Hebrew vowels: the nikkud, one sign at a time

The a of father, and one of the most common vowels you will meet. In a few closed unstressed syllables it is read o, as in kol, ‘all’.

A short a. Under a final het or ayin it is read before the letter, not after: ruach, not rucha.

A hurried a: sh’va plus patach. The throat letters alef, he, het and ayin take hurried vowels like this one instead of a plain sh’va.

A long e, the vowel of they without the glide at the end. It is often followed by a yod that does not add a sound.

A short e as in bed, written as three dots in a triangle. In modern speech it sounds the same as tzere.

A hurried e: sh’va plus segol. You meet it early, under the alef of Elohim.

The ee of machine. Written with a yod after it (chirik male), it is easier to spot in unpointed text.

The o of go without its glide, written as one dot above the letter and slightly to its left.

The same o sound, carried by a vav with a dot on top. This is the spelling you meet most often in modern Hebrew.

A hurried o: sh’va plus kamatz. The rarest of the three, seen in words like chodashim, ‘months’.

The oo of moon, written as a vav with a dot in its middle.

The same oo sound as shuruk, written instead as three slanted dots under the letter.

Two dots meaning either a very short e or no vowel at all, depending on where the letter falls in the word.

A dot inside a letter. In bet, kaf and pe it changes the sound. In other letters it marks either a doubled consonant or, in gimel, dalet and tav, an old hard sound, and modern Hebrew pronounces neither.

A dot over the right arm. It makes the letter sh rather than s.

A dot over the left arm. It makes the letter sin, which sounds exactly like samekh.