Learn about niqqud and ktiv male and how to use them
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Intro |
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| Michael: Are both Niqqud and Ktiv Male commonly used? |
| Lenny: And how are they different? |
| Michael: At HebrewPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: lately Emma, a college student, has been making progress learning the Hebrew language, so she asks her native friend, Keren, |
| "Is Niqqud commonly used?" |
| Emma Eisenberg: ?האם ניקוד נמצא בשימוש לעתים קרובות (ha'im ni’kud nim’tsa be’shi’mush le'itim krovot?) |
| Dialogue |
| Emma Eisenberg: ?האם ניקוד נמצא בשימוש לעתים קרובות (ha'im ni’kud nim’tsa be’shi’mush le'itim krovot?) |
| Keren Cohen: .בדרך כלל רק בספרי ילדים (bederekh klal rak be’sif’rey ye’la’dim.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Emma Eisenberg: ?האם ניקוד נמצא בשימוש לעתים קרובות (ha'im ni’kud nim’tsa be’shi’mush le'itim krovot?) |
| Michael: "Is Niqqud commonly used?" |
| Keren Cohen: .בדרך כלל רק בספרי ילדים (bederekh klal rak be’sif’rey ye’la’dim.) |
| Michael: "Usually only in children's books." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: As you might remember from the previous lessons, the Hebrew writing system doesn’t include vowels. On the other hand, there are ways to mark vowels to help newbie learners or children who learn Hebrew. |
| Michael: Let's start at the beginning! Originally, Hebrew was written without any vowels or vowel symbols at all. All of the letters were consonants. This is called |
| Lenny: .כתיב חסר (ktiv ha’ser.) |
| Michael: You may be familiar with it if you've seen the Torah written out in its original form. Reading this can be very challenging for people who are new to Hebrew or unfamiliar with the vocabulary in a given text. Because of this, they created a system called |
| Lenny: .כתב מנוקד (ktav me’nu’kad.) |
| Michael: which involves a series of dots and other forms of notation called |
| Lenny: .ניקוד (ni’kud.) |
| Michael: These are added to words and fully represent their vowel sounds. You can see this writing system on HebrewPod101.com, language textbooks, as well as in children’s books. However, for native speakers, this system is very inconvenient. |
| The Academy of the Hebrew Language has established a set of rules to write without Niqqud, but still indicate some vowels using the letters |
| Lenny: a’lef (אל״ף), he (ה״א), vav (ו״ו), and yud (יו״ד). |
| Michael: This system is called |
| Lenny: .כתיב מלא (ktiv ma’le.) |
| Michael: It's the most widely used writing system in Israel today. You'll see it in newspapers, books, on signs, and in TV subtitles. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that Hebrew is originally an abjad or "consonantal alphabet." However, to make it easier to read, the Academy of the Hebrew Language created a system called |
| Lenny: .כתיב מלא (ktiv ma’le.) |
| Michael: With this system, it’s possible to indicate some vowels using the letters |
| Lenny: a’lef (אל״ף), he (ה״א), vav (ו״ו) and yud (יו״ד). |
| Michael: Aside from this, there’s another and more complicated system of diacritical marks called |
| Lenny: .ניקוד (ni’kud.) |
| Michael: that allows to fully represent vowel sounds. This system is used, for example, in children's books or dictionaries, and may be of great help when learning Hebrew. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Lenny: !להתראות (lehitra’ot!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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