View source for Modern Hebrew phonology

{{Short description|Sounds and pronunciation of Modern Hebrew}}
{{WikiIPA|Modern Hebrew|Hebrew}}
{{IPA notice}}
Modern Hebrew has 25 to 27 consonants<!--depending on whether the speaker has pharyngeals--> and 5 vowels,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reilly |first=Sullivan |title=History, Phonology, Orthography, Volume One: Hebrew |url=https://parkcityprospector.us/3597/features/history-phonology-orthography-volume-one-hebrew/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Park City Prospector}}</ref> depending on the speaker and the analysis.

[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] has been used primarily for [[liturgy|liturgical]], literary, and scholarly purposes for most of the past two millennia. As a consequence, its pronunciation was strongly influenced by the [[vernacular]] of individual Jewish communities. With the revival of Hebrew as a native language, and especially with the establishment of Israel, the pronunciation of the modern language rapidly coalesced.

The two main accents of modern Hebrew are Oriental and Non-Oriental.{{sfnp|Laufer|1999|p=96}} Oriental Hebrew was chosen as the preferred accent for Israel by the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]], but has since declined in popularity.{{sfnp|Laufer|1999|p=96}} The description in this article follows the language as it is pronounced by native Israeli speakers of the younger generations.

==Oriental and non-Oriental accents==
According to the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]], in the 1880s (the time of the beginning of the Zionist movement and the Hebrew revival) there were three groups of Hebrew regional accents: [[Ashkenazi Hebrew|Ashkenazi]] (Eastern European), [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardi]] (Southern European), and [[Mizrahi Hebrew|Mizrahi]] (Middle Eastern, Iranian, and North African). Over time  features of these systems of pronunciation merged, and at present scholars identify two main pronunciations of modern (i.e., not liturgical) Hebrew: Oriental and Non-Oriental.{{sfnp|Laufer|1999|p=96-99}} Oriental Hebrew displays traits of an Arabic substrate.<ref name=Schwarzwald524>Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald. "Modern Hebrew", in Khan, Geoffrey, Michael P. Streck, and Janet CE Watson (eds.). The Semitic languages: an international handbook. Edited by Stefan Weninger. Vol. 36. Walter de Gruyter, 2011. p. 524-25</ref>
Elder oriental speakers tend to use an alveolar trill {{IPA|[r]}}, preserve the pharyngeal consonants {{IPA|/ħ/}} and (less commonly) {{IPA|/ʕ/}},<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, G.]] (2005). "''Abba, why was Professor Higgins trying to teach Eliza to speak like our cleaning lady?'': Mizrahim, Ashkenazim, Prescriptivism and the Real Sounds of the Israeli Language", ''[[Australian Association for Jewish Studies|Australian Journal of Jewish Studies]]'' 19, pp. 210-231.</ref> preserve [[gemination]], and pronounce {{IPA|/e/}} in some places where non-Oriental speakers do not have a vowel (the ''[[shva na]]''). A limited number of Oriental speakers, for example elderly [[Yemenite Jews]], even maintain some pharyngealized (emphatic) consonants also found in Arabic, such as {{IPA|/sˤ/}} for Biblical {{IPA|/tsʼ/}}. Israeli Arabs ordinarily use the Oriental pronunciation, vocalising the ''‘ayin'' ({{Script/Hebrew|ע}}) as {{IPA|/ʕ/}}, resh (ר) as [r] and, less frequently, the ''ḥet'' ({{Script/Hebrew|ח}}) as {{IPA|/ħ/}}.

===Pronunciation of {{angbr|{{lang|he|ע}}}}===
Non-Oriental (and General Israeli) pronunciation lost the emphatic and pharyngeal sounds of Biblical Hebrew under the influence of European languages ([[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] for Ashkenazim and [[Romance languages|Romance]] for Sephardim). The pharyngeals {{IPAslink|ħ}} and {{IPAslink|ʕ}} are preserved by older Oriental speakers.<ref name=Schwarzwald524/>
Dialectally, [[Georgian Jews]] pronounce {{IPA|/ʕ/}} as {{IPAblink|qʼ}}, while Western European Sephardim and Dutch Ashkenazim traditionally pronounce it {{IPAblink|ŋ}}, a pronunciation that can also be found in the [[Italian Jews|Italian]] tradition and, historically, in south-west Germany.{{cn|date=August 2023}} However, according to Sephardic and Ashkenazic authorities, such as the Mishnah Berurah and the [[Shulchan Aruch]] and [[Mishneh Torah]], {{IPA|/ʕ/}} is the proper pronunciation. Thus, it is still pronounced as such by some Sephardim and Ashkenazim.

===Pronunciation of {{angbr|{{lang|he|ר}}}}===
The classical pronunciation associated with the consonant {{lang|he|ר}} ''rêš'' was a flap {{IPAblink|ɾ}}, and was grammatically [[gemination|ungeminable]]. In most dialects of Hebrew among the [[Jewish diaspora]], it remained a flap or a trill {{IPAblink|r}}. However, in some Ashkenazi dialects of northern Europe it was a uvular rhotic, either a trill {{IPAblink|ʀ}} or a fricative {{IPAblink|ʁ}}. This was because most native dialects of Yiddish were spoken that way, and the liturgical Hebrew of these speakers carried the Yiddish pronunciation. Some Iraqi Jews also pronounce ''rêš'' as a guttural {{IPAblink|ʀ}}, reflecting [[Baghdad Jewish Arabic]].

Though an Ashkenazi Jew in the [[Russian Empire]], the [[Zionism|Zionist]] [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]] based his Standard Hebrew on [[Sephardi Hebrew]], originally spoken in [[Spain]], and therefore recommended an alveolar {{IPAblink|r}}. However, just like him, the first waves of Jews to resettle in the [[Holy Land]] were Ashkenazi, and Standard Hebrew would come to be spoken with their native pronunciation. Consequently, by now nearly all Israeli Jews pronounce the consonant {{lang|he|ר}} ''rêš'' as a uvular approximant ({{IPA|[ʁ̞]}}),{{sfnp|Zuckermann|2020|p=46}}<ref name="Zuckermann">{{cite book|last=Zuckermann|first=Ghil'ad|author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann|title=[[Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew]]|year=2003|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|location=UK|isbn=978-1403917232}}</ref>{{rp|261}} which also exists in Yiddish.<ref name="Zuckermann"/>{{rp|262}}

Many Jewish immigrants to Israel spoke a [[varieties of Arabic|variety of Arabic]] in their countries of origin, and pronounced the Hebrew rhotic consonant {{IPA|/ʁ/}} as an [[Dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills|alveolar trill]], identical to Arabic {{lang|ar|[[ر]]}} ''{{transl|ar|DIN|rāʾ}}'', and which followed the conventions of old Hebrew.<ref>Based on Rabbi [[Saadia Gaon]]'s [[Judeo-Arabic languages|Judeo-Arabic]] commentary on “[[Sefer Yetzirah]]” (chapter 4, paragraph 3), wherein he describes the phonetic sounds of the 22 characters of the Hebrew alphabet and classifies them in groups based on their individual sounds: “''Aleph'' ({{lang|he|א}}), ''hé'' ({{lang|he|ה}}), ''ḥet'' ({{lang|he|ח}}), ''‘ayin'' ({{lang|he|ע}}) are [guttural sounds] produced from the depth of the tongue with the opening of the throat, but ''bet'' ({{lang|he|ב}}), ''waw'' ({{lang|he|ו}}), ''mim'' ({{lang|he|מ}}), ''pé'' ({{lang|he|פ}}) are [labial sounds] made by the release of the lips and the end of the tongue; whereas ''gimel'' ({{lang|he|ג}}), ''yōd'' ({{lang|he|י}}), ''kaf'' ({{lang|he|כ}}), ''quf'' ({{lang|he|ק}}) are [palatals] separated by the width of the tongue [against the palate] with the [emission of] sound. However, ''daleth'' ({{lang|he|ד}}), ''ṭet'' ({{lang|he|ט}}), ''lamed'' ({{lang|he|ל}}), ''nūn'' ({{lang|he|נ}}), ''tau'' ({{lang|he|ת}}) are [linguals] separated by the mid-section of the tongue with the [emission of] sound; whereas ''zayin'' ({{lang|he|ז}}), ''samekh'' ({{lang|he|ס}}), ''ṣadi'' ({{lang|he|צ}}), ''resh'' ({{lang|he|ר}}), ''shin'' ({{lang|he|ש}}) are [dental sounds] produced between the teeth by a tongue that is at rest.”</ref> In modern [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]], [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]], and [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] poetry and folk music, as well as in the standard (or "standardised") Hebrew used in the Israeli media, an alveolar rhotic is sometimes used.

==Consonants==
The following table lists the consonant phonemes of modern Hebrew in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcription (parenthesis indicate pronunciations considered nonstandard in Israeli Hebrew, usually found in loanwords as well as among speakers of Mizrahi or Arab background):{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=8}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
![[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
![[Plain consonant|plain]]
| style="border-right: 0; width: 1.5em;" | פּ{{efn-la|name=dageshim|{{transliteration|he|Dageshim}} (diacritic dots) are usually ommited in even the most formal of texts, being almost exclusively found in dictionaries, learning materials, religious texts, or as a deliberate stylistic choice; readers have to thus distinguish between certain letters using context.<br>With the exception of gutturals ({{Script/Hebrew|ר}}, {{Script/Hebrew|ע}}, {{Script/Hebrew|ח}}, {{Script/Hebrew|ה}}, {{Script/Hebrew|א}}), all letters can receive {{transliteration|he|dageshim}} which historically represented [[gemination]]. Depending on the letter this gemination was eventually  either lost or instead resulted in an altered pronunciation of non-geminated consonants in Israeli Hebrew (some dialects have preserved gemination while also having pronunciation distinctions). Shown are cases where a {{transliteration|he|dagesh}} signifies that a letter represents a different phoneme from its non-{{transliteration|he|dagesh}}-bearing counterpart, even if only in certain accents.}}
{{IPAlink|p}}
| colspan="2" |ט, {{efn-la|name=dageshim}}תּ, ת
{{IPAlink|t}}
|
|
| style="border-right: 0; width: 1.5em;" |כּ, ק{{efn-la|name=dageshim}}
{{IPAlink|k}}
|
|
| style="border-right: 0; width: 1.5em;" |א, ע 
{{IPAlink|ʔ}}{{efn-la|name=ellision|The glottal consonants tend to be elided,<ref name="brill"/> which is most common in unstressed syllables. In informal speech it may occur in stressed syllables as well, whereas careful or formal speech may retain them in all positions.}}
|-
![[Voiced consonant|voiced]]
|בּ{{efn-la|name=dageshim}}
{{IPAlink|b}}
| colspan="2" |דּ, ד{{efn-la|name=dageshim}}
{{IPAlink|d}}
|
|
|גּ, ג{{efn-la|name=dageshim}}
{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
![[Plain consonant|plain]]
|
| colspan="2" |צ, ץ
{{IPAlink|t͡s}}
| style="border-right: 0; width: 1.5em;" |צ׳
({{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}){{efn-la|name=foreign-tzade|The affricate {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} is generally only found in [[loanword]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bolozky|first=Shmuel|date=1997|title=Israeli Hebrew phonology|url=https://works.bepress.com/shmuel_bolozky/38/download/|journal=Israeli Hebrew Phonology}}</ref> although the consonant cluster {{IPA|/tʃ/}} can appear in native words as a sequence of {{IPA|/t/}} {{Script/Hebrew|ת}} and {{IPA|/ʃ/}} {{Script/Hebrew|שׁ}} as in {{lang|he|rtl=yes|תְּשׁוּקָה}} {{IPA|/tʃuˈka/}}.}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Voiced consonant|voiced]]
|
|
|
|ג׳
({{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}){{efn-la|name=exclusively_loanwords|Only found in [[loanword]]s.}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
![[Plain consonant|plain]]
| style="border-right: 0;" |פ, ף
{{IPAlink|f}}
|ת׳, (ת)
({{IPAlink|θ}}){{efn-la|name=th|The digraphs ת׳ ([[tav]] with [[geresh]]) and ד׳ ([[daleth]] with [[geresh]]) are found in certain [[loanword]]s and names (chiefly from English) and pronounced as {{IPAblink|θ}} and {{IPAblink|ð}}, though most speakers instead realize them as {{IPAblink|t}}~{{IPAblink|s}} and {{IPAblink|d}}~{{IPAblink|z}} respectively. Older Mizrahi speakers may pronounce {{transliteration|he|dagesh}}-lesh ת and ד as {{IPAblink|θ}} and {{IPAblink|ð}}.}}
| style="border-right: 0;" |ס, {{efn-la|name=shin_dot|Like {{transliteration|he|dageshim}}, dots on the letter ש are usually omitted from writing and readers are expected to distinguish between either variant based on context.}}שׂ
{{IPAlink|s}}
| style="border-right: 0;" |שׁ{{efn-la|name=shin_dot}}
{{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|
|
|ח, ח׳, כ, ך
{{IPAlink|χ}}~{{IPAlink|ʀ̥|ʀ̝̊}}{{efn-la|name=kaph_heth_merger|In Israeli Hebrew, {{IPA|/ħ/}} for ח has merged with {{IPA|/x/}} (which was traditionally used only for fricative כ) into {{IPA|/χ/}}. Some older [[Mizrahi]] speakers, as well as [[Israeli Arabs|Arabs]], may still separate these (as explained above).{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=8}}}}
|(ח)
({{IPAlink|ħ}}){{efn-la|name=kaph_heth_merger}}
| style="border-right: 0;" |ה
{{IPAlink|h}}{{efn-la|name=ellision}}
|-
![[Voiced consonant|voiced]]
|ב, ו
{{IPAlink|v}}
|(ד) ,ד׳
({{IPAlink|ð}}){{efn-la|name=th}}
|ז
{{IPAlink|z}}
|ז׳
({{IPAlink|ʒ}}){{efn-la|name=exclusively_loanwords|Only found in [[loanword]]s.}}
|
|colspan=2|ע׳, (ר׳)
({{IPAlink|ɣ}}~{{IPAlink|ʁ}}){{efn-la|name=ghayn|The digraphs ע׳ ([[ayin]] with [[geresh]]) and ר׳ ([[resh]] with [[geresh]], proscribed) are found in certain [[loanword]]s and names (chiefly from Arabic) and pronounced as either {{IPAblink|ʁ}} or {{IPAblink|ɣ}} by speakers who speak the language of origin of those loanwords and names. Most speakers merge it with either ג or (uvular) ר.}}
|(ע)
([[Voiced pharyngeal fricative|ʕ]]){{efn-la|name=ayin|Largely merged with {{IPA|/ʔ/}} outside of some accents.{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=8}}}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| style="border-right: 0;" |מ, ם
{{IPAlink|m}}
| colspan="2" |נ, ן
{{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|(ŋ){{efn-la|name=velar_nasal|Allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} before {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|ו, וו‎
({{IPAlink|w}}){{efn-la|name=exclusively_loanwords|Only found in [[loanword]]s.}}
| colspan="2" |ל
{{IPAlink|l}}
|
| style="border-right: 0; width: 1.5em;" |י
{{IPAlink|j}}
| style="border-right: 0;" |
| rowspan="2" |ר 
{{IPAlink|ʁ̞}}~{{IPAlink|ʀ}}{{efn-la|name=resh|The letter ר is pronounced as either {{IPAblink|ʁ̞}}, {{IPAblink|ʀ}}, {{IPAblink|r}}, or {{IPAblink|ɾ}}, depending on the background of the speaker.<ref name="brill">{{Cite journal |last1=Asherov |first1=Daniel |last2=Cohen |first2=Evan-Gary |year=2019 |title=A phonetic description of Modern Hebrew consonants and vowels |journal=Brill's Annual of Afroasiatic Languages & Linguistics |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=2–12, 17 |doi=10.1163/18776930-01101002 |issn=1876-6633}}</ref>}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Tap consonant|Tap]] / [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| 
| colspan="2" |ר
({{IPAlink|r}}~{{IPAlink|ɾ}}){{efn-la|name=resh}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}

{{notelist-la}}

For many young speakers, [[obstruent]]s assimilate in voicing. Voiceless obstruents (stops/affricates {{IPA|/p, t, ts, tʃ, k/}} and fricatives {{IPA|/f, s, ʃ, χ/}}) become voiced ({{IPA|[b, d, dz, dʒ, ɡ, v, z, ʒ, ʁ]}}) when they appear immediately before voiced obstruents, and vice versa. For example:

* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|לִסְגֹּר}} {{IPA|/lisˈɡoʁ/}} > {{IPA|[lizˈɡoʁ]}} ('to close'), {{IPA|/s/}} > {{IPA|[z]}}
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|זְכוּת}} {{IPA|/zχut/}} > {{IPA|[sχut]}} ('a right'), {{IPA|/z/}} > {{IPA|[s]}}
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|חֶשְׁבּוֹן}} {{IPA|/χeʃˈbon/}} > {{IPA|[χeʒˈbon]}} ('a bill'), {{IPA|/ʃ/}} > {{IPA|[ʒ]}}
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מַדְפֶּסֶת}} {{IPA|/madˈpeset/}} > {{IPA|[matˈpeset]}} ('a printer'), {{IPA|/d/}} > {{IPA|[t]}}
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|אַבְטָחָה}} {{IPA|/avtaˈχa/}} > {{IPA|[aftaˈχa]}} ('security'), {{IPA|/v/}} > {{IPA|[f]}}

{{IPA|/n/}} is pronounced {{IPAblink|ŋ}} before velar consonants.{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=9}}

{{IPA|/j/}} is elided before the vowel {{IPA|/i/}}. For example:
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|בַּיִת}} {{IPA|/ˈbajit/}} > {{IPA|[ˈbait]}} ('home, house') 
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|יִשְׂרָאֵל}} {{IPA|/jisʁaˈʔel/}} > {{IPA|[isʁaˈ(ʔ)el]}} ('Israel')
* {{lang|he|rtl=yes|חַיִּים}} {{IPA|/χaˈjim/}} > {{IPA|[χaˈim]}} ('life') 

===Historical sound changes===
Standard Israeli Hebrew (SIH) phonology, based on the [[Sephardic Hebrew]] pronunciation tradition, has a number of differences from [[Biblical Hebrew]] (BH) and [[Mishnaic Hebrew]] (MH) in the form of splits and mergers.<ref>[[Robert Hetzron]]. (1987). Hebrew. In ''The World's Major Languages'', ed. [[Bernard Comrie]], 686–704. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-520521-9}}.</ref>
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|t}} and {{IPAslink|tˤ}} merged into SIH {{IPA|/t/}}.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|k}} and {{IPAslink|q}} merged into SIH {{IPA|/k/}}.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|ʕ}} and {{IPAslink|ʔ}} generally merge into SIH {{IPA|/ʔ/}} or became silent, but the distinction is maintained in the speech of older Sephardim and is reintroduced in the speech of some other speakers.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|p}} had two allophones, {{IPA|[p]}} and {{IPAblink|ɸ}}, which split into separate phonemes {{IPA|/p/}} and {{IPA|/f/}} in SIH.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|b}} had two [[allophone]]s, {{IPA|[b]}} and {{IPAblink|β}}. The {{IPA|[β]}} allophone merged with {{IPAslink|w}} into SIH {{IPA|/v/}}. A new phoneme {{IPA|/enwiki/w/}} was introduced in [[loanword]]s (see [[Waw (letter)#Vav as consonant|Hebrew ''vav'' as consonant]]), so SIH has phonemic {{IPA|/b, v, w/}}.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|k}} had two allophones, {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPAblink|x}}. The {{IPA|[k]}} allophone merged with {{IPAslink|q}} into SIH {{IPA|/k/}}, while the {{IPA|[x]}} allophone merged with {{IPAslink|ħ}} into SIH {{IPA|/χ/}}, though a distinction between {{IPA|/χ/}} and {{IPA|/ħ/}} is maintained in the speech of older Sephardim.
* BH/MH {{IPAblink|θ}}, {{IPAblink|ð}} and {{IPAblink|ɣ}} merged into their plosive counterparts, {{IPAslink|t}}, {{IPAslink|d}} and {{IPAslink|ɡ}}.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|sˤ}} de-pharyngealized and affricated to SIH {{IPAslink|t͡s}}.
* BH/MH {{IPAslink|r}} backed to SIH {{IPAslink|ʁ}}, the former pronunciation is still used by Sephardi and Mizrahi speakers.

====Spirantization====
The consonant pairs {{IPAblink|b}}–{{IPAblink|v}} (archaically {{IPAblink|β}}), {{IPAblink|k}}–{{IPAblink|χ}} (archaically {{IPAblink|x}}), and {{IPAblink|p}}–{{IPAblink|f}} (archaically {{IPAblink|ɸ}}) were historically [[Allophone|allophonic]], as a consequence of a phenomenon of [[lenition|spirantisation]] known as ''[[begadkefat]]'' under the influence of the [[Aramaic language]] on BH/MH. In Modern Hebrew, the above six sounds are phonemic.

The full inventory of Hebrew consonants which undergo and/or underwent spirantisation are:

{|class=wikitable style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:center"
!colspan=2|<small>[[Letter (alphabet)|letter]]</small>!!<small>stop</small>!!&nbsp;!!<small>[[fricative consonant|fricative]]</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[Bet (letter)|bet]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|ב}} {{lang|syr|ܒ}}||{{IPAblink|b}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|β}}<br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>evolved into {{IPAblink|v}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[gimel]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|ג}} {{lang|syr|ܓ}}||{{IPAblink|ɡ}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|ɣ}} <br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>reverted to {{IPAblink|g}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[dalet]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|ד}} {{lang|syr|ܕ}}||{{IPAblink|d}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|ð}}<br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>reverted to {{IPAblink|d}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[kaph]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|כ}} {{lang|syr|ܟ}}||{{IPAblink|k}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|x}}, <br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>evolved into {{IPAblink|χ}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|פ}} {{lang|syr|ܦ}}||{{IPAblink|p}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|ɸ}} <br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>evolved into {{IPAblink|f}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small>
|- valign="top"
|style="border-right-style:none"|[[taw]]||style="border-left-style:none"|&nbsp;{{Script/Hebrew|ת}} {{lang|syr|ܬ}}||{{IPAblink|t}}||<small>becomes</small>||{{IPAblink|θ}} <br/><small>in Biblical/Mishnaic</small>,
<br/>reverted to {{IPAblink|t}} in
<br/><small>Standard Israeli Hebrew</small> <br/>
|}

However, the above-mentioned allophonic alternation of BH/MH {{IPAblink|t}}–{{IPAblink|θ}}, {{IPAblink|d}}–{{IPAblink|ð}} and {{IPAblink|ɡ}}–{{IPAblink|ɣ}} was lost in Modern Hebrew, with these six allophones merging into simple {{IPA|/t, d, ɡ/}}.

These phonemic changes were partly due to the mergers noted above, to the loss of consonant gemination, which had distinguished stops from their fricative allophones in intervocalic position, and the introduction of syllable-initial {{IPAslink|f}} and non-syllable-initial {{IPAslink|p}} and {{IPAslink|b}} in loan words. Spirantization still occurs in verbal and nominal derivation, but now the alternations {{IPA|/b/}}–{{IPA|/v/}}, {{IPA|/k/}}–{{IPA|/χ/}}, and {{IPA|/p/}}–{{IPA|/f/}} are phonemic rather than allophonic.

=== Loss of final H consonant ===
In Traditional Hebrew words can end with an H consonant, e.g. when the suffix "-ah" is used, meaning "her" (see ''[[Mappiq]]''). The final H sound is hardly ever pronounced in Modern Hebrew. However, the final H with Mappiq still retains the guttural characteristic that it should take a patach and render the pronunciation /a(h)/ at the end of the word, for example, {{lang|he|rtl=yes|גָּבוֹהַּ}} ''gavoa(h)'' ("tall").

==Vowels==
[[File:Hebrew vowel chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.36|right|The vowel phonemes of Modern Hebrew]]

Modern Hebrew has a simple five-vowel system.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! !! [[Front vowel|Front]]!! [[Central vowel|Central]]!! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[High vowel|High]]
| {{IPA link|i}} || || {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e̞|e}} || || {{IPA link|o̞|o}}
|-
! [[Low vowel|Low]]
| || {{IPA link|ä|a}} ||
|}

Vowel length is non-contrastive and consecutive identical vowels are allowed in the case of glottal consonant elision, e.g. {{lang|he|[[:wikt:שאלה|שאלה]]}} {{IPA|/ʃeʔeˈla/ → [ʃeeˈla]}} vs {{lang|he|[[:wikt:שלה|שלה]]}} {{IPA|[ʃeˈla]}} and {{lang|he|[[:wikt:רעם|רעם]]}} {{IPA|/ˈʁaʔam/ → [ˈʁaam]}} vs {{lang|he|[[:wikt:רם|רם]]}} {{IPA|[ʁam]}}.<ref name="brill"/>

There are two diphthongs, {{IPA|/aj/}} and {{IPA|/ej/}}.{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=12}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! [[Phoneme]]
! colspan="3" | Example
|-
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA|/iʃ/}}
| {{lang|he|אִישׁ}}
| 'man'
|-
| {{IPA link|u}}
| {{IPA|/adu'ma/}}
| {{lang|he|אֲדֻמָּה}}
| 'red' (f)
|-
| {{IPA link|e̞|e}}
| {{IPA|/em/}}
| {{lang|he|אֵם}}
| 'mother'
|-
| {{IPA link|o̞|o}}
| {{IPA|/oʁ/}}
| {{lang|he|אוֹר}}
| 'light'
|-
| {{IPA link|ä|a}}
| {{IPA|/av/}}
| {{lang|he|אָב}}
| 'father'
|}

===Vowel length===
In [[Biblical Hebrew]], each vowel had three forms: short, long and interrupted (''{{transl|he|chataf}}''). However, there is no audible distinction between the three in Modern Hebrew, except that {{IPA|/e/}} is often pronounced {{IPA|[ej]}} as in [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]].

===Shva===
{{Main|shva}}
Modern pronunciation does not follow traditional use of the [[niqqud]] (diacritic) "[[shva]]". In Modern Hebrew, words written with a shva may be pronounced with either {{IPA|/e/}} or without any vowel, and this does not correspond well to how the word was pronounced historically. For example, the first shva in the word {{lang|he|rtl=yes|קִמַּטְתְּ}} 'you (fem.) crumpled' is pronounced {{IPA|/e/}} ({{IPA|/kiˈmatet/}}) though historically it was silent, whereas the shva in {{lang|he|rtl=yes|זְמַן}} ('time'), which was pronounced historically, is usually silent ({{IPA|[zman]}}). Orthographic ''shva'' is generally pronounced {{IPA|/e/}} in prefixes such as ''ve-'' ('and') and ''be-'' ('in'), or when following another shva in grammatical patterns, as in {{IPA|/tilmeˈdi/}} ('you [f. sg.] will learn'). An epenthetic {{IPA|/e/}} appears when necessary to avoid violating a phonological constraint, such as between two consonants that are identical or differ only in voicing (e.g. {{IPA|/la'madeti/}} 'I learned', not {{IPA|*/la'madti/}}) (though this rule is lost in some younger speakers and quick speech) or when an impermissible initial cluster would result (e.g. {{IPA|*/rC-/}} or {{IPA|*/Cʔ-/}}, where ''C'' stands for any consonant). Guttural consonants (א, ה, ח, ע) rarely take a shva. Instead, they can take reduced segol (חֱ), reduced patach (חֲ), or reduced kamatz (חֳ).

==Stress==
Stress is phonemic in Modern Hebrew. There are two frequent patterns of [[Stress (linguistics)|lexical stress]], on the last syllable (''{{transl|he|milrá}}'' {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מִלְּרַע}}) and on the penultimate syllable (''{{transl|he|mil‘él}}'' {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מִלְּעֵיל}}). Final stress has traditionally been more frequent, but in the colloquial language many words are shifting to penultimate stress. Contrary to the [[Linguistic prescription|prescribed standard]], some words exhibit stress on the antepenultimate syllable or even farther back. This often occurs in [[loanword]]s, e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|פּוֹלִיטִיקָה}} {{IPA|/poˈlitika/}} ('politics'), and sometimes in native colloquial compounds, e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|אֵיכְשֶׁהוּ}} {{IPA|/ˈeχʃehu/}} ('somehow').<ref>Yaakov Choueka, ''Rav-Milim: A comprehensive dictionary of Modern Hebrew'' 1997, CET</ref> Colloquial stress has often shifted from the last syllable to the penultimate, e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כּוֹבַע}} 'hat', normative {{IPA|/koˈvaʕ/}} (Ezekiel 38 5) or {{IPA|/ˈkovaʕ/}} (Isaiah 59 17), colloquial (always) {{IPA|/ˈkovaʕ/}}; {{lang|he|rtl=yes|שׁוֹבָךְ}} ('[[dovecote]]'), normative {{IPA|/ʃoˈvaχ/}}, colloquial {{IPA|/ˈʃovaχ/}}. This shift is common in the colloquial pronunciation of many personal names, for example {{lang|he|rtl=yes|דָּוִד}} ('David'), normative {{IPA|/daˈvid/}}, colloquial {{IPA|/ˈdavid/}}.<ref>Netser, Nisan, ''Niqqud halakha le-maase'', 1976, p. 11.</ref>

Historically, stress was phonemic, but bore low [[functional load]]. While minimal pairs existed (e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|בָּֽנוּ}} {{IPA|/ˈbaːnuː/}}, 'in/with us' and {{lang|he|rtl=yes|בָּנֽוּ}} {{IPA|/baːˈnuː/}}, 'they built'), stress was mostly predictable, depending on [[syllable weight]] (that is, [[vowel length]] and whether a syllable ended in a consonant). Because spoken Israeli Hebrew has lost gemination (a common source of syllable-final consonants) as well as the original distinction between long and short vowels, but the position of the stress often remained where it had been, stress has become phonemic, as the following table illustrates. Phonetically, the following word pairs differ only in the location of the stress; orthographically they differ also in the written representation of vowel length of the vowels (assuming the vowels are even written):

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|<small>Usual spelling<br />([[ktiv hasar niqqud]])</small>
|rowspan=5 style="width:1px;overflow:hidden"|
!colspan=3|<small>Penultimate stress</small>
|rowspan=5 style="width:1px;overflow:hidden"|
!colspan=3|<small>Final stress</small>
|-
!<small>spelling with<br>[[niqqud|vowel diacritics]]</small>
!<small>pronunciation</small>
!<small>translation</small>
!<small>spelling with<br>[[niqqud|vowel diacritics]]</small>
!<small>pronunciation</small>
!<small>translation</small>
|-
|{{lang|he|rtl=yes|ילד}}||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|יֶלֶד}}||{{IPA|/ˈjeled/}}||boy||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|יֵלֵד}}||{{IPA|/jeˈled/}}||will give birth (m.sg. 3rd person)
|-
|{{lang|he|rtl=yes|אכל, אוכל}}||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|אֹכֶל}}||{{IPA|/ˈoχel/}}||food||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|אוֹכֵל}}||{{IPA|/oˈχel/}}||eating (m.sg.)
|-
|{{lang|he|rtl=yes|בקר, בוקר}}||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|בֹּקֶר}}||{{IPA|/ˈbokeʁ/}}||morning||{{lang|he|rtl=yes|בּוֹקֵר}}||{{IPA|/boˈkeʁ/}}||cowboy
|}

==Morphophonology==
In fast-spoken colloquial Hebrew, when a vowel falls beyond two syllables from the main stress of a word or phrase, it may be reduced or elided. For example:{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|p=13}}

:{{lang|he|זֹאת אוֹמֶרֶת}}
:{{IPA|/zot oˈmeʁet/}} > {{IPA|[stoˈmeʁet]}} ('that is to say')

:{{lang|he|אֵיךְ קוֹרְאִים לְךָ?|rtl=yes}}
:{{IPA|/eχ koʁˈʔim le'χa/}} > {{IPA|[ˌeχkoˈʁimχa]}} (what's your name, lit. 'How are you called?')

When {{IPA|/l/}} follows an unstressed vowel, it is sometimes elided, possibly with the surrounding vowels:{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|pp=14–5}}

:{{lang|he|אַבָּא שֶׁלָּכֶם}}
:{{IPA|/ˈaba ʃelaˈχem/}} > {{IPA|[ˈabaʃχem]}} ('your father')

:{{lang|he|הוּא יִתֵּן לְךָ}}
:{{IPA|/hu jiˈten leˈχa/}} > {{IPA|[uiˈtenχa]}} ('he will give / let you')

Syllables {{IPA|/ʁV/}} drop before {{IPA|/χ/}} except at the end of a [[prosodic unit]]:{{sfnp|Dekel|2014|pp=15–6}}

:{{lang|he|בְּדֶרֶךְ כְּלָל}}
:{{IPA|/beˈdeʁeχ klal/}} > {{IPA|[beˈdeχklal]}} ('usually')
but: {{lang|he|הוּא בַּדֶּרֶךְ}} {{IPA|[u ba'deʁeχ]}} ('he is on his way') at the end of a prosodic unit.

Sequences of dental stops reduce to a single consonant, again except at the end of a prosodic unit:

:{{lang|he|אֲנִי לָמַדְתִּי פַּעַם}}
:{{IPA|/a'ni la'madeti ˈpaʕam/}} > {{IPA|[aˌnilaˈmatipa:m]}} ('I once studied')
but: {{lang|he|שֶׁלָּמַדְתִּי}} {{IPA|[ʃela'madeti]}} ('that I studied')

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|last=Dekel|first=Nurit|year=2014|title=Colloquial Israeli Hebrew: A Corpus-based Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7DoBQAAQBAJ
|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=9783110361780}}
* {{citation|last=Laufer|first=Asher|year=1999|chapter=Hebrew|title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=96–99|isbn=0521652367}}
* {{Citation|title=[[Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond]]|first=Ghil'ad|last=Zuckermann|author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann|year=2020|isbn=9780199812790|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}

{{Language phonologies}}
{{Hebrew language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebrew Phonology}}
[[Category:Modern Hebrew|Phonology]]
[[Category:Afroasiatic phonologies]]