Hebrew Consonants

Here’s a clear table of the Modern Hebrew consonants with their phonetic values (IPA) and Latin transliteration equivalents. This should give you a quick reference for reading, writing, or transliterating Hebrew into Latin script.

Modern Hebrew Consonants

The next table gives a direct mapping from Hebrew consonants → IPA → Latin transliteration.

Modern Hebrew Final Form Consonants

In Hebrew, five consonants take on a special final form when they appear at the end of a word: Kaf (ך), Mem (ם), Nun (ן), Pe (ף), and Tsade (ץ). These letters are pronounced exactly the same as their regular counterparts (כ, מ, נ, פ, צ), but their written shape changes to mark the word boundary. The practice comes from ancient scribal traditions that distinguished word endings visually, and it remains a standard feature of Hebrew orthography today. Final forms do not alter meaning or sound; they simply provide clarity in reading and writing, much like capital letters in English signal sentence boundaries.

Notes

• Begadkefat letters (ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, ת) have two pronunciations depending on whether they carry a dot (dagesh). In Modern Hebrew, some distinctions (like between /t/ and /θ/) have collapsed.
• Ayin (ע) and Alef (א) are often silent in Modern Hebrew, though older Oriental pronunciations preserve pharyngeal sounds.
• Resh (ר) varies: most Israelis pronounce it as a uvular fricative [ʁ], but some communities use an alveolar trill [r].
• Final forms: Five letters (כ ך, מ ם, נ ן, פ ף, צ ץ) change shape at the end of words but keep the same sound.

Final form Notes

• These letters only change shape at the end of a word; their pronunciation is identical to their regular forms (כ, מ, נ, פ, צ).
• Begadkefat rule still applies:
  • ך (Final Kaf) can be [k] with dagesh or [χ] without.
  • ף (Final Pe) can be [p] with dagesh or [f] without.
• In Modern Hebrew, distinctions like [θ] for Tav or [ɣ] for Gimel (historical) are no longer used — the final forms follow the simplified modern sounds.

Niqquds

Modern Hebrew Vowels (Niqqud)

Combined Consonant + Vowel System

Now you can think of Hebrew as consonant letters + niqqud marks:

• Consonants: א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת
• Vowels (Niqqud): added below/above consonants to indicate sound.
  • Example: בַּ = ba (Bet + dagesh + pataḥ)
  • מִ = mi (Mem + ḥiriq)
  • שׁוֹ = sho (Shin + holam)

Notes

• In Modern Hebrew, many vowel distinctions collapsed:
  • Qamatz (ָ) and Pataḥ (ַ) both usually pronounced [a].
  • Tsere (ֵ) and Segol (ֶ) both often pronounced [e].
• Everyday Israeli writing omits niqqud, relying on context. Niqqud is used mainly in children’s books, poetry, dictionaries, and religious texts.
• Transliteration into Latin script often simplifies vowels to a, e, i, o, u.

Consonant + Vowel Blocks

בַּ  בָּ  בֶּ  בֵּ  בִּ  בֹּ  בֻּ  בְּ

גַ  גָ  גֶ  גֵ  גִ  גֹ  גֻ  גְ

דַ  דָ  דֶ  דֵ  דִ  דֹ  דֻ  דְ

הַ  הָ  הֶ  הֵ  הִ  הֹ  הֻ  הְ

וַ  וָ  וֶ  וֵ  וִ  וֹ  וֻ  וְ

זַ  זָ  זֶ  זֵ  זִ  זֹ  זֻ  זְ

חַ  חָ  חֶ  חֵ  חִ  חֹ  חֻ  חְ

טַ  טָ  טֶ  טֵ  טִ  טֹ  טֻ  טְ

יַ  יָ  יֶ  יֵ  יִ  יוֹ  יוּ  יְ

כַּ  כָּ  כֶּ  כֵּ  כִּ  כֹּ  כֻּ  כְּ

לַ  לָ  לֶ  לֵ  לִ  לֹ  לֻ  לְ

מַ  מָ  מֶ  מֵ  מִ  מֹ  מֻ  מְ

נַ  נָ  נֶ  נֵ  נִ  נֹ  נֻ  נְ

סַ  סָ  סֶ  סֵ  סִ  סֹ  סֻ  סְ

עַ  עָ  עֶ  עֵ  עִ  עֹ  עֻ  עְ

פַּ  פָּ  פֶּ  פֵּ  פִּ  פֹּ  פֻּ  פְּ

צַ  צָ  צֶ  צֵ  צִ  צֹ  צֻ  צְ

קַ  קָ  קֶ  קֵ  קִ  קֹ  קֻ  קְ

רַ  רָ  רֶ  רֵ  רִ  רֹ  רֻ  רְ

שַׁ  שָׁ  שֶׁ  שֵׁ  שִׁ  שֹׁ  שֻׁ  שְׁ
שַׂ  שָׂ  שֶׂ  שֵׂ  שִׂ  שֹׂ  שֻׂ  שְׂ

תַּ  תָּ  תֶּ  תֵּ  תִּ  תֹּ  תֻּ  תְּ

Notes

1. Each block shows the consonant combined with Pataḥ (ַ), Qamatz (ָ), Segol (ֶ), Tsere (ֵ), Ḥiriq (ִ), Ḥolam (ֹ), Qubutz (ֻ), Shva (ְ).
2. This gives you a full palette for copy/paste practice.
3. Works in most editors that support Hebrew Unicode + niqqud.

Final Forms with Vowels

These are the five letters that change shape at the end of words (ך ם ן ף ץ), combined with the main niqqud vowels so you can copy/paste them directly.

ךַ  ךָ  ךֶ  ךֵ  ךִ  ךֹ  ךֻ  ךְ

םַ  םָ  םֶ  םֵ  םִ  םֹ  םֻ  םְ

ןַ  ןָ  ןֶ  ןֵ  ןִ  ןֹ  ןֻ  ןְ

ףַ  ףָ  ףֶ  ףֵ  ףִ  ףֹ  ףֻ  ףְ

ץַ  ץָ  ץֶ  ץֵ  ץִ  ץֹ  ץֻ  ץְ

Notes

1. These final forms retain the same sound as their regular forms; only the shape changes when they appear at the end of a word.
2. Each block shows the consonant combined with:
   • Pataḥ (ַ), Qamatz (ָ), Segol (ֶ), Tsere (ֵ), Ḥiriq (ִ), Ḥolam (ֹ), Qubutz (ֻ), Shva (ְ).
3. Works in Unicode‑aware editors and fonts that support Hebrew niqqud.

Hebrew Vowel Marks (Niqqud) Cheat Sheet

ַ   ָ   ֶ   ֵ   ִ   ֹ   ֻ   ְ

Now you can copy these marks directly and combine them with any consonant (e.g., type ב + ִ = בִ).

Diphthongs – Vowel Clusters

This table now gives you the main Hebrew diphthong patterns with IPA and Latin equivalents.

Hebrew Diphthongs & Vowel Combinations

Notes

1. Shuruk (וּ) is the classic “oo” diphthong — it’s literally a Vav with a dot (dagesh) in the middle.
2. Holam + mater lectionis (וֹ) gives a long “o.”
3. Yod + vowel marks often create diphthongs like ya, ye, yi, yo, yu.
4. In Modern Hebrew, these are pronounced as simple vowels (not gliding diphthongs), but in transliteration they often look like diphthongs.
5. Historically, Hebrew didn’t have “true diphthongs” like English boy or house, but these consonant + vowel letter combos function similarly.

Great — here’s your ready‑to‑copy Hebrew diphthong palette. These are the common vowel + consonant combinations (mater lectionis patterns) that act like diphthongs in Modern Hebrew.

Hebrew Diphthong Palette

Vav‑based

וּ   (Shuruk → “oo” as in food)
וֹ   (Holam Vav → “o” as in go)
עוֹ  / אוֹ   (Ayin/Alef + Vav + Holam → “o” long)
עוּ  / אוּ   (Ayin/Alef + Vav + Shuruk → “u” long)

Yod‑based

יוֹ   (Yod + Holam → “yo”)
יוּ   (Yod + Shuruk → “yu”)
יֵ    (Yod + Tsere → “ye”)
יִ    (Yod + Ḥiriq → “yi”)

Notes

• These combinations are not “true diphthongs” in the strict linguistic sense (like English boy or house), but in Hebrew they function as vowel clusters created by consonant letters (mater lectionis) carrying vowel marks.
• In Modern Hebrew, they are usually pronounced as simple vowels (long o, long u, etc.), but transliteration often shows them as diphthongs (yo, yu, ye, yi).
• Copy/paste works in Unicode‑aware editors and fonts that support Hebrew niqqud.