# Patach
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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Patach.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patach
> Source revision: 1335584287
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{short description|Hebrew niqqud vowel sign}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2026}}
{| align="right" class="wikitable"
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| '''''{{Transliteration|he|Pataḥ}}'''''
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:100px"| {{script/Hebrew|1=ַ}}
|-
| IPA
| style="background:white" | {{IPAblink|ä|a}} or {{IPAblink|ä}}
|-
| [Transliteration](/source/Romanization_of_Hebrew)
| style="background:white" | a
|-
| English approximation
| style="background:white" | f'''a'''r
|-
| Same sound
| style="background:white" | [qamatz](/source/qamatz)
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Example
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:50px"|{{script/Hebrew|1=גַּם}}
|-
| colspan="2" style="width:250px; background:white; text-align:center;" | The word for ''also'' in [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language), ''gam''. The first and only vowel (under [Gimel](/source/Gimel), the horizontal line) is a pataḥ.
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Other [Niqqud](/source/Niqqud)
|-
| colspan="2" style="width:250px; background:white; text-align:center;"| [Shwa](/source/Shva){{·}}[Hiriq](/source/Hiriq){{·}}[Tzere](/source/Tzere){{·}}[Segol](/source/Segol){{·}}Pataḥ{{·}}[Kamatz](/source/Kamatz){{·}}[Holam](/source/Holam){{·}}[Dagesh](/source/Dagesh){{·}}[Mappiq](/source/Mappiq){{·}}[Shuruk](/source/Shuruk){{·}}[Kubutz](/source/Kubutz){{·}}[Rafe](/source/Rafe){{·}}[Sin/Shin Dot](/source/Shin_dot)
|}
'''Pataḥ''' ({{langx|he|פַּתָּח}} ''{{Transliteration|he|patákh}}'', {{IPA|he|paˈtaħ|IPA}}, [Biblical Hebrew](/source/Biblical_Hebrew): ''{{Transliteration|he|pattā́ḥ}}'') is a [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_alphabet) [niqqud](/source/niqqud) [vowel](/source/vowel) sign represented by a [horizontal line](/source/horizontal_line) {{angle bracket| {{Script/Hebrew|אַ}} }} underneath a letter. In [modern Hebrew](/source/modern_Hebrew), it indicates the [phoneme](/source/phoneme) {{IPAslink|ä|a}} which is close to the "[a]" sound in the English word ''f'''a'''r'' and is [transliterated](/source/Romanization_of_Hebrew) as an ''a''.
In [Modern Hebrew](/source/Modern_Hebrew), a ''{{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}'' makes the same sound as a [qamatz](/source/qamatz), as does the '''''{{Transliteration|he|ḥaṭaf pataḥ}}''''' ({{langx|he|חֲטַף פַּתַח}} {{IPA|he|ħaˈtˤaf paˈtaħ|IPA}}, "reduced {{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}"). The reduced (or ''{{Transliteration|he|ḥaṭaf}}'') niqqud exist for ''{{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}'', ''{{Transliteration|he|[qamatz](/source/qamatz)}}'', and ''{{Transliteration|he|[segol](/source/segol)}}'' which contain a ''{{Transliteration|he|[shva](/source/shva)}}'' next to it.
In [Yiddish](/source/Yiddish) orthography, a ''pataḥ'' (called ''pasekh'' in Yiddish) has two uses. The combination of pasekh with the letter [aleph](/source/aleph), {{lang|yi|rtl=yes|אַ}}, is used to represent the vowel [a]; the combination of pasekh with a [digraph](/source/digraph_(orthography)) consisting of two [yod](/source/yodh)s, {{lang|yi|rtl=yes|ײַ}}, is used to represent the [diphthong](/source/diphthong) [aj].
== Etymology ==
The ''pataḥ'' name comes from the verb פָּתַח (''pataḥ'') 'to open', because the vowel's pronunciation, the "[a]" sound, requires the mouth to be opened wide.[{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-03-24 |title=שמות סימני הניקוד - האקדמיה ללשון העברית |url=https://hebrew-academy.org.il/%d7%a9%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%a1%d7%99%d7%9e%d7%a0%d7%99-%d7%94%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%93/ |access-date=2026-01-29 |language=he-IL}}]
==Pronunciation==
The following table contains the [pronunciation](/source/pronunciation) and [transliteration](/source/transliteration) of the different {{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}s in reconstructed historical forms and [dialect](/source/dialect)s using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The letters [Bet](/source/Beth_(letter)) {{angle bracket|{{Script/Hebrew|ב}}}} and [Het](/source/Heth_(letter)) {{angle bracket|{{Script/Hebrew|ח}}}} used in this table are only for demonstration, any letter can be used.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=3 | Symbol
! rowspan=3 | Name
!! colspan=7 | Pronunciation
|-
!! rowspan=2 | [Israeli](/source/Israeli_Hebrew)
!! rowspan=2 | [Ashkenazi](/source/Ashkenazi_Hebrew)
!! rowspan=2 | [Sephardi](/source/Sephardi_Hebrew_language)
!! rowspan=2 | [Yemenite](/source/Yemenite_Hebrew_language)
!! rowspan=2 | [Tiberian](/source/Tiberian_Hebrew)
!! colspan=2 | Reconstructed
|-
! [Mishnaic](/source/Mishnaic_Hebrew) !! [Biblical](/source/Biblical_Hebrew)
|-
| align="center" style="font-size:200%"| {{Script/Hebrew|בַ}}
| ''{{Transliteration|he|Pataḥ}}''
| {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPA|[a, aː]}} || {{IPA|[a]}} || {{IPA|[a]}}
|-
| align="center" style="font-size:200%"| {{Script/Hebrew|בַא}}, {{Script/Hebrew|בַה}}
| ''{{Transliteration|he|Pataḥ male}}''
| {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPA|[aː]}} || {{IPA|[a]}} || {{IPA|[a]}}
|-
|
|-
| align="center" style="font-size:200%"| {{Script/Hebrew|חֲ}}
| ''{{Transliteration|he|Ḥaṭaf pataḥ}}''
| {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|ä}} || {{IPAblink|a}} || {{IPA|[ă]}} || {{IPA|[a]}} || {{IPA|[a]}}
|-
|}
A ''{{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}'' on a letter {{Script/Hebrew|ח}}, {{Script/Hebrew|ע}}, or {{Script/Hebrew|הּ}} (that is, {{Script/Hebrew|ה}} with a dot (mappiq) in it) at the end of a word is sounded ''before'' the letter, and not after. Thus, {{Lang|he|נֹחַ}} ([Noah](/source/Noah); properly transliterated as ''{{Transliteration|he|Noaḥ}}'') is pronounced {{IPA|/no.aχ/}} in Modern Hebrew and {{IPA|/no.aħ/}} or {{IPA|/no.ʔaħ/}} in Biblical Hebrew. This only occurs at the ends of words, only with pataḥ and only with these three letters. This is sometimes called a ''{{Transliteration|he|pataḥ gnuva}}'', or "stolen" ''{{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}'' (more formally, "furtive {{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}"), since the sound "steals" an imaginary [epenthetic](/source/epenthetic) consonant to make the extra syllable.
==Vowel length comparison==
By adding two vertical dots (''[shva](/source/shva)'') the vowel is made very short. However, these vowels lengths are not manifested in Modern Hebrew.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=6 | Vowel comparison table
|- align=center
! colspan=3 | [Vowel Length](/source/Vowel_Length)
! rowspan=2 | IPA
! rowspan=2 | [Transliteration](/source/Transliteration)
! rowspan=2 | English
approximation
|-
! Long
! Short
! Very short
|- align=center
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Script/Hebrew| ָ }}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Script/Hebrew| ַ }}
|style="font-size:26px; padding-bottom:12px"| {{Script/Hebrew| ֲ }}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPAblink|ä|a}}
| rowspan="2" | a
| rowspan="2" | sp'''a'''
|-
| {{Transliteration|he|[Qamatz](/source/Qamatz)}}
| {{Transliteration|he|Pataḥ}}
| Reduced {{Transliteration|he|pataḥ}}
|}
==Unicode encoding==
{| class="wikitable"
! Glyph
! Unicode
! Name
|-
| {{Script/Hebrew| ַ }}
|U+05B7
|PATAH
|-
| {{Script/Hebrew| ֲ }}
|U+05B2
|HATAF PATAH
|}
==See also==
*[Niqqud](/source/Niqqud)
*[Qamatz](/source/Qamatz)
*[Fathah](/source/Fathah), the related [diacritic in Arabic](/source/Arabic_diacritics)
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Hebrew language}}
Category:Niqqud
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Patach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patach) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patach?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.