# Transliterating the "er" sound



## jr1000

How do you write the "er" sound in Hebrew, as in "ert."


----------



## cfu507

Hi jr1000, 
Welcome to the Hebrew world!

I would answer that it depends on the word. 
ארfor ארץ erezt (country, land)
ערfor ערבerev (evening) 
הרfor הריון herayon (pregnancy)

I didn't recognize the word ERT. Do you mean EREZT (country, land)?
Please write the original word in English.


----------



## jr1000

Hi, thanks for the reply,

I'm talking about the "ɜ" sound, like in h*er*, or f*ur*.

The specific example i'm looking at is s_tewart_, pronounced, *stoo-ert*.

It's an English word, but I am trying to write it in Hebrew with niqqud with the cloest pronunciation possible.


----------



## cfu507

Hi,
The name is סטיוא*ר*ט


----------



## jr1000

Thanks, but doesn't the yod make the first part "styu"


And as for the last part, how to you differentiate between art (like part) and ert (like air)?


----------



## cfu507

Without Nikkud (punctuation) we know it only from our experience, memory.

If we want to say A like park we use 
kamatz (it looks like T under the letter ָ ) 
or patach (it looks like - under the letter ַ )

If we want to say E like in air we use 
segol (it looks like three dots two up and one down ֶ ) 
or tzeireh (it looks like two dots .. ֵ )

I hope you can see them.

Take a look in the table of all the NIKKUD


----------



## jr1000

Thanks a lot, that makes a lot more sense.

How about the yod, doesn't it make it like, m*u*te, as opposed to m*oo*d.

Like shouldn't it be סטו and not סטיו, what role does the yod play?


----------



## cfu507

jr1000 said:


> Thanks a lot, that makes a lot more sense.
> 
> How about the yod, doesn't it make it like, m*u*te, as opposed to m*oo*d.
> 
> Like shouldn't it be סטו and not סטיו, what role does the yod play?


 

Mood = מוד. You have only vav, there is no yud here. 
Mute = מיוט. You have yud and vav.
The letter u sounds like יו yod+vav (the vav has dot inside)

The yud has 2 roles: 
It can replace or come with the hiriq (like the vowels a,e,*i*,o,u in English). For example: b*i*g = ב*י*ג
ש*י*רsh*i*r (song)


Or a letter as all the letters (consonant). For example the words:
*י*לד*y*eled (boy)
*י*ום*y*om (day) and so on…

By the way, some people say yod.


----------



## Outsider

Can't you use one of the symbols for the schwa?


----------



## jr1000

Outsider said:


> Can't you use one of the symbols for the schwa?


 
Why is there a schwa?


----------



## jr1000

cfu507 said:


> Mood = מוד. You have only vav, there is no yud here.
> Mute = מיוט. You have yud and vav.
> The letter u sounds like יו yod+vav (the vav has dot inside)
> 
> The yud has 2 roles:
> It can replace or come with the hiriq (like the vowels a,e,*i*,o,u in English). For example: b*i*g = ב*י*ג
> ש*י*רsh*i*r (song)
> 
> 
> Or a letter as all the letters (consonant). For example the words:
> *י*לד*y*eled (boy)
> *י*ום*y*om (day) and so on…
> 
> By the way, some people say yod.


 
So, in this case, would סטיוארט be, styü-ert, whereas, סטוארט would be, 'stü-ert?


----------



## Outsider

The sound of "er" in words such as "higher" in American English is an r-colored vowel, which is a sound similar to a schwa (sometimes informally called a "schwer").


----------



## cfu507

Outsider said:


> Can't you use one of the symbols for the schwa?


 
Are you asking about the r in the end of סטיוארט?
We don't use schwa in the end of a word. 
There is one exception, like ך (chaf sofit).
The ך in the word אותך (otach) will be with schwa. ך is the only case.
 Good night!


----------



## 22caps

Let me try to clarify for jr1000.  He's inquiring about the use of the yod in the transliteration provided for Stewart.  From both my and his perspective, the yod (the one that appears as the third letter in the first transliteration given, the one right before the vav) is unnecessary since, as it seems to me, this would create the sound of "Styu" or "Stee-you".  It would make more sense to take it out as the vav would provide the "u" sound.  Correct?


----------



## 22caps

Ohhhhhh!!!!!  Wait!!!!  Is the combination of yod-vav used to make the "w" sound, like the combination of gimel-yod is used to make the "j" or "dg" sound since these don't exist in Hebrew?


----------



## cfu507

22caps said:


> Ohhhhhh!!!!! Wait!!!! Is the combination of yod-vav used to make the "w" sound, like the combination of gimel-yod is used to make the "j" or "dg" sound since these don't exist in Hebrew?


 
I thoght s_tewart _pronounced like Stu'ert. 
stoo is without yud
stu is with yud

about the gimel as J. If you want to say J there is no yud after the gimel, but apostrophe. For example:
ג'חנון jachnun (It's Yemeni's food)

I thought S_tewart _pronounced like Stu'ert. 
stoo is without yud
stu is with yud

About the gimel as "J", if you want to say J there is no yud after the gimel, but apostrophe ('). For example:
ג'חנון jachnun (It's Yemeni's food)

For "dg" we use dalet and gimel with apostrophe. For example:
סמדג'ה smadga (It's a family name)


----------



## jr1000

Thanks thats exactly what I was asking.



> m-w.com/dictionary/Stewart
> 
> Pronunciation: 'stü-&rt, 'styü-; 'st(y)urt


 
Thanks again


----------

