Beth (letter)

Beth or Bet is the second letter of the Phoenician alphabet, the Hebrew alphabet, and the Aramaic alphabet. It has the sound of English B (or in some circumstance V.) The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Beta, Latin B, the Cyrillic equivalent, the Paleo-Hebrew equivalent, and the Aramaic equivalent, which gave rise to the Hebrew equivalent.

Hebrew pronunciation

ב Beth or bet is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet in the Hebrew language that is used as a living language by the Jewish people that live in modern Israel. It is the first letter of the Torah (Hebrew Bible). It also denotes the number "two" in Hebrew numerals.

Related Topics:
Hebrew alphabet - Hebrew language - Jew - Israel - Torah - Hebrew Bible - Number - Two - Hebrew numerals

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The name beth is related to the Hebrew word bat ("daughter") or beit ("house ").

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Outside of Israel, and the Jewish world, many use the pronunciation Beth with a "th". This form corresponds to the Tiberian Hebrew pronunciation.

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Two forms

There are two main forms to the pronunciation of this letter:

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• בּ beth
• ב veth

When written by following the accepted "vocalizations" known as Niqqud (a system of accepted signs, or orthography, guiding the correct pronunciation of individual letters) there are in fact two forms or variations of this letter.

Related Topics:
Niqqud - Orthography

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Consonants

The two forms are:

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• בּ   bet   /b/

and

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• ב   vet   /v/, /b/ (among Egyptian Jews)

As labial consonants

Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). Thus בּ like the is a bilabial stop (plosive), and ב like is a labiodental fricative.

Related Topics:
Consonant - Lip - Teeth - [b - Stop - [v - Fricative

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Beth with the dagesh

When the Beth has a "dot" in its center, known as a dagesh, then it is indeed pronounced as Beth, making the same sound that the English B makes when pronounced. There are various rules in Hebrew grammar that stipulate when and why a dagesh is used.

Related Topics:
Dagesh - B - Hebrew grammar

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As a prefix, the letter בּ may function as a preposition meaning "in" or "at".

Related Topics:
Prefix - Preposition

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When it is written in the caligraphy of a Torah scroll, even though the words are not punctuated or vocalized, the first letter בּ has the dagesh ("dot") inside of it.

Related Topics:
Torah scroll - Punctuated

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Beth without the dagesh

When this letter appears as ב without the dagesh ("dot") in its center then it is pronounced as Veth, making the same sound as the English letter V.

Related Topics:
Dagesh - V

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