In Hebrew orthography, Niqqud or Nikkud (Hebrew: נִקּוּד, Biblical נְקֻדּוֹת, Standard Nekudot Tiberian Nəquddôṯ ; "dots") is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language Biblical Hebrew, also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language in which the Hebrew Bible and various Israelite inscriptions Tiberian Hebrew is an extinct (yet very well documented Oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. Several orthographic systems for representing Hebrew vowels were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system (and the only one still used to a significant degree today) was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew) in the second half of the first millennium in the Land of Israel. See also Masoretic text The Masoretes ( ba'alei hamasorah, Hebrew בעלי המסורה were groups of Scribes and Bible Scholars Tiberias ( British English: /taɪˈbɪəriæs -əs/ American English: /taɪˈbɪriəs/ טְבֶרְיָה Tverya; طبرية Ṭabariyyah The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh) Tiberian Hebrew is an extinct (yet very well documented Oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was For other uses see Israel (disambiguation The Land of Israel ( Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל Eretz Yisrael) is

Niqqud marks are small compared to consonants, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them.

Among those who do not speak Hebrew, niqqud are the sometimes unnamed focus of controversy regarding the interpretation of those written with the Tetragrammaton -- written as יְהֹוָה in Hebrew. See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen The interpretation affects discussion of the authentic ancient pronunciation of the name whose other conventional English forms are "Jehovah" and "Yahweh". Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links

Gen. 1:9 And God said, "Let the waters be collected".
Letters in black, niqqud in red, cantillation in blue

Short table

Israeli Hebrew has five vowel phonemes—/i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, and /u/—but many more written symbols for them. Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Bible in Synagogue services. The close front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents Close-mid front unrounded vowel The close-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the The open front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The close-mid back rounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents The close back rounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents Niqqud denote the following vowels.

Name	Symbol	Israeli Hebrew			Keyboard Input		Hebrew	Alternate Names
		IPA	Transliteration	English Example	Letter	Key
Hiriq		[i]	i	seek	4		חִירִיק	‒
Tzeire		[ɛ] and [ɛi]	e and ei	men	5		צֵירֵי or צֵירֶה	‒
Segol		[ɛ], ([ɛi] with succeeding yod)	e, (ei with succeeding yod)	men	6		סֶגוֹל	‒
Patakh		[a]	a	far	7		פַּתָּח	‒
Kamatz		[a], (or [ɔ])	a, (or o)	far	8		קָמָץ	‒
Sin dot (left)		[s]	s	sour	9		שִׂי״ן	‒
Shin dot (right)		[ʃ]	sh	shop	0		שִׁי״ן	‒
Holam		[ɔ]	o	bore	-		חוֹלָם	‒
Dagesh or Mappiq Shuruk		N/A	N/A	N/A	=		דָּגֵשׁ or מַפִּיק	‒
		[u]	u	cool			שׁוּרוּק	‒
Kubutz		[u]	u	cool	\		קֻבּוּץ	‒
Below: Two vertical dots underneath the letter (called sh'va) make the vowel very short. In Hebrew Orthography, niqqud or nikkud ( is the system of Diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Shin (also spelled Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Shin (also spelled Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. The mappiq ( Hebrew: מפיק also mapiq, mapik, mappik, lit "causing to go out" is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. In Linguistics, specifically Phonetics and Phonology, schwa can mean the following An unstressed and toneless neutral
Sh'va		[ɛ] or [-]	apostrophe, e, or nothing	silent	~		שְׁוָא	‒
Reduced Segol		[ɛ]	e	men	1		חֲטַף סֶגוֹל	Hataf Segol
Reduced Patakh		[a]	a	far	2		חֲטַף פַּתָּח	Hataf Patakh
Reduced Kamatz		[ɔ]	o	bore	3		חֲטַף קָמָץ	Hataf Kamatz

Note Ⅰ: The symbol "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
Note Ⅱ: The letter "ש" is used since it can only be represented by that letter. Shin (also spelled Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew .
Note Ⅲ: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different, however, they look the same and are inputted in the same manner. The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. The mappiq ( Hebrew: מפיק also mapiq, mapik, mappik, lit "causing to go out" is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew
Note Ⅳ: The letter "ו" is used since it can only be represented by that letter. Waw ( also spelled vav or vau) (In Hebrew Vav) is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic

Vowel comparison table

Long table

This table uses the consonants ב ,ח or ש, where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced after. Any other consonants shown are actually part of the vowel. Note that there is some variation among different traditions in exactly how some vowel points are pronounced. The table below shows how most Israelis would pronounce them, but the classic Ashkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects. Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing

This demonstration is known to work in Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers in at least some circumstances, but in most other Windows browsers the niqqud do not properly combine with the consonants. Windows Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer abbreviated MSIE) commonly abbreviated to IE, is a series of graphical Mozilla was the official public original name of Mozilla Application Suite by the Mozilla Foundation, currently known as SeaMonkey suite. A web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text images videos music games and other information typically located on a Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. This is because, currently, the Windows text display engine does not combine the niqqud automatically. Except as noted, the vowel pointings should appear directly beneath the consonants and the accompanying "vowel letter" consonants for the mālê (unchangeable long) forms appear after.

Niqqud and the keyboard

For the Hebrew letters there is a standardized Hebrew keyboard. A Hebrew keyboard ( Hebrew: מקלדת עברית mikledet ivrit) comes in two different Keyboard layouts Most Hebrew keyboards contain both Hebrew But when it comes to niqqud, different computer systems and programs provide for adding the signs in different ways.

Nevertheless, a standard is beginning to emerge in the keystrokes that enter niqqud in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word and Open Office alike. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft Word is Microsoft 's flagship word processing software. OpenOfficeorg ( OOo or OOo) is a free Cross-platform office application suite available for a number of different computer In these applications, to enter niqqud the typist first switches to a Hebrew layout, then presses "Caps Lock. " Then, to enter any specific niqqud, one presses "shift" and simultaneously presses one of the following keys:

Niqqud Input
Input	Key	Type	Result
~		Sh'va
1		Reduced Segol
2		Reduced Patach
3		Reduced Kamatz
4		Hiriq
5		Zeire
6		Segol
7		Patach
8		Kamatz
9		Sin dot (left)
0		Shin dot (right)
-		Holam
=		Dagesh or Mappiq Shuruk
\		Kubutz

Note Ⅰ: The letter "O" represents whatever Hebrew letter is used.
Note Ⅱ: For Sin dot and Shin dot, the letter "ש" (Sin/Shin) is used since they can only be used with that letter. Shin (also spelled Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew .
Note Ⅲ: The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk are different; however, they look the same and (hence) are input the same way (all 3 of them. )
Note Ⅳ: For Shuruk, the letter "ו" (Vav) is used since it can only be used with that letter. Waw ( also spelled vav or vau) (In Hebrew Vav) is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic

Rules for Writing Without Niqqud

For more details on this topic, see Ktiv male. Ktiv Hasar Niqqud ( כתיב חסר ניקוד literally "spelling lacking niqqud" ( Colloquially known as Ktiv Male ( כתיב מלא literally "full

In modern Israeli orthography niqqud is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or for new immigrants. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling-without-niqqud, known in Hebrew as ktiv male (Hebrew: כתיב מלא), literally "full spelling" has developed. Ktiv Hasar Niqqud ( כתיב חסר ניקוד literally "spelling lacking niqqud" ( Colloquially known as Ktiv Male ( כתיב מלא literally "full This was formally standardised in the Rules for the Spelling-Without-Niqqud (כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996. Academy of the Hebrew Language (הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית Ha-akademya la-lashon ha-ʻIvrit) was established by the Israeli ^[1]

Disputes among Protestant Christians

Protestant literalists who believe that the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God are divided on the question of whether or not the vowel points should be considered an inspired part of the Old Testament. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. In 1624, Louis Cappel, a French Huguenot scholar at Saumur, published a work in which he concluded that the vowel points were a later addition to the biblical text and that the vowel points were added not earlier than the fifth century AD. Louis Cappel ( October 15 1585 – June 18 1658) was a French Protestant Churchman and Scholar. The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth Saumur is a town and commune in the Maine-et-Loire département of France on the Loire River at, with an approximate This assertion was hotly contested by Swiss theologian Johannes Buxtorf in 1648. Johannes Buxtorf ( December 25 1564 &ndash September 13 1629) was a celebrated Hebraist, member of a family of Orientalists Brian Walton's 1657 polyglot bible followed Cappel in revising the vowel points. In 1675, the 2nd and 3rd canons of the so-called Helvetic Consensus of the Swiss Reformed Church confirmed Buxtorf's view as orthodox and affirmed that the vowel points were inspired. The Helvetic Consensus ( Latin: Formula consensus ecclesiarum Helveticarum) is a Swiss Reformed symbol drawn up in 1675 to guard against The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zurich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel ( Johannes Oecolampadius) Berne

See also

• The Arabic equivalent, Harakat. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language
• Q're perpetuum
• Dagesh

References

External links

• A free online course to learn the Hebrew Vowel System
• Rules of the Spelling Without Niqqud - a simplified version of the Rules, published on the Academy of the Hebrew Language website. Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. Academy of the Hebrew Language (הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית Ha-akademya la-lashon ha-ʻIvrit) was established by the Israeli

Technical problems on Wikimedia

• Important: There is currently a serious bug affecting niqqud in all Wikimedia projects. See Wikipedia:Niqqud for a discussion of the problem in English, and click the language link in the sidebar for an extensive analysis of the problem in Hebrew.