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A good place to start learning the Hebrew Aleph-Beth is through song.
Here's one by Curtis & Carolyn Loftin to the tune "Shalom Aleichem"


To Hear the "Aleph-Bet" Song
CLI CK HERE
(The song is only a simple audio version recorded on our computer)



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The Aleph-Bet Song - Lyrics
by Curtis & Carolyn Loftin
Tune: "Shalom Aleichem"

Aleph, Bet, Vet, Gimel, Dalet, Hey, Vav, Zayin - Chet, Tet, Yod,
Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samech, Ayin, Peh, Feh,
Tsade, Qof, Resh, Shin Sin, Tov
Now you've learned the Hebrew Aleph-Beth,
You can read Torah in Ivrit (Hebrew).
Twenty-two letters written by the hand of God,
Giving Torah to lead the way.
Shalom Aleichem, Shalom B'Yeshua,
Shabbat Shalom B'Adonainu.




I NTRODUCTI ON:
1. The Hebrew language has 22 letters - all consonants.
2. Five of the Hebrew letters have a different form when they appear at the end of a word.
3. Hebrew is written from right to left.
4. There are no vowels in Hebrew, but a modern system of vowel points (dots & dashes) is
occasionally used in school books and prayer books.
5. These dots and dashes are written above, below or inside the letter, in ways that do not
alter the spacing of the line.
6. There are no vowel points used in newspapers, magazines, signs and other printed
material in Israel today.


Hebrew 4 Christians has a wonderful website designated for the Aleph-Bet & Language at:
http:/ / www.hebrew4christians.com/ Grammar/ Unit_One/ Aleph-Bet/ aleph-bet.html


Hebrew Letter
Letter
Name
Alternate
Letter
Letter
Name
Final Form
(Sofit)
Letter
Name
Sound
Numerical
Value


Aleph
(Silent)
1


Bet


Vet


B
V
2


Gimmel
G
3


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Dalet
D
4


Hey
H
5


Vav
V
6


Zayin
Z
7


Chet

Ch
(Not
like
chair)
More
like
Kh
8


Tet
T
9


Yod
Y
10


Kaf Haf
Kaf
Sofit
K
H
20


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Lamed
L
30


Mem

Mem
Sofit
M
40


Nun

Nun
Sofit
N
50


Samech
S
60


Ayin
(Silent)
70


Pey Fey
Fey
Sofit
P
F
80


Tsadie

Tsadie
Sofit
Ts or
Tz
90


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Qof
K
100


Resh
R
200


Shin Sin

Sh
C
300


Tav
T
400







Additional Information


Some Letters - Two Sounds
Note that some Hebrew letters have two pronunciati ons. Bet, Kaf, and Pay have a "hard" sound
(the fi rst sound in the chart above) and a " soft" sound (the second sound). In poi nted texts, these
l etters have dots i n the center when they are to be pronounced wi th the hard sound. (See the
examples i n the chart above).

Shin i s pronounced "sh" when i t has a dot over the ri ght branch and " s" when i t has a dot over
the l eft branch.


Vav, usuall y a consonant pronounced as a "v," i s someti mes a vowel pronounced "oo" or "oh."
When it i s pronounced "oo", poi nted texts have a dot in the middl e. When i t i s pronounced "oh",
pointed texts have a dot on top.

Some Letters - Two Forms
Hebrew Aleph_Bet http://curtis.loftinnc.com/Hebrew_Aleph_Bet.htm
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Some of the Hebrew l etter have two forms. Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pay and Tsadi al l are wri tten
differently when they appear at the end of a word than when they appear in the beginni ng or
mi ddl e of the word. The version used at the end of a word is referred to as Kaf Sofit (Fi nal Kaf),
Mem Sofi t (Final Mem), etc. The versi on of the letter on the l eft i n the chart above (in black) is the
fi nal versi on. In al l cases except the Mem Sofit, the fi nal versi on has a long tai l

VOWELS:
Like most early Semi ti c alphabeti c wri ti ng systems, the Al ef-Bet has no vowel s. Peopl e who are
fl uent i n the language do not need vowel s to read Hebrew, and most newspapers, magazines, or
books of general use wri tten i n Hebrew are wri tten wi thout vowels. Si dduri m (Prayer Books) and
Tanach (Torah, Neviyim, and Kethubim ) are the excepti ons to the rule. Around the 8th century,
the Rabbis real ized the need for aids to pronunci ati on, so they developed a system of dots and
dashes cal led Nikud (poi nts). These dots and dashes are written above, bel ow or i nsi de the l etter,
i n ways that do not al ter the spacing of the li ne. Text contai ni ng these marki ngs is referred to as
"poi nted" text

The li ne of text above woul d be pronounced i n Sephardic pronunciati on, (whi ch is what most
peopl e today use): V-ah-hav-ta L'ray-a(ch)a ka-moh-(ch)a. (And you shal l l ove your nei ghbor as
yoursel f. Vayi kra - Leviti cus 19:18)

TRANSLI TERATI ON:
The process of wri ti ng Hebrew words in the Roman (Engl ish) al phabet i s known as
transl iterati on. Transl iterati on i s more an art than a sci ence, and opi nions on the correct way to
transl iterate words vary widely. Thi s i s why the Jewi sh festival of l i ghts (i n Hebrew, Chet-Nun-
Kaf-Hay) is spel led Chanukah, Channukkah, Hanuka, and many other i nteresting ways. Each
spel li ng has a l egi ti mate phoneti c and orthographic basis; none is ri ght or wrong.

NUMERI CAL VALUE of the ALEPH-BET:
Each letter i n the Aleph-Bet has a numeri cal value. These val ues can be used to wri te numbers, as
the Romans used some of thei r l etters (I, V, X, L, C, M) to represent numbers.







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