1.
Transliteration and Unicode Coding
Graham Thomason, 11 June, 2012
Transliterated vowels with length markings (applicable to Hebrew, Greek, Latin...)
e.g. for
basic
A
E
I
O
U
Y
a
e
i
o
u
y
bubfbibe
ba
breve
Ă
Ĕ
Ĭ
Ŏ
Ŭ
Y̆
ă
ĕ
ĭ
ŏ
ŭ
y̆
b/bvbj
unicode
0102
0114
012C 014E
016C +0306 0103
0115
012D 014F
016D +0306
macron
Ā
Ē
Ī
Ū
ē
ī
ū
unicode
0100
0112
012A 014C 016A +0304 0101
0113
012B 014D 016B +0304
Ê
Î
â
ê
î
00E2
00EA 00EE 00F4
circumflex Â
unicode
Ō
Ô
Û
Ȳ
Ŷ
00C2 00CA 00CE 00D4 00DB 0176
ā
grave
È
è
unicode
00C8
00E8
shewa
e
ō
ô
û
ȳ
|buob|bib
'bf
ŷ
00FB 0177
ybi yb'
hbf
w3b
Gwb
ybe
b;
super
Notes
 The unicode codes marked with a leading plus, e.g. +0306, are independent nonspacing diacritics.

Do not mistake a caron for a breve: Ǎ Ě Ǐ Ǒ Ǔ Y̌ ǎ ě ǐ ǒ ǔ y̌ (01CD 011A 01CF 01D1 01D3 +030C etc.)

Acute accents : É=00C9, é=00E9 (others easy to find on the character map; nonspacing: +0301)

In Word, ALT/X will toggle a selected character between its hex value and its representation.
Hebrew consonants
#$
unicode
o#
c
(
+
x
)
š
Š
ś
Ś
ṣ
Ṣ
ʿ
ṭ
Ṭ
ḥ
Ḥ
ʾ
0161 0160 015B 015A 1E63 1E62 02BF 1E6D 1E6C 1E25 1E24 02BE
Notes
 The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols for aleph and ayin are
(
unicode
)
ˁ
ˀ
02C1 02C0
1
2.
1
2a
2b
3a
3b
4a
4b
5
6
7
8
9
10
11a
11b
12
13
14
15
16
17a
17b
18
19
20
21a
2
The Alphabet
Hebr Hand- Hebrew Trans- Popular Scholarly AV
Remarks
square written name literation name translit- translitof name
eration eration
aleph
ʾ
a glottal plosive
ʾālep
Ple)f
)
)
b% b%
b
b
g@ g@
g
g
d% d%
d
d
h
h
w w
z
z
x
+
y
K@
k%
Kk
l
M
m
Nn
s
(
P3
pZ
Pp
Cc
q
r
o#
x
+
y
K@
k%
Kk
l
M
m
Nn
s
(
P3
pZ
Pp
Cc
q
r
o#
tyb%'
lmeyg
@I
bêt
gîmel
beth
gimel
B b (+bb) b
b
Bb
originally bilabial (?)
modern pronunciation is v
g
G g (+gg) g
Gg
tledf%
dālet
daleth
b
g
D d (+dd) d
Dd
d
originally a velar fricative
modern pronunciation is g
d
originally voiced th
modern pronunciation is d
h
hēʾ
hé
Hh
h
wwF
wāw
waw
Ww
v
NyIz
A
tyx'
zayin
zayin
Zz
z
originally w (?)
modern pronunciation is v
z
ḥêt
heth
Ḥḥ
h
a pharyngeal unvoiced fricative
ty+'
ṭêt
teth
Ṭṭ
t
pharyngealized t
dowy
yôd
yod
Yy
j/i
y
Pk%f
kāp
kaph
K k (+kk) c
k
Kk
ch
a velar fricative
)h'
dmelf
lāmed
lamed
Ll
l
l
Mm'
mēm
mem
Mm
m
m
Nw3n
nûn
nun
Nn
n
n
Kmesf
sāmek
samekh S s
s
s
NyI(a
ʿayin
ayin
ʿ
-
a pharyngeal voiced fricative
pēh
pé
P p (+pp) p
p
Pp
ph
modern pronunciation is f
hpZ'
yd'cf
ṣādê
tsadé
Ṣṣ
z
Powq
qôp
qoph
Qq
k
originally pharyngealized s
modern pronunciation is ts.
a uvular voiceless plosive
#$yr'
rêš
resh
Rr
r
rolled or uvular
Ny#i$
śîn
sin
Śś
s
s, not distinguished from
21b
22a
22b
#$
tZ
t
#$
tZ
t
Nyo#i
šîn
shin
Šš
sh
samekh
sh
wtaZ
taw
taw
T t (+tt)
t
t
Tt
th
originally voiceless th
3
Notes on the alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 basic consonants. The other consonants are variations of
the 22 fundamental consonants.

The handwritten forms are in imitation of printed letters, which is as Biblical Hebrew is
normally taught, and are not the way Modern Hebrew is normally written (which is rather
different).

Six letters (tpkdgb) have a hard and soft form. In pointed script, the hard form takes a dot or
dagesh (tpZk%d%g@b%) whereas the soft form does not (tpkdgb). These two forms are not
regarded as separate letters, and do not have separate dictionary ordering. One must also
distinguish
o
Dagesh lene. A dagesh lene will always be present when no vowel precedes the
consonant.
o
Dagesh forte. If there is a dagesh when a vowel precedes the consonant, it is a dagesh
forte, in which case the transliteration will be a double letter.
Although the soft forms are transcribed in the same way as the hard forms with dagesh lene,
the forms (including when reading a transcription) can be read with a soft (fricative)
pronunciation, so e.g. p will be read as f.

o# and #$ are counted as one letter and do not (traditionally) have separate dictionary
ordering.

Five letters (cpnmk) have separate final forms (CPNMK). These are used at the end of a
word.

Identical sounds in modern Hebrew
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
)(
bw
k% q
kx
g g@
d d%
s o#
t t@ +
c st stZ s+ o#t o#tZ o#+
but these are distinguished
o b% b
o k% k
o pZ p
4
Some other fonts
Hebrew
Square
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
Kk
l
Mm
Nn
s
(
Pp
Cc
q
r
o#
#$
t
Siloam / Samaritan Qumran
Palaeo
Rabbinic
(Rashi)
Handwritten
Square
Modern
cursive
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
Kk
l
Mm
Nn
s
(
Pp
Cc
q
r
o#
#$
t
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
Kk
l
Mm
Nn
s
(
P p3
Cc
q
r
o#
#$
t
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
k
l
m
n
s
(
p
c
q
r
#
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
k
l
m
n
s
(
p
c
q
r
#
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
Kk
l
Mm
Nn
s
(
Pp
Cc
q
r
#
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
Kk
l
m
n
s
(
Pp
Cc
q
r
#
t
t
t
t
5
Meanings of the letters and gematria
Hebrew
Square
Hebrew
Name
)
b
g
d
h
w
z
x
+
y
k
l
m
n
s
(
p
c
q
r
o#
#$
t
K
M
N
P
C
Ple)f
tyb%'
lmeyg@I
tledf%
)h'
wwF
NyIzA
tyx'
ty+'
dowy
Pk%f
dmelf
Mm'
Nw3n
K7mesf
NyI(a
hpZ'
yd'cf
Powq
#$yr'
Ny#i$
Nyo#i
wtaZ
6
Meaning
Gematria
Ox
1
House
Camel
2
3
Door
4
Window
Hook
5
6
Weapon
Fence
Snake
7
8
9
Hand
10
Palm of hand
20
Goad
30
Water
40
Fish
Prop
50
60
Eye
70
Mouth
Fish-hook?
Eye of needle?
80
90
100
Head
200
Tooth
(same)
300
(same)
Cross
400
500
600
700
800
900
2.1
Vowels
Summary of the vowels
A
long with mater lectionis
E
I
O
U
hb yb yb G w
f% '% %i w 3b
b %
%
bâ bê bî bô bû
long without mater lectionis




shewa
b b b b b
%a % %i % %
e
f u
ba be bi bo bu
hurried

b b |b ob |b
%f %' %i % %
u
bā bē bī bō bū
short

b b
%j %
v
b
%/
bă bĕ
bŏ

b@
%;
be
long e grave
ybe
%
bè
7
Detailed Table of vowels with Hebrew names, transliterated names and informal names.


A
long with
mater
bâ
long without
mater
b
%f
lectionis
bā


short

hb
f%
lectionis


E


Cmeqf
qāmeṣ
qamets
hurried
patach
chateph
pataḥ

shewa
U
ḥôlem gādôl
bê tseré gadol bî chireq gadol bô
cholem gadol
bû shureq
ob
%
Mleowx
|b Cw3b
% %qi
u qibbûṣ
bō


cholem
bo


qamets chatuph


b
%'
yr'c'
bē


tseré
be


ṣērê
lowgs;
e
s gôl
segol
lowgs;
P+'xf
ḥātēp segôl
bĕ chateph
segol



|b
%i
qreyxi
bī


chireq
ḥîreq
b
%i
qreyxi
bi


chireq
ḥîreq


lowdgF
Mleowx


w qrew
3b 3#$
% šûreq
b xtapaZ b
%j P+'xf %
ḥātēp pataḥ v
bă
O
yb lowdgF yb lowdgF G
'% yr'c' %i qreyxi w
ṣērê gādôl
ḥîreq gādôl b
%
b xtapaZ b
%a pataḥ %
e
ba


I
ḥôlem


bū qibbuts


b Pw3+xf Cmeqf b Cw3b
% qāmeṣ ḥātûp % %qi
f
u qibbûṣ
b Pw3+xf Cmeqf
%/
P+'xf
bu qibbuts


ḥātēp qāmeṣ ḥātûp
bŏ chateph qamets
chatuph

b )wF#;$
@ šewaʾ
%;
be
shewa


long e grave
yb lowdgF
e lowgs;
% segôl gādôl
bè segol gadol
Notes
1. Generally, hbf% (bâ) will only occur at the end of a word; elsewhere bf% (bā) is used.
2. There are some (rather complex) ways to distinguish between bf%= bā and bf%=bo, e.g.



Word pattern (short closed unstressed syllable) + (stressed syllable [open/closed long/short]):
hmfk;xf (ḥokmâ) (wisdom), l+aq;hf (hoqṭal) (he was caused to be killed)
A meteg, as in w3bt;|k%f (kātevû) (they wrote) indicates an ā.
Standard grammatical forms reveal the vowel, e.g. hofal btZak;hfû from btak%f and
Mkey#$'d;xûf from #$deox.
3. Transliterate
bāh.
8
hb'%
by bēh,
hbe% and h@be% both by beh, )b%f by bāʾ, and h@b%f by
4. As in precise orthography, the GGTAmos font can distinguish, by the position of the dot, a
consonantal waw+ ḥôlem (ow) from a vocalic ḥôlem on o mater lectionis (Gw).
5. As in precise orthography, the GGTAmos font can distinguish, by the position of the dot, a
consonantal waw with dagesh (w[) from a šûreq (w3).
6. The GGTAmos font can distinguish, by a convention, bf%=bā from bf%û=bo.
9