Hebrew Vowels Complete Chart

Learn the Hebrew Vowels

Vowel	Name	Sound	Related Letter	Notes
	Kamatz	Long ah sound, as in the word Awesome	A	Sometimes makes an Oh sound (Kamatz Hatuph)
	Patah	Standard ah sound, as in the word Also	A
	Hataph Patah	Short ah sound, as in the word Atom	A
	Tsere	Long eh sound as in the world Excellent	E
	Segol	Standard eh sound, as in the word End	E
	Hataph Segol	Short eh sound, as in the first E sound in bEtter	E
	Hiriq	ih sound, as in the word Into.	I	If followed by a yod, makes an ee sound.
	Holam	Oh sound, as in hOle	O
	Hataph Kamatz	Oh sound, as in hOp	O
	Kametz Hatuph	Oh sound, as in hOp	O
	Kubutz	Ooh sound, as in the word flUte	U
	Shuruk	Ooh sound, as in the word flUte	U
	Shva	No sound - stop, or extremely short eh	Silence or E	Moving shva at start of word has extremely short eh sound

Hebrew Vowels Use and Meaning

In traditional Hebrew texts and as well as modern writings, the vowels are not written, only the letters.  The vowels are understood from the context of the writing.  Early writings such as the Torah or bible have no written vowels.  Later, people started adding them as dots and lines above and below the letters, in order to make Hebrew reading easier.

It is well known that each Hebrew letter has a deep meaning that can expand our understanding of the texts, which you can read about here.  The vowels also have spiritual meaning, which the Kabbalists tell us is even more profound than that of the letters.  They explain that the reason the vowels are not written and the letters are, is that the vowels are to the letters as the soul is to the body.  The soul cannot be seen, but it gives life and movement to the body.  Likewise the vowels are not traditionally seen, but they give light and movement to the letters.

Click here for inner meanings of the Hebrew Letters

Learn More About Hebrew

Hebrew is an amazing language, which I consider essential to really understanding the Torah or the bible.  To learn Hebrew, I highly recommend The First Hebrew Primer and Answer Book.  I have not found a better book for learning Hebrew.

To learn more about the deeper meanings of the Hebrew letters, I recommend this article.  To learn about meditation on the Hebrew letters, I recommend the Invisible Stairway:Kabbalistic Meditations on the Hebrew Letters by Kabbalist Samuel Avital.

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