Module tf.writing.hebrew

Hebrew characters

Disclaimer

This just a look-up table, not a full exposition of the organization of the Masoretic system.

Transcriptions

The ETCBC transcription is used by the ETCBC. It has entries for all accents, but not for text-critical annotations such as uncertainty, and correction. The Abegg transcription is used in the Dead Sea scrolls. It has no entries for accents, but it has a repertoire of text-critical marks. We have back translated the latter to ETCBC-compatible variants and entered them in the ETCBC column, although they are not strictly ETCBC marks.

Phonetics

The phonetic representation is meant as a tentative 1-1 correspondence with pronunciation, not with the script. See phono.ipynb, where the phonetic transcription is computed and thoroughly documented.

Consonants

Details

  • For most consonants: an inner dot is a dagesh forte.
  • For the בגדכפת consonants: an inner dot is either a dagesh forte or a dagesh lene.
  • When the ה contains a dot, it is called a mappiq.
transcription (ETCBC) transcription (Abegg) glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
> a א ʔ when not mater lectionis letter alef 05D0
B b ב bb
b
v
forte
lene
normal
letter bet 05D1
G g ג gg
g
forte
lene
normal
letter gimel 05D2
D d ד dd
d
forte
lene
normal
letter dalet 05D3
H h ה h also with mappiq; when not mater lectionis letter he 05D4
W w ו ww
w
û
forte
when not part of a long vowel
with dagesh as vowel
letter vav 05D5
Z z ז zz
z
forte
normal
letter zayin 05D6
X j ח letter het 05D7
V f ט letter tet 05D8
J y י yy
y
ʸ
forte
when not part of long vowel
in front of final ו
letter yod 05D9
K k כ kk
k
forte
lene
normal
letter kaf 05DB
k K ך k
forte
normal
letter final kaf 05DA
L l ל ll
l
forte
normal
letter lamed 05DC
M m מ mm
m
forte
normal
letter mem 05DE
m M ם m letter final mem 05DD
N n נ nn
n
forte
normal
letter nun 05E0
n N ן n letter final nun 05DF
S s ס ss
s
forte
normal
letter samekh 05E1
< o ע ʕ letter ayin 05E2
P p פ pp
p
f
forte
lene
normal
letter pe 05E4
p P ף p
f
forte
normal
letter final pe 05E3
Y x צ ṣṣ
forte
normal
letter tsadi 05E6
y X ץ letter final tsadi 05E5
Q q ק qq
q
forte
normal
letter qof 05E7
R r ר rr
r
forte
normal
letter resh 05E8
# C ש ŝ letter shin without dot 05E9
C v שׁ šš
š
forte
normal
letter shin with shin dot FB2A
F c שׂ śś
ś
forte
normal
letter shin with sin dot FB2B
T t ת tt
t
forte
lene
normal
letter tav 05EA

Vowels

Qere Ketiv

The phonetics follows the qere, not the ketiv, when they are different. In that case a * is added.

Tetragrammaton

The tetragrammaton יהוה is (vowel)-pointed in different ways; the phonetics follows the pointing, but the tetragrammaton is put between [ ].

transcription (ETCBC) transcription (Abegg) glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
A A Å ַ a
normal
*furtive*
point patah 05B7
:A S ֲ point hataf patah 05B2
@ D ∂ Î ָ ā
o
gadol
qatan
point qamats 05B8
:@ F ƒ Ï ֳ point hataf qamats 05B3
E R ® ‰ ֶ e
normal
with following י
point segol 05B6
:E T ֱ
ᵉʸ
normal
with following י
point hataf segol 05B1
; E é ´ ֵ ê
ē
with following י
alone
point tsere 05B5
I I ˆ î Ê ִ î
i
with following י
alone
point hiriq 05B4
O O ø ֹ ô
ō
with following ו
alone
point holam 05B9
U U ü ¨ ֻ u point qubuts 05BB
: V √ J ◊ ְ left out if silent point sheva 05B0

Other points and marks

transcription (ETCBC) transcription (Abegg) glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
. ; … Ú ¥ Ω ּ point dagesh or mapiq 05BC
.c ׁ point shin dot 05C1
.f ׂ point sin dot 05C2
, ֿ point rafe 05BF
35 ֽ ˈ point meteg 05BD
45 ֽ ˈ point meteg 05BD
75 ֽ ˈ point meteg 05BD
95 ֽ ˈ point meteg 05BD
52 ׄ ˈ mark upper dot 05C4
53 ׅ ˈ mark lower dot 05C5
* ֯ mark masora circle 05AF

Punctuation

Details

Some specialities in the Masoretic system are not reflected in the phonetics:

  • setumah ס;
  • petuhah ף;
  • nun-hafuka ̇׆.
transcription (ETCBC) transcription (Abegg) glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
00 . ׃ . punctuation sof pasuq 05C3
׆ punctuation nun hafukha 05C6
& - ־ - punctuation maqaf 05BE
_   (non breaking space)   space 0020
0000 ± ׃׃ Dead Sea scrolls. We use as Hebrew character a double sof pasuq. paleo-divider 05C3 05C3
' / ׳ Dead Sea scrolls. We use as Hebrew character a geresh. morpheme-break 05F3

Hybrid

Details

There is a character that is mostly punctuation, but that can also influence the nature of some accents occurring in the word before. Such a character is a hybrid between punctuation and accent. See also the documentation of the BHSA about cantillation.

transcription glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
05 ׀ punctuation paseq 05C0

Accents

Details

Some accents play a role in deciding whether a schwa is silent or mobile and whether a qamets is gadol or qatan. In the phonetics those accents appear as ˈ or ˌ. Implied accents are also added.

transcription glyph phonetic remarks name UNICODE
94 ֧ ˈ accent darga 05A7
13 ֭ ˈ accent dehi 05AD
92 ֑ ˈ accent etnahta 0591
61 ֜ ˈ accent geresh 059C
11 ֝ ˈ accent geresh muqdam 059D
62 ֞ ˈ accent gershayim 059E
64 ֬ ˈ accent iluy 05AC
70 ֤ ˈ accent mahapakh 05A4
71 ֥ ˌ accent merkha 05A5
72 ֦ ˈ accent merkha kefula 05A6
74 ֣ ˈ accent munah 05A3
60 ֫ ˈ accent ole 05AB
03 ֙ accent pashta 0599
83 ֡ ˈ accent pazer 05A1
33 ֨ ˈ accent qadma 05A8
63 ֨ ˌ accent qadma 05A8
84 ֟ ˈ accent qarney para 059F
81 ֗ ˈ accent revia 0597
01 ֒ accent segol 0592
65 ֓ ˈ accent shalshelet 0593
04 ֩ accent telisha qetana 05A9
24 ֩ accent telisha qetana 05A9
14 ֠ accent telisha gedola 05A0
44 ֠ accent telisha gedola 05A0
91 ֛ ˈ accent tevir 059B
73 ֖ ˌ accent tipeha 0596
93 ֪ ˈ accent yerah ben yomo 05AA
10 ֚ ˈ accent yetiv 059A
80 ֔ ˈ accent zaqef qatan 0594
85 ֕ ˈ accent zaqef gadol 0595
82 ֘ ˈ accent zarqa 0598
02 ֮ ˈ accent zinor 05AE

Numerals

Details

These signs occur in the Dead Sea scrolls. We represent them with conventional Hebrew characters for numbers and use the geresh accent or another accent to mark the letter as a numeral.

The ETCBC codes are obtained by translating back from the UNICODE.

transcription (ETCBC) transcription (Abegg) glyph remarks name
>' A א֜ number 1
>52 å אׄ alternative for 1, often at the end of a number, we use the upper dot to distinguish it from the other 1 number 1
>53 B אׅ alternative for 1, often at the end of a number, we use the lower dot to distinguish it from the other 1 number 1
>35 אֽ alternative for 1, often at the end of a number, we use the meteg to distinguish it from the other 1 number 1
J' C י֜ number 10
k' D ך֜ number 20
Q' F ק֜ number 100
& + ־ we use the maqaf to represent addition between numbers add

Text-critical

Details

These signs occur in the Dead Sea scrolls. They are used to indicate uncertainty and editing acts by ancient scribes or modern editors. They do not have an associated glyph in UNICODE.

The ETCBC does not have codes for them, but we propose an ETCBC-compatible encoding for them. The ETCBC codes are surrounded by space, except for the brackets, where a space at the side of the ( or ) is not necessary.

Codes that are marked as flag apply to the preceding character.

Codes that are marked as brackets apply to the material within them.

transcription (Abegg) transcription (ETCBC) remarks name
0 ε token missing
? ? token uncertain (degree 1)
\ # token uncertain (degree 2)
#? token uncertain (degree 3)
Ø ? flag, applies to preceding character uncertain (degree 1)
« # flag, applies to preceding character uncertain (degree 2)
» #? flag, applies to preceding character uncertain (degree 3)
| ## flag, applies to preceding character uncertain (degree 4)
« » (# #) brackets uncertain (degree 2)
≤ ≥ (- -) brackets vacat (empty space)
( ) ( ) brackets alternative
[ ] [ ] brackets reconstruction (modern)
{ } { } brackets removed (modern)
{{ }} {{ }} brackets removed (ancient)
< > (< >) brackets correction (modern)
<< >> (<< >>) brackets correction (ancient)
^ ^ (^ ^) brackets correction (supralinear, ancient)
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"""
.. include:: ../docs/writing/hebrew.md
"""