On the Rudiments of Hebrew

BOOK ONE
THE ALPHABET OF TWENTY-TWO LETTERS.

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת

Six are vowels: א ו ה י ע ה Aleph, Vav, He, Yod, Ayin, and another He. In this period, grammarians often categorized these letters as vowels because they can indicate vowel sounds, known as matres lectionis.. The rest are consonants. The light aspiration is ה He. The strong aspiration is ח Het. Both vowels and consonants are: yod and vav. The principal and middle consonants are: ד ס ו ת ט Dalet, Samekh, Vav, Tav, Tet. The final consonants only are: כ מ נ פ צ the terminal forms of Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pe, and Tsade. Substantial consonants are: ח ט ס פ ר ג ז ע צ ר ק Het, Tet, Samekh, Pe, Resh, Gimel, Zayin, Ayin, Tsade, Resh, Qof. Accidental consonants are: א ת ב נ ה מ ש ל י כ ו Aleph, Tav, Bet, Nun, He, Mem, Shin, Lamed, Yod, Kaf, Vav. Consonants to be aspirated or strengthened are: ב ג ד כ פ ר ת Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Pe, Resh, Tav.

The whistling sound of Samekh and the left-sided Sin is pronounced like the Greek sigma or the Roman 's' with a thin and sharp sound. The whistling sound of the right-sided Shin is made with the teeth directly joined and the tongue pulled back from them, like the sound of rushing water. The whistling sound of Tsade is like 'ts', which is rough, hard, and harsh. The whistling sound of Zayin is like 'sd', which is thin and smooth. The whistling sound of Tav is produced with the tongue inserted between the upper and lower teeth and the mouth speaking as if with a lisp. The whistling sound of an aspirated Kaf (which is when a raphe is placed above it) is made by applying the roots of the tongue to the uvula of the throat, expressing a breathy sound just as the Greeks do with the letter chi. The pronunciation of the letter Ayin arises in the depth of the throat, just as Aleph arises in the hollow of the mouth. The vowel points are ten. A is patah and qamets [ָ]; E is tsere [ֵ]; and I is hiriq [ִ], all placed underneath. O is holem [ֹ] placed above, and hateph qamets [ֳ]. U is shureq [וּ] and qibbuts [ֻ]. The thin and dull sound is sheva [ְ]. The compound points are hateph patah [ֲ], hateph qamets [ֳ], and hateph segol [ֱ]. Dagesh [ּ] in the belly of a letter is strong; in the middle of a word, it doubles the letter. Raphe, placed above the letter, indicates breathing with a gentle breath. A single point [ּ] is sometimes placed in a final he, and it signifies the relationship of one thing to another; it is called mappiq.

CONCERNING SYLLABLES.

You have the material of the letters and the form of the points. When these are joined together, a syllable is composed. We shall now discuss this, beginning with a definition. A syllable is the joining of a letter or letters to the vowel points. For if Bet is joined with patah, it becomes 'Ba', in the same way as among the Latins if 'b' and 'a' are joined. Similarly, if Lamed joined with patah follows after Bet, it becomes 'Bla'. If, however, before the Lamed there is found...