Niqqud
| |||||||
Other diacritics | cantillation, geresh, gershayim | ||||||
"Let the waters be collected". Letters in black, niqqud in red, cantillation in blue[1] | |||||||
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikkud (Hebrew: נִקּוּד, Modern nikud, Tiberian niqqûḏ; "dotting, pointing" or Hebrew: נְקֻדּוֹת, Modern nekudot, Tiberian nəquddôṯ; "dots") is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium AD in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is called ktiv menuqad.
Niqqud marks are small compared to consonants, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them.
In modern Israeli orthography niqqud is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or for new immigrants. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling without niqqud, known in Hebrew as ktiv maleh (כתיב מלא, literally "full spelling") has developed. This was formally standardised in the Rules for Spelling without Niqqud (כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996.[2]
One reason for the lesser use of niqqud is that it no longer reflects the current pronunciation. In modern Hebrew, tzere is pronounced the same as segol, although they were distinct in Tiberian Hebrew, and also pataḥ makes the same sound as a qamatz. To the younger generation of native Hebrew speakers, these distinctions seem arbitrary and meaningless; on the other hand, Hebrew language purists have rejected out of hand the idea of changing the basics of niqqud and fitting them to the current pronunciation - with the result that in practice niqqud is increasingly going out of use.[3]
Among those who do not speak Hebrew, niqqud are the sometimes unnamed focus of controversy regarding the interpretation of the name written with the Tetragrammaton—written as יְהֹוָה in Hebrew. The interpretation affects discussion of the authentic ancient pronunciation of the name whose other conventional English forms are "Jehovah" and "Yahweh".
Demonstration
This table uses the consonants ב, ח or ש, where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced after. Any other consonants shown are actually part of the vowel. Note that there is some variation among different traditions in exactly how some vowel points are pronounced. The table below shows how most Israelis would pronounce them, but the classic Ashkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects.
- This demonstration is known to work in Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers in at least some circumstances, but in most other Windows browsers the niqqud do not properly combine with the consonants. It works very well when "dir=rtl" is added in the HTML source. This is because, currently, the Windows text display engine does not combine the niqqud automatically. Except as noted, the vowel pointings should appear directly beneath the consonants and the accompanying "vowel letter" consonants for the mālê (long) forms appear after.
- Note concerning IPA: the transcription symbols are linked to the articles about the sounds they represent. The diacritic ˘ (breve) indicates a short vowel; the triangular colon symbol ː indicates that the vowel is long.
Symbol | Type | Common name | Alternate names | Scientific name | Hebrew | IPA | Transliteration | Comments | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
בְ | Israeli | Sh'va | sheva | shva | שְׁוָא | [e̞] or Ø | ə, e, ’, or nothing |
In modern Hebrew, shva represents either /e/ or Ø, regardless of its traditional classification as shva naḥ (שווא נח) or shva na (שווא נע), see the following table for examples:
| |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | šəwâ | שְׁוָא | [ɐ̆] [ɛ̆] [ĕ] [ĭ] [ɔ̆] [ŏ] [ŭ] |
||||||||||||||||||||
חֱ | Israeli | Reduced segol | hataf segol | ẖataf seggol | חֲטַף סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ səḡôl | חֲטֶף סְגוֹל | [ɛ̆] | ĕ | |||||||||||||||||||
חֲ | Israeli | Reduced patach | hataf patah | ẖataf pataẖ | חֲטַף פַּתַח | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ páṯaḥ | חֲטֶף פַּתַח | [ɐ̆] | ă | |||||||||||||||||||
חֳ | Israeli | Reduced kamatz | hataf kamats | ẖataf kamats | חֲטַף קָמָץ | [o̞] | o | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥăṭep̄ qāmeṣ | חֲטֶף קָמָץ | [ɔ̆] | ŏ | |||||||||||||||||||
בִ | Israeli | Hiriq | hiriq | ẖirik | חִירִיק | [i] | i | Usually promoted to Hiriq Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥîreq | חִירֶק | [i] or [iː]) | i or í | |||||||||||||||||||
בִי | Israeli | Hiriq malei | hiriq yod | ẖirik male | חִירִיק מָלֵא | [i] | i | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥîreq mālê | חִירֶק מָלֵא | [iː] | î | |||||||||||||||||||
בֵ | Israeli | Zeire | tsere, tzeirei | tsere | צֵירֵי | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ṣērê | צֵרֵי | [eː] | ē | |||||||||||||||||||
בֵי, בֵה, בֵא | Israeli | Zeire malei | tsere yod, tzeirei yod | tsere male | צֵירֵי מָלֵא | [e̞] | e | More commonly ei (IPA [ei̯]). | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ṣērê mālê | צֵרֵי מָלֵא | [eː] | ê | |||||||||||||||||||
בֶ | Israeli | Segol | segol | seggol | סֶגּוֹל | [e̞] | e | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | səḡôl | סְגוֹל | [ɛ] or [ɛː] | e or é | |||||||||||||||||||
בֶי, בֶה, בֶא | Israeli | Segol malei | segol yod | seggol male | סֶגּוֹל מָלֵא | [e̞] | e | With succeeding yod, it is more commonly ei (IPA [ei̯]) | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | səḡôl mālê | סְגוֹל מָלֵא | [ɛː] | ệ | |||||||||||||||||||
בַ | Israeli | Patach | patah | pataẖ | פַּתַח | [a] | a | A patach on a letters ח, ע, ה at the end of a word is sounded before the letter, and not after. Thus, נֹחַ (Noah) is pronounced /ˈno.ax/. This only occurs at the ends of words and only with patach and ח, ע, and הּ (that is, ה with a dot (mappiq) in it). This is sometimes called a patach ganuv, or "stolen" patach (more formally, "furtive patach"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | páṯaḥ | פַּתַח | [ɐ] or [ɐː] | a or á | |||||||||||||||||||
בַה, בַא | Israeli | Patach malei | patah yod | pataẖ male | פַּתַח מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | páṯaḥ mālê | פַּתַח מָלֵא | [ɐː] | ậ | |||||||||||||||||||
בָ | Israeli | Kamatz gadol | kamats | kamats gadol | קָמַץ גָּדוֹל | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ gāḏôl | קָמֶץ גָּדוֹל | [ɔː] | ā | |||||||||||||||||||
בָה, בָא | Israeli | Kamatz malei | kamats he | kamats male | קָמַץ מָלֵא | [a] | a | ||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ mālê | קָמֶץ מָלֵא | [ɔː] | â | |||||||||||||||||||
בָ | Israeli | Kamatz katan | kamats hatuf | kamats katan | קָמַץ קָטָן | [o̞] | o | Usually promoted to Holam Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. Also, not to be confused with Hataf Kamatz. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qāmeṣ qāṭān | קָמֶץ קָטָן | [ɔ] | ||||||||||||||||||||
בֹ | Israeli | Holam | holam | ẖolam | חוֹלָם | [o̞] | o | Usually promoted to Holam Malei in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. The holam is written above the consonant on the left corner, or slightly to the left of (i.e., after) it at the top. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥōlem | חֹלֶם | [oː] | ō | |||||||||||||||||||
בוֹ, בֹה, בֹא | Israeli | Holam malei | holam male | ẖolam male | חוֹלַם מָלֵא | [o̞] | o | The holam is written in the normal position relative to the main consonant (above and slightly to the left), which places it directly over the vav. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | ḥōlem mālê | חֹלֶם מָלֵא | [oː] | ô | |||||||||||||||||||
בֻ | Israeli | Kubutz | kubuts | kubbuts | קֻבּוּץ | [u] | u | Usually promoted to Shuruk in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | qibbûṣ | קִבּוּץ | [u] or [uː] | u or ú | |||||||||||||||||||
בוּ, בוּה, בוּא | Israeli | Shuruk | shuruk | shuruk | שׁוּרוּק | [u] | u | The shuruk is written after the consonant it applies to (the consonant after which the vowel /u/ is pronounced). The dot in the shuruk is identical to a dagesh, thus shuruq and vav with a dagesh are indistinguishable. (see below). | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | šûreq | שׁוּרֶק | [uː] | û | |||||||||||||||||||
בּ | Israeli | Dagesh | dagesh | dagesh | דָּגֵשׁ | varied | varied | Not a vowel, "dagesh" refers to two distinct grammatical entities:
For most letters the dagesh is written within the glyph, near the middle if possible, but the exact position varies from letter to letter (some letters do not have an open area in the middle, and in these cases it is written usually beside the letter, as with yod). The guttural consonants (אהחע) and resh (ר) are not marked with a dagesh, although the letter he (ה) (and rarely א) may appear with a mappiq (which is written the same way as dagesh) at the end of a word to indicate that the letter does not signify a vowel but is consonantal. To the resulting form, there can still be added a niqqud diacritic designating a vowel. | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | dāḡēš | דָּגֵשׁ | |||||||||||||||||||||
בֿ | Israeli | Rafe | rafe | רָפֵא No longer used in Hebrew. Still seen in Yiddish (especially following the YIVO standard) to distinguish various letter pairs. Some ancient manuscripts have a dagesh or a rafe on nearly every letter. It is also used to indicate that a letter like ה or א is silent. In the particularly strange case of the Ten Commandments, which have two different traditions for their Cantillations which many texts write together, there are cases of a single letter with both a dagesh and a rafe, if it is hard in one reading and soft in the other. | |||||||||||||||||||
Tiberian | Niqqud, but not a vowel. Used as an "anti-dagesh", to show that a בגדכפת letter is soft and not hard, or (sometimes) that a consonant is single and not double, or that a letter like ה or א is completely silent | ||||||||||||||||||||||
שׁ | Israeli | Shin dot | shin dot | šin dot | שִׁי"ן, שִׁי״ן יְמָנִית or יְמִינִית, "right Shin" | [ʃ] | š/sh | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of a letter before the shin with the shin dot). The dot for shin is written over the right (first) branch of the letter. It is usually transcribed "sh". | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
שׂ | Israeli | Sin dot | sin dot | śin dot | שִׂי"ן, שִׁי״ן שְׂמָאלִית, "left Sin" | [s] | ś/s | Niqqud, but not a vowel (except when inadequate typefaces merge the holam of the sin with the sin dot). The dot for sin is written over the left (third) branch of the letter | |||||||||||||||
Tiberian | Some linguistic evidence indicates that it was originally IPA [ɬ], though poetry and acrostics show that it has been pronounced /s/ since quite ancient times). |
Keyboard
Both consonants and niqqud can be typed from virtual graphical keyboards available on the World Wide Web, or by methods integrated into particular operating systems.
Microsoft Windows
- In Windows 8 or later, niqqud can be entered using the right alt + the first Hebrew letter of the name of the value, when using the standard Hebrew keyboard layout. On earlier versions, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing CapsLock, placing the cursor after the consonant letter, and then pressing Shift and one of the keys in the chart below.
- The user can configure the registry to allow use of the Alt key with the numeric plus key to type the hexadecimal Unicode value.[5]
- The user can use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to produce a custom keyboard layout, or can download a layout produced by another party.[6]
Linux
In GTK+ Linux systems, niqqud can be entered by holding down AltGR and pressing the same keys as for Windows below. Or by pressing ctrl+shift+u followed by the appropriate 4 digit Unicode.
Macintosh
Using the Hebrew keyboard layout in Mac OS X, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing the Option key together with a number on the top row of the keyboard. Other combinations such as sofit and hataf can also be entered by pressing either the Shift key and a number, or by pressing the Shift key, Option key, and a number at the same time.[7][8]
|
|
Notes:
- [1] The letter "ס" represents any Hebrew consonant.
- [2] For sin-dot and shin-dot, the letter "ש" (sin/shin) is used.
- [3] The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different uses, but the same graphical representation, and hence are input in the same manner.
- [4] For shuruk, the letter "ו" (vav) is used since it can only be used with that letter.
- A rafe can be input by inserting the corresponding Unicode character, either explicitly or via a customized keyboard layout.
SIL International have developed another standard, which is based on Tiro, but adds the Niqqud along the home keys.[9] Linux comes with "Israel — Biblical Hebrew (Tiro)" as a standard layout. With this layout, niqqud can be typed without pressing the Caps Lock key.
See also
- The Arabic equivalent, harakat.
- Hebrew diacritics
- Q're perpetuum
- Dagesh
- Hebrew spelling
- Tiberian Hebrew
Bibliography
- The Academy Grammar Committee; ed. Ronit Gadish; Einat Gonen; Barak Dan (2006). "Leshonenu La′am. Academy Decisions: Grammar" (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language. ISSN 0024-1091.
- Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, especially §7, §8, §9
- Netzer, Nisan (1976). Haniqqud halakha lema′ase (in Hebrew). Israel: Massada.
External links
References
- ↑ Cantillation
- ↑ Rules for Spelling without Niqqud
- ↑ “Supposedly, the teachers who taught my generation knew Hebrew perfectly. They had a thorough knowledge of all the Hebrew classics as well as of modern Hebrew literature. But Hebrew was not their natural language. They had gained their knowledge of Hebrew from books, by tremendous effort. And they subjected us, who grew up with Hebrew as out mother tongue, to a terrible torture. They demanded that we master perfectly all the niceties and nuances of a language purism which meant nothing to us. I remember when I was asked to write words with nikkud on the blackboard and made a hash of it, the teacher said “You are a total ignoramus”. Ze’ev Galili’s Blog, December 31, 2004
- ↑ Transliteration standards from November 2006
- ↑ http://www.fileformat.info/tip/microsoft/enter_unicode.htm
- ↑ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964665.aspx
- ↑ http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/software/0307978AHEBRLKITUM.PDF
- ↑ comprehensive guide
- ↑ http://www.sbl-site.org/Fonts/BiblicalHebrewTiroManual.pdf