Tzere (also spelled ''Tsere'', ''Tzeirei'', ''Zere'', ''Zeire'', ''Ṣērê''; modern he, צֵירֵי, , sometimes also written ; formerly ''ṣērê'') is a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

niqqud In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in ...

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...

sign represented by two horizontally-aligned dots "◌ֵ" underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, tzere is pronounced the same as segol and indicates the

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

/e/, which is the same as the "e" sound in the vowel segol and is

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

as an "e". There was a distinction in

Tiberian Hebrew Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tiberian ...

between segol and Tzere.

Usage

Tzere is usually written in these cases: * In final stressed closed syllables: מַחְשֵׁב (, ''computer''), סִפֵּר (, ''he told''; without niqqud סיפר). Also in final syllables closed by guttural letters with an added furtive patach: מַטְבֵּעַ (, ''coin''), שוֹכֵחַ (, ''forgetting''). Notable exceptions to this rule are: ** The personal suffixes ־תֶם (, 2 pl. m.), ־תֶן (, 2 pl. f.), ־כֶם (, 2 pl. m.), ־כֶן (, 2 pl. f.), ־הֶם (, 3 pl. m.), ־הֶן (, 3 pl. f.) are written with segol. (But the words הֵם (, ''they m.''), הֵן (, ''they f.'') are written with Tzere.) ** The words אֱמֶת (, ''truth''), בַּרְזֶל (, ''iron''), גַּרְזֶן (, ''axe''), כַּרְמֶל (, '' Carmel'', ''gardenland''), עֲרָפֶל (, ''fog'') are written with segol. ** The word בֵּן (, ''son, boy'') is written with tzere in the absolute state, but with segol in the

construct state In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a special morphological form, which is termed the construct state (Latin ''status constructus''). For example, in Arabi ...

: בֶּן־. In the Bible this rule also applies to other words which end in tzere, when they are written with maqaf. * In non-final, unstressed open syllables: עֵנָב (, ''grape''), תֵּבָה (, ''chest'', ''ark''; without niqqud תיבה). * In the first (stressed) syllable of about 70

segolate Segolates are words in the Hebrew language whose end is of the form CVCVC, where the penultimate vowel receives syllable stress. Such words are called "segolates" because the final unstressed vowel is typically (but not always) ''segol''. These ...

words, among them חֵלֶק (, ''part''), סֵפֶר (, ''book''), עֵדֶן (, ''Eden''). In other – much more numerous – segolate words the first sound is a segol. * In final open syllables, when the

mater lectionis ''Matres lectionis'' (from Latin "mothers of reading", singular form: ''mater lectionis'', from he, אֵם קְרִיאָה ) are consonants that are used to indicate a vowel, primarily in the writing down of Semitic languages such as Arabic, ...

is yod (י) or

aleph Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez . These lett ...

(א‎): בְּנֵי־ (, ''sons of''), מוֹצֵא (, ''finding''). When the mater lectionis is he (ה), the vowel sign is usually segol, but tzere is written in the imperative and absolute infinitive forms of the verb, in nouns in construct state, and in the base form of several other nouns (see below for details). In declension tzere sometimes changes to other vowels or to

shva Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, shĕwa ( he, שְׁוָא) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots () beneath a letter. It indicates either the phoneme (shva na', mobile shva) or the complete absence of a vowel (/ Ø/) (shva n ...

. The full rules for these changes were formulated the Academy of the Hebrew Language. In modern Hebrew there are words which are

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...

s and

homograph A homograph (from the el, ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also ...

s in spelling without niqqud, but are written differently with niqqud, the difference being segol and tzere. For example, עֶרֶב ''evening'' and עֵרֶב ''

weft Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is dra ...

'' are both pronounced and written ערב without niqqud (these words also have different etymology).

Writing tzere with and without matres lectionis

''Tzere'' can be written with and without matres lectionis. The most prominent mater lectionis for tzere is Yod (), and in some cases it is used with the letters

() and he (). Standard spelling rules mandate only one way to spell every word with or without the Yod after tzere. Although in standard modern pronunciation the sound of tzere with or without the Yod is the same, it may change the word's meaning in a written text (see below).

Standard usage without Yod

''Tzere'' can be written by itself without mater lectionis, in which case it is called ''tzere ḥaser'' ("lacking tzere"), for example in the word (, ''wreath''). In this case, in text without niqqud the vowel is usually not written at all: זר. This word can be also vocalized as (, ''stranger'') and the reader has to guess the right pronunciation according to the context. According to the standardized Hebrew spelling the letter Yod is sometimes written in texts without niqqud, when there is a grammatical reason for it; for example, the verb (, ''she will be absent'') is written without Yod in texts with niqqud, but the Yod is written in a text without niqqud: .

Standard usage with Yod

''Tzere'' with Yod is called "full tzere". When a full tzere is written in text with niqqud, the letter Yod must be written in text without niqqud. The main cases for writing the tzere with Yod are these: * Tzere is written with Yod to indicate the plural number of declined words, for example means ''our product'' and means ''our products''; the standard pronunciation is the same: . * Tzere is written with Yod in words in which the Yod is a part of the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

: ** Nouns, for example בֵּיצָה (, ''egg''), root ב־י־צ‎; זֵיתִים (, ''olives'', the plural of זַיִת), root ז־י־ת‎, מֵידָע (, ''information''), root י־ד־ע. Tzere is also traditionally written with Yod in several other words, the roots of which are rarely used productively to form other words, among them פְּסֵיפָס (, ''mosaic''), קֵיסָם (, ''sliver'') and the word "tzere" itself – צֵירֵי ().Academy Decisions: Grammar, 2nd edition, §1.4. ** Verbs, in which the last letter of the root is he (ל״ה), which is by convention treated as interchangeable with Yod, for example נִבְנֵית (, ''being built f.''), root ב־נ־ה (or ב־נ־י). In Arabic the corresponding verbs are written with ʾalif maqṣūra, which represents a similar interchange of the letters yāʾ (ي) and

ʾalif Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez . These lett ...

(ا). ** Some verbs in which the first letter of the root is Yod (פ״י‎), for example הֵיטִיב (, ''he did well''), root י־ט־ב. * In standard spelling without niqqud Yod is written to represent the sound in words formed in the pattern heCCeC (הֶקְטֵל), in which the first and the second consonants of the root merge, even though the vowel there is not tzere, but seggol, for example הֶשֵּׂג (, ''achievement''; root נ־שׂ־ג, without niqqud הישג).

Nonstandard usage of Yod to represent tzere

In texts with full niqqud – mostly poetry, religious and children books – tzere is usually written in accordance with the rules mandated by the Academy. The Academy defined some cases in which a Yod is added to texts without niqqud to signify an sound, but in common usage Yod is often written or not written contrary to the standard. Some notable common deviations from the standard in which a Yod is added include: * Some words are often written with Yod in texts without niqqud, even though the Yod is not a part of the root and is not written in a text with niqqud. For example: מֵמַד (, ''dimension''), מֵרַב (, '' Merab'', ''most''), שֵׂעָר (, ''hair'') are often written מימד‎, מירב and שיער, even though the standard spelling without niqqud is ממד‎, מרב‎, שער. This goes further as the Yod is retained in declined forms of the word, which aren't written with tzere at all, but with shva; for example, the word שְׂעָרוֹת (, ''hairs'') is frequently written שיערות, although the vowel of the ש is shva (the standard spelling is שערות). * Words in the pattern CəCeCa (קְטֵלָה) are often written with a Yod, even though it is not the standard. Examples include בְּרֵכָה (, ''pool''), גְּנֵבָה (, ''theft''), שְׂרֵפָה (, ''burning''), which are often written בריכה‎, גניבה‎, שריפה instead of the standard ברכה‎, גנבה‎, שרפה. * Yod is often added in texts without niqqud to represent tzere in the future tense of verbs in which Yod is the first letter of the root, for example יֵשֵׁב (, ''he will sit'') is often written יישב, although the standard spelling is ישב. This spelling may also be vocalized יָשַׁב (, ''he sat''), but adding a Yod doesn't solve the ambiguity – יישב may be vocalized יְיַשֵׁב (, ''he will settle'') and יִשֵׁב (, ''he settled''). Because of the many potential ambiguities, the Academy suggests adding vocalization in such cases. * Several other (non-comprehensive) examples: ** The standard spelling of the plural form of the word פְּרִי (, ''fruit'') is פֵּרוֹת () with niqqud and פרות without niqqud, but it is often written פירות‎ (פרות may also mean פָּרוֹת ''cows''). ** The words אֵזוֹר (, ''zone''), הֵפֶךְ (, ''contrary''; also הֶפֶךְ‎), תֵּכֶף (, ''immediately''; also תֶּכֶף) are sometimes spelled איזור‎, היפך‎, תיכף, although the standard spelling without niqqud is אזור‎, הפך‎, תכף. (In the '' Even-Shoshan'' dictionary תיכף refers to תֶּכֶף; in the ''Rav-Millim'' dictionary it is the main entry.) Some notable common deviations from the standard in which a Yod is not written include: * According to the modern spelling rules, the Academy mandates writing a Yod in some cases in which the vowel changes to for grammatical reasons. (Not writing the Yod is correct according to the old ''ktiv haser'' spelling.) For example: ** In the future, imperative and infinitive forms of verbs in

binyan In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typic ...

''nif'al'', the vowel of the prefix is usually , which in standard spelling without niqqud is written with a Yod: לְהִזָּהֵר (, ''to be cautious''), standard spelling without niqqud: להיזהר. This vowel changes to before the guttural letters א‎, ה‎, ח‎, ע‎, ר‎: לְהֵרָדֵם (, ''to fall asleep''), standard spelling without niqqud: להירדם. Sometimes, however, verbs with both and are written without a Yod in texts without niqqud: להזהר‎, להרדם. ** In nouns of the pattern CiCCuC, such as סִפּוּק (, ''satisfaction'', without niqqud סיפוק) the vowel also changes to before guttural letters: פֵּרוּשׁ (, ''commentary''), תֵּאוּר (, ''description''), without niqqud: פירוש‎, תיאור, but sometimes פרוש‎, תאור. * The Yod is sometimes omitted from words, the last letter of whose root is ה‎. This is a mistake, because in these verbs the Yod is written in texts with niqqud. For example: הוֹדֵיתִי (, ''I thanked'', root י־ד־ה‎), נֶהֱנֵינוּ (, ''we enjoyed'', root ה־נ־ה) are sometimes incorrectly spelled הודתי‎, נהננו.

Tzere with aleph and he

The letter aleph (א) is the mater lectionis after tzere in the middle or the end of the word when it is a part of the root: מוֹצֵא (, ''finding m.''), מוֹצֵאת (, ''finding f.''). The letter he (ה) is very rarely used as a mater lectionis for in the middle of the word. The notable example for this is the word יְפֵהפִיָּה (, ''pretty''), in which the two last letters of the root (י־פ־ה) are reduplicated. It can also be spelled יפה־פיה (fem.; so in the Bible, ) or יפיפיה. The letter he (ה) is often used as a mater lectionis for the vowel in the end of the word, but the niqqud is usually segol. It is tzere in these cases: * In the

of nouns: absolute state שָׂדֶה (, ''field''), but construct state שְׂדֵה־ (). * In the imperative and absolute infinitive forms of the verb: future form יְגַלֶּה (, ''he will discover''), but גַּלֵּה (, ''discover!''); future form תַּרְבֶּה (, ''she shall increase, make many''), absolute infinitive הַרְבֵּה (, ''many''). * In some words, among them אַיֵּה (, ''where?''), אַרְיֵה (, ''lion''), הִנֵּה (, ''here!''), יָשְׁפֵה (, ''jasper''; also יָשְׁפֶה‎), ־עֶשְׂרֵה (, ''-teen f.'').

Pronunciation

The following table contains the

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

and

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

of the different tzeres in reconstructed historical forms and

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

s using the

International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...

. The pronunciation in IPA is above and the transliteration is below. The letters

Bet Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

"ב" used in this table are only for demonstration. Any letter can be used. In Modern Hebrew tzere – with or without a following ''yod'' – may be pronounced as and transliterated as "ei or "ey". Such pronunciation and transliteration of ''tzere'' are not correct in the normative pronunciation and not consistent in the spoken language.

Unicode encoding

References

{{Hebrew language Niqqud