Tzere Explained
| Tzere | - | ֵ |
| IPA | e, ɛ |
| Transliteration | e |
| English example | ⦁ bed
⦁ (Scottish) bay |
| Same sound | segol |
| Example | - | תֵּל | - | The word for mound in Hebrew, tel. The only vowel (under Tav, the two dots horizontally) is the Tzere itself. |
| Other Niqqud |
| |
Tzere (also spelled
Tsere,
Tzeirei,
Zere,
Zeire,
Ṣērê; modern Hebrew:
צֵירֵי, pronounced as /he/, sometimes also written ; formerly
ṣērê) is a
Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by two horizontally-aligned dots "◌ֵ" underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, tzere is pronounced the same as
segol and indicates the
phoneme /e/, which is the same as the "e" sound in the vowel segol and is
transliterated as an "e". There was a distinction in
Tiberian Hebrew between
segol and Tzere.
Usage
Tzere is usually written in these cases:
- In final stressed closed syllables: Hebrew: rtl=yes|מַחְשֵׁב (pronounced as /[maħˈʃev]/, computer), Hebrew: rtl=yes|סִפֵּר (pronounced as /[sipˈpeʁ]/, he told; without niqqud Hebrew: rtl=yes|סיפר). Also in final syllables closed by guttural letters with an added furtive patach: Hebrew: rtl=yes|מַטְבֵּעַ (pronounced as /[matˈbeaʕ]/, coin), Hebrew: rtl=yes|שוֹכֵחַ (pronounced as /[ʃoˈχeaħ]/, forgetting). Notable exceptions to this rule are:
- The personal suffixes Hebrew: rtl=yes|־תֶם (pronounced as /[tem]/, 2 pl. m.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־תֶן (pronounced as /[ten]/, 2 pl. f.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־כֶם (pronounced as /[χem]/, 2 pl. m.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־כֶן (pronounced as /[χen]/, 2 pl. f.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־הֶם (pronounced as /[hem]/, 3 pl. m.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־הֶן (pronounced as /[hen]/, 3 pl. f.) are written with segol. (But the words Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֵם (pronounced as /[hem]/, they m.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֵן (pronounced as /[hen]/, they f.) are written with Tzere.)
- The words Hebrew: rtl=yes|אֱמֶת (pronounced as /[eˈmet]/, truth), Hebrew: rtl=yes|בַּרְזֶל (pronounced as /[baʁˈzel]/, iron), Hebrew: rtl=yes|גַּרְזֶן (pronounced as /[ɡaʁˈzen]/, axe), Hebrew: rtl=yes|כַּרְמֶל (pronounced as /[kaʁˈmel]/, Carmel, gardenland), Hebrew: rtl=yes|עֲרָפֶל (pronounced as /[ʕaʁaˈfel]/, fog) are written with segol.
- The word Hebrew: rtl=yes|בֵּן (pronounced as /[ben]/, son, boy) is written with tzere in the absolute state, but with segol in the construct state: Hebrew: rtl=yes|בֶּן־. In the Bible this rule also applies to other words which end in tzere, when they are written with maqaf.[1]
- In non-final, unstressed open syllables: Hebrew: rtl=yes|עֵנָב (pronounced as /[ʕeˈnav]/, grape), Hebrew: rtl=yes|תֵּבָה (pronounced as /[teˈva]/, chest, ark; without niqqud Hebrew: rtl=yes|תיבה).
- In the first (stressed) syllable of about 70 segolate words, among them Hebrew: rtl=yes|חֵלֶק (pronounced as /[ˈħeleq]/, part), Hebrew: rtl=yes|סֵפֶר (pronounced as /[ˈsefeʁ]/, book), Hebrew: rtl=yes|עֵדֶן (pronounced as /[ˈʕeden]/, Eden).[2] In other – much more numerous – segolate words the first pronounced as /[e]/ sound is a segol.
- In final open syllables, when the mater lectionis is yod (Hebrew: rtl=yes|י) or aleph (Hebrew: rtl=yes|א): Hebrew: rtl=yes|בְּנֵי־ (pronounced as /[bəne]/, sons of), Hebrew: rtl=yes|מוֹצֵא (pronounced as /[moˈtse]/, finding). When the mater lectionis is he (Hebrew: rtl=yes|ה), the vowel sign is usually segol, but tzere is written in the imperative and absolute infinitive forms of the verb, in nouns in construct state, and in the base form of several other nouns (see below for details).
In declension tzere sometimes changes to other vowels or to shva. The full rules for these changes were formulated the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
In modern Hebrew there are words which are homophones and homographs in spelling without niqqud, but are written differently with niqqud, the difference being segol and tzere. For example, Hebrew: rtl=yes|עֶרֶב evening and Hebrew: rtl=yes|עֵרֶב weft are both pronounced pronounced as /[ˈʕeʁev]/ and written Hebrew: rtl=yes|ערב without niqqud (these words also have different etymology).
Writing tzere with and without matres lectionis
See main article: article and Mater lectionis. Tzere can be written with and without matres lectionis. The most prominent mater lectionis for tzere is Yod, and in some cases it is used with the letters aleph and he .
Standard spelling rules mandate only one way to spell every word with or without the Yod after tzere. Although in standard modern pronunciation the sound of tzere with or without the Yod is the same, it may change the word's meaning in a written text (see below).
Standard usage without Yod
Tzere can be written by itself without mater lectionis, in which case it is called tzere ḥaser ("lacking tzere"), for example in the word (pronounced as /[zeɾ]/, wreath). In this case, in text without niqqud the vowel pronounced as /[e]/ is usually not written at all: זר. This word can be also vocalized as (pronounced as /[zaɾ]/, stranger) and the reader has to guess the right pronunciation according to the context. According to the standardized Hebrew spelling the letter Yod is sometimes written in texts without niqqud, when there is a grammatical reason for it; for example, the verb (pronounced as /[teʕaˈdeɾ]/, she will be absent) is written without Yod in texts with niqqud, but the Yod is written in a text without niqqud: .
Standard usage with Yod
Tzere with Yod is called "full tzere". When a full tzere is written in text with niqqud, the letter Yod must be written in text without niqqud. The main cases for writing the tzere with Yod are these:
- Tzere is written with Yod to indicate the plural number of declined words, for example means our product and means our products; the standard pronunciation is the same: pronounced as /[mutsaˈɾenu]/.
- Tzere is written with Yod in words in which the Yod is a part of the root:
- Nouns, for example Hebrew: rtl=yes|בֵּיצָה (pronounced as /[beˈtsa]/, egg), root Hebrew: rtl=yes|ב־י־צ; Hebrew: rtl=yes|זֵיתִים (pronounced as /[zeˈtim]/, olives, the plural of Hebrew: rtl=yes|זַיִת), root Hebrew: rtl=yes|ז־י־ת, Hebrew: rtl=yes|מֵידָע (pronounced as /[meˈdaʕ]/, information), root Hebrew: rtl=yes|י־ד־ע. Tzere is also traditionally written with Yod in several other words, the roots of which are rarely used productively to form other words, among them Hebrew: rtl=yes|פְּסֵיפָס (pronounced as /[pəseˈfas]/, mosaic), Hebrew: rtl=yes|קֵיסָם (pronounced as /[qeˈsam]/, sliver) and the word "tzere" itself – Hebrew: rtl=yes|צֵירֵי (pronounced as /[tseˈɾe]/).[3]
- Verbs, in which the last letter of the root is he (Hebrew: rtl=yes|ל״ה), which is by convention treated as interchangeable with Yod,[4] for example Hebrew: rtl=yes|נִבְנֵית (pronounced as /[nivˈnet]/, being built f.), root Hebrew: rtl=yes|ב־נ־ה (or Hebrew: rtl=yes|ב־נ־י). In Arabic the corresponding verbs are written with ʾalif maqṣūra, which represents a similar interchange of the letters yāʾ (ي) and ʾalif (ا).
- Some verbs in which the first letter of the root is Yod (Hebrew: rtl=yes|פ״י),[5] for example Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֵיטִיב (pronounced as /[heˈtiv]/, he did well), root Hebrew: rtl=yes|י־ט־ב.
- In standard spelling without niqqud Yod is written to represent the [e] sound in words formed in the pattern heCCeC (Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֶקְטֵל), in which the first and the second consonants of the root merge, even though the vowel there is not tzere, but seggol, for example Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֶשֵּׂג (pronounced as /[hesˈseɡ]/, achievement; root Hebrew: rtl=yes|נ־שׂ־ג, without niqqud Hebrew: rtl=yes|הישג).
Nonstandard usage of Yod to represent tzere
In texts with full niqqud – mostly poetry, religious and children books – tzere is usually written in accordance with the rules mandated by the academy. The academy defined some cases in which a Yod is added to texts without niqqud to signify an pronounced as /[e]/ sound, but in common usage Yod is often written or not written contrary to the standard.
Some notable common deviations from the standard in which a Yod is added include:
- Some words are often written with Yod in texts without niqqud, even though the Yod is not a part of the root and is not written in a text with niqqud. For example: Hebrew: rtl=yes|מֵמַד (pronounced as /[meˈmad]/, dimension), Hebrew: rtl=yes|מֵרַב (pronounced as /[meˈɾav]/, Merab, most), Hebrew: rtl=yes|שֵׂעָר (pronounced as /[seˈʕaɾ]/, hair) are often written Hebrew: rtl=yes|מימד, Hebrew: rtl=yes|מירב, and Hebrew: rtl=yes|שיער, even though the standard spelling without niqqud is Hebrew: rtl=yes|ממד, Hebrew: rtl=yes|מרב, Hebrew: rtl=yes|שער. This goes further as the Yod is retained in declined forms of the word, which aren't written with tzere at all, but with shva; for example, the word Hebrew: rtl=yes|שְׂעָרוֹת (pronounced as /[seʕaˈɾot]/, hairs) is frequently written Hebrew: rtl=yes|שיערות, although the vowel of the Hebrew: rtl=yes|ש is shva (the standard spelling is Hebrew: rtl=yes|שערות).
- Words in the pattern CəCeCa (Hebrew: rtl=yes|קְטֵלָה) are often written with a Yod, even though it is not the standard. Examples include Hebrew: rtl=yes|בְּרֵכָה (pronounced as /[bəɾeˈχa]/, pool), Hebrew: rtl=yes|גְּנֵבָה (pronounced as /[ɡəneˈva]/, theft), Hebrew: rtl=yes|שְׂרֵפָה (pronounced as /[səɾeˈfa]/, burning), which are often written Hebrew: rtl=yes|בריכה, Hebrew: rtl=yes|גניבה, Hebrew: rtl=yes|שריפה instead of the standard Hebrew: rtl=yes|ברכה, Hebrew: rtl=yes|גנבה, Hebrew: rtl=yes|שרפה.
- Yod is often added in texts without niqqud to represent tzere in the future tense of verbs in which Yod is the first letter of the root, for example Hebrew: rtl=yes|יֵשֵׁב (pronounced as /[jeˈʃev]/, he will sit) is often written Hebrew: rtl=yes|יישב, although the standard spelling is Hebrew: rtl=yes|ישב. This spelling may also be vocalized Hebrew: rtl=yes|יָשַׁב (pronounced as /[jaˈʃav]/, he sat), but adding a Yod doesn't solve the ambiguity – Hebrew: rtl=yes|יישב may be vocalized Hebrew: rtl=yes|יְיַשֵׁב (pronounced as /[jeˈjaʃev]/, he will settle) and Hebrew: rtl=yes|יִשֵׁב (pronounced as /[jiˈʃev]/, he settled). Because of the many potential ambiguities, the academy suggests adding vocalization in such cases.
- Several other (non-comprehensive) examples:
- The standard spelling of the plural form of the word Hebrew: rtl=yes|פְּרִי (pronounced as /[pəɾi]/, fruit) is Hebrew: rtl=yes|פֵּרוֹת (pronounced as /[peɾot]/) with niqqud and Hebrew: rtl=yes|פרות without niqqud, but it is often written Hebrew: rtl=yes|פירות (Hebrew: rtl=yes|פרות may also mean Hebrew: rtl=yes|פָּרוֹת pronounced as /[paˈɾot]/ cows).
- The words Hebrew: rtl=yes|אֵזוֹר (pronounced as /[eˈzoɾ]/, zone), Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֵפֶךְ (pronounced as /[ˈhefeχ]/, contrary; also Hebrew: rtl=yes|הֶפֶךְ), Hebrew: rtl=yes|תֵּכֶף (pronounced as /[ˈteχef]/, immediately; also Hebrew: rtl=yes|תֶּכֶף) are sometimes spelled Hebrew: rtl=yes|איזור, Hebrew: rtl=yes|היפך, Hebrew: rtl=yes|תיכף, although the standard spelling without niqqud is Hebrew: rtl=yes|אזור, Hebrew: rtl=yes|הפך, Hebrew: rtl=yes|תכף. (In the Even-Shoshan dictionary Hebrew: rtl=yes|תיכף refers to Hebrew: rtl=yes|תֶּכֶף; in the Rav-Millim dictionary it is the main entry.)
Some notable common deviations from the standard in which a Yod is not written include:
- According to the modern spelling rules, the academy mandates writing a Yod in some cases in which the vowel pronounced as /[i]/ changes to pronounced as /[e]/ for grammatical reasons. (Not writing the Yod is correct according to the old ktiv haser spelling.) For example:
- In the future, imperative and infinitive forms of verbs in binyan nif'al, the vowel of the prefix is usually pronounced as /[i]/, which in standard spelling without niqqud is written with a Yod: Hebrew: rtl=yes|לְהִזָּהֵר (pronounced as /[ləhizzaˈheɾ]/, to be cautious), standard spelling without niqqud: Hebrew: rtl=yes|להיזהר. This vowel changes to pronounced as /[e]/ before the guttural letters Hebrew: א, Hebrew: ה, Hebrew: ח, Hebrew: ע, Hebrew: ר: Hebrew: rtl=yes|לְהֵרָדֵם (pronounced as /[ləheɾaˈdem]/, to fall asleep), standard spelling without niqqud: Hebrew: rtl=yes|להירדם. Sometimes, however, verbs with both pronounced as /[i]/ and pronounced as /[e]/ are written without a Yod in texts without niqqud: Hebrew: rtl=yes|להזהר, Hebrew: rtl=yes|להרדם.
- In nouns of the pattern CiCCuC, such as Hebrew: rtl=yes|סִפּוּק (pronounced as /[sipˈpuq]/, satisfaction, without niqqud Hebrew: rtl=yes|סיפוק) the vowel pronounced as /[i]/ also changes to pronounced as /[e]/ before guttural letters: Hebrew: rtl=yes|פֵּרוּשׁ (pronounced as /[peˈɾuʃ]/, commentary), Hebrew: rtl=yes|תֵּאוּר (pronounced as /[teˈʔuɾ]/, description), without niqqud: Hebrew: rtl=yes|פירוש, Hebrew: rtl=yes|תיאור, but sometimes Hebrew: rtl=yes|פרוש, Hebrew: rtl=yes|תאור.
- The Yod is sometimes omitted from words, the last letter of whose root is Hebrew: ה. This is a mistake, because in these verbs the Yod is written in texts with niqqud. For example: Hebrew: rtl=yes|הוֹדֵיתִי (pronounced as /[hoˈdeti]/, I thanked, root Hebrew: rtl=yes|י־ד־ה), Hebrew: rtl=yes|נֶהֱנֵינוּ (pronounced as /[neheˈnenu]/, we enjoyed, root Hebrew: rtl=yes|ה־נ־ה) are sometimes incorrectly spelled Hebrew: rtl=yes|הודתי, Hebrew: rtl=yes|נהננו.
Tzere with aleph and he
The letter aleph (Hebrew: א) is the mater lectionis after tzere in the middle or the end of the word when it is a part of the root: Hebrew: rtl=yes|מוֹצֵא (pronounced as /[moˈtse]/, finding m.), Hebrew: rtl=yes|מוֹצֵאת (pronounced as /[moˈtset]/, finding f.).
The letter he (Hebrew: ה) is very rarely used as a mater lectionis for pronounced as /[e]/ in the middle of the word. The notable example for this is the word Hebrew: rtl=yes|יְפֵהפִיָּה (pronounced as /[jəfefiˈja]/, pretty), in which the two last letters of the root (Hebrew: rtl=yes|י־פ־ה) are reduplicated. It can also be spelled Hebrew: rtl=yes|יפה־פיה (fem.; so in the Bible, Jeremiah 46:20) or Hebrew: rtl=yes|יפיפיה.
The letter he (Hebrew: ה) is often used as a mater lectionis for the vowel pronounced as /[e]/ in the end of the word, but the niqqud is usually segol. It is tzere in these cases:
- In the construct state of nouns: absolute state Hebrew: rtl=yes|שָׂדֶה (pronounced as /[saˈde]/, field), but construct state Hebrew: rtl=yes|שְׂדֵה־ (pronounced as /[səde]/).
- In the imperative and absolute infinitive forms of the verb: future form Hebrew: rtl=yes|יְגַלֶּה (pronounced as /[jəɡalˈle]/, he will discover), but Hebrew: rtl=yes|גַּלֵּה (pronounced as /[ɡalˈle]/, discover!); future form Hebrew: rtl=yes|תַּרְבֶּה (pronounced as /[taɾˈbe]/, she shall increase, make many), absolute infinitive Hebrew: rtl=yes|הַרְבֵּה (pronounced as /[haɾˈbe]/, many).
- In some words, among them Hebrew: rtl=yes|אַיֵּה (pronounced as /[ajˈje]/, where?), Hebrew: rtl=yes|אַרְיֵה (pronounced as /[aɾˈje]/, lion), Hebrew: rtl=yes|הִנֵּה (pronounced as /[hinˈne]/, here!), Hebrew: rtl=yes|יָשְׁפֵה (pronounced as /[jaʃəˈfe]/, jasper; also Hebrew: rtl=yes|יָשְׁפֶה), Hebrew: rtl=yes|־עֶשְׂרֵה (pronounced as /[ʕesˈre]/, -teen f.).[6]
Pronunciation
The following table contains the pronunciation and transliteration of the different tzeres in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The letter Bet used in this table is only for demonstration, any letter can be used.
| Symbol | Name | Pronunciation |
|---|
| Israeli | Ashkenazi | Sephardi | Yemenite | Tiberian | Reconstructed |
|---|
| Biblical |
|---|
| Tzere | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[ej]/ | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ | ? | |
| ,, | Tzere Male | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[ej]/ | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[e̞]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ | ? | pronounced as /[eː]/ |
|
In Modern Hebrew tzere – with or without a following yod – may be pronounced as pronounced as /[ej]/ and transliterated as "ei or "ey". Such pronunciation and transliteration of tzere are not correct in the normative pronunciation and not consistent in the spoken language.[7]
See also
Notes and References
- Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition, §1.4 ב.
- A full list appears in Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition, §1.4 כ.
- Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition, §1.4.
- .
- .
- A grammatical supplement to the Even-Shoshan Dictionary (2003 edition), §15.
- Book: Laufer
, Asher
. Chapters in Phonetics and Phonetic Transcription . . Jerusalem . 2008 . 9789654934015 . 207–211.
