Hebrew alphabet

Hebrew is#nbsp;the official language of#nbsp;the State of#nbsp;Israel. It#nbsp;belongs to#nbsp;the Semitic group and became independent between the 13th and 7th centuries#nbsp;BC.

Hebrew was revived in#nbsp;its modern form in#nbsp;the 20th century through the efforts of#nbsp;Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and a#nbsp;number of#nbsp;enthusiasts who argued that only on#nbsp;its basis could Israel’s national culture be#nbsp;built.в

Each Hebrew letter has two meanings: a#nbsp;semantic one, addressing to#nbsp;antiquity, and a#nbsp;numerical one. The latter is#nbsp;used in#nbsp;gematria, one of#nbsp;the methods of#nbsp;analyzing the meaning of#nbsp;words, based on#nbsp;the sum of#nbsp;the meanings of#nbsp;its constituent letters.

There are 22 characters in#nbsp;the alphabet, but five of#nbsp;them have special lettering#nbsp;— "soffits" — that they take on#nbsp;when they are at#nbsp;the end of#nbsp;words (ך, ם, ן, ף, ץ).

As#nbsp;we#nbsp;delve deeper and deeper into the language, we#nbsp;are imbued with its beauty:

All letters of#nbsp;the alphabet are consonants, but four of#nbsp;them are also used to#nbsp;represent vowels (א, ה, י, ו). These sounds are rendered with ovals as#nbsp;combinations of#nbsp;dots and strokes around the letter. They are found in#nbsp;elementary school and children’s literature, religious texts, and dictionaries. To#nbsp;facilitate reading without vowels, a "full letter" is#nbsp;sometimes used, in#nbsp;which additional letters of#nbsp;the above-mentioned type are placed in#nbsp;place of#nbsp;the expected vowels.

Six pairs of#nbsp;letters can stand for the same sounds:

• כּ and ק — k,
• ו and ב — v,
• ח and כ — kh,
• ט and ת — t,
• ס and שׂ — s,
• ע and א are unreadable.

In#nbsp;the past, each letter had a#nbsp;different sound, but in#nbsp;modern, adapted Hebrew the distinction in#nbsp;pronunciation has been lost, while the spelling is#nbsp;retained.

Usually the letters א, ק, ט, ס, ס are found in#nbsp;foreign words, but to#nbsp;write correctly, it#nbsp;is#nbsp;necessary to memorize words together with their spelling. The same applies to#nbsp;the letters שׁ and שׂ (sounds "sh" and "s"), which are not usually dotted.

Some letters have different pronunciation depending on#nbsp;their position in#nbsp;the word כ, ב, פ are pronounced as "k", "b" and "p" at#nbsp;the beginning of#nbsp;the word, and as "kh", "v" and "f" at#nbsp;the end of#nbsp;the word. At#nbsp;the same time, both variants are possible in#nbsp;the middle of#nbsp;the word. The same applies to#nbsp;dagesh, dots inside some letters, which change their sound, but are not usually put in#nbsp;writing: בּ and ב for "b" and "v". To#nbsp;read correctly, one must know either the words themselves or#nbsp;the grammatical laws by#nbsp;which the pronunciation of#nbsp;the letter is#nbsp;determined.

Hebrew words are written from right to#nbsp;left, the letters are not joined and have the same case (no#nbsp;capitalization).

In#nbsp;addition to#nbsp;the printed lettering, Hebrew also has a#nbsp;handwritten lettering that adds dynamism and richness:

Developing interfaces that take Hebrew into account has a#nbsp;number of#nbsp;additional challenges. At#nbsp;a#nbsp;minimum, you need to#nbsp;mirror the layout of#nbsp;elements (remembering that "back" is#nbsp;now a#nbsp;right arrow), as#nbsp;well as#nbsp;correctly handle text input from right to#nbsp;left, including punctuation marks. The latter, for example, cannot be#nbsp;handled by#nbsp;WhatsApp or#nbsp;the text editor Sublime Text.

Hebrew is#nbsp;spoken by#nbsp;9.5 million people (2019 data). The domestic market is#nbsp;small, so#nbsp;adequate web services should have support for English as#nbsp;a#nbsp;minimum.

The low demand results in#nbsp;a#nbsp;small number of#nbsp;fonts supporting Hebrew, and even fewer supporting, for example, Hebrew, English and Russian. And the latter have fonts that look like they are from a#nbsp;different set:

One of#nbsp;the more or#nbsp;less successful ones is#nbsp;probably Greta Text, licensed for many thousands of#nbsp;euros:

At#nbsp;the same time, Arabic script remains important for the domestic market, as#nbsp;this language, while not an#nbsp;official language, retains a#nbsp;special status. Liron Lavi Turkenich has taken on#nbsp;the task of#nbsp;unifying the languages. She took advantage of#nbsp;the fact that Arabic letters are identifiable by#nbsp;their upper parts, while Hebrew letters are identifiable by#nbsp;their lower parts:

Unfortunately, with all our passion for fonts, we#nbsp;don’t have the competence to#nbsp;create them. Perhaps in#nbsp;the future we#nbsp;will get to#nbsp;this point, or#nbsp;a#nbsp;font designer will join us, but for now we#nbsp;are content with what we#nbsp;have.