Xrthnty

Niqqud
ְ   ֱ   ֲ   ֳ   ִ   ֵ   ֶ   ַ   ָ   ֹ   ֻ   ּ   ֿ   ׁ   ׂ
Other diacritics	cantillation, geresh, gershayim
Example
Gen. 1:9, And God said, "Let the waters be collected". Letters in black, niqqud in red, cantillation in blue[1]
Niqqud articles
Shva · Hiriq · Zeire · Segol · Patach · Kamatz · Holam · Dagesh · Mappiq · Shuruk · Kubutz · Rafe · Sin/Shin Dot

In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikkud (Hebrew: נִקּוּד, Modern: nikkud, Tiberian: niqqûḏ, "dotting, pointing" or Hebrew: נְקֻדּוֹת, Modern: nekuddot, Tiberian: nəquddôṯ, "dots") is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium AD in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is called ktiv menuqad.

Niqqud marks are small compared to the letters, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them.

In modern Israeli orthography niqqud is seldom used, except in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or for new immigrants. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling without niqqud, known in Hebrew as ktiv maleh (.mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebrfont-size:1.15em;font-family:"Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey David CLM","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli","SBL BibLit","SBL Hebrew",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSansכתיב מלא, literally "full spelling") has developed. This was formally standardised in the Rules for Spelling without Niqqud (כללי הכתיב חסר הניקוד) enacted by the
Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1996,^[2] and updated in 2017.^[3]

One reason for the lesser use of niqqud is that it no longer reflects the current pronunciation. In modern Hebrew, tzere is pronounced the same as segol, although they were distinct in Tiberian Hebrew, and also pataḥ makes the same sound as a qamatz. To the younger generation of native Hebrew speakers, these distinctions seem arbitrary and meaningless; on the other hand, Hebrew language purists have rejected out of hand the idea of changing the basics of niqqud and fitting them to the current pronunciation – with the result that in practice niqqud is increasingly going out of use.^[4]

Demonstration

This table uses the consonant letters ב, ח or ש, where appropriate, to demonstrate where the niqqud is placed in relation to the consonant it is pronounced after. Any other letters shown are actually part of the vowel. Note that there is some variation among different traditions in exactly how some vowel points are pronounced. The table below shows how most Israelis would pronounce them, but the classic Ashkenazi pronunciation, for example, differs in several respects.

Keyboard

Both consonants and niqqud can be typed from virtual graphical keyboards available on the World Wide Web, or by methods integrated into particular operating systems.

Microsoft Windows

• In Windows 8 or later, niqqud can be entered using the right alt + the first Hebrew letter of the name of the value, when using the standard Hebrew keyboard layout. On earlier versions, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing CapsLock, placing the cursor after the consonant letter, and then pressing Shift and one of the keys in the chart below.


• The user can configure the registry to allow use of the Alt key with the numeric plus key to type the hexadecimal Unicode value.^[6]


• The user can use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to produce a custom keyboard layout, or can download a layout produced by another party.^[7]

Linux

In GTK+ Linux systems, niqqud can be entered by holding down AltGR and pressing the same keys as for Windows below. Or by pressing ctrl+shift+u followed by the appropriate 4 digit Unicode.

Macintosh

Using the Hebrew keyboard layout in Mac OS X, the typist can enter niqqud by pressing the Option key together with a number on the top row of the keyboard. Other combinations such as sofit and hataf can also be entered by pressing either the Shift key and a number, or by pressing the Shift key, Option key, and a number at the same time.^[8][9]

Niqqud input Input (Windows) Key (Windows) Input (Mac OS X) Unicode Type Result ~ 0 05B0 Sh'va [1] 1 3 05B1 Reduced Segol [1] 2 1 05B2 Reduced Patach [1] 3 2 05B3 Reduced Kamatz [1] 4 4 05B4 Hiriq [1] 5 5 05B5 Zeire [1] 6 9 05B6 Segol [1] 7 6 05B7 Patach [1]

Niqqud input Input (Windows) Key (Windows) Input (Mac OS X) Unicode Type Result 8 7 05B8 Kamatz [1] 9 A 05C2 Sin dot (left) [2] 0 M 05C1 Shin dot (right) [2]  – = 05B9 Holam [1] = [3] , 05BC Dagesh or Mappiq [1] U 05BC Shuruk [4] 8 05BB Kubutz [1]

Notes:

• 
  ^[1] The letter "ס" represents any Hebrew consonant.


• 
  ^[2] For sin-dot and shin-dot, the letter "ש" (sin/shin) is used.


• 
  ^[3] The dagesh, mappiq, and shuruk have different uses, but the same graphical representation, and hence are input in the same manner.


• 
  ^[4] For shuruk, the letter "ו" (vav) is used since it can only be used with that letter.


• A rafe can be input by inserting the corresponding Unicode character, either explicitly or via a customized keyboard layout.

SIL International have developed another standard, which is based on Tiro, but adds the Niqqud along the home keys.^[10] Linux comes with "Israel — Biblical Hebrew (Tiro)" as a standard layout. With this layout, niqqud can be typed without pressing the Caps Lock key.

See also

• The Arabic equivalent, harakat.
  


• Hebrew diacritics


• Q're perpetuum


• Dagesh


• Hebrew spelling


• Tiberian Hebrew

Bibliography

• 
  Gonen, Einat; Dan, Barak (2006). Gadish, Ronit, ed. "Leshonenu La′am. Academy Decisions: Grammar" (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language. ISSN 0024-1091..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  


• 
   Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, especially §7, §8, §9
  


• 
  Netzer, Nisan (1976). Haniqqud halakha lema′ase (in Hebrew). Israel: Massada.
  

References

External links

• Interactive Niqqud Lesson