List of Yiddish Letters and Sounds

Printed Letter Written Letter Yiddish Name Transliteration of Sound English Equivalent
Shtumer Alef Silent, therefore not shown silent
Pasekh Alef a no exact equivalent, close to A in Ma
Komets Alef o no exact equivalent, close to O in For
Beyz b B
Veyz v V
Giml g G
Daled d D
Hey h H
Vov u OO as in Hoof
Melupm Vov u OO [used when appers next to . The dot distinguishes from .]
Tsvey Vovn v V
Vov Yud oy OY
Zayin z Z
Khes kh KH as in Khanukah
Tes t T
Yud i or y EE or consonant Y
Khirek Yud i EE [used when stressed vowel precedes another vowel to show that is in a different syllable.]
Tsvey Yudn ey AY as in Day
Pasekh Tsvey Yudn ay Y as in Sky
Kof k K
Khof kh KH as in Bach
Lange[r] Khof kh KH as in Bach only at the end of a word.
Lamed l L
Mem m M
Shlos-Mem m M
Nun n N
Lange[r] Nun n N. only at the end of a word.
Samekh s S
Ayin e short E as in Bed
Pey p P
Fey f F
Lange[r] Fey f F, only at the end of a word.
Tsadek ts TS
Lange[r] Tsadek ts TS, onlt at the end of a word.
Kuf k K
Reysh r R
Shin sh SH
Sin s S
Tof t T
Sof s S
Daled Zayin dz DZ as in boards
Zayin Shin zh ZH as in Zhivago.
Daled Zayin Shin dzh J
Tes Shin tsh Ch as in Charlie.

Home | Biography | Books & Poetry | A History of Yiddish | Other Yiddish Literature | Yiddish Language | Yiddish Web Sources

For more information, contact us