Nikud To Ignore

You will see some Nikud symbols on letters which doesn't change the sound of the letters. 

This will typically be in text from the Bible or sometimes in other text.

We are going to look at which Nikud symbols you can Ignore.  You will learn to filter them out in your mind with practice.

Read More

Nikud

In this lesson you will learn the Nikud symbols and how they change the sound of the consonants.

I want you to keep in mind, before we start, that there is more than one Nikud symbol per sound.  Just like in English where the sound 'ee' and the sound 'ea', sound the same;
For example in the words: Seem Seam

Before you continue with this lesson please ensure you know all the Ivrit letters quick sound.

We are going to learn all the Nikkud symbols and how they change the sound of the consonants. 
Before we start, keep in mind that there is more than one Nikud symbol per sound. Just like in English where the sound 'ee' and the sound 'ea', sound the same;For example in the words: Seem Seam.

I am not going to match each Nikud symbol to a particular vowels in English because its not exactly right.

I am going to talk about sounds rather then vowels.

There are 5 sounds:

a, u	like in Bat / Rug
e	like in Red
ee / ea / i  and y	like in Been / Bean / Bin  and like in Baby
oo / u	like in Look / Pull
o	like in Log

Lets look at how the Nikud symbol give the letter its sound.

The sound 'a' like in Bat

There are 2 main sound symbols for this sound and they are made of flat lines.
The flat lines are placed under the letter like this: סַ סָ

Hint to remember the sound: FLAT lines.

So in the word Bat we can place either of the above Nikud symbols under the B - בּ

בָּט

בַּט

The silent letters Alef and Hey will also make a sound when these Nikud symbols are placed under them:

Aah = אַ אָ
Hah = הַ הָ
Lets look at few more examples:.
Ga = גַ גָ
Da = דַ דָ
Va = וַ וָ
Za = זַ זָ
and so on...

The sound 'e' like in Red

There are 2 main Nikud symbols for this sound and they are made of dots.

The dots are placed under the letter like this   סֵ סֶ

Hint to remember the sound: pile of EGGS.

In the word Red we can place either of the above Nikud symbols under the R - ר

רֶד

רֵד

The silent letters Alef and Hey will also make a sound when these Nikud symbols are placed under them:

Eeh = אֵ אֶ
Heh = הֵ הֶ

Lets look at few more examples:
H'eh = חֵ חֶ
 Teh = טֵ טֶ
Yeh = יֵ יֶ
Keh = כֵּ כֶּ
H'eh = כֵ כֶ
and so on...

Before we start with the next 3 sounds I want to remind you that in Ivrit we read from Right to Left. 

When a letter is used as a vowel, it will be placed after the letter which will be on the left.

The sound 'i' / 'ee' like in Green / Bin and 'y' like in baby             

There is one Nikud symbol for this sound and it is made of one dot. The dot is placed under the letter like this:  סִ 

Also the smallest letter of the alphabet (Yud) can be used to create this sound and it is placed after the letter like this:  סי

Hint to remember the sound: TINY dot \ TINY letter.

In the word Green we can place the above Nikud symbols under the R - ר

גְרִן

or the letter yud after the ר

גְרין

In the word baby we can place the small letter Yud after, on the left, of the second B - ב

 Notice how the first letter Yud is making a quick sound בֵּיבּי

The silent letters Alef and Hey will also make a sound when these Nikud symbols are placed under them:
ee/i = אִ אי
He = הִ הי
Lets look at few more examples:.
Lee = לִ לי
 Me = מִ מי
Nee = נִ ני
and so on...

The sound 'oo'/ 'u' like in Look and Blue

There is one Nikud symbols for this sound and it is made of dots that are placed under the letter like this: סֻ

Also the letter (Vav) with a dot in the middle can be used to create this sound and it is placed after the letter like this: ּסו

Hints to remember the sound: 

String of LOOPS.

Think of the Vav being a person being hit in the tummy with a ball... he will say oooooo!! 

In the word Blue we can place the sound symbol under the letter L - ל

לֻק

Or the letter Vav with the dot in the middle after, on the left, of the letter L - ל

לוּק

In the word Blue we can place the letter Vav after the letter L - ל

בְּלוּ

The silent letters Alef and Hey will also make a sound when these Nikud symbols are placed under them:

oo = אֻ אוּ

Hoo = הֻ הוּ

Lets look at few more examples:

Su= סֻ סוּ

 oo = עֻ עו

Poo = פֻּ פּוּ

Foo = פֻ פוּ

and so on...

The sound 'o' like in Orange or Dog

There is one Nikud symbols for this sound and it is made of 1 dot on the top left hand corner of the letter like this. סׂ

Also the letter (Vav) with a dot on top can be used to create this sound and it is placed after the letter like this:  סׂו

Hints to remember the sound: 

On Top

Imagine the Vav being a person being hit on his head with a ball... he will say Oh!! 

In the word Orange we will place the Nikud symbol at the top left hand corner of the O - א

'אֹרֵנְג

Or the letter (Vav) with the dot on top after, on the left of the letter

'אוֹרֵנְג

The silent letters Alef and Hey will also make a sound when these Nikud symbols are placed under them:

Oh = אֹ אוֹ

Ho = הֹ הוֹ

Lets look at few more examples:

Tso = צֹ צוֹ

 Ko = קֹ קוֹ

Ro = רֹ רוֹ

To = תֹ תוֹ

and so on...

Read More

Nikud Explaind

In this lesson I will explain the vowel system in Hebrew, Ivrit.  The Ivrit vowels is called Nikud, it means dotting, pointing. 
It is a system of small marks or symbols. Lines and dots are used to represent the vowels. They are places under, on top or in letters.

Once you become a more comfortable reader you will be able to read without the Nikud (sound symbols).

Although the Ivrit letters are all consonants, two of them can be used as vowels. Its just like in English where the consonant letter 'Y' sometimes behaves like a vowel. 
Example of this is in the word Baby.  This will be explained separately.

To help you understand how the Nikud system  works, lets look at the sentence:

The Rabbit took the carrot.

Now lets imagine this sentence, written again, but lets put the vowels (as smaller letters), where they would appear if it was Ivrit. 

What we end up with, is a string of consonants with vowels underneath or on top of the letters.  In Ivrit these will be small symbols (Lines and dots)

Lets look at an example: 

The vowel 'a' in the word Rabbit is places under the 'R' to make 'R' sound like 'Ra'. 

In Ivrit , instead of letter we use this symbol:

 and it will be placed under the letter.

Look at the rest of the sentence to understand how the consonants gets the sound by placing the small vowel underneath.

This is a post to teach you all the symbols - Nikud.

Read More