{{Short description|Hebrew niqqud vowel sign}} {{refimprove|date=January 2026}} {{for|the Torah cantillation mark|Segol (trope)}} {| align="right" class="wikitable" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |'''Segol''' |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:100px"|<span style='font-size:325%; font-family:"Times New Roman", David, SBL Hebrew' dir="rtl">ֶ</span> |- | IPA | style="background:white" | {{IPA link|ɛ}} |- | Transliteration | style="background:white" | e |- | English example | style="background:white" | b'''e'''d |- | Same sound | style="background:white" | tzere |- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Example |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background:white;height:50px;line-height:3.25em"|<span style='font-size:325%; font-family:"Times New Roman", David, SBL Hebrew' dir="rtl">שֶׁל</span> |- | colspan="2" style="width:250px;background:white;text-align:center;" | The word for ''of'' in Hebrew, ''shel''. The triangular array of three dots under the letter Shin form the segol. |- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Other Niqqud |- | colspan="2" style="width:250px;background:white;text-align:center;"|Shva{{·}}Hiriq{{·}}Tzere{{·}}Segol{{·}}Patach{{·}}Kamatz{{·}}Holam{{·}}Dagesh{{·}}Mappiq{{·}}Kubutz and Shuruk{{·}}Rafe{{·}}Sin/Shin Dot |} '''Segol''' (modern {{langx|he|סֶגּוֹל}}, {{IPA|he|seˈɡol|IPA}}; formerly {{Script/Hebrew|סְגוֹל}}, ''səḡôl'') is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign that is represented by three dots forming an upside down equilateral triangle "ֶ ". As such, it resembles an upside down therefore sign (a because sign) underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, it indicates the phoneme {{IPAslink|e̞|e}} which is similar to "e" in the English word sound in ''s'''e'''ll'' and is transliterated as an ''e''.
In Modern Hebrew segol makes the same sound as tzere, as does the '''Hataf Segol''' ({{langx|he|חֲטַף סֶגּוֹל}} {{IPA|he|ħaˈtaf seˈɡol|IPA}}, "Reduced Segol"). The reduced (or ''ħataf'') niqqud exist for segol, patah, and kamatz which contain a shva next to it.
== Etymology == The ''segol'' name comes from the Aramaic word סְגוֹל (''segol'') meaning 'cluster of grapes',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon |url=https://cal.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=sgwl%20N&cits=all |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=cal.huc.edu}}</ref> because the vowel's sign, three dots forming an upside down triangle " <span dir="rtl" style="font-size:140%; font-family:SBL Hebrew, David, Times New Roman"><big>ֶ</big></span> ", resembles a cluster of grapes.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==Pronunciation== The following table contains the pronunciation and transliteration of the different segols in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The letters Bet {{angle bracket|{{Script/Hebrew|ב}}}} and Het {{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 | Modern !! rowspan=2 | Ashkenazi !! rowspan=2 | Sephardi !! rowspan=2 | Yemenite !! rowspan=2 | Tiberian !! colspan=2 | Reconstructed |- ! Mishnaic !! Biblical |- | align="center" style="font-family:David, Arial Unicode, SBL Hebrew;font-size:200%"| {{Script/Hebrew|בֶ}} |Segol | {{IPAblink|e̞}} || [e̞] || [e̞] || [a] ||{{IPA|[ɛ, ɛː]}} || ? || {{IPA|[ɛ]}} |- | align="center" style="font-family:David, Arial Unicode, SBL Hebrew;font-size:200%"| {{Script/Hebrew|בֶי}} {{Script/Hebrew|בֶה}} {{Script/Hebrew|בֶא}} |Segol Male | {{IPAblink|e̞}} || [e̞] || [e̞] || [a] ||{{IPA|[ɛː]}} || ? || {{IPA|[ɛː, ɛj]}} |- | align="center" style="font-family:David, Arial Unicode, SBL Hebrew;font-size:200%" | {{Script/Hebrew|חֱ}} |Hataf Segol | {{IPAblink|e̞}} || [e̞] || [e̞] || [a] ||{{IPA|[ɛ̆]}} || ? || {{IPA|[ɛ]}} |- |}
In addition, a letter with a segol or tzere with a succeeding yod often makes the "ei" (also spelled "ey") sound such as in th'''ey''' or t'''a'''pe.
==Vowel length comparison== By adding two vertical dots (''shva''), the vowel can be made very short. However, the vowels lengths are not manifested in Modern Hebrew.
{| class="wikitable" |- !! colspan=6 | Vowel comparison table |- align=center !! colspan=3 | Vowel length !! rowspan=2 | IPA !! rowspan=2 | Transliteration !! rowspan=2 | English<br/>example |- ! 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|e̞}} | rowspan="2" |e | rowspan="2" |t'''e'''mp |- | ''Tzere'' | ''Segol'' |''Reduced Segol'' |}
==Unicode encoding== {| class="wikitable" ! Glyph ! Unicode ! Name |- |<span style='font-size:140%; font-family:SBL Hebrew, David, Times New Roman' dir="rtl">ֶ</span> |U+05B6 |SEGOL |- |<span style='font-size:140%; font-family:SBL Hebrew, David, Times New Roman' dir="rtl">ֱ</span> |U+05B1 |HATAF SEGOL |}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Hebrew language}}
Category:Niqqud