On the Rudiments of Hebrew

BOOK ONE.

...must always be pronounced in the usual manner. It does not have a more slanted form. It is lengthened, however, when a yod is added to it. The fourth vowel, O, follows. It is to be enunciated simply with a rounded mouth. In its place, the Hebrews place a single point above the letter, and it is called Holem. It must be pronounced correctly and subtly, as in the Latin words addo I add, benevolus benevolent, and subdolus deceitful. In that same region, another sound is usually found, which deviates from 'o' toward 'a.' It is halfway between 'o' and 'a,' but its sound is closer to 'o' than the qamets mentioned above. Therefore, it is called Hatef Qamets Hateph Qamets, a "hurried" or very short 'o' sound. However, those who do not distinguish sounds clearly usually pronounce it in place of 'o,' as in "Chedorlaomer, king of the Elamites." It is written below the letter using the shape of the qamets with two points placed side-by-side beforehand, like this ֳ. The fifth of the Roman vowels is U. To represent this sound, the letter vav is usually taken with a point enclosed in its belly the middle of the character like this וּ. It is called Shureq. Its companion is the "gathering of the lips." It is written with three points joined to one another like stairs or steps, like this ֻ. It is named qibbuts. It has the sound which the French give to 'u,' namely a mixture with the vowel 'i.' It is a sound halfway between 'u' and 'i,' like the sound the Greeks once gave to their letter upsilon. For this reason, they used to place the mark of the vowel 'i' in the belly of 'v' like this original: "𝒱̇" — a manuscript notation of an upsilon with an internal dot. Later, they removed it and attached it underneath, like this ϒ the Greek letter upsilon, as in the word harpyia harpy.

We have described the nine clear sounds of the Hebrews. There remains another sound: dull, blunt, and so thin that it is either barely heard or not heard at all. It is called sheva. It is written similarly to the hatef shown above, with two points joined vertically, like this ְ. Thus, it is sometimes called by the name hatef. Consider the word comprimo I compress, or the name Amraphel. If you close your lips for the 'm,' you cannot proceed to the next syllable unless you open your mouth again. That tiny sound that arises from the opening of the lips, however small and brief it may be, is called sheva. It is as if you were pronouncing com-primo or Am-raphel. It is an indistinct sound which, because of its thinness, can hardly be perceived by the senses. The hatef mentioned above is placed before three sounds: patah, qamets, and segol. They are called hatef patah, hatef qamets, and hatef segol. These names mean "rapid and quick," and they indicate a shortened sound. Sometimes a point is placed in a final he. This signifies a pronominal relationship and is called mappiq, but it has nothing to do with pronunciation.

EPILOGUE ON THE ELEMENTS.

Let us therefore briefly summarize what we have taught so far. We do this so that teachable minds may quickly grasp what has been said, and faithful minds may retain it.