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If hebrews d'ont use vowels in writing why letter yod is pronnounce y like in english yes.Semitics have vowels in their alphabet or no?

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closed as off-topic by Double AA Nov 21 '13 at 13:49



Hi @munteanu, I don't think this question's a good fit for this site because it's not specifically about Judaism. However, there's a site proposal in the commit stage over at Area 51 for Hebrew Language & Usage. – Anthony Arnold Nov 21 '13 at 13:17

In English, the letter Y sometimes functions as a vowel, and sometimes as a consonant. For instance in the word "spy", it functions as a vowel, being pronounced like the vowel "i" in the first personal pronoun "I". But in the word "yellow", it functions as a consonant, being pronounced like the letter "j" in "fjord".

In Hebrew, the letter י (yod) is defined as a consonant, but sometimes stands for a vowel (just as ה and ו can also sometimes stand for vowels) - though only in specific situations. See also here.

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