Heth — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Eighth letter of many Semitic alphabets}} {{about|the Semitic letter}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox Semitic letter |letname=Heth |previouslink=Zayin |previousletter=Zayin |nextlink=Teth |nextletter=Teth |archar=ح|sychar=ܚ|hechar=ח|smchar=ࠇ|amchar=𐡇|nbchar=𐢊|gechar=ሐ|ugchar=𐎈|phchar=𐤇|nachar=𐪂|sachar=𐩢|grchar=Η, Ͱ|lachar=H|cychar=И, Й, Һ|ipa=ħ, (χ, x) |num=8 |gem=8}}

'''Heth''', sometimes written '''Chet''' or '''Ḥet''', is the eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ''ḥēt'' 𐤇, Hebrew ''ḥēt'' {{Script|Hebr|ח}}, Aramaic ''ḥēṯ'' 𐡇, Syriac ''ḥēṯ'' ܚ, and Arabic ''ḥāʾ'' {{Script|Arabic|ح}}. It is also related to the Ancient North Arabian 𐪂‎‎‎, South Arabian {{lang|sem-x-oldsoara|𐩢}}, and Ge'ez {{lang|gez|ሐ}}.

Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either pharyngeal {{IPA|/ħ/}}, or velar {{IPA|/x/}}. In Arabic, two corresponding letters were created for both phonemic sounds: unmodified ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}}'' {{Lang|ar|ح}} represents {{IPA|/ħ/}}, while ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḫāʾ}}'' {{Lang|ar|خ}} represents {{IPA|/x/}}.

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek eta {{lang|el|Η}}, Etruscan class=skin-invert-image|14px|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.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ccel.org/s/smyth/grammar/html/smyth_1a_uni.htm | title=Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar | access-date=2022-02-18 | archive-date=2011-12-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208051122/http://www.ccel.org/s/smyth/grammar/html/smyth_1a_uni.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> The Phoenician letter also gave rise to the archaic Greek letter ''heta'', as well as a variant of Cyrillic letter I, short I. The Arabic letter (ح) is sometimes transliterated as ''Ch'' in English.

==Origins== The shape of the letter Ḥet probably goes back either to the Egyptian hieroglyph for 'courtyard' (''ḥwt''): <hiero>O6</hiero> (compare {{langx|he|חָצֵר|ḥaṣēr|links=no}} of identical meaning, which begins with Ḥet). {{break}}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 |access-date=2020-06-28 |archive-date=2020-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630085928/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%93%8E%9B |url-status=live }}</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)|access-date=2020-06-28|archive-date=2020-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629223548/http://vincent.euverte.free.fr/Rosette/Rosette_410.php?Hiero=V28&Lang=E|url-status=live}}</ref> <hiero>V28</hiero> (compare {{langx|he|חוּט|ḥuṭ|links=no}} of identical meaning, which begins with Ḥet). Possibly named {{Transliteration|sem|ḥasir}} in the Proto-Sinaitic script.

The corresponding South Arabian letters are class=skin-invert-image|14px|ḥ ḥ and class=skin-invert-image|14px|ḫ ḫ, corresponding to the Ge'ez letters {{Transliteration|sem|Ḥawṭ}} ሐ and {{Transliteration|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.

==Arabic ḥāʾ== {{see also|خ}} {{Infobox grapheme| | name = Ḥāʾ حاء | letter = {{lang|ar|ح}} | variations = | image = | imagesize = 200 | imagealt = | script = Arabic script | type = Abjad | typedesc = | language = Arabiclanguage | phonemes = {{IPA link|ħ}} | unicode = | alphanumber = 6 | number = | equivalents = | associates = | direction = Right-to-left | fam1 = 𐤇 | fam2 = 𐡇‎ | fam3 = 𐢊 }}The letter is named {{lang|ar|حَاءْ}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}}'' and is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Its shape varies depending on its position in the word, and its initial and medial form resembles a bird's beak: {{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. In Maltese, the corresponding letter to {{lang|ar|ح}} is {{lang|mt|ħ}}.

===Pronunciation=== In Arabic, {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}} is similar to the 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}}. (Pharyngeal H)

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

==Hebrew het==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan="5" |Orthographic variants |- ! colspan="3" |Various print fonts ! rowspan="2" |Cursive Hebrew ! rowspan="2" |Rashi script |- !|Serif !! Sans-serif !! Monospaced |- | width="20%" |ח | width="20%" |ח | width="20%" |ח | width="20%" |class=skin-invert-image|24px | width="20%" |class=skin-invert-image|35px |}

===Pronunciation=== In Modern Israeli Hebrew (and Ashkenazi Hebrew, although not under strict pronunciation), the letter Ḥet ({{langx|he|חֵית}}) usually has the sound value of a voiceless uvular fricative ({{IPA|/χ/}}), as the historical phonemes of the letters {{Transliteration|sem|Ḥet}} {{Script|Hebr|ח}} ({{IPA|/ħ/}}) and {{Transliteration|sem|Khaf}} {{Script|Hebr|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 singers, especially Yemenites), in accordance with oriental Jewish traditions (see, e.g., Mizrahi Hebrew and Yemenite Hebrew).

The ability to pronounce the Arabic letter ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥāʾ}}'' ({{lang|ar|ح}}) correctly as a voiceless pharyngeal fricative {{IPA|/ħ/}} is often used as a shibboleth to distinguish Arabic-speakers from non-Arabic-speakers; in particular, pronunciation of the letter as {{IPAslink|x}} is seen as a hallmark of Ashkenazi and 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 patachgnuva 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=== 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 {{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=== In gematria, Ḥet represents the number eight.

In chat rooms, online forums, and social networking the letter Ḥet repeated ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|חחחחחחחחחח}}) denotes laughter, just as in English, in the saying 'Haha'.

==Syriac cheth== {{Arabic alphabet shapes|ܚ‎}}

==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}} {{Hebrew language}} {{Northwest Semitic abjad}}

Category:Phoenician alphabet Category:Arabic letters Category:Hebrew letters Category:Urdu letters