Transliteration of Hebrew
A correspondence table between the Hebrew script and Latin letters: 22 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Hebrew character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | alef | no sound of its own (vowel holder) | Silent by itself: it holds the vowel slot where a word starts or breaks on a vowel |
| ב | bet | b / v (the dagesh decides) | With a dagesh (the dot inside) it is b, without it — v |
| ג | gimel | g (as in go) | A plain g as in go |
| ד | dalet | d (as in door) | A plain d |
| ה | he | h, often silent at the end of a word | A light breathy h, fainter than the English one; word-finally it usually goes silent |
| ו | vav | v / u / o (three jobs) | A consonant v, but vav more often works as a vowel: u (shuruk) or o (holam) |
| ז | zayin | z (as in zoo) | A plain z |
| ח | chet | kh, deep in the throat | A throaty kh, squeezed out of a narrowed throat rather than the mouth |
| ט | tet | t (pressed harder) | A t with the tongue pressed wider and harder than the English one |
| י | yod | y / i | A consonant y that often works as the vowel i |
| כ | kaf | k / kh (the dagesh decides) | With a dagesh it is k, without it a throaty kh |
| ל | lamed | l | A plain l |
| מ | mem | m | A plain m |
| נ | nun | n | A plain n |
| ס | samekh | s (as in sun) | A plain s |
| ע | ayin | silent in modern Hebrew | Once a distinct throaty sound; in modern speech it is simply silent |
| פ | pe | p / f (the dagesh decides) | With a dagesh it is p, without it f |
| צ | tsadi | ts (as in cats) | A plain ts as in cats |
| ק | qof | k, a bit deeper | A k made a bit further back, from the throat rather than the palate |
| ר | resh | r, made in the throat | A gargled r at the back of the mouth, close to the French one |
| ש | shin | sh (as in ship) | A plain sh |
| ת | tav | t (plain) | A plain t |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
Three letters that change their sound (begad-kefat). ב, כ and פ sound different depending on the dagesh — the dot inside the letter. A working rule: at the start of a word, after a pause, read the stop — "b", "k", "p". Elsewhere, trust the transcription. The name is a mnemonic: the six letters that once had doubles spell out the phrase begad kefat.
Throat letters and silent holders. Two throat letters: ה is a light breathy h, as in English, and ח a squeezed throaty kh that English lacks. And א and ע have no sound of their own. Alef holds the vowel slot, and ayin is silent in modern speech. Both vanish from the transcription.
Sibilants you already own. sh, z, ts and s all exist in English, so these four need no learning — only attaching to a shape. A quarter of the phonetics here is done in one evening.
Two ways to write "t", two to write "k". Hebrew spells "t" with two letters, ט and ת, and "k" with two, ק and כ. They sound almost the same but are written differently. Which shape goes in which word, the transcription and word habit teach.
Nine letters that read much as you expect. g, d, v, y, l, m, n take their most common English values. ר is the throaty r, and ת is a plain t. Together with the sibilant group these nine letters cover almost every transcribed word from the first lessons.
Frequently asked
How to write Hebrew text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.