Learn Biblical Hebrew: Lesson 9

Consonants

The "chet" is pronounced "ch" as in the German name Bach.

The "kaph" is pronounced two different ways. If the letter appears with a "dagesh" in the middle of the letter (כּ), it is pronounced "k" as in kick (This form of the letter is called the "kaph"). If the letter appears without the "dagesh" (כ), it is pronounced "kh" as the "ch" in the German name Bach (This form of the letter is called a "khaph").

The final "khaph" has the same pronunciations as the "kaph" and may or may not have a dagesh. The final khaph will always include a vowel pointing and will be placed inside the letter rather than below it.

Vowels

אֻ

The Qubbuts. This vowel is pronounced "u" as in tune.

Notes

When the "ah" vowel appears under the letter "chet", the two sounds trade places. The second word in line 2 of the practice section is pronounced "ko'ach" not "kocha". This is unique only to this letter and vowel combination when it appears at the end of a word.