| ب (bāʾ) |
/b/ |
ב (bet) |
Both are pronounced /b/ (and Hebrew ב without dagesh is /v/) |
| ت (tāʾ) |
/t/ |
ת (tav) |
Both are /t/ (though ת may be /s/ in Sephardic pronunciation when no dagesh) |
| ج (jīm) |
/dʒ/ or /ʒ/ |
ג׳ (gimel with geresh) |
Hebrew doesn't natively have /dʒ/; uses ג׳ |
| ح (ḥāʾ) |
/ħ/ |
ח (ḥet) |
Both are pharyngeal/fricative sounds; similar but not identical |
| خ (khāʾ) |
/x/ |
כ (kaf without dagesh), or ח |
Voiceless velar fricative in Arabic; close to Hebrew כ or ח |
| د (dāl) |
/d/ |
ד (dalet) |
Both /d/ |
| ر (rāʾ) |
/r/ |
ר (resh) |
Both are /r/, though pronunciation varies (trilled vs uvular) |
| ز (zāy) |
/z/ |
ז (zayin) |
Both /z/ |
| س (sīn) |
/s/ |
ס (samekh), or שׂ (shin with dot on left) |
All are /s/ sounds |
| ش (shīn) |
/ʃ/ |
שׁ (shin with dot on right) |
Both /ʃ/ |
| ص (ṣād) |
/sˤ/ |
צ (tsadi) |
Arabic emphatic /s/, Hebrew /ts/—not exact, but historically related |
| ط (ṭāʾ) |
/tˤ/ |
ט (tet) |
Both are “hard” /t/; Arabic is emphatic |
| ع (ʿayn) |
/ʕ/ |
ע (ʿayin) |
Both represent voiced pharyngeal fricative (lost in modern Hebrew pronunciation) |
| ف (fāʾ) |
/f/ |
פ (pe without dagesh) |
Both /f/ |
| ق (qāf) |
/q/ |
ק (qof) |
Both are uvular/plosive /q/ |
| ك (kāf) |
/k/ |
כ (kaf with dagesh) |
Both /k/ |
| ل (lām) |
/l/ |
ל (lamed) |
Both /l/ |
| م (mīm) |
/m/ |
מ (mem) |
Both /m/ |
| ن (nūn) |
/n/ |
נ (nun) |
Both /n/ |
| ه (hāʾ) |
/h/ |
ה (he) |
Both /h/ |
| و (wāw) |
/w/ |
ו (vav) |
Both originally /w/; modern Hebrew uses /v/ |
| ي (yāʾ) |
/j/ |
י (yod) |
Both /j/ (like "y" in "yes") |
| ذ (dhāl) |
/ð/ |
No exact match |
Sometimes approximated with ז or ד |
| غ (ghayn) |
/ɣ/ |
No modern match |
Sometimes compared to ר or ע in ancient Hebrew |
| ث (thāʾ) |
/θ/ |
No exact match |
Sometimes approximated with ת or ס |
| ظ (ẓāʾ) |
/ðˤ/ |
No match |
No pharyngealized sounds in Hebrew |
| ض (ḍād) |
/dˤ/ |
No exact match |
No emphatic counterpart in Hebrew |