Hebrew Transliterator

How to Use the Hebrew Transliterator

1. 1. Paste the Hebrew. A word, a name or a verse. Pointed text (with niqqud) gives a full result; unpointed text gives its consonants. Cantillation marks are ignored, a maqqef becomes a hyphen and a sof pasuq becomes a full stop.
2. 2. Set the options. They apply to the general-purpose style: whether letters without a dagesh show their soft sounds (v, kh, f), and whether aleph and ayin are written ’ and ‘ or left out. Capitalizing is off by default, since SBL does not capitalize transliterated Hebrew names inside a sentence.
3. 3. Compare the three cards. Each is one system, with a line on who uses it. Copy the one your journal, instructor or library asks for.
4. 4. Check the notice. If words have no vowel points, the tool counts them. Their vowels are not guessed.

Three Systems, One Word

The Society of Biblical Literature's Handbook of Style (2nd ed., 2014, §5.1) lets an author choose one of two Hebrew systems. The academic style is reversible: each consonant and vowel sign has its own symbol, so a reader can rebuild the Hebrew. The general-purpose style is essentially phonetic. ALA-LC, the Library of Congress table for Hebrew and Yiddish, approximates modern Israeli pronunciation. The converter's own output for three common words:

What the Academic Style Does with the Vowels

• Matres lectionis. A yod, vav or he that only marks a long vowel is written as a circumflex over the vowel: î, ê, ô, û, and â for a final qamets-he. The letter itself is not repeated.
• Shewa. A vocal shewa is ǝ; a silent one is not written. The tool decides which is which by the standard rule — vocal at the start of a word, after a long vowel, under a doubled consonant and as the second of two — which has exceptions.
• Dagesh. A dagesh forte doubles the consonant, a dagesh lene (the hard stop in ב ג ד כ פ ת) does not, and spirantization is not marked. That is why the name of the first book of the Bible comes out as bǝrēʾšît.
• Aleph and ayin are always ʾ and ʿ in the academic style, even when quiescent.
• Qamets. Written ā. The separate Unicode sign for qamets qatan (the short o) is read as o; if your text uses the ordinary qamets for both, the tool cannot tell them apart.

When the Text Has No Niqqud

Modern Hebrew is written without vowel points, and the vowels cannot be recovered from the consonants alone: שלום is šlwm to a program, and only a reader who knows the word hears shalom. In unpointed text the tool writes ו, י and ה as the consonants w, y and h, which keeps the academic style reversible. It does not guess vowels, and it does not tell the begadkefat letters apart — without a dagesh there is nothing to read, so ב is b. If a word matters, find it in a pointed edition or dictionary first.

Hebrew Names in Citations

Biblical studies journals that follow SBL expect transliterated Hebrew in the academic style where the argument turns on the forms, and many general-audience books use the general-purpose style. Library catalogs use ALA-LC, so a book title romanized for a bibliography usually matches that form. How to Cite a Source in Another Language shows where the romanized title and its translation go for APA, MLA and Chicago, and the Bible Citation Generator formats the scripture itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between SBL academic and general-purpose Hebrew transliteration?

The academic style is reversible: ח is always ḥ, ש is š, a vocal shewa is ǝ and a long vowel written with a vav or yod gets a circumflex. The general-purpose style is phonetic: ח is kh or h, ש is sh, and the long vowels are plain. SBL asks the author to pick one and use it throughout.

How do I transliterate Hebrew without niqqud?

You can only write the consonants, because the vowels are not on the page. The tool does that, with ו as w, י as y and ה as h. For a name you will cite, look up its established spelling or a pointed form, and run that.

Why does the tool write ǝ for the shewa in the academic style?

SBL's second edition uses a turned e (ǝ) for a vocal shewa so it is not mistaken for the hataf segol ĕ. A silent shewa, such as the one under the ש in מִשְׁפָּט, is not written at all: mišpāṭ.

Why are some letters doubled?

A dagesh forte inside a word doubles the consonant, as in hammelek. The SBL general-purpose style does the same, except for צ (ts) and ש (sh), which are never doubled. ALA-LC does not double.

Which letters change with a dagesh?

The six begadkefat letters ב ג ד כ פ ת. In modern pronunciation only three differ: ב is v without a dagesh, כ is kh and פ is f. The general-purpose style lets you show these or not, as long as you stay consistent; the SBL academic style does not mark them.

Does it transliterate Yiddish?

No. The Library of Congress table also covers Yiddish, but the sound values for its vowels and digraphs differ from Hebrew's, and this tool reads the Hebrew points only. Use it for Hebrew and, with care, Aramaic in Hebrew script.

Why is ALA-LC output sometimes different from what a library record shows?

The Library of Congress table describes sounds and expects a cataloger to take the vowels from a dictionary and the rules for word division from a manual. Here the vowels come from the points in your text and the output is a faithful application of the letter table — close to the catalog form, not a replacement for it.