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== Hebrew Alphabet ==

== Hebrew Alphabet ==

The '''Hebrew alphabet''' is made up of 22 letters used in the Hebrew and [[Judaism|Jewish]] languages. The Hebrew word for "alphabet" is '''אלף-בית''' ("alef-bet"), derived from the first two letters of the alphabet. Five of the letters - Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pe and Tsadi - have a different appearance when used as the last letter in a word. The letters are written and read from right to left, and have only one case. The Hebrew Alphabet (for the Hebrew language, as opposed to the "Jewish" language - Yiddish) is totally consonental, vowels sometimes written with other signs and sometimes not written at all. This is in conformity to the secondary nature of vowels in the languages themselves of the Semitic group of languages. The present Hebrew alphebet is not the original Hebrew alphabet but is a development of the Aramaic script. In some Hebrew literature,such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the original Hebrew alphabet is used for the divine Name of God - Yod, Hay, Vav, Hay, within a text employing the "modern" Hebrew, Aramaic derived script. The original Hebrew script is much closer to the pictographs from which the alphabetic script was derived. Examples - the "y" sound represented alphabetically by the Yod looks like a hand and indeed,Yod, or its varient Yad means "hand".  The "k" sound represented by the "Kaf" looks like the palm of a hand, and kaf means palm of the hand. The "Ayin" looks like an eye and "ayin" means eye.  

The '''Hebrew alphabet''' is made up of 22 letters used in the Hebrew and [[Judaism|Jewish]] languages. The Hebrew word for "alphabet" is '''אלף-בית''' ("alef-bet"), derived from the first two letters of the alphabet. Five of the letters - Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pe and Tsadi - have a different appearance when used as the last letter in a word. The letters are written and read from right to left, and have only one case. The Hebrew Alphabet (for the Hebrew language, as opposed to the "Jewish" language - Yiddish) is totally consonental, vowels sometimes written with other signs and sometimes not written at all. This is in conformity to the secondary nature of vowels in the languages themselves of the Semitic group of languages. The present Hebrew alphebet is not the original Hebrew alphabet but is a development of the Aramaic script. In some Hebrew literature,such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the original Hebrew alphabet is used for the divine Name of God - Yod, Hay, Vav, Hay, within a text employing the "modern" Hebrew, Aramaic derived script. The original Hebrew script is much closer to the pictographs from which the alphabetic script was derived [http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~rfradkin/phon-heb.html]. Examples - the "y" sound represented alphabetically by the Yod looks like a hand and indeed,Yod, or its varient Yad means "hand".  The "k" sound represented by the "Kaf" looks like the palm of a hand, and kaf means palm of the hand. The "Ayin" looks like an eye and "ayin" means eye.  

The alphabetic sign was, thus, a stylized derivation, of the very first sound heard in the words for very common objects, and so were called by what the object was known as in the language.  

The alphabetic sign was, thus, a stylized derivation, of the very first sound heard in the words for very common objects, and so were called by what the object was known as in the language.