Holam
| Holam | |
| ֹ | |
| IPA | ooro̞ |
| Transliteration | o |
| English example | shore |
| Similar sound | Qamatz qaṭan, ḥataf qamatz |
| ḤolamExample | |
| נֹעַר | |
| The wordnoʿar(youth) inHebrew.The first vowel (overNun,the dot above) is theḥolam. | |
| Ḥolam maleExample | |
| חוֹלָם | |
| The wordḥolaminHebrew.The lettervav⟨ו⟩with the dot above it is theḤolam maleitself. | |
| OtherNiqqud | |
| Shva·Hiriq·Tzere·Segol·Patach·Kamatz·Holam·Dagesh·Mappiq·Shuruk·Kubutz·Rafe·Sin/Shin Dot | |
Holamorcholam(modernHebrew:חוֹלָם,IPA:[χoˈlam],formerlyחֹלֶם,ḥōlem) is aHebrewniqqudvowelsign represented by a dot above the upper left corner of the consonant letter. For example, here the holam appears after the lettermem⟨מ⟩:מֹ.Inmodern Hebrew,it indicates themid back rounded vowel,[o̞],and istransliteratedas ano.
Themater lectionisletter which is usually employed with holam isvav,although in a few words, the lettersaleforheare used instead ofvav.When it is used with amater lectionis,the holam is calledholam male(חוֹלָם מָלֵא,IPA:[χoˈlammaˈle],"full holam" ), and without it the holam is calledholam haser(חוֹלָם חָסֵר,IPA:[χoˈlamχaˈser],"deficient holam" ).
Appearance
[edit]If a holam is used without a followingmater lectionis(vav, alef or he), as inפֹּה (/po/,"here" ), it is written as a dot above at the upper-left corner of the letter after which it is pronounced.Letter-spacingis not supposed to be affected by it, although some buggy computer fonts may add an unneeded space before the next letter.
If vav is used as amater lectionis,the holam appears above the vav. If themater lectionisis alef, as inלֹא (/lo/,"no" ), it is supposed to appear above thealef's right hand, although this is not implemented in all computer fonts, and does not always appear even in professionally typeset modern books. This means a holam withalefmay, in fact, appear in the same place as a regularholam haser.If the alef itself is not amater lectionis,but a consonant, the holam appears in its regular place above the upper-left corner of the previous letter, as inתֹּאַר (/ˈto.aʁ/,"epithet" ).
If aholam haseris written aftervav,as inלִגְוֺעַ (/liɡˈvo.a/,"to agonize" ), it may appear above thevav,or slightly farther to the left; this varies between different fonts. In some fonts, a holam merges with theshindot (which appears on the upper-right corner of its letter seat), in words such asחֹשֶׁךְ (ḥṓšeḵ,[ˈχoʃeχ],'darkness') or with thesindot, as inשֹׂבַע (/ˈsova/,'satiation'). (These dots may or may not appear merged on your screen, as that depends on your device's Hebrew font.)
Usage
[edit]Holam maleis, in general, the most common way to write the/o/sound in modern spelling with niqqud. If a word hasHolam malein spelling with niqqud, themater lectionislettervavis without any exception retained in spelling without niqqud, both according to the spelling rules of theAcademy of the Hebrew Languageand in common practice.
The use ofholam haseris restricted to certain word patterns, although many common words appear in them. In most cases the Academy's spelling rules mandate that thevavwill be written even when the spelling with niqqud does not have it. The normative exceptions from this rule are listed below. The Academy's standard is not followed perfectly by all speakers, and common deviations from it are also noted below.
In Biblical Hebrew the above rules are not followed consistently, and sometimes thevavis omitted or added.[1]
For further complications involvingKamatz katanandHataf kamatz,see the articleKamatz.
Holam haser which is written asvavin text without niqqud
[edit]- In words, in which the penultimate syllable has the vowel/o/and is stressed (sometimes calledsegolate):
- קֹטֶר('diameter')/ˈkoteʁ/
- זֹהַר('radiance',Zohar),/ˈzohaʁ/
- נֹגַהּ('brightness',Nogah),/ˈnoɡa(h)/
- דֹּאַר('mail'),/ˈdo.aʁ/or/ˈdoʔaʁ/.
- Some people tend to spell some of these words without thevav,e.g.דארinstead ofדואר,although the Academy mandatesדואר.The tendency is especially strong when the words can be used as personal names.
- WhenKubutzis changed toholambefore guttural letters in the passivebinyanPual due totashlum dagesh(a vowel-change due to the inability of guttural letters to carry adagesh):
- מְפֹאָר('fancy'),/məfoˈʔaʁ/.Without niqqud:מפואר.
- פֹּרַשׁ('was explained'),/poˈʁaʃ/.Without niqqud:פורש.
- In words which have the pattern /CaCoC/ in the singular and become /CəCuCCim/ with Kubutz in the plural, especially names of colors:
- כָּתֹם('orange'),/kaˈtom/,pl.כְּתֻמִּים/kətumˈmim/
- עָגֹל('round'),/ʕaˈɡol/,pl.עֲגֻלִּים/ʕaɡulˈlim/.
- When the last letter of therootis guttural,holam haseris preserved due totashlum dagesh:
- שָׁחֹר('black'),/ʃaˈχoʁ/,pl.שְׁחֹרִים/ʃəχoˈʁim/.
- Without niqqud:כתום,כתומים,עגול,עגולים,שחור,שחורים.
- A similar pattern, in which the last letter of the root is not doubled in declension, hasholam malein the base form, which is preserved in declension:
- sg.גָּדוֹל('big'),/ɡaˈdol/,pl.גְּדוֹלִים/ɡədoˈlim/.
- In three words, aholam maleis changed to ashurukin declension:
- Similar to the above is the pattern /CəCaCCoC/, withreduplicationof the second and third letters of theroot:
- פְּתַלְתֹּל('crooked'),/pətalˈtol/,pl.פְּתַלְתֻּלִּים/pətaltulˈlim/.Without niqqud:פתלתול,פתלתולים.
- In the future, infinitive and imperative forms of most verbs inbinyanQal:
- אֶסְגֹּר('I shall close'),/ʔesˈɡoʁ/,לִסְגֹּר('to close'),/lisˈɡoʁ/,סְגֹר('close!'),/səɡoʁ/.Without niqqud:אסגור,לסגור,סגור.
- In words, whoseroots' second and third letter are the same, in which case in declension theholamchanges toKubutzafter which there will be adagesh:
- כֹּלall,/kol/,decl.כֻּלּהּ/kulˈlah/('all of her'), rootכ־ל־ל[5]
- רֹב('most'),/rov/,decl.רֻבּוֹ/rubˈbo/('most of him'), rootר־ב־ב
- תֹּף('drum'),/tof/,pl.תֻּפִּים/tupˈpim/,rootת־פ־פ
- מָעֹז('stronghold'),/maˈʕoz/,pl.מָעֻזִּים/maʕuzˈzim/,rootע־ז־ז
- The standard spelling without niqqud for all of them exceptכָּל־inconstruct stateis withvav:כול,כולה,רוב,רובו,תוף,תופים,מעוז,מעוזים.Despite this, some people occasionally omit thevavin some of those words and spellרב,תףetc.
- Several common words are spelled with aholam haserin the Bible, but the Academy mandates that they be spelled withholam malein modern Hebrew, among them:
- כֹּחַ/כּוֹחַ('force'),/ˈkoaχ/
- מֹחַ/מוֹחַ('brain'),/ˈmoaχ/
- יַהֲלֹם/יַהֲלוֹם('a precious stone', in modern Hebrew 'diamond'),/jahaˈlom/
- מְאֹד/מְאוֹד('very'),/məʔod/
- פִּתְאֹם/פִּתְאוֹם('suddenly'),/pitˈʔom/
- Some people still spell them withoutvav,but the standard spelling is withvav.[6]
- The participle of most verbs inbinyanQal is often written withholam haserin the Bible, but always withholam malein modern Hebrew.
- For example, in the Bible appear bothחֹזֶהandחוֹזֶה('seer'),/χoˈze/,but in modern Hebrew onlyחוֹזֶה.
Holam with other matres lectionis
[edit]- The most common occasion for not writing the/o/sound as avavin text without niqqud is when in text with niqqud themater lectionisisAlef(א) orHe(ה) instead ofvav.In the Bible some words are irregularly and inconsistently spelled with ה as amater lectionis:
- זֹהalongsideזוֹ,e.g.בֵּיתֹהalongsideבֵּיתוֹ,etc.
- but the number of these irregularities was brought to minimum in modern Hebrew.
- In the future forms of several verbs whoseroots' first letter isAlef:
- תֹּאכַל('you shall eat'),/toˈχal/,rootא־כ־ל,without niqqudתאכל.
- The prefix of the first person singular is itself Alef and in spelling with niqqud only one Alef is written:אֹמַר('I shall say'),/ʔoˈmaʁ/,rootא־מ־ר,and in spelling without niqqud avavisadded:אומר.This always happens in the rootsא־ב־ד('perish'),א־ב־י('wish'),[7]א־כ־ל('eat'),א־מ־ר('say'),א־פ־י('bake') and less consistently in the rootsא־ה־ב('love'),א־ח־ז('hold'),א־ס־ף('collect'),א־ת־י('come').[7]In the rootא־מ־רaholam malewithvavis used in the infinitive inMishnaicand modern Hebrew:
- לוֹמַר/loˈmaʁ/.[8]
- In the infinitive form of a small number of verbs whoseroots' last letter isAlef[dubious–discuss]:בִּמְלֹאת('upon becoming full'),/bimˈlot/,rootמ־ל־א.[9]
- In the following words the mater lectionis is always Alef (א):
- In the following words themater lectionisis always He (ה):
- כֹּה('such'),/ko/
- פֹּה('here'),/po/
- אֵיפֹה('where?'),/eˈfo/[13]
- In theabsolute infinitiveform of verbs which end inHe:הָיֹה(/haˈjo/'to be'). This form is common in the Bible, but in modern Hebrew it is notproductiveand it is preserved only in fossilized sayings. For example, a common opening for fairy tales,הָיֹה הָיָה('there once was'),/haˈjohaˈja/is writtenהיה היהwithout niqqud.
Holam without vav in personal names
[edit]Some examples of usage of holam withoutvavin personal names:
- The namesPharaoh(פַּרְעֹה,/paʁˈʕo/),Moshe(מֹשֶׁה)[14]andShlomo(שְׁלֹמֹה)[15]are never written withvav.Shilo(שִׁילֹה) is sometimes written withvavin the Bible, but always with He in modern Hebrew. The adjectivesפַּרְעוֹנִי,שִׁילוֹנִיare written withvavand with a nun in the suffix.
- The nameAharon(אַהֲרֹן) is spelled withholam haserin the Bible. In modern Hebrew bothאהרןandאהרוןare used.
- The nameNoah(נֹחַ) is spelled withholam haserin the Bible, but it is sometimes written with thevavin the Mishna[16]and in modern Hebrew.
- Several other names of places and people are spelled with holam and Alef in the Bible includeYoshiyahu(יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ,Josiah),Dor(דֹּאר,in modern Hebrewדּוֹר) andNo Amon(נֹא אָמוֹן,the Hebrew name ofThebes).
- The wordכֹּהֵן('priest'),/koˈhen/is spelled withholam haserin the Bible. It is a common Jewish last name,Cohen.The Academy mandatesholam malefor the nounכּוֹהֵן,but allows the omission ofvavfor spelling the personal name.[17]
- Some personal names, such asOhad(אֹהַד),Zohar(זֹהַר) andNogah(נֹגַהּ), are sometimes spelled withoutvavin modern writing without niqqud, although this varies from person to person.
- God's nameAdonai(אֲדֹנָי) is written withholam haserto distinguish it from the word "Lord" (אָדוֹן) used for humans.[18]When theTetragrammatonis written with niqqud, it follows that ofAdonai,so it is written withholam haser,too. For religious reasons writing Adonai and the Tetragrammaton is avoided in modern religious texts except in direct quotes from the Bible. They rarely appear in secular modern Hebrew texts and their spelling there is inconsistent.
- The nameElohim(אֱלֹהִים) is written withholam haserin the Bible, although its singular form Eloah (אֱלוֹהַּ) is usually written withholam male.In modern HebrewElohimis a common word for "God" and it is usually spelled with thevav,which is also the Academy's recommendation.
Pronunciation
[edit]The following table contains thepronunciationandtransliterationof the differentholamsin reconstructed historical forms anddialectsusing theInternational Phonetic Alphabet.
The lettersPe⟨פ⟩andTsade⟨צ⟩are used in this table only for demonstration. Any letter can be used.
| Symbol | Name | Pronunciation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Israeli | Ashkenazi | Sephardi | Yemenite | Tiberian | Reconstructed | |||
| Mishnaic | Biblical | |||||||
| פֹ פֹה |
Holam | [o̞] | [oɪ~øɪ~eɪ~əʊ~ɐʊ~ɑʊ~oʊ] | [o̞] | [ɶ~ɤ~œ] | [o] | [o] | [aw] > [oː] |
| פוֹ צֹא |
Holam male | [o̞] | [oɪ~øɪ~eɪ~əʊ~ɐʊ~ɑʊ~oʊ] | [o̞] | [ɶ~ɤ~œ] | [o] | [o] | [oː] |
Vowel length comparison
[edit]These vowel lengths are not manifested in modern Hebrew. In addition, the shortois usually promoted to a longoin Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation. As well, the shorto(qamatz qaṭan) and longa(qamatz) have the sameniqqud.As a result, aqamatz qaṭanis usually promoted toHolam malein Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
| Vowel Length | IPA | Transliteration | English example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long | Short | Very Short | |||
| וֹ | ָ | ֳ | [o̞] | o | cone |
Computer encoding
[edit]| Glyph | Unicode | Name |
|---|---|---|
| ֹ | U+05B9 | HEBREW POINT HOLAM |
| ֺ | U+05BA | HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV |
| וֹ | U+FB4B | HEBREW LETTER VAV WITH HOLAM |
In computers there are three ways to distinguish the vowelḥolam maleand the consonant-vowel combinationvav+ḥolam ḥaser.For example, in the pairמַצּוֹת (/maˈt͡sot/,the plural ofמַצָּה,matza) andמִצְוֹת (/miˈt͡svot/,the plural ofמִצְוָהmitzva):[19]
- By using thezero-width non-joinerafter thevavand before the holam:מִצְוֹת
- By using the Unicode character U+05BA HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV:מִצְוֺת.
- By theprecomposed character,[20]U+FB4B (HTML Entity (decimal) וֹ):מִצְוֹת
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§1.3;Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar,§8l
- ^Rarely used in the singular in Modern Hebrew.
- ^Rarely used in the plural in Modern Hebrew.
- ^Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§1.3.
- ^This word becomesכָּל־inconstruct state,which is very common, so as another exception it is written withoutvavin spelling without niqqud:כל־האנשים('all the people'), butהיא יודעת הכול('she knows all').
- ^The full list appears atAcademy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§1.3.
- ^abRare in modern Hebrew.
- ^Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar,§68;theEven-Shoshan Dictionaryfor the modern forms.
- ^Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§3.5.
- ^This word is writtenלוֹאseveral times in the Bible, but such spelling never occurs in modern Hebrew. With the particleהֲ־and onlywhen it is used as a synonym ofהִנֵּה('here') it may be written both asהלואand asהלא(Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§2.4.4), but this usage is rare in modern Hebrew.
- ^The wordנוֹדis pronounced identically and means "wandering". It appears in the Bible and is rare in modern Hebrew. The Even-Shoshan dictionary also notes that it is an incorrect spelling forנֹאד.
- ^This word is actually spelled asשמאולseveral times in the Bible, but never in modern Hebrew. However, the intentionally wrong spellingסמולis often used as a disparaging term for thepolitical leftand is documented inUri Orbach's lexicon ofReligious Zionistslang.
- ^TheEven-Shoshan Dictionaryalso registers the modern Hebrew wordאֵיפֹשֶׁהוּ('somewhere'),/efoʃehu/,which is based onאֵיפֹהand־שֶׁהוּ,the ending of the indefinite pronounsמשהו,כלשהו,('some'). The Academy has not decided on a standard spelling of this word.
- ^The related participleמוֹשֶׁה('pulling out of water') is written withvavin modern Hebrew. Moderndiminutiveforms of Moshe, such asMoshiko(מושיקו) are written withvav.
- ^A common moderndiminutiveversion of this name is regularly spelledשלומי(Shlomi).
- ^For example, inAvot5:2 in theKaufmann manuscript.
- ^Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition,§1.3 fn. 55.
- ^According to TheBrown–Driver–BriggsHebrew Lexicon.
- ^This is the Biblical spelling inJeremiah 35:18(actuallyמִצְוֺתָיו). The standard modern Hebrew spelling, withniqqud,is withḥolam male:מִצְווֹת.
- ^Also known as apresentation formin Unicode.