Editing Hebrew alphabet (section)

==Notes==
<sup>a{{note|Common_Hebrew_Spelling}}</sup>"Alef-bet" is commonly written in Israeli Hebrew without the ''{{transliteration|he|maqaf}}'' ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|מקף}}, "[Hebrew] hyphen"), {{lang|he|rtl=yes|אלפבית עברי}}, as opposed to with the hyphen, {{lang|he|rtl=yes|אלף־בית עברי}}.

<sup>b{{note|Variants_in_Arabic_Mandaic}}</sup>The [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic letters]] generally have four forms each, though six of the primary letters can have only two variants, according to their places in words (initial, medial, final, and isolate). The same applies the [[Mandaic alphabet|Mandaic letters]], except for three of the 22 letters, which each have only one form.

<sup>c{{note|Pronunciation_in_Different_Word_Positions}}</sup>In forms of Hebrew older than Modern Hebrew, {{script|Hebr|בי״ת}}, {{script|Hebr|כ״ף}}, and {{script|Hebr|פ״א}} can only be read ''b'', ''k'' and ''p'', respectively, at the beginning of a word, while they will have the sole value of ''v'', ''kh'' and ''f'' in a ''sofit'' (final) position, with few exceptions.<ref name="kaf_sofit"/> In medial positions, both pronunciations are possible. In Modern Hebrew this restriction is not absolute, e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|פִיזִיקַאי}} {{IPA|/fiziˈkaj/}} and never {{IPA|/piziˈkaj/}} (= "physicist"), {{lang|he|rtl=yes|סְנוֹבּ}} {{IPA|/snob/}} and never {{IPA|/snov/}} (= "snob"). A ''[[dagesh]]'' may be inserted to unambiguously denote the [[plosive]] variant: {{script|Hebr|בּ}} = {{IPA|/b/}}, {{script|Hebr|כּ}} = {{IPA|/k/}}, {{script|Hebr|פּ}} ={{IPA|/p/}}; similarly (though today very rare in Hebrew and common only in [[Yiddish]]) a [[rafe|rafé]] placed above the letter unambiguously denotes the [[fricative]] variant: {{script|Hebr|בֿ}} = {{IPA|/v/}}, {{script|Hebr|כֿ}} = {{IPA|/χ/}} and {{script|Hebr|פֿ}} = {{IPA|/f/}}. In [[Modern Hebrew]] [[orthography]], the sound {{IPAblink|p}} at the end of a word is denoted by the regular form {{script|Hebr|פ}}, as opposed to the final form {{script|Hebr|ף}}, which always denotes {{IPAblink|f}} (see [[#Transliterations and transcriptions|table of transliterations and transcriptions]], comment{{ref label|final_pe_D_eg|D|}}).

<sup>d{{note|Double_Vav_as_Ligature_or_as_Separate_Letters}}</sup>However, {{script|Hebr|וו}} (two separate vavs), used in [[Ktiv hasar niqqud|Ktiv male]], is to be distinguished from the ''Yiddish ligature'' {{script|Hebr|װ}} (also two vavs but together as one character).

<sup>e1{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_1}}e2{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_2}}e3{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_3}}e4{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_4}}e5{{note|Double_Vav_and_Vav_with_Geresh_5}}</sup>The Academy of the Hebrew Language states that both {{IPAblink|v}} and {{IPAblink|w}} be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter vav.<ref name=akademya/> Sometimes the vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote {{IPA|[w]}} as opposed to {{IPA|[v]}} but rather, when [[Ktiv hasar niqqud|spelling without niqqud]], to denote the [[phoneme]] /v/ at a non-initial and non-final position in the word, whereas a single vav at a non-initial and non-final position in the word in spelling without niqqud denotes one of the [[phoneme]]s /u/ or /o/. To pronounce foreign words and [[loanword]]s containing the sound {{IPAblink|w}}, Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context.

Explanatory footnotes
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