Dots, Dashes, and other Fun Marks

NortheasternSemitic

• Old Akkadian

• Babylonian

• Assyrian

NorthwestSemitic

• Mari tablets

• Ugarit tablets

• Amarna letters

SouthSemitic

• Arabic

• Ethiopian

Canaanite Aramaic

Hebrew DevelopmentsHebrew Developments

• Vowel markers added by Massortes

• Qumran scrolls show evidence of other sorts of vowel markers

• Massoretic text does not show evidence of attempts to iron out textual difficulties

Fr Gd s lvd th wrld tht h gv hs ‘nly bgttn sn tht whvr

blvs ‘n hm shld nt prsh bt hv ‘trnl lf

; ;

AW

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.

_'

'

ePathah

Kamets

Seghol

Tsere

Hirek

Kibbuts

Shurek

Holem u

A

E

IO

U

“A” as in Hat

“E” as in Met

“E” as in They

“I” as in Machine

“O” as in Roll

“U” as in Put

“U” as in True

“A” as in Father

; ;AW

<

.

.

_'

' e

Pathah

KametsSeghol

Tsere

Hirek Kibbuts

Shurek

Holem

u

Pathah

tyIB;tyIB; - “House” - “House”

Hirek

%v,xo;%v,xo; - -

“Darkness”“Darkness”

Seghol B B Aramaic word for Aramaic word for “cluster” (of grapes)“cluster” (of grapes)

ba'Father

~d'a'Man

ha'Brother

vyaiMan

tyIB; House

!Be Son

rh; Mountain

bAj Good

~Ay Day

lAq Voice

~veName

yr;f' yr;f' Sarai

~Wxn" ~Wxn" Nahum

!roh]a; !roh]a; Aaron

qx'c.yI qx'c.yI Issac

hmol{v. hmol{v. Solomon

tyMil;Wv tyMil;Wv Shulamite

ha'le ha'le Leah

!yIq;!yIq;Cain

hy"[.v;y> hy"[.v;y> Isaiah

rm'T' rm'T' Tamar

![;n"K. ![;n"K. Canaan

~yIr'c.mi ~yIr'c.mi Egypt

rWa rWa Ur

lb,B' lb,B' Babylon

ba'Am ba'Am Moab

!ADgIm. !ADgIm. Megiddo

~l;iv'Wry~l;iv'Wry> >

Jerusalem

~r'a] ~r'a] Aram

!Der>y: !Der>y: Jordan

~yhil{a/ ~yhil{a/ ar'B' ar'B'

tyviareB.tyviareB.taew> taew>

~yIm;V'h; ~yIm;V'h; taetae`#r,`#r,a'h;a'h;

In BeginningIn BeginningHe createdHe createdGodGod

the Heavensthe Heavensandand

the Earththe Earth

hf,[]n: ~yhil{a/

rm,aYOw: Wnmel.c;B. ~d'a'

WnteWmd>K''

And He saidGodWe will make

manIn our image

Like our likeness

^n>yBe tyvia'

hb'yaew>!ybeW hV'aih' !ybeW H['r>z: !

ybeW ^[]r>z:

And enmityI will putBetween you

And betweenThe womanAnd

between

Your seedAndbetweenHer seed

^p.Wvy>

hT'a;w> varo

`bqe[' WNp,WvT.

aWhHehe will

bruise yourheadand you

you will bruisehis

heel

bqo[]y:

Whbow" Whto Whbow" Whto ht'y>h' ht'y>h'

#r<a'h'w> #r<a'h'w> ynEP.-l[; ynEP.-l[; tp,x,r:m. tp,x,r:m. ~yhil{a/~yhil{a/

x:Wrw> ~Aht. x:Wrw> ~Aht. ynEP.-l[; ynEP.-l[; %v,xow>%v,xow>

~yIM'h;~yIM'h;

rAa yhiy> rAa yhiy> ~yhil{a/ ~yhil{a/

rm,aYOw: rm,aYOw: rAa-yhiy>w:rAa-yhiy>w:

rAah'-ta, rAah'-ta, ~yhil{a/ ~yhil{a/ ar>Y:w: ar>Y:w: ~yhil{a/ ~yhil{a/

lDEb.Y:w: bAj-lDEb.Y:w: bAj-yKiyKi%v,xoh; !ybeW %v,xoh; !ybeW

rAah' !yBerAah' !yBe