ב

See also: בֿ, ב־, ℶ, and Appendix:Variations of "b"

ב U+05D1, ב HEBREW LETTER BET ← א [U+05D0] Hebrew ג → [U+05D2]

Aramaic

Pronunciation

• Homophone: ו

Letter

ב • (beth)

1. The second letter of the Aramaic alphabet.
2. The numeral 2 in Aramaic numbering.

Coordinate terms

• Previous: א
• Next: ג

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: ו

Letter

ב • (b, v)

1. Bet, beth, vet: the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, after א and before ג.
2. The numeral 2 in Hebrew numbering.

Usage notes

• The letter ב represents what are now the phonemes /b/ and /v/. In Modern Israeli Hebrew, these phonemes are pronounced [b] and [v], respectively (like the ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩ in English bet and vet). At some point in the past, these phonemes are commonly believed to have been a single phoneme /b/, with allophones [b] and perhaps [v] or [β] (where [β] is the voiced bilabial fricative, intermediate between the voiced bilabial plosive [b] and the voiced labiodental fricative [v]). The [b] allophone was found word-initially, after consonants, and when geminated. In Modern Israeli Hebrew, however, the phoneme /b/ can also occur in other contexts, especially in loanwords.
• In writing with nikud (vowel markings and related diacritics), the letter ב takes a dagesh (בּ) when representing /b/.
• For information about ב as a preposition meaning roughly "in" or "with", see ב־ (b'-).

Coordinate terms

• Hebrew script letters (alphabet appendix, script appendix): א, ב, ג, ד, ה, ו, ז, ח, ט, י, כ~ך, ל, מ~ם, נ~ן, ס, ע, פ~ף, צ~ץ, ק, ר, ש, ת ^[edit]

Etymology 2

Clipping of לְשׁוֹן יְמֵי הַבֵּינַיִם (“language of the Middle Ages”).

Noun

ב • (b.)

1. (lexicography) Initialism of בֵּינַיִם, used to indicate that a term originates from the third layer of the Hebrew language: Medieval Hebrew

Yiddish

Letter

ב • (beys)

1. the second letter of the Yiddish alefbeys

Related terms

• בֿ (veys)