Free course · Step 4 of 15
Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Pe: נ ס ע פ
Four more letters. Nun is a bent, narrow line, half a Kaf, and says n. Samekh is a closed circle and says s. Ayin is the second silent letter after Alef: a Y sitting on the line, two arms and one leg, carrying a vowel. Pe is Kaf with a small tongue inside: with the dot it is p, without it is f.
Two more final forms: Nun becomes ן, a straight leg going below the line, and Pe becomes ף, a leg going down with the tongue still inside. That makes four finals out of five.
The exercises insist on the three two-faced letters seen so far, Bet, Kaf and Pe: the dot inside decides the sound. And they set final Nun against Vav and Zayin, which also go down on a single line.
Step 4 of 15 · Explanation
Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Pe: נ ס ע פ
(Ayin) is the second silent letter.
Like Alef, it carries a vowel and makes no sound of its own (in some accents it is a soft sound from the throat).
Alef or Ayin: both silent, and you will simply learn which word takes which.
Questions
- Is Ayin really silent?
- In the Hebrew most people speak today, yes: like Alef, it carries the vowel. In the traditional oriental pronunciation it has a guttural sound. The course follows common Israeli pronunciation.
- How do I know whether Pe reads p or f?
- By the dot: פּ with the dot is p, פ without is f. At the end of a word it is always ף, that is f.
- How many letters are left?
- Five: Tsadi, Qof, Resh, Shin and Tav, in step 5. Then you have the whole alphabet.
And then?
In a free trial lesson we talk on Google Meet and I set your goals. With a free account the steps you finish follow you to every device.