> <h4>Ayin</h4> <p><span class="hx">05E2</span> often appears where a vowel would be pronounced, or as a vowel carrier in vocalised text. It is not a mater lectionis, and nominally represents a glottal stop, although the stop is often not pronounced.</p> </section> <section id="combiningV"> <h4>Niqqud points</h4> <p>A series of points, known as <span class="name">niqqud</span>, can be used to give precision about vowel sounds. They are rarely used outside of educational, children's, and religious texts, or for foreign or ambiguous words.</p> <figure id="fig_niqqud" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/niqqud.png" alt="אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי" data-notes="72px Noto Serif Hebrew" class="ex" lang="he"> <div> <figcaption>'Hebrew alphabet', <span class="ipa">alef-bet ivri</span>, spelled out using diacritic points.</figcaption> </div> </figure> <details class="figureSub"><summary>show composition</summary><p><span class="eg" lang="he">אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי</span></p></details> <p>The Modern Israeli Hebrew orthography we are discussing here uses the following <span class="name">niqqud</span> to represent vowel sounds.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans">ִ␣ֻ␣ֵ␣ֶ␣ֱ␣ֹ␣ֳ␣ְ␣ָ␣ַ␣ֲ</figure> <p>Redundancy arises because the modern orthography retains alternative points that in the past expressed length differences, whereas modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation ignores phonetic length.</p> <p class="info">Three of the above code points have glyphs that combine the glyph for <span class="hx img">05B0</span> (<span class="name">sh'va</span>) with that of another point. These combinations were used in older Hebrew to indicate particularly short vowel lengths, and the spelling has been retained in modern Hebrew. The Unicode Standard recommends that you use a single, precomposed Unicode code point for each of these combinations. These precomposed characters don't decompose during normalisation.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans">ׇ␣ֺ</figure> <p>The two code points just above may be used, mostly in biblical texts or prayer books, to preserve fine typographic differences in usage. <span class="instructions">For more information, click on the characters.</span></p> </section> <section id="vlength"> <h4>Vowel length</h4> <p>Hebrew spelling points back to a time when there were different ways of writing long vowels, short vowels, and very short vowels. However, these vowel length differences have fallen away in modern Israeli Hebrew, and length, where it varies, is determined by phonetic context.</p> <p>That said, echoes of historically long vowels can be found in the use of certain matres lectionis, particularly in pointed text.</p> </section> </section> <section id="standalone"> <h3>Standalone vowels</h3> <p id="def-standalonevowel" class="explanatoryintro definitionStub"></p> <p>In theory, Hebrew doesn't have any true standalone vowels, since vowels are always preceded by a consonant. However, when that consonant is a glottal stop, the stop is often dropped and in <em>spoken</em> Hebrew a vowel then occurs at the beginning of a word or word-medially after another vowel.</p> <p>These vowels are always <em>written</em> with a base consonant, which is usually one of <span class="hx">05D0</span> or <span class="hx">05E2</span>. The alef is by far the most common when word initial.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אֵזוֹר</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אוֹתְיוֹם</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">עֵץ</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">עוֹלָם</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">בעיה</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">גַּבְרִיאֵל</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he"></span></p> </section> <section id="novowel"> <h3>Vowel absence</h3>  <p>In pointed text, <span class="hx img">05B0</span> may be used to express an absence of vowel between two consonants. However, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shva#Pronunciation_in_modern_Hebrew">in various contexts</a> the <span class="name">sh'va</span> may indicate that the consonant is followed by a short, epenthetic vowel <span class="ipa">e</span>.</p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">אגרוף</span></p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">בהמות</span></p> <p>A word-final consonant typically doesn't take a diacritic. (See <a class="secref">finals</a>.)</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אַנְגְּלִית</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">בָּחוּר</span></p> </section> <section id="vowel_mappings"> <h3>Vowel sounds to characters</h3> <p class="instructions">This section maps Hebrew vowel sounds to common graphemes in the Hebrew orthography, as found in the accompanying terms list. Click on a grapheme to find other mentions on this page (links appear at the bottom of the page). Click on the character name to see examples and for detailed descriptions of the character(s) shown.</p> <p class="instructions"><strong>Graphemes in full spelling are shown to the left, and pointed spelling is shown on the right.</strong> Note that sometimes these may differ more than just by addition of niqqud.</p> <p class="instructions"><strong>'Initial' means a vowel that follows an optional glottal stop, either word-initially or within a word.</strong></p> <style> .mapItem .full { margin-inline-end: 2rem; } .mapItem .ipa { hyphens: none; } .mapItem { text-align: start; } .mapItem div.full, .mapItem div.point { flex: 1; } </style> <section id="plain_vowel_map"> <h4>Plain vowels</h4> <div id="mapv_high" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">i</span></div> <div class="posn">initial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">אי</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אישה</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">איראן</span>.</p> <p><span class="ch">ע</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עברית</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">אִ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אִשָּׁה</span>.</p> <p><span class="ch">אִי</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אִירָאן</span>.</p> <p><span class="ch">עִ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עִבְרִית</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">medial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">נין</span></p> <p><strong>No marker.</strong><br><span class="eg" lang="he">מסעדה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05B4 05D9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">נִין</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05B4</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">מִסְעָדָה</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">final</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">י</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">פרי</span></p> <p><span class="ch">יא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">הביא</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05B4 05D9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">פְּרִי</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ִיא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">הֵבִיא</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">u</span></div> <div class="posn">initial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">או</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אולי</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">ובכן</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עוגייה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">אוּ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אוּלַי</span></p> <p><span class="ch">וּ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">וּבְכֵן</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עוּ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עוּגִיָּה</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">medial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אבולוציה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">וּ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֶבוֹלוּצְיָה</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">final</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">הודו</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">וּ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">הֹדּוּ</span></p> </div> </div> </div>  <div id="mapv_hmid" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">e</span></div> <div class="posn">initial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">א</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אזור</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אפשר</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אלוה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ע</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עץ</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">אֵ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֵזוֹר</span></p> <p><span class="ch">אֶ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֶפְשַׁר</span></p> <p><span class="ch">אֱ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֱלֹהַּ</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עֵ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עֵץ</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">medial</div> <div class="full"> <p><strong>No marker.</strong><br><span class="eg" lang="he">בן</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">ברז</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">בהמות</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">ֵ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">בֵּן</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֶ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">בֶּרֶז</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ְ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">בְּהֵמוֹת</span>, but only in certain circumstances. For details of usage in modern Israeli, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shva#Pronunciation_in_Modern_Hebrew">Wikipedia</a>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">final</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אופה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">א</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">דשא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">ייבא</span></p> <p><span class="ch">י</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אחרי</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">ֶה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אוֹפֶה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֶא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">דֶּשֶׁא</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֵא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">יִבֵּא</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֵי</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַחֲרֵי</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">o</span></div> <div class="posn">initial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">או</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אופה</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אורנים</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עוֹלָם</span> </p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">אוֹ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אוֹפֶה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">אֳ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֳרָנִים</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עוֹ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עוֹלָם</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">medial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ו</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אותיום</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אדום</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">ציפורים</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">וֹ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אוֹתְיוֹם</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֹ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אָדֹם</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֳ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">צִפֳּרִים</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">final</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ו</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">יריחו</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">איפה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">וֹ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">יְרִיחוֹ</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֹה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֵיפֹה</span></p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mapv_mid_low" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ə</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div> <p>Any of the five short vowels may be realized as a schwa when far from lexical stress.<tt>wp,#Vowels</tt></p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mapv_low" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">a</span></div> <div class="posn">initial</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">א</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אברהם</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אגם</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אמר</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ע</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עקרב</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עבודה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עש</span> </p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">אַ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַבְרָהָם</span></p> <p><span class="ch">אֲ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֲגַם</span></p> <p><span class="ch">אָ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אָמַר</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עַ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עַקְרָב</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עֲ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עֲבוֹדָה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">עָ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">עָשׁ</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">medial</div> <div class="full"> <p><strong>No marker.</strong><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אחת</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אזהרה</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">אהבה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">א</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he">איראן</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">ַ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַחַת</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ָ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַזְהָרָה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ֲ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַהֲבָה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ָא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אִירָאן</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"> </div> <div class="posn">final</div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">ה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אדמה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ע</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">ארבע</span></p> <p><span class="ch">א</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אבא</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="ch">ָה</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אֲדָמָה</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ַע</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַרְבַּע</span></p> <p><span class="ch">ַא</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he">אַבָּא</span></p> </div> </div> </div>  </section> <section id="diphthong_map"> <h4>Diphthongs</h4> <div id="map_hmiddiphthongs" class="map"> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ij</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05B4 05D9 05B0</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ju</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05D9 05D5 05BC</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ui</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05D5 05BC 05D9</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ei</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05B6 05D9</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05B5</span> </p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">oi</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05D5 05B9 05D9</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ai</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05B7 05D9</span>, eg. <span class="eg short" lang="he">לילה</span> — <span class="eg" lang="he">לַיְלָה</span>.</p> <p><span class="hx">05B8 05D9</span>, eg. <span class="eg short" lang="he">ראיון</span> — <span class="eg" lang="he">רֵאָיוֹן</span>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ao</span></div> <div class="posn"></div> <div> <p><span class="hx">05D0 05D5</span></p> </div> </div> </div> </section> </section> </section> <section id="consonants"> <h2>Consonants</h2> <p> </p> <aside class="sectionAside"> <p>This orthography has no special features with respect to the following.</p> <ul> <li>Repertoire extensions to cover loan words, etc.</li> <li>Onset clusters.</li> <li>Conjuncts or other shaping related to consonant clusters.</li> <li>Gemination or consonant lengthening.</li> </ul> </aside> <div id="consonant_description"></div>  <section id="basicC"> <h3>Basic consonants</h3> <p>These are the basic consonant letters used in modern Hebrew.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">א␣ע␣ ␣ט␣ת␣ד␣ק␣ג␣ ␣צ␣ ␣פ␣ב␣ו␣ש␣ס␣ז␣ח␣כ␣ר␣ה␣ ␣מ␣נ␣ ␣ל␣י</figure> <section id="matres_section"> <h4>Matres lectionis</h4> <p>Three of the letters can also represent vowel locations. See <a class="secref">matres</a>.</p> </section> </section> <section id="extendedC"> <h3>Repertoire extensions</h3> <p>Methods used to modify the sound of a consonant. See also <a class="secref">cantillation</a>.</p> <section id="dagesh"> <h4>Dagesh</h4> <p><span class="hx img">05BC</span> is used in pointed text with 3 consonant letters (and one final form) to indicate that they map to 'hard' sounds. This is similar to the distinction made in Syriac. Dagesh is the only diacritic to appear inside a consonant. Below, the hard sounds are shown to the left, and the normal to the right.</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="" data-ipa="p,b,k,k,,f,v,x,x">פּ␣בּ␣כּ␣ךּ␣ ␣פ␣ב␣כ␣ך</figure> <p>Dagesh can also be found alongside other letters, without any sound change, due to preservation of archaic spelling. The pairs <span class="ipa">t</span>–<span class="ipa">θ</span>, <span class="ipa">d</span>–<span class="ipa">ð</span> and <span class="ipa">ɡ</span>–<span class="ipa">ɣ</span> were lost over time, leaving:</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">תּ␣דּ␣גּ</figure> <p>See also <a class="secref">clength</a>.</p> </section> <section id="shin_sin"> <h4>Shin & sin dots</h4> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">שׁ␣שׂ</figure> <p><span class="hx">05E9</span> represents two phonemes: <span class="ipa">ʃ</span> and <span class="ipa">s</span>. If it is necessary to indicate which is intended, one of two diacritics (used only with this character) are used: <span class="hx img">05C2</span> and <span class="hx img">05C1</span>. They look identical, but the side to which they are positioned makes the difference.</p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">שקל</span></p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">משוש</span></p> </section> <section id="geresh"> <h4>Geresh</h4> <p>Certain consonants are extended to represent non-native sounds by use of a following <span class="hx">05F3</span>.</p> <p>This first set is used in loanwords and slang that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary.<tt>ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh</tt></p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">ג׳␣ז׳␣צ׳␣ו׳␣וו</figure> <p>The graphemes <span class="ex" lang="he">ו׳</span> and <span class="ex" lang="he">וו</span> are alternative ways of writing the same thing.</p> <p>A second set is only used to transliterate foreign sounds, especially Arabic.<tt>ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh</tt></p> <figure class="auxiliaryBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">ד׳␣ת׳␣ח׳␣ר׳␣ע׳</figure> </section> </section> <section id="onsets"> <h3>Onsets</h3> <p>Consonant clusters in syllable onsets are simply written using a sequence of consonant letters in full spelling text, and apply <span class="hx">05B0</span> in pointed text.</p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">ברכה</span></p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">גבול</span></p> </section> <section id="finals"> <h3>Finals</h3> <p>Five letters have special word-final forms, called <span class="name">sofit</span>. They are encoded as separate code points in Unicode, and appear as separate keys on a keyboard, so no special processing is needed to display or store them (unlike Arabic).</p> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="ipa,trans,transc">ץ␣ף␣ך␣ם␣ן</figure> <p>Foreign words and names may sometimes use the normal forms at the end of a word, rather than the <span class="name">sofit</span> form. In those cases, use the non-final code points.</p> <p>Consonants that are not followed by a vowel are normally written with <span class="hx">05B0</span> in pointed text, but not when they are word-final.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">בִּגְלַל</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אֶגְזוֹז</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">אָקוֹרְד</span></p> <p class="observation"><span class="leadin">Observation:</span> One exception appears to be <span class="ch">ךְ</span>.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">בֶּרֶךְ</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">רַךְ</span></p> </section> <section id="clusters"> <h3>Consonant clusters</h3> <p>As with onsets, consonant clusters are simply written using a sequence of consonant letters in full spelling text, and are marked by <span class="hx">05B0</span> in pointed text. The offglide of a diphthong is written in the same way.</p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">גמבה</span></p> <p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">בייגל</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he"></span></p> </section> <section id="clength"> <h3>Consonant length</h3> <p>From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagesh#Dagesh_hazaq">Wikipedia</a>: <q>gemination is not adhered to in modern Hebrew and is only used in careful pronunciation, such as reading of scriptures in a synagogue service, recitations of biblical or traditional texts or on ceremonious occasions, and then only by very precise readers.</q></p> <p class="btw">In pre-Modern Hebrew, gemination was indicated using <span class="hx">05BC</span>.</p>  </section> <section id="consonant_mappings"> <h3>Consonant sounds to characters</h3> <p class="instructions">This section maps Hebrew consonant sounds to common graphemes in the Hebrew orthography. Click on a grapheme to find other mentions on this page (links appear at the bottom of the page). Click on the character name to see examples and for detailed descriptions of the character(s) shown.</p> <p class="instructions">Sounds listed as 'infrequent' are allophones, or sounds used for foreign words, etc.</p> <p class="instructions"><strong>Graphemes in full spelling are shown to the left, while pointed spelling and word-final forms are shown on the right.</strong></p> <section id="stops"> <h4>Stops</h4> <div id="map_plosives" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">p</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E4</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">פונדק</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05E4 05BC</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">פּוּנְדָק</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">b</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D1</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">בן</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05D1 05BC</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">בֵּן</span>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">t</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D8</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">קט</span>.</p> <p><span class="hx">05EA</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">תות</span>.</p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05EA 05BC</span>. Archaic spelling, still found sometimes in pointed text.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">תּוּת</span>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">d</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D3</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">דוד</span>.</p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05D3 05BC</span>. Archaic spelling, still found sometimes in pointed text.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">דּוּד</span>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">k</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E7</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">קול</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05DB</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">הכה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05DB 05BC</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">הִכָּה</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05DA 05BC</span> Rare, final form.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ממּךּ</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ɡ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D2</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">גג</span></p> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="ch">גּ</span> Archaic spelling, still sometimes used in pointed text.<br> <span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">גַּג</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ʔ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E2</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">מועיל</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D0</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">שאל</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="afficates"> <h4>Affricates</h4> <div id="map_affricates" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">t͡s</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E6</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ציץ</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05E5</span> Word-final.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ציץ</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">t͡ʃ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E6 05F3</span> Used in loanwords and slang.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ריצ׳רץ׳</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05E5 05F3</span> Word-final.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ריצ׳רץ׳</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">d͡ʒ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D2 05F3</span> Used in loanwords and slang.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ג׳וק</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="fricatives"> <h4>Fricatives</h4> <div id="map_fricatives" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">f</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E4</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">פיספס</span></p> </div><div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05E3</span> Word-final.<br><span class="eg" lang="he">כנף</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">v</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D1</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">טוב</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D5</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">וו</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D5 05D5</span> when word-medial in full spelling.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">צוואר</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">θ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p>Foreign sound.</p> <p><span class="hx">05EA 05F3</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ת׳רסטון</span>.</p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ð</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p>Foreign sound.</p> <p><span class="hx">05D3 05F3</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ד׳ו אל-חיג׳ה</span>.</p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">s</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E1</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">סוף</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05E9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">משוש</span></p> </div><div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E9 05C2</span> Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from <span class="ipa">ʃ</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">שָׂם</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">z</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D6</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">זה</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ʃ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">שקל</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05E9 05C1</span> Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from <span class="ipa">s</span>.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">שֶׁקֶל</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ʒ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D6 05F3</span> Used in loan words & slang.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ז׳רגון</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">χ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05DB</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">סכך</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D7</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">חם</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D7 05F3</span> Used to indicate that this sound should be used rather than <span class="ipa">h</span> in non-Hebrew (esp. Arabic) text.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">שייח׳</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05DA</span> Word final.</p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ʁ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E8</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">עיר</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05E8 05F3</span> Explicitly indicates the sound for Arabic transliteration.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ר׳ג׳ר</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">h</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D4</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">הד</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="nasals"> <h4>Nasals</h4> <div id="map_nasals" class="map"> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">m</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05DE</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">מום</span></p> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05DD</span> Word-final.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">מום</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">n</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E0</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">נין</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05DF</span> Word-final.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">נין</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">ŋɡ</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05E0 05D2</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">אנגלית</span></p> </div> <div class="point"></div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="sonorants"> <h4>Other</h4> <div id="map_liquids" class="map"> <div class="mapItem uncommon"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">w</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D5 05D5</span> Non-standard orthography.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">אוטווה</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D5 05F3</span> Non-standard orthography (not common).<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ו׳יליאם</span></p> </div> <div class="point"> <p><span class="hx">05D5</span> In pointed text.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">אוֹטָוָה</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">r</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p>See <span class="ipa">ʁ</span>.</p> </div> <div class="point"></div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">l</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05DC</span><br> <span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">לשון</span></p> </div> <div class="point"></div> </div> <div class="mapItem"> <div class="phone"><span class="ipa">j</span></div> <div class="posn"> </div> <div class="full"> <p><span class="hx">05D9</span><br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ים</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05D9 05D9</span> when word-medial in full spelling.<br><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">איים</span></p> </div> <div class="point"></div> </div> </div> </section> </section> </section>  <section id="otherfeatures"> <h2>Other features</h2> <section id="cantillation"> <h3>Cantillation & other marks</h3> <div class="btw"> <p>In Biblical and older Hebrew texts, many additional diacritics are attached to the base character alongside the <span class="name">niqqud</span>. Nearly all of the following additional marks in the Hebrew Unicode block are cantillation marks, used to indicate how to chant ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services.</p> <figure class="otherBox auto noindex" data-cols="">֑␣֒␣֓␣֔␣֕␣֖␣֗␣֘␣֙␣֚␣֛␣֜␣֝␣֞␣֟␣֠␣֡␣֢␣֣␣֤␣֥␣֦␣֧␣֨␣֩␣֪␣֫␣֬␣֭␣֮␣֯␣ֽ␣ֿ␣ׄ␣ׅ</figure> </div> </section>  <section id="formatting"> <h3>Formatting characters</h3> <p>Hebrew text makes use of a set of invisible formatting characters, especially in plain text, most of which are used to manage text direction. Descriptions of these characters can be found in the following section:</p> <ul> <li><a class="secref">directioncontrols</a></li> </ul> </section> </section> <section id="encoding"> <h2>Encoding choices</h2> <p>This section is still in development.</p> <p>Contents should include:</p> <ul> <li>the 2 holam marks</li> <li>use of precomposed vs decomposed for shva compounds</li> <li>holam hazer should not be used with any other character than VAV</li> <li>don't use the Yiddish digraphs</li> <li></li> </ul> </section> <section id="numbers"> <h2>Numbers</h2> <p>Hebrew uses the same digits as the Latin script.</p> <p>For about a thousand years from the 2nd century BC, Hebrew used letters as numbers. Nowadays, they are only used this way for the Hebrew calendar, for school grades, for counter styles, and in religious contexts. See <a class="secref">cs_additive</a> in the section about counter styles for more information.</p> <section id="currency"> <h3>Currency</h3> <figure class="characterBox auto" data-cols="trans">₪</figure> <p>The denomination is generally expressed by the following abbreviation<tt>whp</tt>, which stands for <span class="eg inline" lang="he" dir="rtl">שקל חדש</span>:</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">ש״ח</span></p> <p><span class="hx">20AA</span> may also be used. It is displayed to the left of the amount, with no separation or with a thin space, eg.</p> <p><span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">₪12,000</span></span></p> <p class="observation"><span class="leadin">Observation:</span> Wikipedia says that this requires the sheqel sign to be typed after the amount, however, the opposite is the case for all major browsers.<tt>whp</tt></p> </section> </section> <section id="direction"> <h2>Text direction</h2> <p>Hebrew script is written right-to-left in the main, but as with most RTL scripts, numbers and embedded LTR script text are written left-to-right (producing <em>bidirectional</em> text). In the following example, the Hebrew words are read right-to-left, starting with the one on the right, and the numeric expression ("10-12") is read left-to-right, ie. it starts with 10 and ends with 12. (Note that this is unlike Arabic, where the 10 and 12 would be in opposite positions.)</p> <figure id="fig_bidi"> <p dir="rtl" lang="he" class="large"><span class="ex">התאריכים 10-12 במרץ</span></p> <figcaption>Bidirectional Hebrew text.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="info">Characters in Unicode text are typed and stored in 'logical' order, ie. the order in which they are pronounced. The Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm then steps in when text is printed or displayed to rearrange the text as needed. It automatically takes care of the ordering for all the text in <a class="figref">fig_bidi</a>, as long as the 'base direction' is set to RTL. In HTML this can be set using the <code>dir</code> attribute (which also sets the alignment of the text), or in plain text using <a href="#directioncontrols">formatting controls</a>.</p> <p>If the base direction is not set appropriately, the directional runs will be ordered incorrectly as shown in <a class="figref">fig_bidi_no_base_direction</a>, and can become unreadable.</p> <figure id="fig_bidi_no_base_direction"> <p dir="rtl" class="small" lang="he" style="white-space: nowrap;">ב־HMTL5 זה מתבצע על ידי הוספת אלמנט ה־inline bdo.</p> <p class="small" lang="he" style="white-space: nowrap;">ב־HMTL5 זה מתבצע על ידי הוספת אלמנט ה־inline bdo.</p> <figcaption class="instructions">The exact same sequence of characters with the base direction set to RTL (top), and with no base direction set on this LTR page (bottom).</figcaption> </figure> <p><a id="showBidiClass" target="_blank" href="tbd">Show default <code class="kw" translate="no">bidi_class</code> properties for characters in the Hebrew orthography described here.</a></p> <p>For more information about how directionality and base direction work, see <a href="https://www.w3.org/International/articles/inline-bidi-markup/uba-basics.en">Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm basics</a>. For information about plain text formatting characters see <a href="https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-bidi-unicode-controls.en">How to use Unicode controls for bidi text</a>. And for working with markup in HTML, see <a href="https://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/bidi-xhtml/">Creating HTML Pages in Arabic, Hebrew and Other Right-to-left Scripts</a>.</p> <p>On this page, see also <a class="secref">expressions</a> and <a class="secref">linebreak</a> for additional features related to direction.</p> <section id="directioncontrols"> <h3>Managing text direction</h3> <p>Unicode provides a set of 10 formatting characters that can be used to control the direction of text when displayed. These characters have no visual form in the rendered text, however text editing applications may have a way to show their location.</p> <p><span class="hx img">202B</span> (<span class="uname">RLE</span>), <span class="hx img">202A</span> (<span class="uname">LRE</span>), and <span class="hx img">202C</span> (<span class="uname">PDF</span>) are in widespread use to set the base direction for an inline range of characters. <span class="uname">RLE/LRE</span> come at the start, and <span class="uname">PDF</span> at the end of a range of characters for which the base direction is to be set.</p> <p class="info">More recently, the Unicode Standard added a set of characters which do the same thing but also isolate the content from surrounding characters, in order to avoid spillover effects. They are <span class="hx img">2067</span> (<span class="uname">RLI</span>), <span class="hx img">2066</span> (<span class="uname">LRI</span>), and <span class="hx img">2069</span> (<span class="uname">PDI</span>).<strong> The Unicode Standard recommends that these be used instead</strong>. </p> <p>There is also <span class="hx img">2068</span> (<span class="uname">FSI</span>), used initially to set the base direction according to the first recognised strongly-directional character.</p> <p><span class="hx img">200F</span> (<span class="uname">RLM</span>) and <span class="hx img">200E</span> (<span class="uname">LRM</span>) are invisible characters with strong directional properties that are also sometimes used to produce the correct ordering of text.</p> <p>For more information about how to use these formatting characters see <a href="https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-bidi-unicode-controls.en">How to use Unicode controls for bidi text</a>. Note, however, that when writing HTML you should generally use markup rather than these control codes. For information about that, see <a href="https://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/bidi-xhtml/">Creating HTML Pages in Arabic, Hebrew and Other Right-to-left Scripts</a>.</p> </section> <section id="expressions"> <h3>Expressions & sequences</h3> <p>A sequence of numbers, for example a range separated by hyphens, generally runs left to right in Hebrew (unlike Arabic).</p>  </section> </section> <section id="shaping"> <h2>Glyph shaping & positioning</h2> <p> <span id="cursive"></span> <span id="gsub"></span> <span id="gpos"></span> <span id="transforms"></span> </p> <aside class="sectionAside"> <p>The following features are not found in this orthography.</p> <ul> <li>Cursive joining (ie. joined up like Arabic).</li> <li>Context-based shaping (letters do not interact).</li> <li>Case distinction, or special transforms to convert between characters.</li> </ul> </aside> <p class="instructions">You can experiment with examples using the <a href="../../pickers/hebr/index.html" target="_blank">Hebrew character app</a>.</p> <section id="writing_styles"> <h3>Font styles</h3> <p>Hebrew has a number of different writing styles.</p> <p>The standard, 'square script' is derived from Aramaic. There are serif and sans-serif fonts.</p> <figure id="fig_ws_serif" class="sideCaption"> <div> <img src="images/ws_serif.png" alt="" style="margin-block-end:1rem;"> <img src="images/ws_sans.png" alt="" style="margin-block-start:1rem;"> </div> <figcaption>Serif (top) and sans (bottom) examples of the standard writing style.</figcaption> </figure> <p>The STAM style is used for sacred texts such as the Torah. Certain letters have decorative tags above.<tt>s</tt></p> <figure id="fig_ws_stam" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/ws_stam.jpg" alt=""> <figcaption>Text written in the STAM writing style.</figcaption> </figure> <p>The rashi style is used for commentaries on sacred texts. Letters have a more rounded, almost cursive style.<tt>s</tt></p> <figure id="fig_ws_rashi" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/ws_rashi.png" alt=""> <figcaption>Text written in the rashi writing style.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Hebrew also has a 'cursive' style, which means 'handwriting' style. Letters are not normally joined. Cursive fonts are only used as display fonts. Many glyphs look very different from the standard letter forms.</p> <figure id="fig_ws_yoav_cursive" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/ws_yoav_cursive.png" alt="Text in Yoav Cursive font."> <figcaption>Text written in the 'cursive' writing style.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Before the Babylonian exile (from which the square script derives), Hebrew was written with different shapes, which are similar to those used for Samaritan.</p> </section> <section id="context"> <h3>Context-based shaping & positioning</h3> <p>In Hebrew several characters have a different shape at the end of a word, but each shape variant has it's own code point and keyboard key, so there is no need for rendering rules to choose the correct glyph.</p> <p>This example shows <span class="ch">מ</span> and <span class="ch">ם</span> (on the left).</p> <figure id="fig_final_m" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/final_m.svg" alt="מקום" class="ex" lang="he" data-notes="Ezra SIL SR, 159px" style="height:8rem;"> <figcaption>Two different shapes for <span class="trans">mem</span>, depending on position in the word.</figcaption> </figure> <details class="figureSub"><summary>show composition</summary><p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">מקום</span></p></details> <p>Multiple diacritics for one base character are common where the various types of diacritic are mixed.</p> <figure id="fig_diacritics" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/fig_diacritics.png" alt="תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י" class="ex" lang="he" data-notes="Ezra SIL SR, 159px" style="height:14rem;"> <figcaption>Text using a mixture of vowel (light highlight), consonant, and cantillation (dark highlight) diacritic points.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Combinations of <span class="hx img">05B0</span> with other vowel diacritics are represented by single, non-decomposable code points, eg. <span class="hx img">05B1</span>.</p> <p>In NFC normalised text, a dagesh or shin/sin dot always follows the vowel diacritic. It may be necessary to reorder the diacritics for some applications, eg. for transcriptions that map a consonant+dagesh to a single letter.</p> <p>The diacritic <span class="hx img">05B9</span> illustrates how positioning can be context-sensitive. <a class="figref">fig_holam</a> shows 3 examples.</p> <figure id="fig_holam" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/holam.png" alt="תֹּאַר תֹּאר שֹׂבַע" data-notes="40px Ezra SIL" class="ex" lang="he"> <figcaption>Three slightly different placements of <span class="hx img">05B9</span>, depending on the surrounding context.</figcaption> </figure> </section> <section id="fontstyle"> <h3>Letterform slopes, weights, & italics</h3> <p>Bold text is used as one way to highlight or emphasise text. The degree of bolding is often quite light. Bold-italic is typically only used for large display text.<tt>l</tt></p> <p>Italics may also be used, however its use is not abundant, and many of the italic faces in fonts are designed for display use, rather than to accompany a regular font.<tt>l</tt></p> <p>There are different preferences for the direction of the slant for italicised Hebrew text. The choice as to which is preferred appears to be down to the individual, and is a question of whether the slant matches the direction of the Hebrew text, or embedded Latin text.<tt>l</tt></p> <figure id="fig_italics" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/forward_italics.png" alt="עברית" class="ex" lang="he" style="border-radius: .5em;"> <figcaption>Example of forward-leaning italics (bottom).</figcaption> </figure> <details class="figureSub"><summary>show composition</summary><p><span class="eg alt" lang="he">עברית</span></p></details> </section> </section> <section id="segmentation"> <h2>Typographic units</h2> <section id="word"> <h3>Word boundaries</h3> <p id="def-wordboundary" class="explanatoryintro definitionStub"></p> <p>Words are separated by spaces.</p> <p><span class="leadin">Hyphens.</span><span class="hx">05BE</span> is the proper punctuation for representing hyphens between compounds,<tt>wc</tt>.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he">תל־אביב</span></p> <p>However, it is less common online because it is not always easily available on keyboards. Therefore, <span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he" dir="rtl">-</bdi> <a href=""><span class="uname">U+002D HYPHEN-MINUS</span></a></span> is often substituted, even though the position of that character is too low when displayed.<tt>wc</tt></p> <p>The Unicode Standard indicates that lines should not break on either side of the maqaf.<a class="fnref" href="https://github.com/w3c/hlreq/issues/8#issuecomment-375023043">g</a></p>  </section> <section id="graphemes"> <h3>Graphemes</h3> <section id="graphemeC"> <h4>Grapheme clusters</h4> <p id="def-grapheme" class="explanatoryintro definitionStub"></p> <p>Hebrew typographic units consist of base characters, optionally followed by one or more combining marks. Unicode grapheme clusters can be applied to Hebrew without problems. There are no special issues related to operations that use grapheme clusters as their basic unit of text.</p> </section> </section> </section> <section id="inline"> <h2>Punctuation & inline features</h2> <aside class="sectionAside"> <details class="tbd"> <summary>Sections to be added ...</summary> <section id="inlinenotes"> <h4>Inline notes & annotations</h4>  </section> <section id="otherinline"> <h4>Other inline features</h4>  </section> </details> </aside> <section id="phrase"> <h3>Phrase & section boundaries</h3> <figure class="characterBox auto small" data-cols="">,␣;␣:␣.␣?␣!</figure> <p>Hebrew uses ASCII punctuation for the most part. Full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, and commas are used as in English. There are 6 additional punctuation characters in the Hebrew Unicode block.</p> <table class="character_list"> <tbody> <tr> <th scope="row">phrase</th> <td><p><span class="hx img">002C</span></p> <p><span class="hx img">003B</span></p> <p><span class="hx img">003A</span></p></td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">sentence</th> <td><p><span class="hx img">002E</span></p> <p><span class="hx img">003F</span></p> <p><span class="hx img">0021</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Note that the direction of the question mark (?) is the same as in English, and not reversed like for Arabic. The same is true for the comma ( , ).</p> <p><span class="leadin">Biblical & liturgical usage.</span> <span class="codepoint noindex" translate="no"><span lang="he" dir="rtl">׀</span></span> is used as a word separator.<tt>wc</tt></p> <p class="btw">Prayer books and similar use <span class="codepoint noindex" translate="no"><span lang="he" dir="rtl">׃</span></span> as a full stop.<tt>wc</tt></p> <section id="bracketing"> <h4>Bracketed text</h4> <figure class="characterBox auto small" data-cols="">(␣)</figure> <p>Hebrew commonly uses ASCII parentheses to insert parenthetical information into text.</p> <table class="character_list"> <thead> <tr> <th> </th> <th>start</th> <th>end</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <th>standard</th> <td><p><span class="ch">)</span></p></td> <td><p><span class="ch">(</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Hebrew uses the same parentheses as English, and uses <span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he">(</bdi><span class="uname">U+0028 LEFT PARENTHESIS</span>]</span> at the start (right) and <span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he">)</bdi><span class="uname">U+0029 RIGHT PARENTHESIS</span>]</span> at the end (left).<tt>wc</tt> These are mirrored characters in Unicode, so the glyph for each character is automatically reversed in RTL text.</p> <p>For example, click on the following to see the component characters.</p> <p><span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">(סוגריים)</span></span></p> <p class="info">The first character in memory is the paren on the right. The consequence of this is that, when writing Hebrew, the parentheses should be used as if they were named <span class="uname">U+0028 START PARENTHESIS</span> and <span class="uname">U+0028 END PARENTHESIS</span>, respectively.</p> </section> </section> <section id="quotations"> <h3>Quotations & citations</h3> <figure class="characterBox auto small" data-cols="">”␣”␣’</figure> <p>Hebrew texts use quotation marks around quotations. Note, however, that these are not paired. Of course, due to keyboard design, quotations may also be surrounded by ASCII double and single quote marks.</p> <table class="character_list"> <thead> <tr> <th> </th> <th>start</th> <th>end</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <th scope="row">initial</th> <td><p><span class="codepoint"><bdi lang="he">”</bdi><a href="/scripts/devanagari/block#char201D"><span class="uname">U+201D RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</span></a></span></p></td> <td><span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he">”</bdi><a href="/scripts/devanagari/block#char201D"><span class="uname">U+201D RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</span></a></span></td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">nested</th> <td><p><span class="codepoint"><bdi lang="he">’</bdi><a href="/scripts/devanagari/block#char2019"><span class="uname">U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK</span></a></span></p></td> <td><span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he">’</bdi><a href="/scripts/devanagari/block#char2019"><span class="uname">U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK</span></a></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>In principle, for modern quotations, <span class="hx">201D</span> is used at the start and at the end.</p> <p><span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">”ישראל”</span> <span class="meaning">Israel</span></span></p> <p>Nested quotations use different quote marks, which would typically be <span class="hx">2019</span>.<tt>a,#target-4931</tt></p> <p>However, in practice, Hebrew texts often use <span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he" dir="rtl">"</bdi> <a href="../../scripts/hebr/block.html#char0022"><span class="uname">U+0022 QUOTATION MARK</span></a></span> and <span class="codepoint" translate="no"><bdi lang="he" dir="rtl">'</bdi> <a href="../../scripts/hebr/block.html#char0027"><span class="uname">U+0027 APOSTROPHE</span></a></span>.</p> <p>Up to around 1970 Hebrew used <span class="hx">201E</span> instead for the initial quotation mark, ie. <span class="charExample" translate="no"><span class="ex" lang="he" dir="rtl">„ישראל”</span></span>but this changed, partly due to inadequate keyboard designs.<tt>whp,#Quotation_marks</tt></p> </section> <section id="emphasis"> <h3>Emphasis</h3> <p>Increased tracking is a common way to express emphasis in Hebrew.</p> <figure id="fig_emphasis" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/emphasis_tracking.png" alt="" style="border-radius: .5em;"> <figcaption>The last part of this text is stretched to show emphasis.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Aternatives include the use of a different typeface, and/or underlining.<tt>l</tt></p> </section> <section id="abbrev"> <h3>Abbreviation, ellipsis & repetition</h3> <figure class="characterBox auto small" data-cols="">״␣׳</figure> <p>Acronyms and abbreviations are indicated by placing <span class="hx">05F4</span> before the last character.</p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">אונסכ״ו</span></p> <p><span class="eg" lang="he" dir="rtl">סופ״ש</span></p> <p><span class="hx">05F3</span> may also be used to indicate an abbreviation,<tt>wg</tt> eg. <span class="eg inline" lang="he">גברת</span> is abbreviated as <span class="eg transc" lang="he" dir="rtl">גב׳</span> </p> <p>Due to keyboard inadequacies, these are often replaced by ASCII single and double quote characters, even though in general they are visually too high. </p> </section> </section> <section id="para"> <h2>Line & paragraph layout</h2> <aside class="sectionAside"> <details class="tbd"> <summary>Sections to be added ...</summary> <section id="justification"> <h4>Text alignment & justification</h4>  </section> </details> </aside> <section id="linebreak"> <h3>Line breaking & hyphenation</h3> <p>Lines are normally broken at word boundaries.</p> <section id="breaking_latin"> <h4>Breaking between Latin words</h4> <p>When a line break occurs in the middle of an embedded left-to-right sequence, the items in that sequence need to be rearranged visually so that it isn't necessary to read lines from top to bottom. </p> <p><a class="figref">latin-line-breaks</a> shows how two Latin words are apparently reordered in the flow of text to accommodate this rule. Of course, the rearragement is only that of the visual glyphs: nothing affects the order of the characters in memory.</p> <figure id="latin-line-breaks" style="text-align: right;"> <img src="images/latin-line-breaks-1.png" alt="Text with no line break in Latin text."/><br><br> <img src="images/latin-line-breaks-2.png" alt="Text with line break in Latin text."/> <figcaption>The lower of these two images shows the result of decreasing the line width, so that text wraps between a sequence of Latin words.</figcaption> </figure> </section> <section id="linedge"> <h4>Line-edge rules</h4> <p>As in almost all writing systems, certain punctuation characters should not appear at the end or the start of a line. The Unicode line-break properties help applications decide whether a character should appear at the start or end of a line.</p> <p><a id="showLinebreaks" target="_blank" href="tbd">Show (default) line-breaking properties for characters in the modern Hebrew orthography described here.</a></p> <p>The following list gives examples of typical behaviours for some of the characters used in modern Hebrew. Context may affect the behaviour of some of these and other characters.</p> <p class="instructions">Click/tap on the characters to show what they are.</p> <ul> <li><span class="ex list" lang="he">’ ” (</span>   should not be the last character on a line.</li> <li><span class="ex list" lang="he">’ ” ) . , ; ! ? ־ %</span>   should not begin a new line.</li> <li><span class="ex list" lang="he">₪</span>   should be kept with any number, even if separated by a space or parenthesis.</li> </ul> </section> </section> <section id="spacing"> <h3>Text spacing</h3> <p>Increased tracking is a common way to express emphasis in Hebrew.</p> <figure id="fig_tracking"> <img src="images/tracking.png" alt="" style="border-radius: .5em;"> <figcaption>Examples of letter-spacing (highlighted by the red lines) in Hebrew text.</figcaption> </figure> </section> <section id="baselines"> <h3>Baselines, line height, etc.</h3> <p>Hebrew uses the so-called 'alphabetic' baseline, which is the same as for Latin and many other scripts.</p> <p>The Hebrew characters are commonly slightly taller than the Latin x-height. <a class="figref">fig_baselines</a> shows ascenders and descenders for Hebrew letters in the Noto Serif fonts. In this font combination the maximum height of the Hebrew letters reaches slightly higher than the Latin extenders.</p> <figure id="fig_baselines"> <img src="images/baselines.png" alt="qhxאבלך" class="ex" lang="he" data-notes="Noto Serif Hebrew 130px" style="max-width: 30rem;"> <figcaption>Font metrics for text in the Noto Serif and Noto Serif Hebrew fonts.</figcaption> </figure> </section> <section id="lists"> <h3>Counters, lists, etc.</h3> <p class="instructions">You can experiment with counter styles using the <a target="_blank" href="../../app-counters/">Counter styles converter</a>. Patterns for using these styles in CSS can be found in <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/predefined-counter-styles/#oriya-styles">Ready-made Counter Styles</a>, and we use the names of those patterns here to refer to the various styles.</p> <p>The Hebrew orthography uses an additive style, in addition to numeric decimal style based on ASCII digits.</p> <section id="cs_additive"> <h4>Additive</h4> <p>The <span class="kw" translate="no">hebrew</span> additive style uses the letters shown below. It is specified for a range between 1 and 10,999. This system manually specifies the values for 19-15 to force the correct display of 15 and 16, which are commonly rewritten to avoid a close resemblance to the Tetragrammaton. Implementations may, and some do, implement this manually to a higher range.</p> <figure class="auto" data-notes="10000,9000,8000,7000,6000,5000,4000,3000,2000,1000,400,300,200,100,90,80,70,60,50,40,30,20,19,18,17,16,15,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" data-cols="">י׳␣ט׳␣ח׳␣ז׳␣ו׳␣ה׳␣ד׳␣ג׳␣ב׳␣א׳␣ת␣ש␣ר␣ק␣צ␣פ␣ע␣ס␣נ␣מ␣ל␣כ␣יט␣יח␣יז␣טז␣טו␣י␣ט␣ח␣ז␣ו␣ה␣ד␣ג␣ב␣א</figure> <p>Examples:</p> <figure class="auto counterstylesBox noindex" data-cols="" data-notes="1,2,3,4,11,22,33,44,111,222,333,444">א␣ב␣ג␣ד␣יא␣כב␣לג␣מד␣קיא␣רכב␣שלג␣תמד</figure> </section> <section id="cs_suffix"> <h4>Prefixes and suffixes</h4> <p>The default list style uses a full stop + space as a suffix.</p> <p>Examples:</p> <figure id="fig_cs_separators" style="margin-top: 0;" class="sideCaption"> <div dir="rtl" style="display: flex; flex-direction:column; justify-content: flex-end; font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1; width: 20rem;"> <span lang="he">א. </span> <span lang="he">ב. </span> <span lang="he">ג. </span> <span lang="he">ד. </span> <span lang="he">ה. </span> </div> <figcaption>Separator for Hebrew list counters.</figcaption> </figure>  </section> </section> <section id="initials"> <h3>Styling initials</h3> <p>It is possible to find the first letter in a paragraph styled so that it is larger and sits alongside several lines of the continuing paragraph text.</p> <figure id="fig_drop_cap" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/drop_cap.jpg" alt=""> <figcaption>An enlarged initial letter in the word <span lang="he">לפגי</span> at the beginning of a paragraph.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="observation"><span class="leadin">Observation:</span> The glyph in <a class="figref">fig_drop_cap</a> rises above the normal top line of most Hebrew characters. It also rises above the top line of the adjacent glyphs when positioned alongside them. The bottom of the glyph is aligned with the bottom of the glyphs on the 3rd line down.</p> <p>Boxed initials can also be found, such as the one in <a class="figref">fig_drop_cap_box</a>. Here, the initial letter is centred horizontally and vertically inside the space created by the box. The box extends from the top line of the first line of text to the baseline of the 6th line.</p> <figure id="fig_drop_cap_box" class="sideCaption"> <img src="images/drop_cap_box.jpg" alt=""> <figcaption>An enlarged initial letter in the word <span lang="he">גבול</span> at the beginning of a paragraph, set in a box.</figcaption> </figure> </section> </section> <section id="page"> <h2>Page & book layout</h2> <aside class="sectionAside"> <details class="tbd"> <summary>Sections to be added ...</summary> <section id="grids"> <h4>Grids & tables</h4> </section> <section id="footnotes"> <h4>Notes, footnotes, etc</h4> <p class="instructions">See <a class="secref">inlinenotes</a> for purely inline annotations, such as ruby or warichu. This section is about annotation systems that separate the reference marks and the content of the notes.</p> </section> <section id="interaction"> <h4>Forms & user interaction</h4> </section> <section id="headers"> <h4>Page numbering, running headers, etc</h4> </section> </details> </aside> <section id="generallayout"> <h3>General page layout & progression</h3> <p>Hebrew books, magazines, etc., are bound on the right-hand side, and pages progress from right to left.</p> <figure id="fig_book_binding" class="sideCaption"> <p><img alt="عنوان كتاب" src="images/book_binding_hebrew.png"></p> <figcaption>Binding configuration for Hebrew books, magazines, etc.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Columns are vertical but run right-to-left across the page.</p> </section> </section>  <section id="acknowledgements"> <h2>Acknowledgements</h2> <p>Many thanks for detailed review and comments by Ben Denckla.</p> </section> <section id="refs"> <h2>References</h2> </section> <div id="phoneLinks"></div> <div id="panel" style="display:none"></div> <div class="smallprint"><span id="version"></span></div> <script> addPageFeatures() </script> </body> </html>