The Hebrew Alphabet

Many word games, especially crossword puzzles, allow you to spell the individual letters of the Hebrew alphabet, making it a handy word list to study. Sometimes, though, I just like to look at it...

Hebrew Alphabet

Or listen to it...


Here are a few quick facts about this alphabet before we turn our attention to the individual letters...

  • The number of letters in the alphabet, and the traditional spelling of each letter, varies from source to source (as you can see by the differences between the video and my own descriptions!). The authority used to settle both issues on this page is The Chambers Dictionary. Why? Because that's my favorite dictionary, and it's my website ;-)

  • Unlike the Greek and Latin alphabets, which have upper and lower case versions of each letter, the Hebrew alphabet has only one case. Five of the letters do, however, have variant forms, called SOFIT*, when appearing at the end of a word. These letters are KAPH, MEM, NUN, PEH, and SADHE. This is one of the reasons people disagree on the number of letters in the alphabet.

  • Because Hebrew is written from right to left, this alphabet will not normally appear in the Anglicized order in which I have presented it on this page.

  • Traditional Hebrew does not make use of vowels. In more modern times, however, diacritical symbols called NIQQUD* have been introduced to indicate the presence of vowel sounds. Of course, I only mention this fact here in the hope that the Scrabble dictionary folk will notice the word NIQQUD* and add it to their lexicon.

  • A DREIDEL (also DREIDL) is a kind of spinning top used in a Jewish gambling game. A dreidel has four sides, each face having one of the following Hebrew letters imprinted: NUN, GIMEL, HEH, and SIN.

So let's take a look at the individual letters, and see how they might help out the word-gamer now and then. As always, I use an asterisk (*) to let you know that a word is not allowed in Scrabble.


ALEPH

Aleph

Spelling...

Also spelled ALEF

Scrabble...

Anagrams - None
Hooks - ALEPHS

Crosswords...

First Hebrew letter
Hebrew leader?
Hebrew series starter
Hebrew alphabet opener
Introduction to Hebrew?
Leader in Israel
Opening in the Mideast
Beth preceder
Beth's predecessor
Letter before beth
Beth's lead in
___-null (number of positive integers)
___-null (math figure)
___ number (set theory concept)
___-null (smallest infinity)


BETH

Beth

Crosswords...

Aleph follower
Gimel preceder
Letter before gimel
First letter in Bathsheba


GIMEL

Gimel

Scrabble...

Anagrams - GLIME
Hooks - GIMELS

Crosswords...

Beth follower
Letter on a dreidel


DALETH

Daleth

Spelling...

Also spelled DALET*, DALED, DALEDH


HEH

Heh

Spelling...

Also spelled HE, HEI*


VAV

Vav


Spelling...

Also spelled VAU, VAW

Crosswords...

Hebrew letter before zayin


ZAYIN

Zayin


CHETH

Cheth


TETH

Teth


YOD

Yod

Spelling...

Also spelled YODH

Crosswords...

10th Hebrew letter
Tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet


KAPH

Kaph

Spelling...

Also spelled KHAPH, KAF, KHAF, CAPH


LAMED

Lamed

Scrabble...

Anagrams - MEDAL
Hooks - LAMEDH, LAMEDS

Spelling...

Also spelled LAMEDH


MEM

Mem

Crosswords...
Hebrew letter after lamed
13th Hebrew letter


NUN

Nun

Crosswords...

14th Hebrew letter


SAMEKH

Samekh

Spelling...

Also spelled - SAMEK, SAMECH


AYIN

Ayin


PEH

Spelling...

Also spelled - PE, FEH, FE


SADHE

Sadhe

Spelling...

Also spelled - SADE, TSADE, SADI, TSADI

Crosswords...

18th Hebrew letter
Letter before qoph


KOPH

Koph

Spelling...

Also spelled - QOPH

Crosswords...

Letter before resh
Hebrew letter before resh
Nineteenth Hebrew letter


RESH

Resh

Crosswords...

Hebrew letter after qoph
Sin preceder
Letter before shin


SIN

Sin

Spelling...

Also spelled - SHIN


TAV

Tav

Crosswords...

Hebrew letter after shin
Last Hebrew letter
Last letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Torah's beginning?
Hebrew T

What's Your Favorite Word List?

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