The letter י, called yod, is pronounced like the “y” in “yes” or “yellow” (IPA: /j/). It is also used for the long “ee” sound in “bee” or the “i” in “spaghetti” (IPA /i/). Think of this letter the same as the English letter “y” which can be pronounced as a consonant like in “yellow” or as a vowel like in “tiny”. Also like the English “y”, when a word begins with י it is always pronounced as a consonant. In this book this letter will be represented as either “y” or “i” depending on pronunciation.
The letter ג, called gimel, is pronounced like the “g” sound in “good” or “goose” (IPA: /g/).
The letter ד, called dalet, is pronounced like the “d” sound in “dad” or “David” (IPA: /d/).
PRACTICE
Try to read these real Modern Hebrew words. The English translation is given next to each word. The correct pronunciations are given in the answers below.
1. יד (hand/arm)
2. דם (blood)
3. יין (wine)
4. ים (sea)
5. מאי (May)
6. ידיד (friend)
7. אדם (man)
8. ילד (boy)
9. דג (fish)
10. אגם (lake)
ANSWERS
1. yad
2. dam
3. yayin
4. yam
5. may
6. yadid
7. adam
8. yeled
9. dag
10. agam