What is "hiriq"

IPA

Transliteration

English approximation

Example

The word niqqud in Hebrew. The first vowel (the dot underneath the letter) is a itself.

Example

The word "baby" in Hebrew with niqqud. Notice the additional Yud .

Other Niqqud

ShvaHiriq Zeire Segol Patach Kamatz Holam Dagesh Mappiq Shuruk Kubutz Rafe Sin/Shin Dot

Hiriq ( ) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by a dot underneath the letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates the phoneme which is the same as the "ee" sound in the English word deep and is transliterated with "i". In Yiddish, it indicates the phoneme which is the same as the "i" sound in the English word skip and is transliterated with "i".

In Israeli writing a is often promoted to for the sake of disambiguation (see ktiv male). A in Hebrew spelling is a under the preceding yud , while in Yiddish orthography the is placed under the yud . In writing without niqqud, the is omitted leaving only the yud . The usage of a consonant (in this case yud) to indicate a vowel comes from mater lectionis.