The letter ב, called bet, is pronounced two different ways. It is either pronounced like the “b” sound in “bad” (IPA: /b/) or like the “v” sound in “very” (IPA /v/). The pattern is that if ב is written at the beginning of a word, or the beginning of a syllable, it is usually pronounced “b” and if ב is written in the middle or the end of a word it is usually pronounced “v”.
The letter ש, called shin, is also pronounced two different ways. In texts where the dots are shown, the ש with the dot on the top left is pronounced like the “s” in “simple” (IPA: /s/) and with the dot on the top right, ש is pronounced like the “sh” sound in “she” (IPA /ʃ/). Unfortunately for beginners the dots are not written in most texts and whether the letter is pronounced “s” or “sh” does not follow any real pattern. The reader must therefore look up the pronunciation to determine if ש is pronounced “s” or “sh”.
PRACTICE
Try to read these Hebrew words. The English translation is given next to each word. The correct pronunciations are given in the answers below.
1. בשר (meat)
2. גבינה (cheese)
3. בירה (beer)
4. לבן (white)
5. בן אדם (person)
6. אב (father)
7. אשה (woman)
8. שמלה (dress)
9. ראש (head)
10. גשם (rain)
11. שלג (snow)
12. שמש (sun)
ANSWERS
1. basar
2. g’vina
3. bira
4. lavan
5. ben adam
6. av
7. isha
8. simla
9. rosh
10. geshem
11. sheleg
12. shemesh