diff --git a/hebr/he-examples.js b/hebr/he-examples.js index ff4bef1a5..9fa36f67d 100644 --- a/hebr/he-examples.js +++ b/hebr/he-examples.js @@ -9249,7 +9249,7 @@ autoExpandExamples.he = ` דז׳ה וו|déjà vu||dezha-vú - +אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי|Hebrew alphabet|a§le§f§-§be§‹§t§ §i§v§ri§‹| diff --git a/hebr/he.css b/hebr/he.css index ae067e3d3..2be9d0358 100755 --- a/hebr/he.css +++ b/hebr/he.css @@ -30,3 +30,24 @@ @media print { #freeText { font-size: 18px; } } + + + + + + + + +.useBlockExamples .charExample .ex { + font-size:300%; + line-height: 1; + } +.useBlockExamples .charExample.inline .ex { + font-size: 150%; + } + + + + + + diff --git a/hebr/he.html b/hebr/he.html index 7516f6427..2ff805ce0 100755 --- a/hebr/he.html +++ b/hebr/he.html @@ -52,7 +52,7 @@

Contents

Updated - 5 January, 2023 + 7 January, 2023

@@ -116,14 +116,24 @@

Usage & history

Basic features

-

Hebrew is an abjad. This means that in normal use the script represents only consonants. This approach is helped by the strong emphasis on consonant patterns in Semitic languages. See the table to the right for a brief overview of features for the modern Hebrew orthography.

-

Hebrew text runs right-to-left in horizontal lines, but numbers and embedded Latin text are read left-to-right.

-

There is no case distinction.

-

Words are separated by spaces.

-

The Modern Israeli Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, plus 5 word-final letters that have their own code points. Additional sounds can be represented using dagesh, shin/sin dots, or geresh.

-

The script hides short vowels, however these and other phonetic information can be written where needed for clarifying ambiguity or educational purposes using diacritics (points). There are 11 vowel diacritics. Vowel locations can be marked by 4 matres lectionis (consonants indicating vowel locations), which also take diacritics in vowelled text.

-

In vowelled text, there is a diacritic to indicate the absence of a vowel in consonant clusters.

-

Modern Hebrew uses both European digits, and ASCII punctuation marks.

+ +

Hebrew is an abjad. This means that in normal use the script represents only consonants. This approach is helped by the strong emphasis on consonant patterns in Semitic languages. See the table to the right for a brief overview of features for the modern Hebrew orthography.

+ +

Hebrew text runs right-to-left in horizontal lines, but numbers and embedded Latin text are read left-to-right. ❯ direction

+ +

There is no case distinction.

+ +

Words are separated by spaces.

+ +

The Modern Israeli Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, plus 5 word-final letters that have their own code points. Additional sounds can be represented using dagesh, shin/sin dots, or geresh. ❯ consonants

+ +

Hebrew has diacritics that can be used to express short vowel sounds (called niqqud or points), but rarely uses them in normal text. Hebrew readers are usually able to understand the pronunciation from the context and the regular structure of Hebrew words. ❯ vowels

+ +

Although the script usually hides short vowels, these and other phonetic diacritics are written where needed to clarify ambiguities or for educational purposes. There are 11 vowel diacritics. Vowel locations can be marked by 4 matres lectionis (consonants indicating vowel locations), which also take diacritics in vowelled text. ❯ voweldiacritics ❯ matres

+ +

In vowelled text, there is a diacritic to indicate the absence of a vowel in consonant clusters. ❯ novowel

+ +

Modern Hebrew uses both European digits, and ASCII punctuation marks.

@@ -526,10 +536,71 @@

Consonant sounds

Vowels

+
+ + + + + + +
+

Matres lectionis

+

+ +

Hebrew uses the following consonant letters to indicate the location of a vowel.

+ +
א␣ע␣ו␣י
+ +

The first two are silent vowel supports, whereas the second two are considered to be part of the vowel.

+

There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as full spelling.ws

+
+ + + + + +
+

Niqqud points

+

A series of points, known as niqqud, can be used to give precision about vowel sounds. They are rarely used outside of educational, children's, and religious texts, or for foreign or ambiguous words.

+ + +
+אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי +
+
'Hebrew alphabet', alef-bet ivri, spelled out using diacritic points.
+
details

אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי

+
+
+ + +

These are the niqqud used for modern Hebrew.

+ +
ִ␣ֻ␣ֵ␣ֶ␣ֱ␣ֹ␣ֳ␣ְ␣ָ␣ַ␣ֲ
+ +

Redundancy arises because the modern orthography retains alternative points that in the past expressed length differences. Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation ignores phonetic length.

+
ℹ
+

Three of the above code points have glyphs that combine ְ [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA] (sh'va) and another point (used to indicate shortened lengths in older Hebrew). A single Unicode code point (that doesn't decompose during normalisation) is used for each of these combinations. Authors should not attach multiple vowel code points to a single consonant letter.

+
-

Hebrew has diacritics that can be used to express short vowel sounds, but rarely uses them in normal text. Hebrew readers are usually able to understand the pronunciation from the context and the regular structure of Hebrew words.

-

Certain consonant letters, referred to as matres lectionis, may indicate the location of vowels in pointed and unpointed text.

+ + +
+

Vowel absence

+ + +

In pointed text, ְ   [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA] may be used to express an absence of vowel between two consonants. However, in various other contexts this sh'va is pronounced.

+
+ + + + + +
+

Standalone vowels

+

+

Word-initial vowels that are not preceded by a consonant sound are represented by, or written in conjunction with, א [U+05D0 HEBREW LETTER ALEF] or ע [U+05E2 HEBREW LETTER AYIN].

+
@@ -555,16 +626,16 @@

Plain vowels

i
 
-

ִ   [U+05B4 HEBREW POINT HIRIQ], eg. ראשון.

-

ִי   [U+05B4 HEBREW POINT HIRIQ + U+05D9 HEBREW LETTER YOD], eg. נין.

+

ִ   [U+05B4 HEBREW POINT HIRIQ]

+

ִי   [U+05B4 HEBREW POINT HIRIQ + U+05D9 HEBREW LETTER YOD]

u
 
-

וּ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ], eg. מוּם

-

ֻ   [U+05BB HEBREW POINT QUBUTS] כְּתֻמִּים.

+

וּ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ]

+

ֻ   [U+05BB HEBREW POINT QUBUTS]

@@ -575,18 +646,18 @@

Plain vowels

e
 
-

ֶ   [U+05B6 HEBREW POINT SEGOL], eg. נֵבֶל.

-

ֵ   [U+05B5 HEBREW POINT TSERE], eg. נבל.

-

ְ   [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA], but only in certain circumstances, eg. נמלים. For details of usage in modern Israeli, see Wikipedia.

+

ֶ   [U+05B6 HEBREW POINT SEGOL]

+

ֵ   [U+05B5 HEBREW POINT TSERE]

+

ְ   [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA], but only in certain circumstances. For details of usage in modern Israeli, see Wikipedia.

o
 
-

ֹ   [U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM], eg. פֹּה.

-

וֹ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM], eg. סוף.

-

ָ   [U+05B8 HEBREW POINT QAMATS], eg. שָׁנָה.

+

ֹ   [U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM]

+

וֹ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM]

+

ָ   [U+05B8 HEBREW POINT QAMATS]

@@ -605,8 +676,8 @@

Plain vowels

a
 
-

ַ   [U+05B7 HEBREW POINT PATAH], eg. תּן.

-

ָ   [U+05B8 HEBREW POINT QAMATS], eg. שנה. 

+

ַ   [U+05B7 HEBREW POINT PATAH]

+

ָ   [U+05B8 HEBREW POINT QAMATS]

@@ -675,71 +746,117 @@

Diphthongs

+ -
+ +
+

Consonants

+
-
-

Matres lectionis

-

-

Hebrew uses the following consonant letters to indicate the location of a vowel.

-
א␣ע␣ו␣י
-

The first two are silent vowel supports, whereas the second two are considered to be part of the vowel.

-

There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, a practice known as full spelling.ws

+ +
+

Basic consonants

+ +

These are the basic consonant letters used in modern Hebrew.

+ + +
א␣ע
+ +
ט␣ת␣ד␣ק␣ג
+ +
צ
+ +
פ␣ב␣ו␣ש␣ס␣ז␣ח␣כ␣ר␣ה
+ +
מ␣נ
+ +
ל␣י
+ + + + +
+

Word-final shapes

+ +

Five letters have special word-final forms, called sofit. They are encoded as separate code points in Unicode, and appear as separate keys on a keyboard, so no special processing is needed to display or store them (unlike Arabic).

+ +
ץ␣ף␣ך␣ם␣ן
+ +

Foreign words and names may sometimes use the normal forms at the end of a word, rather than the sofit form. In those cases, use the non-final code points.

+
+

Matres lectionis

-
-

Niqqud points

-

A series of points, known as niqqud, can be used to give precision about vowel sounds. They are rarely used outside of educational, children's, and religious texts, or for foreign or ambiguous words.

+

Three of the letters can also represent vowel locations. See matres.

+
+
-
-אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי -
'Hebrew alphabet', alef-bet ivri, spelled out using diacritic points.
-
-

These are the niqqud used for modern Hebrew.

-
ִ␣ֻ␣ֵ␣ֶ␣ֱ␣ֹ␣ֳ␣ְ␣ָ␣ַ␣ֲ
-

Redundancy arises because the modern orthography retains alternative points that in the past expressed length differences. Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation ignores phonetic length.

-
ℹ
-

Three of the above code points have glyphs that combine ְ [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA] (sh'va) and another point (used to indicate shortened lengths in older Hebrew). A single Unicode code point (that doesn't decompose during normalisation) is used for each of these combinations. Authors should not attach multiple vowel code points to a single consonant letter.

+ + + +
+

Repertoire extensions

+ +

Methods used to modify the sound of a consonant.

+ + + +
+

Dagesh

+

ּ [U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ] is used in pointed text with 3 consonant letters (and one final form) to indicate that they map to 'hard' sounds. This is similar to the distinction made in Syriac. Dagesh is the only diacritic to appear inside a consonant. Below, the hard sounds are shown to the left, and the normal to the right.

+ +
פּ␣בּ␣כּ␣ךּ␣ ␣פ␣ב␣כ␣ך
+ +

Dagesh can also be found alongside other letters, without any sound change, due to preservation of archaic spelling. The pairs t–θ, d–ð and ɡ–ɣ were lost over time, leaving:

+ +
תּ␣דּ␣גּ
- -
-

Vowel absence

- -

In pointed text, ְ   [U+05B0 HEBREW POINT SHEVA] may be used to express an absence of vowel between two consonants. However, in various other contexts this sh'va is pronounced.

+ +
+

Shin & sin dots

+

The two phonemes s and ʃ are represented by a single consonant letter, ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN]. If it is necessary to indicate which is intended, two diacritics used only with this character, do the job: ׂ [U+05C2 HEBREW POINT SIN DOT] and ׁ [U+05C1 HEBREW POINT SHIN DOT]. They look identical apart from the side to which they are positioned.

+ +
שׁ␣שׂ
- -
-

Standalone vowels

-

-

Word-initial vowels that are not preceded by a consonant sound are represented by, or written in conjunction with, א [U+05D0 HEBREW LETTER ALEF] or ע [U+05E2 HEBREW LETTER AYIN].

+
+

Geresh

+

Other consonants are extended to non-native sounds by use of a following ׳ [U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH].

+

This first set is used in loanwords and slang that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary.ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh

+ +
ג׳␣ז׳␣צ׳␣ו׳␣וו
+ +

The graphemes ו׳ and וו are alternative ways of writing the same thing.

+

A second set is only used to transliterate foreign sounds, especially Arabic.ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh

+ +
ד׳␣ת׳␣ח׳␣ר׳␣ע׳
@@ -747,11 +864,19 @@

Standalone vowels

+
+

Cantillation marks

+ +
+

In Biblical and older Hebrew texts, many additional diacritics are attached to the base character alongside the niqqud. Nearly all of the following additional marks in the Hebrew Unicode block are cantillation marks, used to indicate how to chant ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services.

+ +
֑␣֒␣֓␣֔␣֕␣֖␣֗␣֘␣֙␣֚␣֛␣֜␣֝␣֞␣֟␣֠␣֡␣֢␣֣␣֤␣֥␣֦␣֧␣֨␣֩␣֪␣֫␣֬␣֭␣֮␣֯␣ֺ␣ֽ␣ֿ␣ׄ␣ׅ␣ׇ
+
+
+ + - -
-

Consonants

@@ -773,14 +898,14 @@

Stops

p
 
b
 
@@ -788,8 +913,8 @@

Stops

t
 
-

ט [U+05D8 HEBREW LETTER TET], eg. קט.

-

ת [U+05EA HEBREW LETTER TAV], eg. תות. 

+

ט [U+05D8 HEBREW LETTER TET]

+

ת [U+05EA HEBREW LETTER TAV] 

תּ [U+05EA HEBREW LETTER TAV + U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ]. Archaic spelling, still found sometimes in pointed text. (see previous example).

@@ -797,7 +922,7 @@

Stops

d
 
-

ד [U+05D3 HEBREW LETTER DALET], eg. דוד.

+

ד [U+05D3 HEBREW LETTER DALET]

דּ [U+05D3 HEBREW LETTER DALET + U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ]. Archaic spelling, still found sometimes in pointed text.

@@ -805,17 +930,17 @@

Stops

k
 
ɡ
 
-

ג [U+05D2 HEBREW LETTER GIMEL], eg. גג.

+

ג [U+05D2 HEBREW LETTER GIMEL]

גּ [U+05D2 HEBREW LETTER GIMEL]. Archaic spelling, still sometimes used in pointed text (see previous example).

@@ -823,8 +948,8 @@

Stops

ʔ
 
@@ -842,7 +967,7 @@

Affricates

t͡s
 
@@ -850,7 +975,7 @@

Affricates

t͡ʃ
 
-

צ׳ [U+05E6 HEBREW LETTER TSADI + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. ריצ׳רץ׳. Used in loanwords and slang.

+

צ׳ [U+05E6 HEBREW LETTER TSADI + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Used in loanwords and slang.

ץ׳ [U+05E5 HEBREW LETTER FINAL TSADI + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH]. Final form. 

@@ -858,7 +983,7 @@

Affricates

d͡ʒ
 
-

ג׳ [U+05D2 HEBREW LETTER GIMEL + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. ג׳וּק. Used in loanwords and slang.

+

ג׳ [U+05D2 HEBREW LETTER GIMEL + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Used in loanwords and slang.

@@ -875,17 +1000,17 @@

Fricatives

f
 
-

פ [U+05E4 HEBREW LETTER PE], eg. פיספס.

+

פ [U+05E4 HEBREW LETTER PE]

ף -[U+05E3 HEBREW LETTER FINAL PE] in word-final position, eg. כנף.

+[U+05E3 HEBREW LETTER FINAL PE] in word-final position

v
 
@@ -893,7 +1018,7 @@

Fricatives

 
@@ -901,63 +1026,63 @@

Fricatives

 
s
 
-

ס [U+05E1 HEBREW LETTER SAMEKH], eg. סוף.

-

ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN], eg. שם.

-

שׂ [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN + U+05C2 HEBREW POINT SIN DOT], eg. שָׂם. Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from ʃ.

+

ס [U+05E1 HEBREW LETTER SAMEKH]

+

ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN]

+

שׂ [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN + U+05C2 HEBREW POINT SIN DOT] Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from ʃ.

z
 
ʃ
 
-

ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN], eg. שם.

-

שׁ [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN + U+05C1 HEBREW POINT SHIN DOT], eg. שָׁם. Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from s.

+

ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN]

+

שׁ [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN + U+05C1 HEBREW POINT SHIN DOT] Explicit form, used in pointed text to distinguish from s.

ʒ
 
-

ז׳ [U+05D6 HEBREW LETTER ZAYIN + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. ז׳רגון. Used in loan words & slang.

+

ז׳ [U+05D6 HEBREW LETTER ZAYIN + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Used in loan words & slang.

χ
 
-

כ [U+05DB HEBREW LETTER KAF], eg. סכך.

+

כ [U+05DB HEBREW LETTER KAF]

ך [U+05DA HEBREW LETTER FINAL KAF] word finally.

-

ח [U+05D7 HEBREW LETTER HET], eg. חם.

-

ח׳ [U+05D7 HEBREW LETTER HET + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. שייח׳. Used to indicate that this sound should be used rather than h in non-Hebrew (esp. Arabic) text. 

+

ח [U+05D7 HEBREW LETTER HET]

+

ח׳ [U+05D7 HEBREW LETTER HET + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Used to indicate that this sound should be used rather than h in non-Hebrew (esp. Arabic) text. 

ʁ
 
-

ר [U+05E8 HEBREW LETTER RESH], eg. עיר.

-

ר׳ [U+05E8 HEBREW LETTER RESH + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. ר׳ג׳ר. Explicitly indicates the sound for Arabic transliteration.

+

ר [U+05E8 HEBREW LETTER RESH]

+

ר׳ [U+05E8 HEBREW LETTER RESH + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Explicitly indicates the sound for Arabic transliteration.

h
 
@@ -974,16 +1099,16 @@

Nasals

m
 
-

מ [U+05DE HEBREW LETTER MEM], eg. מוּם.

-

ם [U+05DD HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM]. Word-final form.

+

מ [U+05DE HEBREW LETTER MEM]

+

ם [U+05DD HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM] Word-final form.

n
 
-

נ [U+05E0 HEBREW LETTER NUN], eg. נין.

-

ן [U+05DF HEBREW LETTER FINAL NUN]. Word-final form.

+

נ [U+05E0 HEBREW LETTER NUN]

+

ן [U+05DF HEBREW LETTER FINAL NUN] Word-final form.

@@ -991,7 +1116,7 @@

Nasals

 
@@ -1008,145 +1133,27 @@

Other

w
 
-

וו [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH], eg. אוטווה. Non-standard orthography.

-

ו׳ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Non-standard orthography (not common), eg. ו׳יליאם.

+

וו [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Non-standard orthography.

+

ו׳ [U+05D5 HEBREW LETTER VAV + U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH] Non-standard orthography (not common).

l
 
j
 
- - - - - - -
- - - - - -
-

Basic consonants

- -

These are the basic consonant letters used in modern Hebrew.

- - -
א␣ע
- -
ט␣ת␣ד␣ק␣ג
- -
צ
- -
פ␣ב␣ו␣ש␣ס␣ז␣ח␣כ␣ר␣ה
- -
מ␣נ
- -
ל␣י
- - - - -
-

Word-final shapes

- -

Five letters have special word-final forms, called sofit. They are encoded as separate code points in Unicode, and appear as separate keys on a keyboard, so no special processing is needed to display or store them (unlike Arabic).

- -
ץ␣ף␣ך␣ם␣ן
- -

Foreign words and names may sometimes use the normal forms at the end of a word, rather than the sofit form. In those cases, use the non-final code points.

-
- - - - -
-

Matres lectionis

- -

Three of the letters can also represent vowel locations. See matres.

-
-
- - - - - - - -
-

Repertoire extensions

- -

Methods used to modify the sound of a consonant.

- - - -
-

Dagesh

-

ּ [U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPIQ] is used in pointed text with 3 consonant letters (and one final form) to indicate that they map to 'hard' sounds. This is similar to the distinction made in Syriac. Dagesh is the only diacritic to appear inside a consonant. Below, the hard sounds are shown to the left, and the normal to the right.

- -
פּ␣בּ␣כּ␣ךּ␣ ␣פ␣ב␣כ␣ך
- -

Dagesh can also be found alongside other letters, without any sound change, due to preservation of archaic spelling. The pairs t–θ, d–ð and ɡ–ɣ were lost over time, leaving:

- -
תּ␣דּ␣גּ
-
- - - - - -
-

Shin & sin dots

-

The two phonemes s and ʃ are represented by a single consonant letter, ש [U+05E9 HEBREW LETTER SHIN]. If it is necessary to indicate which is intended, two diacritics used only with this character, do the job: ׂ [U+05C2 HEBREW POINT SIN DOT] and ׁ [U+05C1 HEBREW POINT SHIN DOT]. They look identical apart from the side to which they are positioned.

- -
שׁ␣שׂ
-
- - - - -
-

Geresh

-

Other consonants are extended to non-native sounds by use of a following ׳ [U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH].

-

This first set is used in loanwords and slang that are part of the everyday Hebrew colloquial vocabulary.ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh

- -
ג׳␣ז׳␣צ׳␣ו׳␣וו
- -

The graphemes ו׳ and וו are alternative ways of writing the same thing.

-

A second set is only used to transliterate foreign sounds, especially Arabic.ws,#Sounds_represented_with_diacritic_geresh

- -
ד׳␣ת׳␣ח׳␣ר׳␣ע׳
-
-
- - - - - -
-

Cantillation marks

- -
-

In Biblical and older Hebrew texts, many additional diacritics are attached to the base character alongside the niqqud. Nearly all of the following additional marks in the Hebrew Unicode block are cantillation marks, used to indicate how to chant ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services.

- -
֑␣֒␣֓␣֔␣֕␣֖␣֗␣֘␣֙␣֚␣֛␣֜␣֝␣֞␣֟␣֠␣֡␣֢␣֣␣֤␣֥␣֦␣֧␣֨␣֩␣֪␣֫␣֬␣֭␣֮␣֯␣ֺ␣ֽ␣ֿ␣ׄ␣ׅ␣ׇ
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Font styles

Hebrew has a number of different writing styles.

The standard, 'square script' is derived from Aramaic. There are serif and sans-serif fonts.

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Serif (top) and sans (bottom) examples of the standard writing style.

The STAM style is used for sacred texts such as the Torah. Certain letters have decorative tags above.s

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Text written in the STAM writing style.

The rashi style is used for commentaries on sacred texts. Letters have a more rounded, almost cursive style.s

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Text written in the rashi writing style.

Hebrew also has a 'cursive' style, which means 'handwriting' style. Letters are not normally joined. Cursive fonts are only used as display fonts. Many glyphs look very different from the standard letter forms.

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Text in Yoav Cursive font.
Text written in the 'cursive' writing style.
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Context-based shaping & positioning

In Hebrew several characters have a different shape at the end of a word, but each shape variant has it's own code point and keyboard key, so there is no need for rendering rules to choose the correct glyph.

This example shows מ [U+05DE HEBREW LETTER MEM] and ם [U+05DD HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM] (on the left).

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Two different shapes for mem, depending on position in the word.
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Context-based shaping & positioning

Multiple diacritics for one base character are common where the various types of diacritic are mixed.

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Text using a mixture of vowel, consonant, and cantillation diacritic points.
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Context-based shaping & positioning

The diacritic ֹ [U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM] illustrates how positioning can be context-sensitive. fig_holam shows 3 examples.

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תֹּאַר תֹּאר שֹׂבַע
Three slightly different placements of ֹ [U+05B9 HEBREW POINT HOLAM], depending on the surrounding context.
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Font styling & weight

Italics may also be used, however its use is not abundant, and many of the italic faces in fonts are designed for display use, rather than to accompany a regular font.l

There are different preferences for the direction of the slant for italicised Hebrew text. The choice as to which is preferred appears to be down to the individual, and is a question of whether the slant matches the direction of the Hebrew text, or embedded Latin text.l

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-עברית +
+עברית
Example of forward-leaning italics (bottom).
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Quotations & citations

Emphasis

Increased tracking is a common way to express emphasis in Hebrew.

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The last part of this text is stretched to show emphasis.
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Additive

Prefixes and suffixes

The default list style uses a full stop + space as a suffix.

Examples:

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א. ב. ג. ד. ה.
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א. ב. ג. ד. ה.
Separator for Hebrew list counters.
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