Hebrew Consonants and vowels

LESSON 11

The "O" class vowels

All the "O" class vowels are pronounced with an "oh" sound. "O" class vowels are usually transliterated with the letter "o". The vav of holam vav is a matres lectionis—it is not a consonant but acts as a vowel. This is an ancient tradition known from exilic times before the Masorites added nikkud to the Hebrew text.

The hataf kamats only occurs with the guttural letters [? ? ? ?].

The kamats hatuf is sometimes called kamats katan (small). It is important to note the visual similarity to the "a" type vowel kamats (sometimes called kamats gadol, meaning "big"]. The two vowels have very different sounds.

Practice. ...Putting things together.
Listen to and practice saying these consonant-vowel combinations. Each combination, whether open or closed, represents a syllable.

 

OPEN syllables

 

CLOSED syllables

 

Now for some real Hebrew words

 

WORKSHEET DOWNLOAD: Print your Hebrew
vowels WORKSHEET to accompany
Lessons 8-13. HERE.

continue to Lesson 12: Hebrew "U" class Vowels. HERE.