Kubutz or qubbutz (modern he, קֻבּוּץ; , formerly , ''qībūṣ'') and shuruk ( he, שׁוּרוּק, ) are two
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
niqqud
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the ...
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
signs that represent the sound . In an alternative, Ashkenazi naming, the kubutz (three diagonal dots) is called "shuruk" and shuruk is called "melopum" ().
Appearance
The kubutz sign is represented by three diagonal dots "◌ֻ" underneath a letter.
The shuruk is the letter ''vav'' with a dot in the middle and to the left of it. The dot is identical to the grammatically different signs
dagesh
The dagesh () is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to the Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points). It takes the form of a dot placed inside a Hebrew letter and has the effect of mod ...
and
mappiq
The mappiq (, also ''mapiq'', ''mapik'', ''mappik'', lit. "causing to go out") is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It is part of the Masoretes' system of niqqud (vowel points), and was added to Hebrew orthography at the same time. It takes ...
, but in a fully vocalized text it is practically impossible to confuse them: shuruk itself is a vowel sign, so if the letter before the ''vav'' doesn't have its own vowel sign, then the ''vav'' with the dot is a shuruk and otherwise it is a ''vav'' with a dagesh or a mappiq. Furthermore, the mappiq only appears at the end of the word and only in the letter
He (ה) in modern Hebrew and in the Bible it sometimes appears in ''
aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These letter ...
'' (א) and only in some Bible manuscripts it appears in the letter ''vav'', for example in the word גֵּוּ ('
torso
The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human ...
') . Compare for example ''vav'' with dagesh in מְגֻוָּן 'varied' (without niqqud: מגוון) as opposed to shuruk in מִגּוּן 'protection' (without niqqud: מיגון); see also
orthographic variants of ''waw''.
Name
In older grammar books the kubbutz is called qibbûṣ pum etc. (קִבּוּץ פּוּם), ''compression ''or'' contraction of the mouth''. This was shortened to qibbûṣ (also transliterated as kibbutz etc.) but later all the names of vowel signs were changed to include their own sound in their first syllable. This way kibutz changed to kubutz, and this is the common name today, although the name "kibutz" is still occasionally used, for example by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
[''Academy Decisions: Grammar'', §1.3.]
Shuruk was earlier called shureq (שׁוּרֶק), but this name is rarely used today.
Usage
Shuruk in modern texts
''For details on the sounds of Hebrew, see
Help:IPA/Hebrew and
Hebrew phonology''
The shuruk is used to mark at the last syllable of the word and in open syllables in the middle of the word:
* שָׁמְרוּ ('they guarded')
* חָתוּל ('cat')
* תְּשׁוּבָה ('answer', ''
Tshuva
Repentance ( he, תשובה, literally, "return", pronounced ''tshuva'' or ''teshuva'') is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in the ...
'')
Regardless of syllable type, shuruk is always written in foreign words and names if they weren't adapted to Hebrew word structure (''mishkal''):
* אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה ('university')
* הַמְבּוּרְג ('
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
')
* אוּקְרָאִינָה ('
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
') (closed syllable)
Differently from all other niqqud signs, a shuruk can stand on its own in the beginning of the word and not after a consonant when it is the
conjunction
Conjunction may refer to:
* Conjunction (grammar), a part of speech
* Logical conjunction, a mathematical operator
** Conjunction introduction, a rule of inference of propositional logic
* Conjunction (astronomy), in which two astronomical bodies ...
ו־ ''and''. Hebrew one-letter words are written together with the next word and their pronunciation may change according to the first letters of that word. The basic vocalization of this conjunction is ''
shva na
Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa ( he, שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots () beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (/ Ø/) (shva na ...
'' (וְ־ ), but before the
labial consonant
Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, bot ...
s
''bet'' (ב),
''waw'' (ו),
''mem'' (מ) and
''pe'' (פ), and before any letter with ''
shva
Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa ( he, שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots () beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (/ Ø/) (shva na ...
'' (except ''
yodh
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many lan ...
'') it becomes a shuruk (וּ־ ). This is the consistent vocalization in the Bible and in normative modern Hebrew, but in spoken modern Hebrew it is not consistently productive and the conjunction may simply remain וְ־ in these cases. It is not reflected in writing without niqqud. Examples:
* וּמִכְתָּב ('and a letter')
* וּוֶרֶד ('and a rose')
* וּסְפָרִים ('and books')
Kubutz in modern texts
Kubutz is used only in native Hebrew words and in words with foreign roots that were adapted to Hebrew word structure (''mishkal''), for example מְפֻרְמָט ('
formatted (disk)') (without niqqud מפורמט). It is written in closed syllables which do not appear at the end of the word. A closed syllable is one which ends in a consonant with ''
shva nakh
Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa ( he, שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots () beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel ...
'' (zero vowel) or in a consonant with ''
dagesh khazak
The dagesh () is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to the Hebrew language, Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points). It takes the form of a dot placed inside a Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ...
'' (essentially two identical consonants, the first of which has ''shva nakh'').
Kubutz in base forms of nouns
Common noun patterns in which kubutz appears in the base form are:
* /CuCCaC/ where the middle CC is a double consonant (with Dagesh): סֻלָּם ('scale') , אֻכָּף ('saddle') . Without niqqud: סולם, אוכף.
* /CuCCa/: חֻלְדָּה ('rat') , without niqqud: חולדה. To this pattern belong also the words whose roots' second and third letter are the same and merge into one consonant with dagesh: סֻכָּה ('hut', ''
Sukka
A or succah (; he, סוכה ; plural, ' or ''sukkos'' or ''sukkoth'', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated w ...
'') , root ס־כ־כ, without niqqud: סוכה.
* /CəCuCCa/ where the last CC is a double consonant (with Dagesh): נְקֻדָּה ('point') . The Dagesh is not realized in modern Hebrew, but if the letter with the dagesh is
''bet'' (ב), ''
kaph
Kaph (also spelled kaf) is the eleventh letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician kāp , Hebrew kāf , Aramaic kāp , Syriac kāp̄ , and Arabic kāf (in abjadi order).
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek kappa (Κ), Lati ...
'' (כ) or
''pe'' (פ), then it is pronounced as a
stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lips ...
: כְּתֻבָּה ('
ketubba
A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...
', '
prenuptial agreement
A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...
') , חֲנֻכָּה ('
housewarming
A housewarming party is a party traditionally held soon after moving into a new residence. It is an occasion for the hosts to present their new home to their friends, post-moving, and for friends to give gifts to furnish the new home. House-warm ...
',
Hanukka
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
) .
[ changes to on a guttural letter.] Without niqqud: נקודה, חנוכה.
* /CuCCan/: שֻׁלְחָן ('desk') , without niqqud: שולחן.
* /CuCCoCet/ with Dagesh in the middle letter of the root: כֻּתֹּנֶת ('coat', 'garment') ; with a four letter root: גֻּלְגֹּלֶת ('skull') . Without niqqud: כותונת, גולגולת.
* /CuCCeCet/: כֻּסֶּמֶת ('
spelt
Spelt (''Triticum spelta''), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC.
Spelt was an important staple food in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. No ...
', '
buckwheat
Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...
') , קֻבַּעַת ('
goblet
A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.
Re ...
') . Without niqqud: כוסמת, קובעת.
Kubutz in declined forms of nouns
Common noun patterns in which kubutz appears in the declined form are:
* Declined forms of words, whose roots' second and third letter are the same, and which have a ''
holam
Holam (modern he, , , formerly , ') is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by a dot above the upper left corner of the consonant letter. For example, here the holam appears after the letter '' mem'' : . In modern Hebrew, it indicates ...
haser'' in the last syllable of their base form: דֻּבִּים ('bears') , the plural of דֹּב , root ד־ב־ב; כֻּלָּם ('all of them') , a declined form of כֹּל , root כ־ל־ל. All these words are written with ''vav'' in texts without niqqud: דובים, דוב, כולם, כול.
* Declined forms of words which have the pattern /CaCoC/ in the singular and become /CəCuCCim/ in the plural: צָהֹב ('yellow', ), pl. צְהֻבִּים (), עָגֹל ('round', ), pl. עֲגֻלִּים ().
Without niqqud: צהוב, צהובים, עגול, עגולים. Exception: מָתוֹק ('sweet', ), pl. מְתוּקִים (), with holam gadol and shuruk and without dagesh.
* Some words, in the base form of which the penultimate syllable has and is stressed (sometimes called ''seggolate''), may be written with kubutz or with ''
kamatz
Kamatz or qamatz ( he, label=Modern Hebrew, קָמָץ, ; alternatively ) is a Hebrew niqqud (vowel) sign represented by two perpendicular lines (looking like an uppercase T) underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, it usually indicates the pho ...
katan'' when declined. For example, base form: מַשְׂכֹּרֶת (''wage'', ); declined: מַשְׂכָּרְתָּהּ or מַשְׂכֻּרְתָּהּ , both being normative spellings and pronunciations of ''her wage''.
Without niqqud, in any case: משכורת, משכורתה.
The plural form of words which end in ־וּת was in the past written with a kubutz in texts with niqqud: sg. חָנוּת ('shop'), , pl. חֲנֻיּוֹת . In March 2009 the Academy decided to simplify the niqqud of such words by eliminating the dagesh in the letter ''
yodh
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many lan ...
'' and changing the kubutz to shuruk: חֲנוּיוֹת. This doesn't change the pronunciation, since in modern Hebrew the dagesh is not realized anyway. The spelling without niqqud is also unchanged: חנויות.
Kubutz in verbs
Kubutz is common in verbs in the passive
binyan
In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typica ...
im pual and huf'al and in some conjugated forms of verbs whose roots' second and third letters are the same.
=Pual
=
Verbs and participles in the passive
binyan
In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typica ...
pual usually have a kubutz in the first letter of the root: כֻּנַּס ('was gathered') , מקֻבָּל ('acceptable') , without niqqud: כונס, מקובל.
If the second letter of the root is one of the
guttural consonant
Guttural speech sounds are those with a primary place of articulation near the back of the oral cavity, especially where it's difficult to distinguish a sound's place of articulation and its phonation. In popular usage it is an imprecise term for s ...
s ''
aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These letter ...
'' (א), ''
he'' (ה), ''
ayin
''Ayin'' (also ''ayn'' or ''ain''; transliterated ) is the sixteenth letter of the Semitic scripts, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac ܥ, and Arabic (where it is sixteenth in abjadi order only).
The letter represents a ...
'' (ע) and ''
resh
Resh is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician Rēsh , Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew Rēsh , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic Rēsh , Syriac alphabet, Syriac Rēsh ܪ, and Arabic script, Arabic ...
'' (ר) - but not ''
heth
Heth, sometimes written Chet, but more accurately Ḥet, is the eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Ḥēt 𐤇 , Hebrew Ḥēth , Aramaic Ḥēth , Syriac Ḥēṯ ܚ, Arabic Ḥā' , and Maltese Ħ, ħ.
Heth originall ...
'' (ח) -, the kubutz changes to ''holam haser'' in a process called ''tashlum dagesh'' (תשלום דגש): יְתֹאַר ('will be described') , מְדֹרָג ('graded') ; without niqqud: יתואר, מדורג.
=Huf'al
=
Kubutz is used in the prefixes of verbs and participles in the passive
binyan
In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typica ...
Huf'al: הֻרְדַּם ('was put to sleep') , מֻסְדָּר ('organized') . It is also correct to write words in this binyan with ''
kamatz katan
Kamatz or qamatz ( he, label=Modern Hebrew, קָמָץ, ; alternatively ) is a Hebrew niqqud (vowel) sign represented by two perpendicular lines (looking like an uppercase T) underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, it usually indicates the pho ...
'' in the prefix: הָרְדַּם, מָסְדָּר (, ). Without niqqud, in any case: הורדם, מוסדר.
The kubutz is used only if the prefix is a closed vowel, which is the majority of cases. With some root patterns, however, it becomes an open vowel, in which case a shuruk is written:
* Roots whose first letter is ''
yodh
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many lan ...
'' (י): הוּטַב ('become better') , root י־ט־ב; הוּרַד ('brought down') , root י־ר־ד.
* Roots whose middle letter is
''waw'' (ו) or ''
yodh
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many lan ...
'' (י): הוּקַם ('erected') , root קום; הוּבַן ('understood') , root בין.
* Roots whose second and third letter are the same: הוּגַן ('protected') , root גננ.
In many roots whose first letter is
''nun'' (נ) and in six roots whose first two letters are ''
yodh
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many lan ...
'' (י) and ''
tsade
Tsade (also spelled , , , , tzadi, sadhe, tzaddik) is the eighteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ṣādē , Hebrew ṣādi , Aramaic ṣāḏē , Syriac ṣāḏē ܨ, Ge'ez ṣädäy ጸ, and Arabic . Its oldest phoneti ...
'' (צ), this letter is assimilated with the second letter of the root, which in turn takes a complementary dagesh. This makes the syllable of the prefix closed, so accordingly the prefix takes kubutz: הֻסַּע ('driven') , root נסע; הֻצַּג ('presented') , root יצג. Without niqqud: הוסע, הוצג.
=Double roots
=
Kubutz appears in some conjugated forms of verbs with roots whose second and third letter are the same (also called double stems and ע"ע). Most of them are rarely used.
Examples with verb סָבַב ('turn') in the future tense of binyan qal:
* אֲסֻבֵּךְ (1 sg. with possessive suffix)
* תְּסֻבֶּינָה (3 pl. f.)
In older texts
In the Bible ''shuruk'' and ''kubutz'' are not always used according to the above consistent rules and sometimes quite arbitrarily. For example, in appear the words: וּמְשֻׁבוֹתַיִךְ תּוֹכִחֻךְ ('and your backslidings shall reprove you', ). Kubutz is used in both of them, even though in the first word the syllable is not closed and the ''vav'' is even a part of this word's root, and in the second word the sound is in the last syllable. Contrariwise, a shuruk is used in closed syllables where a kubutz would be expected, for example in - עֲרוּמִּים ('naked', , the plural of עָרֹם, ), instead of the more regular עֲרֻמִּים (in modern Hebrew without niqqud: ערומים).
The word נְאֻם (''speech'', ) is written with kubutz in the Bible. It was previously frequently used to mark the signature on documents (e.g. נאם יוסף לוי - 'so says Yosef Levi'), but this usage is rare in modern Hebrew, where this word usually means "(a delivered) speech" and is regularly spelled with shuruk - נְאוּם. The name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ('
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
', ) is spelled with kubutz in the Bible, but usually יְהוֹשׁוּעַ in modern Hebrew.
In the first decades of the
revival of the Hebrew language
The revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and Palestine toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, through which the language's usage changed from the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language ...
it was common in spelling without niqqud not to write the ''vav'' in words which were written with kubutz. For example, in the printed works of
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( he, אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֵּן־יְהוּדָה}; ; born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman, 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, grammarian, and journalist, renowned as the lexicographer of ...
the word מרבה may mean מְרֻבֶּה ('multiplied', ) and מַרְבֶּה ('multiplying', ). This practice disappeared in the middle of twentieth century and now מְרֻבֶּה is written מרובה and מַרְבֶּה is written מרבה.
Pronunciation
In Biblical Hebrew both signs may have indicated the same sound and when the Bible manuscripts were vocalized kubutz was simply used where the letter ''vav'' was not written, although other possibilities were proposed by researchers, most commonly that the vowels had different
length
Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...
(quantity), kubutz being shorter, or that the signs indicated different sounds (quality), kubutz being more rounded,
although this is a matter of debate. It is also possible that Biblical Hebrew had several varieties of sounds, which were not consistently represented in writing.
Chaim Rabin
Chaim Menachem Rabin ( he, חיים מנחם רבין; 1915–1996) was a German, then British, and finally Israeli professor of Hebrew and Semitic languages.
Chaim Rabin was born in Giessen, Germany, 22 November 1915, the son of Israel and Martel ...
, 'Short Vowels in Tiberian Hebrew', in ''Ḥiqre Lašon'' 1999 (originally published 1961). .
Shuruk is usually a reflection of reconstructed
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language ancestral to the Semitic languages. There is no consensus regarding the location of the Proto-Semitic ''Urheimat''; scholars hypothesize that it may have originated in the Levant (m ...
long (ū) sound, although most likely in the Bible kubutz stands for it when the letter ''vav'' is not written. Kubutz is one of the reflections of the short Proto-Semitic short (ŭ) sound.
Kamatz katan
Kamatz or qamatz ( he, label=Modern Hebrew, קָמָץ, ; alternatively ) is a Hebrew niqqud (vowel) sign represented by two perpendicular lines (looking like an uppercase T) underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, it usually indicates the pho ...
is a variant of kubutz in the Bible, as they are found in
complementary distribution
In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind in which one element is found in one set of environments and the other ele ...
in closely related morphological patterns.
In modern Hebrew, both signs indicate the
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
, a
close back rounded vowel
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
In ...
. Its closest equivalent in English is the "oo" sound in tool. It is
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
as a "u".
In modern Hebrew writing without niqqud the sound is always written as ''
waw
Waw or WAW may refer to:
* Waw (letter), a letter in many Semitic abjads
* Waw, the velomobile
* Another spelling for the town Wau, South Sudan
* Waw Township, Burma
*Warsaw Chopin Airport, an international airport serving Warsaw, Poland (IATA ai ...
'', in which case it is considered a ''
mater lectionis
''Matres lectionis'' (from Latin "mothers of reading", singular form: ''mater lectionis'', from he, אֵם קְרִיאָה ) are consonants that are used to indicate a vowel, primarily in the writing down of Semitic languages such as Arabic, ...
''.
The following table contains the
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...
of the kubutz and shuruk in reconstructed historical forms and
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s using the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
.
Vowel length comparison
These vowels lengths are not manifested in modern Hebrew. In addition, the short ''u'' is usually promoted to a long ''u'' in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
Unicode encoding
See also
*
Niqqud
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the ...
References
{{Hebrew language
Niqqud