User:Sartma/Hebrew transliteration

Old and new transliteration systems compared

Transliteration/Transcription Table

Note that:

• Transliteration = sign-to-sign transcription. This is in line with what is currently done by traditional Biblical Hebrew scholars, since it's important to represent in Roman letters the exact signs that are used to write a word. It allows to correctly transcribe the different spellings a word can have in the Bible, like: כָּמוֹךָ (kāmôḵā) vs כָּמֹכָה (kāmōḵâ) (Exodus 15:11).
• Transcription = transcription of how a word is pronounced. Biblical Hebrew being a dead language, all considerations about its pronunciation are obviously based on reconstructions. This makes it necessary to choose one of the existing pronunciation proposals. It does not show how a word is written. Both כָּמוֹךָ and כָּמֹכָה would be spelt the same (kāmōḵā).

Comparison between transliteration systems

		Transliterations (sign-based)				Transcription (pronunciation-based)
Letter		traditional transcription	superscript	Sartma 1	Sartma 2	Traditional (5 vowels)	Modern (7 vowels)
Simple vowels	סָ	ā/o	ɔ			ā/o	ɔ
	סַ	a	a			a	a
	סֵ	ē	e			ē	e
	סֶ	e	ɛ			e	ɛ
	סִ	i	i			i	i
	סֹ	ō	o			ō	o
	סֻ	u	u			u	u
Matres lectionis	סִי	î	iʸ	ī		ī	i
	סֵי	ê¹	eʸ	ē		ē	e
	סֶי	ê¹ (ệ, é⁴)	ɛʸ	ɛ̄		e	ɛ
	סוּ	û	uʷ	ū		ū	u
	סוֹ	ô	oʷ	ō		ō	o
	סָה	â	ɔʰ	ɔ̂	ɔ	ā	ɔ
	סַה	ah³	aʰ	â	a	a	a
	סֵה	ê¹	eʰ	ê	e	ē	e
	סֶה	eh³ (ê²)	ɛʰ	ɛ̂	ɛ	e	ɛ
	סֹה	ōh³	oʰ	ô	o	ō	o
Shwas	סְ	ə/e	ə			ə	ə̆
	סֲ	ă/ă	ă			ă	ă
	סֱ	ĕ/ĕ	ɛ̆			ĕ	ɛ̆
	סֳ	ŏ/ŏ	ɔ̆			ŏ	ɔ̆
Syllable-final (quiescent) aleph	־א	ʾ	ˀ	ʔ		ʾ	ʔ
Consonants	aleph	ʾ	ʔ	ʔ		ʾ	ʔ
	ʿayin	ʿ	ʕ	ʕ		ʿ	ʕ
	other consonants	b/ḇ, g/ḡ, d/ḏ, h, w, z, ḥ, ṭ, y, k/ḵ, l, m, n, s, p/p̄, ṣ, q, r, š/ś, t/ṯ
Notes ¹ Ambiguous transcription. It doesn't allow to distinguish סֵי, סֶי, and סֵה. ² Ambiguous transcription. It doesn't allow to distinguish סֵי, סֶי, סֵה and סֶה. ³ Ambiguous transcription. It doesn't allow to distinguish סַה, סֶה, סֹה from סַהּ, סֶהּ, סֹהּ. ⁴ Individual notation in some textbooks to disambiguate סֶי from סֵי, סֵה, סֶה.

Examples

See below for a comparison of words transliterated/transcribed in the different systems.

Traditional transcription

Description

• Five-vowel system. It distinguishes qamats qatan (o) and qamats gadol (ā).
• It uses macrons on putative long vowels and circumflex on vowels spelt with matres lectionis.
• Transliterates quiescent aleph, as traditionally done for Biblical Hebrew.
• Depending on the publication, it can always indicate the accent, show it only on the penultimate syllable (notably in segolates), or not show it at all.

Pros

1. It's widely used on textbooks to learn Biblical Hebrew, so it's likely to be familiar to people new to the language.
2. The distinction between qamats qatan (o) and qamats gadol (ā) agrees with some modern traditions used to read Biblical Hebrew (and with Israeli Hebrew pronunciation).

Cons

1. Some transliterations are ambiguous, since this system doesn't allow to distinguish certain letter combinations (see notes in the table above).
2. It's confusing in mixing diacritics with different values: some are supposed to indicate vowel length (macron, breve), others try to describe spelling (circumflex).
3. It gives the false impression that vowel length was phonemic in Tiberian Hebrew showing vowels as long by nature (with a macron) when it is now widely accepted that vowel distinction was purely qualitative, while length was determined by position (vowels in open syllables or stressed syllables were long).
4. By distinguishing the pronunciation of qamats qatan and qamats gadol, it arbitrarily imposes to the transliteration one particular reading tradition (Sephardi) that is not otherwise represented in the script (which represents the Tiberian tradition).

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Superscript transcription

Description

• Seven-vowel system (no distinction between qamats qatan and qamats gadol).
• It writes aleph and ayin with IPA symbols (א (ʾā́lep̄) = ʔ, ע (ʿáyin) = ʕ). This allows aleph to be written with a superscript when quiescent, e.g. לֹא (loˀ).
• It represents matres lectionis (י, ן, ה) as superscripts (see table).
• It represents א (ʾā́lep̄) as a superscript when quiescent, thus marking a distinction in cases like קָרָא (qɔrɔˀ, “he called”) and קָרָאת (qɔrɔˀṯ, “you called”) VS קָֽרְאָה (qɔrəʔɔʰ, “she called”) and קָֽרְאוּ (qɔrəʔuʷ, “they called”).

Pros

1. Transliteration is never ambiguous.

Cons

1. Superscript letters are visually noisy (take up horizontal space).

Author's Comment

The superscript romanization attempts to consistently show it when a letter is not pronounced as a consonant, mainly the letters אהוי. These letters are sometimes pronounced as the consonants /ʔhwy/ and sometimes are not pronounced as a consonant, serving as a marker for a vowel. In cases where they are not pronounced as /ʔhwy/ they are referred to here as non-consonantal. This includes cases where they are traditionally called matres lectionis and cases where they are called quiescent. (There are rare cases of other letters being non-consonantal, as with ש in יִשָּׂשכָר‎.) Writing the status of a letter makes it considerably easier for newbies to understand the intention of the Hebrew spelling.

Hebrew spelling consists of consonants with diacritics added later by the Tiberian Masoretes to indicate vowel qualities, consonant doubling, and whether letters were consonantal. These rules involve the presence of a vowel before or after the letter. Most other romanizations do not consistently show non-consonantality; the tendency is that matres lectionis are indicated with diacritics and quiescent letters with consonant letters. Typical romanizations work well for more conventional spellings where the vowels [ɛ e i] are written with י and [o u] with ו and word-final [ɔ] with ה. They are less helpful for unconventional spellings like חַטֹּאות‎ (superscript romanization ḥaṭṭoˀʷṯ), whose typical romanization ḥaṭṭōʾwṯ doesn't write או ʾw differently to indicate that it is quiescent and not pronounced /ʔw/; you can only infer that if you know the rules for quiescent letters.

But the superscript romanization always writes non-consonantal letters as superscript letters, which indicates both that they are present in the Hebrew spelling and that they are not pronounced as consonants. With this romanization, readers only have to learn the meaning of the superscript letters, which is relatively simple; they do not have to learn the rules for when a letter is a mater lectionis or quiescent, which are somewhat complex.

The disadvantage of the superscripts is that, like the original non-consonantal Hebrew letters, they are visually noisy (take up horizontal space).

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Sartma 1

Description

• Seven-vowel system (no distinction between qamats qatan and qamats gadol).
• Transliterates vowels spelt with matres lectionis י (yôḏ) and ו (wāw) with a macron.
• Transliterates word-final ה (hēʾ) with a circumflex.
• Transliterates quiescent aleph (as traditionally done for Biblical Hebrew).
• Indicates the accent only when non-final.

Pros

1. Transliteration is never ambiguous. Compared to Sartma 2, it can clearly show the difference in the spelling of the last syllable between אַתָּה (ʔattɔ̂, “you (m)”) and הָלַכְתָּ (hɔláḵtɔ, “you (m) walked”).

Cons

1. Extremely rare, irregular spellings of some proper nouns and inflected words (but never headwords) could give "odd" transliterations that would need to be manually normalised:
   • יִשָּׂשכָר (yiśśɔśḵɔr) > יִשָּׂשכָר (yiśśɔḵɔr, “Issachar”) (compare regular spelling יִשְׂשָׂכָר (yiśśɔḵɔr). This case is already handled automatically by the transliteration module)
   • חַטֹּאות (ḥaṭṭoʔwṯ) > חַטֹּאות (ḥaṭṭʔōṯ, plural state construct of חַטָּאָת (ḥaṭṭɔʔɔṯ, “sins”)) (compare regular spellings חַטּאוֹת (ḥaṭṭʔōṯ)/חַטּאֹת (ḥaṭṭʔoṯ))

Author's Comment

We have chosen the seven-vowel system not only because it is the one nowadays most used in the academia when transliterating Biblical Hebrew words, but also because it uses simple vowels without macrons.

Traditionally, the circumflex accent has been used to indicate any vowel spelt with a mater lectionis, but this unavoidably produced some ambiguous transliterations (see notes in the table above). To avoid those ambiguities, we repurposed the macron sign to be used in a similar fashion as the circumflex (i.e. to show vowels spelt with matres lectionis), but limited to class i vowels (i, ɛ, e: spelt with mater lectionis י (yôḏ)) and class u vowels (u, o: spelt with mater lectionis ו (wāw)), i.e. those matres lectionis always used within their vowel class and in any position.

The use of the circumflex was then restricted to mater lectionis ה (hēʾ), which, unlike the previous two, can be used with vowels of any class (class a, i and u) but only in word-final position.

(Incidentally, such a use of the circumflex doubles as etymological in words where a final ה (hēʾ) indicates the disappearance of an original final consonant, like the final -t of feminine nouns (סוּסָה (sūsɔ̂), אִשָּׁה (ʔiššɔ̂), etc.) or the final -y or -w of lameḏ he' verbs (גָלָה (gɔlɔ̂), בָּנָה (bɔnɔ̂), etc.), in a similar way to how the circumflex is used in French, for example, to show the etymological disappearance of a consonant, like in hôtel or in île.)

This method solves all the ambiguities of the traditional scholar transliteration system.

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Sartma 2

Description

• Same as Sartma 1, but:

  transliterates final vowels followed by ה (hēʾ) as simple vowels (with no diacritic sign), on the basis that final simple vowels in BH are generally followed by a ה (hēʾ) (with a handful of exceptions, like the second-person masculine singular personal pronoun suffix סוּסְךָ (sûsəḵā, “your horse”), the second-person masculine singular past הָלַכְתָּ (hāláḵtā, “you (m) walked”), etc.).

Pros

1. It has one less diacritic (the circumflex) than Sartma 1.
2. It allows to easily indicate the accent when it falls on the last syllable (i.e., without any conflict with the circumflex)

Cons

1. Transliteration is ambiguous when it comes to the exceptions mentioned in the description. E.g., it doesn't show the difference in the spelling of the last syllable in cases like אַתָּה (ʔattɔ, “you (m)”) vs הָלַכְתָּ (hɔláḵtɔ, “you (m) walked”).

Author's Comment

Since a final simple vowel in BH is generally followed by ה (hēʾ) (a handful of exceptions excluded), we could omit the circumflex proposed on Sartma 1 without too much definition loss. This might also make it easier to show word-final accent with an acute accent sign (without it conflicting with the circumflex), in case we wanted to do so: compare Sartma 1 מַמְלָכָה (mamlɔḵɔ̂) VS Sartma 2 מַמְלָכָה (mamlɔḵɔ or mamlɔḵɔ́).

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Examples

When the transcription is identical in two or more systems, the cells have been merged to highlight differences and make comparison easier. Traditional transliteration is given throughout.

	Transliterations				Normalizations
Word	Traditional	Superscript	Sartma 1	Sartma 2	Traditional	Modern
בָּרָא	bārā́ʾ	bɔrɔˀ	bɔrɔʔ		bārā	bɔrɔʔ
אַרְגָּמָן	ʾargāmā́n	ʔargɔmɔn			ʾargāmān	ʔargɔmɔn
תַּ֫חַת	táḥaṯ	táḥaṯ			táḥaṯ
עַ֫יִן	ʿáyin	ʕáyin			ʿáyin	ʕáyin
כֹּהֵן	kōhḗn	kohen			kōhēn	kohen
אֵל	ʾēl	ʔel			ʾēl	ʔel
אֶל	ʾel	ʔɛl			ʾel	ʔɛl
נֶ֫פֶשׁ	nép̄eš	nɛ́p̄ɛš			nép̄eš	nɛ́p̄ɛš
אִם	ʾim	ʔim			ʾim	ʔim
יִשְׂרָאֵל	yiśrāʾēl	yiśrɔʔel			yiśrāʾēl	yiśrɔʔel
קֹ֫דֶשׁ	qṓḏeš	qóḏɛš			qṓḏeš	qóḏɛš
רֹב	rōḇ	roḇ			rōḇ	roḇ
נְאֻם	nəʾúm	nəʔum			nəʾum	nəʔum
שֻׁלְחָן	šulḥān	šulḥɔn			šulḥān	šulḥɔn
אָנֹכִי	ʾānōḵî́	ʔɔnoḵiʸ	ʔɔnoḵī		ʾānōḵī	ʔɔnoḵi
אֲנָשִׁים	ʾănāšî́m	ʔănɔšiʸm	ʔănɔšīm		ʾănāšīm	ʔănɔšim
בֵּין	bên	beʸn	bēn		bēn	ben
תֵּימָן	têmā́n	teʸmɔn	tēmɔn		tēmān	temɔn
יְהוּדִי	yəhûḏî́	yəhuʷḏiʸ	yəhūḏī		yəhūḏī	yəhuḏi
שְׁמוּאֵל	šəmûʾḗl	šəmuʷʔel	šəmūʔel		šəmūʾēl	šəmuʔel
גָּדוֹל	gāḏốl	gɔḏoʷl	gɔḏōl		gāḏōl	gɔḏol
שָׁלוֹם	šālốm	šɔloʷm	šɔlōm		šālōm	šɔlom
מַצֵּבָה	maṣṣēḇấ	maṣṣeḇɔʰ	maṣṣeḇɔ̂	maṣṣeḇɔ	maṣṣēḇā	maṣṣeḇɔ
מֶרְכָּבָה	merkāḇâ	mɛrkɔḇɔʰ	mɛrkɔḇɔ̂	mɛrkɔḇɔ	merkāḇā	mɛrkɔḇɔ
מַה	mah	maʰ	mâ	ma	mā	ma
יָפֶה	yāp̄éh	yɔp̄ɛʰ	yɔp̄ɛ̂	yɔp̄ɛ	yāp̄e	yɔp̄ɛ
מֹשֶׁה	mōšéh	mošɛʰ	mošɛ̂	mošɛ	mōše	mošɛ
אַרְיֵה	ʾaryḗh	ʔaryeʰ	ʔaryê	ʔarye	ʾaryē	ʔarye
אַיֵּה	ʾayyḗh	ʔayyeʰ	ʔayyê	ʔayye	ʾayyē	ʔayye
כֹּה	kōh	koʰ	kô	ko	kō	ko
פֹּה	pōh	poʰ	pô	po	pō	po
מָה	mâ	mɔʰ	mɔ̂	mɔ	mā	mɔ
מֶה	meh	mɛʰ	mɛ̂	mɛ	me	mɛ
מַה	mah	maʰ	mâ	ma	ma	ma
כְּנַ֫עַן	kənáʿan	kənáʕan			kənáʿan	kənáʕan
נְחֹ֫שֶׁת	nəḥṓšeṯ	nəḥóšɛṯ			nəḥṓšeṯ	nəḥóšɛṯ
מַחֲשָׁבָה	maḥăšāḇấ	maḥăšɔḇɔʰ	maḥăšɔḇɔ̂	maḥăšɔḇɔ	maḥăšāḇā	maḥăšɔḇɔ
יַעֲקֹב	yaʿăqṓḇ	yaʕăqoḇ			yaʿăqōḇ	yaʕăqoḇ
אֱדוֹם	ʾĕḏốm	ʔĕḏoʷm	ʔɛ̆ḏōm		ʾĕḏōm	ʔɛ̆ḏom
אֱלֹהִים	ʾĕlōhî́m	ʔĕlohiʸm	ʔɛ̆lohīm		ʾĕlōhīm	ʔɛ̆lohim
מָרְדֳּכַי	mordŏḵái	mɔrdɔ̆ḵay			mordŏḵáy	mɔrdɔ̆ḵay
עֳנִי	ʿŏnî́	ʕŏniʸ	ʕɔ̆nī		ʿŏnī	ʕɔ̆ni
כֹּחַ	kṓᵃḥ	kóaḥ			kṓaḥ	kóaḥ
רֵיחַ	rếᵃḥ	reʸaḥ	rḗaḥ		rḗaḥ	réaḥ
יֵשׁוּעַ	yēšû́ᵃʿ	yešuʷaʕ	yešū́aʕ		yēšū́aʿ	yešúaʕ
רֶ֫גֶל	réḡel	rɛ́ḡɛl			réḡel	rɛ́ḡɛl
חֹ֫רֶשׁ	ḥṓreš	ḥórɛš			ḥṓreš	ḥórɛš
אֵ֫פֶר	ʾḗp̄er	ʔép̄ɛr			ʾḗp̄er	ʔép̄ɛr
כֹּל	kōl	kol			kōl	kol
כּוֹל	kôl	koʷl	kōl		kōl	kol
נֹ֫גַהּ	nṓḡah	nóḡah			nṓḡah	nóḡah
עָלֶה	ʿāléh	ʕɔlɛʰ	ʕɔlɛ̂	ʕɔlɛ	ʿāle	ʕɔlɛ
מַרְפֵּא	marpḗʾ	marpeˀ	marpeʔ		marpēʾ	marpeʔ
אֵי	ʾê	ʔeʸ	ʔē		ʾē	ʔe
אֹפֵּה	ʾōppḗh	ʔoppeʰ	ʔoppê	ʔoppe	ʾōppē	ʔoppe
מְנַשֶּׁה	mənaššéh	mənaššɛʰ	mənaššɛ̂	mənaššɛ	mənašše	mənaššɛ
פֹּה	pōh	poʰ	pô	po	pō	po
פּוֹ	pô	poʷ	pō		pō	po
פֹּא	pōʾ	poˀ	poʔ		pō	po

Genesis

Superscript

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִ֒יעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שֵׁנִֽי׃

bə-reˀšiʸṯ bɔrɔˀ ʔɛ̆loḥiʸm ʔeṯ haš-šɔmáyim wə-ʔeṯ hɔ-ʔɔ́rɛṣ.

wə-hɔ-ɔ́rɛṣ hɔyəṯɔʰ ṯóhuʷ wɔ-ḇóhuʷ wə-ḥóšɛḵ ʿal-pəneʸ ṯəhoʷm wə-rúʷaḥ ʔɛ̆lohiʸm məraḥɛ́p̄ɛṯ ʿal-pəneʸ ham-mɔ́yim.

way-yóˀmɛr ʔɛ̆lohiʸm yəhiʸ ʔoʷr wa-yəhiʸ-ʔoʷr.

way-yarˀ ʔɛ̆lohiʸm ʔɛṯ-hɔ-ʔoʷr kiʸ ṭoʷḇ way-yaḇdel ʔɛ̆lohiʸm beʸn hɔ-ʔoʷr uʷ-ḇeʸn ha-ḥóšɛḵ.

way-yiqrɔˀ ʔɛ̆lohiʸm: lɔ-ʔoʷr yoʷm wə-la-ḥóšɛḵ qɔrɔˀ lɔ́ylɔʰ wa-yəhiʸ-ʿɛ́rɛḇ wa-yəhiʸ-ḇóqɛr yoʷm ʔɛḥɔḏ.

way-yóˀmɛr ʔɛ̆lohiʸm yəhiʸ rɔqíʸaʿ bə-ṯoʷḵ ham-mɔ́yim wi-yhiʸ maḇdiʸl beʸn máyim lɔ-mɔ́yim.

way-yaʿaś ʔɛ̆lohiʸm ʔɛṯ-hɔ-rɔqíʸaʿ way-yaḇdel beʸn ham-máyim ʔăšɛr mittáḥaṯ lɔ-rɔqíʸaʿ uʷ-ḇeʸn ham-máyim ʔăšɛr meʿal lɔ-rɔqíʸaʿ wa-yəhiʸ-ḵen.

way-yiqrɔˀ ʔɛ̆lohiʸm lɔ-rɔqíʸaʿ šɔmɔ́yim wa-yəhiʸ-ʿɛ́rɛḇ wa-yəhiʸ-ḇóḵɛr, yoʷm šeniʸ.

Sartma 1

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִ֒יעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שֵׁנִֽי׃

bə-reʔšīṯ bɔrɔʔ ʔɛ̆loḥīm ʔeṯ haš-šɔmáyim wə-ʔeṯ hɔ-ʔɔ́rɛṣ.

wə-hɔ-ʔɔ́rɛṣ hɔyəṯɔ̂ ṯóhū wɔ-ḇóhū wə-ḥóšɛḵ ʕal-pənē ṯəhōm wə-rū́aḥ ʔɛ̆lohīm məraḥɛ́p̄ɛṯ ʕal-pənē ham-mɔ́yim.

way-yóʔmɛr ʔɛ̆lohīm yəhī ʔōr wa-yəhī-ʔōr.

way-yarʔ ʔɛ̆lohīm ʔɛṯ-hɔ-ʔōr kī ṭōḇ way-yaḇdel ʔɛ̆lohīm bēn hɔ-ʔōr ū-ḇēn ha-ḥóšɛḵ.

way-yiqrɔʔ ʔɛ̆lohīm: lɔ-ʔōr yōm wə-la-ḥóšɛḵ qɔrɔʔ lɔ́ylɔ̂ wa-yəhī-ʕɛ́rɛḇ wa-yəhī-ḇóqɛr yōm ʔɛḥɔḏ.

way-yóʔmɛr ʔɛ̆lohīm yəhī rɔqī́aʕ bə-ṯōḵ ham-mɔ́yim wi-yhī maḇdīl bēn máyim lɔ-mɔ́yim.

way-yaʕaś ʔɛ̆lohīm ʔɛṯ-hɔ-rɔqī́aʕ way-yaḇdel bēn ham-máyim ʔăšɛr mittáḥaṯ lɔ-rɔqī́aʕ ū-ḇēn ham-máyim ʔăšɛr meʕal lɔ-rɔqī́aʕ wa-yəhī-ḵen.

way-yiqrɔʔ ʔɛ̆lohīm lɔ-rɔqī́aʕ šɔmɔ́yim wa-yəhī-ʕɛ́rɛḇ wa-yəhī-ḇóḵɛr, yōm šenī.

Modern romanization

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִ֒יעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שֵׁנִֽי׃

bə̆-reʔšíṯ bɔrɔ́ʔ ʔɛ̆loḥím ʔéṯ haš-šɔmáyim wə̆-ʔéṯ hɔ-ʔɔ́rɛṣ.

wə̆-hɔ-ʔɔ́rɛṣ hɔyə̆ṯɔ́ ṯóhu wɔ-ḇóhu wə̆-ḥóšɛḵ ʕal pə̆né ṯə̆hóm wə̆-rúaḥ ʔɛ̆lohím mə̆raḥɛ́p̄ɛṯ ʕal pə̆né ham-mɔ́yim.

wayyóʔmɛr ʔɛ̆lohím yə̆hí ʔór wayə̆hí ʔór.

wayyárʔ ʔɛ̆lohím ʔɛṯ-hɔ-ʔór kí ṭóḇ wayyaḇdél ʔɛ̆lohím bén hɔ-ʔór u-ḇen ha-ḥóšɛḵ.

wayyiqrɔ́ʔ ʔɛ̆lohím: lɔ-ʔór yóm wə̆-la-ḥóšɛḵ qɔrɔ́ʔ lɔ́ylɔ wayə̆hí ʕɛ́rɛḇ wayə̆hí ḇóqɛr yóm ʔɛḥɔ́ḏ.

wayyóʔmɛr ʔɛ̆lohím yə̆hí rɔqíaʕ bə̆-ṯóḵ ham-mɔ́yim wiyhí maḇdíl bén máyim lɔ-mɔ́yim.

wayyáʕaś ʔɛ̆lohím ʔɛṯ-hɔ-rɔqíaʕ wayyaḇdél bén ham-máyim ʔăšɛ́r mittáḥaṯ lɔ-rɔqíaʕ u-ḇén ham-máyim ʔăšɛ́r meʕál lɔ-rɔqíaʕ wayə̆hí ḵén.

wayyiqrɔ́ʔ ʔɛ̆lohím lɔ-rɔqíaʕ šɔmɔ́yim wayə̆hí ʕɛ́rɛḇ wayə̆hí ḇóḵɛr, yóm šení.