How do hebrew speakers read without the vowels?

[Barnabas]

Is it like for example seeing

"wlcm"

and instantly knowing it is welcome?

Is it true that because of that they are not sure of how many old testament words were pronounced?



Is it very complicated to learn hebrew?


Thanks

[Solver]

You've just answered your own question. If you know the vocabulary, then you can easily tell which words are which. And Hebrew does sometimes have vowels or vowel-like sounds written (the yod or alef letters, e.g.).

Is ths sntnc hrd t ndrstnd wtht vwls? Prbbly nt.

Hebrew books that are intended for children or Hebrew learners, however, often use special marks for indicating vowels, which is convenient until you get used to reading without them.

Hebrew has a fairly simple grammatical structure. How hard it is to learn a language always depends primarily on the person in question, but Hebrew is somewhat simple to learn. Although it naturally has a somewhat frustrating start to learning it, as when you're just beginning, you can't read most words.

[Gangerolf]

I don't think they don't use vowels, by the sound of it

[lord of the mark]

Re: How do hebrew speakers read without the vowels?

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
"Is it like for example seeing

"wlcm"

and instantly knowing it is welcome?"

IIUC, people who speak the language have little difficulty telling the right vowelization from context, - Hebrew grammar makes it easier than one would think.


Written Hebrew vowels (nekudot) were invented in the 9th C CE, when most Jews no longer used Hebrew as a spoken language. Vowelized Hebrew is the standard in prayerbooks and other books aimed at less than fluent diaspora Jews. In Israel books and newspapers are printed without vowels, and the more "advanced" works of Hebrew language Judaica in the diaspora are also printed without vowels. (Yiddish is generally printed without vowels as well)

And Torah scrolls used in the synagogue never have vowels.

"Is it true that because of that they are not sure of how many old testament words were pronounced?"

IIUC, in some cases there are arguments among the rabbis about how to read a given word, that would not exist if the text were vowelized.


"Is it very complicated to learn hebrew?"

POTM doesnt think so

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Solver
Hebrew books that are intended for children or Hebrew learners, however, often use special marks for indicating vowels, which is convenient until you get used to reading without them.

It was the same when I learned Arabic; when learning vocab the diacritic dash above a letter indicates the short vowel that follows it, and you simply remember the consonantal root from that point on. Of course one consonantal root might imply several different words, but you can almost always tell which from context. Reading it's a lot easier than one would think at first blush (speaking it, on the other hand, makes you want to jab a pencil into your temple).

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Darius871


It was the same when I learned Arabic; when learning vocab the diacritic dash above a letter indicates the short vowel that follows it, and you simply remember the consonantal root from that point on. Of course one consonantal root might imply several different words, but you can almost always tell which from context. Reading it's a lot easier than one would think at first blush (speaking it, on the other hand, makes you want to jab a pencil into your temple).

I find it hard to learn actually, simply because I need my teacher to say the written word before I know which vowels to use. I can't really read a text full of words I've never seen before!

Maybe I'm still just a noob eh?

[Darius871]

They didn't use diacritics (fathah, dammah, kasrah, sukkun) in the initial vocab text? I would shoot myself.

[Traianvs]

Not really, I think this school has a different way of teaching this. On occasions they are written yes, but we don't often use a textbook. Most of the time the teacher is talking to us, asking us questions and we're writing down various stuff. Not sure if I agree 100% with how they do it, but unfortunately I have no alternative around here

[Q Classic]

Yeah, technically most written Hebrew is an abjad, like Arabic, Persian, and Aramaic.

[Barnabas]

Is there great mutual intelligibility between hebrew and arab like between portuguese, spanish and italian? or not?

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Traianvs
Not really, I think this school has a different way of teaching this. On occasions they are written yes, but we don't often use a textbook. Most of the time the teacher is talking to us, asking us questions and we're writing down various stuff. Not sure if I agree 100% with how they do it, but unfortunately I have no alternative around here

Bummer, that sounds like a really ineffective teaching method IMO.

[St Leo]

Re: Re: How do hebrew speakers read without the vowels?

Originally posted by lord of the mark
IIUC, in some cases there are arguments among the rabbis about how to read a given word, that would not exist if the text were vowelized.

Yahweh vs Jehovah: The Cage Match

Two YHWHs enter, one leaves.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
Is there great mutual intelligibility between hebrew and arab like between portuguese, spanish and italian? or not?

You need to ask the Israelis. But I was looking at an Arabic English dictionary the other day, and was surprised at how many words I recognized, even with my poor Hebrew.

The other day, when Zarqawi was killed, and Iraqi PM Maliki announced it, NPR gave the beginning of his speech, untranslated. When he started with Al yom - i immediately guessed it was "today" Ha yom in Hebrew - confirmed when they translated it.

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Solver

Is ths sntnc hrd t ndrstnd wtht vwls? Prbbly nt.

Ths lttr s vwl.

[St Leo]

Salaam = Shalom :P