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{{Short description|Eighth letter of many Semitic alphabets}}
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{{Phoenician glyph|letname=Ḥet|archar=ح|sychar=ܚ|hechar=ח|amchar=heth|gechar=ሐ|phchar=heth|ipa=ħ / x|num=8|gem=8}}
{{about|the Semitic letter}}
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{{Arabic alphabet}}
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{{Hebrew alphabet}}
{{Syriac alphabet}}


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{{Phoenician glyph |letname=Heth |previouslink=Zayin |previousletter=Zayin |nextlink=Teth |nextletter=Teth |archar=ح|sychar=ܚ|hechar=ח|amchar=heth|gechar=ሐ|phchar=heth|grchar=[[Η]]|lachar=[[H]]|cychar=[[И]]|ipa=[[χ (IPA)|χ]], [[x (IPA)|x]], [[ħ (IPA)|ħ]] |num=8 |gem=8}}
'''{{Semxlit|Ḥet}}''' (also spelled '''Heth''', '''Het''', '''Chet''', '''Khet''', '''Kheth''', or '''Cheth''') is the reconstructed name of the eighth letter of the [[Proto-Canaanite alphabet]], continued in descended [[Semitic alphabets]] as [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] {{Semxlit|ḥēth}} [[Image:phoenician_heth.png|15px|]], [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] {{Semxlit|ḥēth}} {{Unicode|ܚ}}, [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] {{Semxlit|ḫet}} (also {{Semxlit|ḥet}}, heth) {{Ivrit|ח}}, and [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] {{ArabDIN|ḥāʼ}} {{ar|ح}} (in [[abjadi order]]).


'''Heth''', sometimes written Chet or '''Ḥet''', is the eighth [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of the [[Semitic abjads]], including [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] ''ḥēt'' 𐤇, [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] ''ḥēt'' ח, [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] ''ḥēṯ'' 𐡇, [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] ''ḥēṯ'' ܚ, and [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] ''ḥāʾ'' ح.
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Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either [[Voiceless pharyngeal fricative|pharyngeal]] ({{IPA|[ħ]}}), or [[voiceless velar fricative|velar]] ({{IPA|[x]}}) (the two [[Proto-Semitic]] phonemes having merged in [[Canaanite language|Canaanite]]). In Arabic, the letter was split in two: unmodified {{ArabDIN|ḥāʼ}} {{ar|ح}} represents {{IPA|[ħ]}}, while [[ḫāʼ]] {{ar|ﺥ}} represents {{IPA|[x]}}.


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Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative|pharyngeal]] {{IPA|/ħ/}}, or [[voiceless velar fricative|velar]] {{IPA|/x/}}. In Arabic, two corresponding letters were created for both phonemic sounds: unmodified ''{{Transl|ar|DIN|[[ḥāʾ]]}}'' {{Lang|ar|ح}} represents {{IPA|/ħ/}}, while ''{{Transl|ar|DIN|[[ḫāʾ]]}}'' {{Lang|ar|خ}} represents {{IPA|/x/}}.
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The Phoenician letter gave rise to the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[Eta (letter)|Eta]] (Η), [[Etruscan alphabet|Etruscan]] [[Image:EtruscanH-01.png|14px|H]] {{Unicode|𐌇}}, [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[H]] and [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] [[I (Cyrillic)|И]]. While H is still a consonant in the Latin alphabet, the Greek and Cyrillic equivalents have come to represent [[vowel]] sounds.

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The Phoenician letter gave rise to the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[eta]] {{lang|el|Η}}, [[Etruscan alphabet|Etruscan]] [[File:EtruscanH-01.png|14px|H]], [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[H]], and [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] [[I (Cyrillic)|И]]. While H is a consonant in the Latin alphabet, the Greek and Cyrillic equivalents represent [[vowel]] sounds, though the letter was originally a consonant in Greek and this usage later evolved into the [[rough breathing]] character.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ccel.org/s/smyth/grammar/html/smyth_1a_uni.htm | title=Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar }}</ref>


==Origins==
==Origins==
The letter shape ultimately goes back to a [[hieroglyph]] for "courtyard", <hiero>O6</hiero>
The shape of the letter Ḥet ultimately goes back either to the [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian hieroglyph]] for 'courtyard' (''ḥwt''): <hiero>O6</hiero> (compare Hebrew חָצֵר ''ḥatser'' of identical meaning, which [[Acrophony|begins with]] Ḥet).
{{newline}}or to the one for 'thread, wick' representing a wick of twisted flax: (''ḥ'')<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%93%8E%9B |title = 𓎛 - Wiktionary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vincent.euverte.free.fr/Rosette/Rosette_410.php?Hiero=V28&Lang=E|title = Rosette V-1.3 (6/11/05)}}</ref> <hiero>V28</hiero> (compare Hebrew חוּט ''ḥut'' of identical meaning, which [[Acrophony|begins with]] Ḥet).
(possibly named {{Semxlit|ḥasir}} in the [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets]], while the name goes rather back to {{Semxlit|ḫayt}}, the name reconstructed for a letter derived from a hieroglyph for "thread", <hiero>V28</hiero>
Possibly named {{Transl|sem|ḥasir}} in the [[Proto-Sinaitic script]].


The corresponding [[South Arabian alphabet|South Arabian]] letters are [[Image:himjar_ha2.PNG|14px|ḥ]] ḥ and [[Image:himjar_kha.PNG|14px|ḫ]] ḫ, corresponding to [[Ge'ez abugida|Ge'ez]] {{Semxlit|Ḥauṭ}} ሐ and {{Semxlit|Ḫarm}} ኀ.
The corresponding [[South Arabian alphabet|South Arabian letters]] are [[File:himjar ha2.PNG|14px|ḥ]] ḥ and [[File:himjar kha.PNG|14px|ḫ]] ḫ, corresponding to the [[Ge'ez script|Ge'ez letters]] {{Transl|sem|Ḥawṭ}} ሐ and {{Transl|sem|Ḫarm}} ኀ.

This letter is usually transcribed as ''ḥ'', h with a dot underneath. In some romanization systems, a (capital) Ch is also used. The latter method has the advantage of being easy to type on a computer.

==Arabic ḥāʾ==
{{see also|خ}}
The letter is named {{lang|ar|حَاءْ}} ''{{Transl|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}}'' and is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Its shape varies depending on its position in the word:
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{{Arabic alphabet shapes|ح}}

This form is used to denote three letters, the other two being {{lang|ar|خ}} [[ḫāʾ]] and {{lang|ar|ج}} [[ǧīm]].


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==Hebrew Heth==
===Pronunciation===
===Pronunciation===
In Arabic, {{transl|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}} is similar to the [[English language|English]] {{IPAblink|h}}, but it is much "raspier",<ref>{{cite book|last=Bouchentouf|first=Amine|title=Arabic for Dummies|year=2006|publisher=Wiley Publishing, Inc|page=15}}</ref> IPA: {{IPAblink|ħ}}~{{IPAblink|ʜ}}. ([[Pharyngeal H]])
In official [[Hebrew_language|Modern Israeli Hebrew]], the letter Heth is usually pronounced as a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] ([[IPA]] /ħ/) in accordance with [[mizrahi|oriental]] Jewish traditions, although it is commonly a [[voiceless velar fricative]] ([[IPA]] /x/) due to [[Ashkenazi|European]] influence.

In Persian, it is {{IPAblink|h}}, like {{angbr|{{lang|fa|[[ه]]}}}} and the English ''h''.

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==Hebrew chet==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="5" |<small>[[Orthography|Orthographic]] variants</small>
|-
! colspan="3" |<small>Various print fonts</small>
! rowspan="2" |<small>[[Cursive Hebrew|Cursive<br>Hebrew]]</small>
! rowspan="2" |<small>[[Rashi script|Rashi<br>script]]</small>
|-
!|<small>Serif</small> !! <small>[[Sans-serif]]</small> !! <small>[[Monospaced]]</small>
|-
| width="20%" |<span style="font:30pt 'Times New Roman', 'David', Narkisim, 'New Peninim MT', 'Taamey Frank CLM', serif;">ח</span>
| width="20%" |<span style="font:28pt Arial, 'DejaVu Sans Condensed', 'DejaVu Sans', Tahoma, 'Noto Sans Hebrew', Alef, sans-serif;">ח</span>
| width="20%" |<span style="font:30pt 'Courier New', 'Miriam Fixed', 'Miriam Mono CLM', FreeMono, monospace;">ח</span>
| width="20%" |[[File:Hebrew letter Het handwriting.svg|24px]]
| width="20%" |[[File:Het (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|35px]]
|}

Hebrew spelling: <big>{{Script/Hebrew|חֵית}}</big>

===Pronunciation===
In [[Modern Hebrew|Modern Israeli Hebrew]] (and [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]], although not under strict pronunciation), the letter Ḥet ({{Script/Hebrew|חֵית}}) usually has the sound value of a [[voiceless uvular fricative]] ({{IPA|/χ/}}), as the historical phonemes of the letters {{Transl|sem|Ḥet}} ח ({{IPA|/ħ/}}) and {{Transl|sem|[[Kaph|Khaf]]}} כ ({{IPA|/x/}}) merged, both becoming the voiceless uvular fricative ({{IPA|/χ/}}). In more rare Ashkenazi phonologies, it is pronounced as a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] ({{IPA|/ħ/}}).

The ({{IPA|/ħ/}}) pronunciation is still common among [[Israeli Arabs]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]] (particularly among the older generation and popular [[Mizrahi music|Mizrahi singers]], especially [[Yemenite Jews|Yemenites]]), in accordance with oriental Jewish traditions (see, e.g., [[Mizrahi Hebrew]] and [[Yemenite Hebrew]]).

The ability to pronounce the Arabic letter ''{{Transl|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}}'' ({{lang|ar|ح}}) correctly as a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] {{IPA|/ħ/}} is often used as a [[shibboleth]] to distinguish [[Varieties of Arabic|Arabic]]-speakers from non-Arabic-speakers; in particular, pronunciation of the letter as {{IPAslink|x}} is seen as a hallmark of [[Ashkenazi]] and [[Romaniote Jews|Greek Jews]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

''Ḥet'' is one of the few Hebrew consonants that can take a vowel at the end of a word. This occurs when [[patach|patach gnuva]] comes under the Ḥet at the end of the word. The combination is then pronounced {{IPA|/-aħ/}} rather than {{IPA|/-ħa/}}. For example: {{lang|he|פָּתוּחַ}} ({{IPA|/ˌpaˈtuaħ/}}), and {{lang|he|תַּפּוּחַ}} ({{IPA|/ˌtaˈpuaħ/}}).


===Variations===
===Variations===
Heth, along with [[Aleph (Hebrew)|Aleph]], [[Ayin]], [[Resh]], and [[He (letter)|He]], cannot receive a dagesh. As the voiceless fricative is difficult for most English speakers to pronounce, it is usually Anglizised to /h/. Thus ''challah'' (חלה), pronounced as ''[[Voiceless velar fricative|x]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]][[Alveolar_lateral_approximant|l]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]]'' or ''[[Voiceless pharyngeal fricative|ħ]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]][[Alveolar_lateral_approximant|l]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]]'' by Hebrew speakers is prounced ''[[Voiceless_glottal_fricative|h]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]][[Alveolar_lateral_approximant|l]][[Open_back_unrounded_vowel|a]]'' by most English speakers. It is often possible to tell a person's place of origin by their pronounciation, especially of Heth. If it is pronounced softly, like a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]], then the person is probably of Eastern origin. If it is pronounced like an English H, then the person is probably a native English speaker.
Ḥet, along with [[Aleph (Hebrew)|Aleph]], [[Ayin]], [[Resh]], and [[He (letter)|He]], cannot receive a [[dagesh]]. As pharyngeal fricatives are difficult for most English speakers to pronounce, loanwords are usually Anglicized to have {{IPA|/h/}}. Thus {{lang|he-Latn|challah}} ({{lang|he|חלה}}), pronounced by native Hebrew speakers as {{IPA|/χala/}} or {{IPA|/ħala/}} is pronounced {{IPA|/halə/}} by most English speakers, who cannot often perceive the difference between {{IPAblink|h}} and {{IPAblink|ħ}}.


===Significance===
===Significance===
In [[gematria]], Heth represents the number eight, and when used at the beginning of [[Hebrew calendar|Hebrew years]], it means 8000 (i.e. חתשנד in [[Arabic_numerals|numbers]] would be the [[Calendar_date|date]] 8754).
In [[gematria]], Ḥet represents the number eight.


In [[chat rooms]] and [[Internet forum|online forums]], the letter Heth repeated denotes laughter, similar to the English ''[[lol]]''.
In [[chat rooms]], [[Internet forum|online forums]], and [[Social networking service|social networking]] the letter Ḥet repeated (חחחחחחחחחח) denotes laughter, just as in English, in the saying 'Haha'.

==Character encodings==
{{charmap
|05D7|name1=Hebrew Letter Het
|062D|name2=Arabic Letter Hah
|071A|name3=Syriac Letter Heth
|0807|name4=Samaritan Letter It
}}

{{charmap
|10388|name1=Ugaritic Letter Hota
|10847|name2=Imperial Aramaic Letter Heth
|10907|name3=Phoenician Letter Het
}}

==See also==
*Ħ, ħ : [[H with stroke]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Heth (letter)}}
{{Arabic language}}
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{{Hebrew language}}
{{Northwest Semitic abjad}}


[[Category:Phoenician alphabet]]
[[Category:Phoenician alphabet]]
[[Category:Arabic letters]]
[[Category:Arabic letters]]
[[Category:Hebrew letters]]

[[Category:Urdu letters]]
[[als:ח]]
[[de:Chet]]
[[es:Cheth]]
[[fr:Het (lettre)]]
[[he:ח]]
[[fi:Het]]

Latest revision as of 03:50, 6 April 2024

This article is about the Semitic letter. For other uses, see Heth (disambiguation).
Heth
PhoenicianHeth
Hebrew
ח
AramaicHeth
Syriac
ܚ
Arabic
ح
Phonemic representationχ, x, ħ
Position in alphabet8
Numerical value8
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician
GreekΗ
LatinH
CyrillicИ

Heth, sometimes written Chet or Ḥet, is the eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ḥēt 𐤇, Hebrew ḥēt ח, Aramaic ḥēṯ 𐡇, Syriac ḥēṯ ܚ, and Arabic ḥāʾ ح.

Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either pharyngeal /ħ/, or velar /x/. In Arabic, two corresponding letters were created for both phonemic sounds: unmodified ḥāʾ ح represents /ħ/, while ḫāʾ خ represents /x/.

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek eta Η, Etruscan H, Latin H, and Cyrillic И. While H is a consonant in the Latin alphabet, the Greek and Cyrillic equivalents represent vowel sounds, though the letter was originally a consonant in Greek and this usage later evolved into the rough breathing character.[1]

Origins[edit]

The shape of the letter Ḥet ultimately goes back either to the Egyptian hieroglyph for 'courtyard' (ḥwt):

O6

(compare Hebrew חָצֵר ḥatser of identical meaning, which begins with Ḥet).
or to the one for 'thread, wick' representing a wick of twisted flax: (ḥ)[2][3]

V28

(compare Hebrew חוּט ḥut of identical meaning, which begins with Ḥet).

Possibly named ḥasir in the Proto-Sinaitic script.

The corresponding South Arabian letters are ḥ ḥ and ḫ ḫ, corresponding to the Ge'ez letters Ḥawṭ ሐ and Ḫarm ኀ.

This letter is usually transcribed as ḥ, h with a dot underneath. In some romanization systems, a (capital) Ch is also used. The latter method has the advantage of being easy to type on a computer.

Arabic ḥāʾ[edit]

See also: خ

The letter is named حَاءْ ḥāʾ and is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Its shape varies depending on its position in the word:

Position in word Isolated Final Medial Initial
Glyph form:
(Help) 		ح‎ ـح‎ ـحـ‎ حـ‎

This form is used to denote three letters, the other two being خ ḫāʾ and ج ǧīm.

Pronunciation[edit]

In Arabic, ḥāʾ is similar to the English [h], but it is much "raspier",[4] IPA: [ħ]~[ʜ]. (Pharyngeal H)

In Persian, it is [h], like ⟨ه⟩ and the English h.

Hebrew chet[edit]

Orthographic variants
Various print fonts Cursive
Hebrew 		Rashi
script
Serif Sans-serif Monospaced
ח ח ח

Hebrew spelling: חֵית‎

Pronunciation[edit]

In Modern Israeli Hebrew (and Ashkenazi Hebrew, although not under strict pronunciation), the letter Ḥet (חֵית‎) usually has the sound value of a voiceless uvular fricative (/χ/), as the historical phonemes of the letters Ḥet ח (/ħ/) and Khaf כ (/x/) merged, both becoming the voiceless uvular fricative (/χ/). In more rare Ashkenazi phonologies, it is pronounced as a voiceless pharyngeal fricative (/ħ/).

The (/ħ/) pronunciation is still common among Israeli Arabs and Mizrahi Jews (particularly among the older generation and popular Mizrahi singers, especially Yemenites), in accordance with oriental Jewish traditions (see, e.g., Mizrahi Hebrew and Yemenite Hebrew).

The ability to pronounce the Arabic letter ḥāʾ (ح) correctly as a voiceless pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ is often used as a shibboleth to distinguish Arabic-speakers from non-Arabic-speakers; in particular, pronunciation of the letter as /x/ is seen as a hallmark of Ashkenazi and Greek Jews.[citation needed]

Ḥet is one of the few Hebrew consonants that can take a vowel at the end of a word. This occurs when patach gnuva comes under the Ḥet at the end of the word. The combination is then pronounced /-aħ/ rather than /-ħa/. For example: פָּתוּחַ (/ˌpaˈtuaħ/), and תַּפּוּחַ (/ˌtaˈpuaħ/).

Variations[edit]

Ḥet, along with Aleph, Ayin, Resh, and He, cannot receive a dagesh. As pharyngeal fricatives are difficult for most English speakers to pronounce, loanwords are usually Anglicized to have /h/. Thus challah (חלה), pronounced by native Hebrew speakers as /χala/ or /ħala/ is pronounced /halə/ by most English speakers, who cannot often perceive the difference between [h] and [ħ].

Significance[edit]

In gematria, Ḥet represents the number eight.

In chat rooms, online forums, and social networking the letter Ḥet repeated (חחחחחחחחחח) denotes laughter, just as in English, in the saying 'Haha'.

Character encodings[edit]

Character information
Preview ח ح ܚ ࠇ
Unicode name HEBREW LETTER HET ARABIC LETTER HAH SYRIAC LETTER HETH SAMARITAN LETTER IT
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 1495 U+05D7 1581 U+062D 1818 U+071A 2055 U+0807
UTF-8 215 151 D7 97 216 173 D8 AD 220 154 DC 9A 224 160 135 E0 A0 87
Numeric character reference &#1495; &#x5D7; &#1581; &#x62D; &#1818; &#x71A; &#2055; &#x807;


Character information
Preview 𐎈 𐡇 𐤇
Unicode name UGARITIC LETTER HOTA IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER HETH PHOENICIAN LETTER HET
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 66440 U+10388 67655 U+10847 67847 U+10907
UTF-8 240 144 142 136 F0 90 8E 88 240 144 161 135 F0 90 A1 87 240 144 164 135 F0 90 A4 87
UTF-16 55296 57224 D800 DF88 55298 56391 D802 DC47 55298 56583 D802 DD07
Numeric character reference &#66440; &#x10388; &#67655; &#x10847; &#67847; &#x10907;

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar".
  2. ^ "𓎛 - Wiktionary".
  3. ^ "Rosette V-1.3 (6/11/05)".
  4. ^ Bouchentouf, Amine (2006). Arabic for Dummies. Wiley Publishing, Inc. p. 15.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heth (letter).
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