# Vowels in Modern Hebrew



## James Bates

Shalom!

Could somebody tell me if Modern Hebrew distinguishes between the three vowel lengths that are represented by nikkud? E.g. long a (represented by something similar to +), short a (represented by a -), and very short a (represented by : followed by -).


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## Tamar

There is no vowel length distinction in Modern Hebrew, it only has short vowels.


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## origumi

Tamar said:


> There is no vowel length distinction in Modern Hebrew, it only has short vowels.


Except maybe the "e" sound:

*Schwa na`* is anywhere between zero length, very short, short
*Segol* is short
*Tzeire* is long, realized as "ei"


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## James Bates

Thank you all, but I am unfamiliar with the term "shwa na". Do you mean "khataf segol"? I had one other question: if somebody pronounced all the "e" sounds in Hebrew as short, would he or she be considered wrong?


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## berndf

No, some Shwas a there only for formal completeness of the niqqud system. They literally represent a null vowel. Those are called "Shwa Nah". "Real" Shwas are called "Shwa Na`". In modern Israeli Hebrew, though, "Shwa Na`" is also often mute.


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## James Bates

I don't get it. What's the difference between "shwa na" and "shwa nah"?


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## berndf

A "Shwa nah" is silent, a "Shwa na`" not. Follow the links in my previous post. The article contains a set of rules which Schwa is "nah" and which is "na`". The niqqud spelling is the same. You can tell one from the other only by knowing these rules.

In Modern Israeli Hebrew many Shwas are mute even if theoretically "na`".


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## James Bates

Toda raba!


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## hadronic

Tsere is very very seldom long.
The classical example is "teisha" (9), but outside of that...


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