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Yiddish Alphabet
Hebrew Script
Yiddish is written in the Hebrew script, read right-to-left. Unlike Hebrew, Yiddish spells out all vowels using letters. It uses a standardized YIVO orthography with 26 letters.
Written right to leftYiddish Vowel Letters
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Pasekh Alef | a | like 'a' in 'father' |
| אָ | Komets Alef | o | like 'o' in 'go' |
| י | Yud | y/i | like 'y' in 'yes' or 'ee' |
| יִ | Khirik Yud | i | like 'ee' in 'see' |
| ײ | Tsvey Yudn | ey | like 'ay' in 'day' |
| ײַ | Pasekh Tsvey Yudn | ay | like 'i' in 'kite' |
| ו | Vov | u/v | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| וּ | Melupm Vov | u | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| וֹ | Vov Yud | oy | like 'oy' in 'boy' |
| ע | Ayen | e | like 'e' in 'bed' |
Yiddish Consonant Letters
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ב | Beys | b | like 'b' in 'ball' |
| בֿ | Veys | v | like 'v' in 'vine' |
| ג | Giml | g | like 'g' in 'go' |
| ד | Daled | d | like 'd' in 'day' |
| ה | Hey | h | like 'h' in 'hat' |
| ז | Zayen | z | like 'z' in 'zone' |
| זש | Zayen-Shin | zh | like 's' in 'measure' |
| ח | Khes | kh | like 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' |
| ט | Tes | t | like 't' in 'top' |
| טש | Tes-Shin | tsh/ch | like 'ch' in 'church' |
| כ | Kof | k | like 'k' in 'king' |
| ך | Langer Kof | kh | like 'ch' in 'loch' (final) |
| ל | Lamed | l | like 'l' in 'love' |
| מ | Mem | m | like 'm' in 'moon' |
| ם | Shlos Mem | m | like 'm' (word-final) |
| נ | Nun | n | like 'n' in 'no' |
| ן | Langer Nun | n | like 'n' (word-final) |
| פ | Pey | p | like 'p' in 'park' |
| פֿ | Fey | f | like 'f' in 'fun' |
| ף | Langer Fey | f | like 'f' (word-final) |
| צ | Tsadek | ts | like 'ts' in 'bits' |
| ץ | Langer Tsadek | ts | like 'ts' (word-final) |
| ק | Kuf | k | like 'k' in 'king' |
| ר | Reysh | r | like French 'r' |
| ש | Shin | sh | like 'sh' in 'shoe' |
| שׂ | Sin | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| תּ | Tof | t | like 't' in 'top' |
| ת | Sof | s | like 's' in 'sun' |