How to Pronounce the Hebrew T Sound [ת/ט]

Learning pronunciation doesn't have to be technical and boring. You can learn to sound more like a native Israeli in a fun, easy, and enjoyable way. Follow this link to get your FREE Hebrew pronunciation mini-course to get you started!
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[@productioncolors]

Oh my goodness! This is fantastic!! Toda raba!!! Could you do the Tzadi letter. Not sure if i spelled that correct! But the word, need, in Hebrew is hard to get off the tongue!

[@jonathanbrett-warren2031]

I can hear you talking but I can't take my eyes off you! 😍

[@louisecordier9428]

😂

[@deelovesjesus2911]

This was great! I really enjoy these videos..... they are very helpful. Todah! :) with my best Israeli accent!

[@calbacoller897]

Helpful? yes Valuable? Yes Easy to follow? yes

[@katherineeggen3492]

Would appreciate this better without background music! The music is really distracting and ironically makes it harder to hear the sounds you're saying.

[@Linguistix]

+Katherine Eggen Thanks for the feedback - I'll be sure to keep this in mind for the future. You will notice that the music cuts out any time the Hebrew pronunciations are explained

[@lisakaylenedongell6836]

Your videos are the most helpful for me Todah!

[@evergreenerin]

Thanks so much for this series! You rock dude!

[@jimmetcalf6408]

Thanks - very helpful, also for learning vocabulary. I’m glad you’ve made these videos.

[@donolsen7634]

Reuben fantastic stuff. I speak several languages. But I must say you really are helping me with my Hebrew accent. Infact I thought I'd never get the resh sound , but thanks to your video I can now come really close. Making the het sound and slipping a trilled'r' in there really does it . As long as you dont over do it you'll get Israeli Resh as opposed to French R

[@Linguistix]

I'm really glad these techniques are clicking for you, Don! I'd love to hear which languages you're studying. If any other questions come up regarding pronunciation, let me know. I'd love to add some more videos to this playlist!

[@tomercohen2387]

Wowowo!! This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thank you so much, please make more videos :) expecially tips for Resh!

[@deborahhock4903]

Thank you Very well done!

[@iraratnaike5493]

Thank you. Looking forward to improving my pronunciation by following your videos.

[@kholoudfayed5733]

thank you so much!!

[@sanjayakumara6584]

Thanks a lot

[@kimmeyers6551]

Thank you so much! This is so helpful! Mor told me about them and I am really learning a lot! Toda!

[@Linguistix]

בכיף! I'm so happy these tips are helping!! Mor is a wonderful human being 🤗

[@samueldeoliveira261]

I like how you chose words that are familiar to English speakers so we could compare... ‏כל הכבוד

[@jadeashlee9664]

אני אוהבת את הסרטונים שלך ☺️ טוב מאוד

[@Linguistix]

תודה רבה!

[@dreamworm8]

While my native Russian worked against me when I've learned English, it actually helps me while leaning Hebrew. It's just so easy to see the differense between т and ть

[@falloutman565]

It’s great hearing the Hebrew pronunciation. In English Ch can be a K sound or a chubby sound and we don’t speak in the back of our throats. It’s helpful to hear it

[@EthanWZinho]

That was a terrific explination-I had the doubt about this. It would be hugely helpful if you also did resh (ר)

[@janismoller1752]

Great

[@donolsen7634]

Thanks for Responding Reuben. My very first Language was Modern Greek which I learned simultaneously with English. I still am very proud of my total lack of an American accent. Now with the Hebrew it's so hard to even come close. I also speak and teach Spanish and Italian. Plus some Russian and Yiddish from my Mom. In shul very highly accented , very American Hebrew has always seemed to fly just fine . So few of us American Jews can ever pass as an Israeli, unlike you !😃

[@Linguistix]

Yeah it's tough to sound native in them all! But כל הכבוד! You've got quite a few under your belt, no doubt you can perceive these slight differences in speech to get closer. I'd love to hear how you progress!

[@donolsen7634]

@@Linguistix Again Thanks Reuben . I will keep you posted😀❤

[@donolsen7634]

But the subtleties in pronunciation are what is so great about your videos chaver. I honestly haven't had anyone break it down like you do. Please keep making videos on your channel. Don

[@CarlosRuiz-tj1dn]

?משלומך My name is Carlos, from Costa Rica. I am taking lessons to learn hebrew and there is something about the pronunciation that is causing me some frustration. My teachers say that the letter ה should never be pronounced. That it is absolutely silent. However, I do hear an "h" sound in many many words pronounced even by them and by other native speakers of the language. I am aware that normally it is mute at the end of the words, such as in רוצה. I also have read in some books that even though many Israelys don't pronounce it, we should pronounce it as the English "h". There is another letter that is causing me confusion: Ayin. My teachers say at one moment that it is silent, same as ה and א. In fact, they say that Alef, Hei and Ayin are the three silent letters of hebrew. I have a little knowledge of arabic and because of that, I relate the sound of Alef to the arabic Hamza (I can really notice that in words such as תראו) and the sound of Ayin to the sound of the arabic Ayin, but maybe less enfatic. So, I kindly request your help to understand what is the right pronunciation for these three letters. !תודה

[@Linguistix]

+Carlos Ruiz This is a great question; I'm really glad you asked! In short, I pronounce all three exactly the same. I also teach that ה is silent and Ayin = Alef, even though there may be controversy with that logic. I'll tell you why: The idea, in my opinion, is to sound as natural and native-like as possible. Even though there *is* sometimes a slight H sound with ה (though never at the end of a word), it's inconsistent and a lot less audible than the English H (or Spanish J/G). That said, over pronouncing certain sounds can be distracting and make you stand out... in the bad way. If I were in charge, there would be a complete reformation of how Hebrew is transliterated into English, and H would not be included to represent ה, כ או ח. My advice, keep it simple. Keep 'em silent. Move on to the more fun stuff! בהצלחה אחי!

[@schellstarr]

TODAH LOVE IT How to say pazaz ve nashab

[@WombRootOfferings]

This is very helpful to me. A friend recommended these videos, and I am so glad she did. I am currently in Ulpan Alef and we are learning all sorts of verbs. They all sound the same to me though. I've found that remembering the infinitive is the hardest part, although I can associate them when I am conjugating. It also affects how I say it. Any suggestions?

[@Linguistix]

Hey Rachelle! I have a really practical approach to learning verbs based on spelling and pronunciation patterns. I'd be happy to share it with you! Please get in touch [e-mail] or set up a quick meeting www.meetme.so/meetwithruben

[@WombRootOfferings]

Linguistix Thank you! i will be in touch.

[@cmaneko]

Do r please !

[@chaiyahc]

Maybe you've already added it, but I haven't seen it. But if not, could you make a video with blends not found in English like the "sd". "ps" sounds and also the short "g" with a "sewa" as in the for plural big "g'dolim?" Todah

[@Linguistix]

That's a great idea! I'd be happy to put something helpful together!

[@Robwolf28]

This is very helpful, do you know why they end words ending in tav as th sound? I see they spell words in English that are Hebrew that end with tav but using a th, see גת Gath. Then I see those who know Hebrew transliterate it Gat only with a t and no th. How does Tav sound at the end of a word or near the end?

[@Linguistix]

I may be wrong, but I can only imagine they do this because of the slight aspiration we pronounce at the end of the word. Gat + slight, scoff-like puff of air, as opposed to how we 'mute' or 'stop' the T in words like get (down), sit, at (night). If only I could leave audio KZbin comments! We see this aspiration represented by an H in proper names like Phuket, Thailand (actually two in one there!)

[@OrlyYahalom]

As a Hebrew speaker, I'm not sure what you mean, because גת is an archaic word which is not used in Modern Hebrew. Tav always sounds the same as far as I'm aware of. I can only think of English versions of Biblical words which use th for tav, like Bethlehem for בית לחם, but I don't know if this is what you mean.

[@cattubuttas4749]

Hallo, I am watching your video and here I also have a comment; you are showing the correct "T" sounds pronunciation difference between English and Hebrew but you did not tell if the two (ת/ט) "T" sounds still are (or were) prononced differently in Hebrew as they actually did. The correct pronunciation of both "ת/ט" is like the corresponding Arabic sounds, one is exactly the way you pronunced it the ohter is like the Arabic enfatic T "ט".

[@Turnip3]

Great video! So do you put the blade of your tongue PAST your teeth (like sticking through them) or behind your teeth? I find that to not aspirate I'm putting my tongue past my teeth to get that sound but don't know if that's right.

[@Linguistix]

The blade of your tongue should make contact behind your top teeth, the exact location isn't important. As long as you can press against your teeth, you can mute any extra breath and keep the sound flat and less percussive. Should look and feel like a TH with a little more pressure.

[@Turnip3]

@@Linguistix the top of the tongue or the underside of the tongue should be against the top teeth?

[@Linguistix]

@@Turnip3 top of the tongue - if you use the underside, you'll likely come closer to a retroflex, Indian type of T sound

[@Turnip3]

@@Linguistix Thank you. I also noticed that when the "T" is at the end of a word it gets aspirated, but what if it's int the middle? is it more like the T in Tel Aviv or more like the final T sound?

[@Linguistix]

@@Turnip3 Great question! Think of the pronunciation based on syllables not on full words. So the pronunciation of ת/ט "in the middle" of a word will depend on where it falls in the syllable. These will be pronounced like initial unaspirated Ts: אותו, נותן, אתה, איתי and these will form a consonant cluster and you'll likely hear the T sound a bit more: אתמול, נתמקד, לתלות, נתב"ג

[@louisecordier9428]

it sounds like the 'th' sound. Is that correct?

[@Thpt-n2t]

Do you have a video on how to pronounce tzadik in Hebrew?

[@Linguistix]

Not yet, but it's definitely on the list! I didn't realize it was such a tricky sound since we have it in English (TS). Are there any particular words you struggle with?

[@Thpt-n2t]

@@Linguistix I can't think of any other specific sounds I struggle with, but the צ sound has popped up a few times when conversing with native speakers on Hellotalk and I've been told I need to work on it. :) תודה

[@matthewrabinovich]

Please answer my question whenever you can, since the T is pronounced with the tip of your tongue closer to the back of your teeth, are the letters נ ד also pronounced in the same place?

[@Linguistix]

Great question! ד will do the same thing as ת+ט, but with voice. נ stays the same as in English.

[@matthewrabinovich]

Linguistix Pronunciation Thank you so much! Your lessons are super helpful and really help me out. You deserve more subscribers on here 😆😆 (I asked the question because I speak Russian natively and knew something was wrong when I used my English consonant sounds with my Hebrew words haha)

[@orhoushmand85]

In my opinion the problem in the pronunciation of ת and ט in Hebrew is not about pronouncing them as aspirated T (al lot of Hebrew speakers may do it too, but it doesn't have any rule), the real problem is about pronouncing them as flap T, Hebrew speakers never flap their T sound, and if we put a flap T in any word in Hebrew it can lead to misunderstanding, while if we put an aspirated T in Hebrew (as long as it doesn't sound like there is an S sound after the T sound) that's okey.

[@beatnick92]

Thank you for this! I never realized or thought about this difference before! To be fair when you changed the way you pronounced a Tav ( ת) you also changed the vowel following it, and sometimes the pronunciation of even the second syllable of the word. If you had restricted your demo to only the Tav, then I wouldn't have felt this way. You changed other things in the word, for instance, "Too-day" versus "Ta-day". In other words besides that one you also changed many other sounds within the word. This doesn't mean I'm not going to watch all your other videos though, since I think you have hit on something very important and I want to learn more ☺

[@avaarchie7097]

LOVE the videos on pronunciation! Thank you! #Subscribing -Suggested Word: “Tefilot" = Prayers

[@guyvaknin16]

מה השם של המנגינה? what is the song's name? please!!!

[@Linguistix]

Hey! You can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYGbia1tZqd_m9U

[@Ox1326]

English T vs Spanish T

[@guitargurrrl722]

Do you have a video on the Hebrew ר?

[@alcy0ne1]

What is the “blade” of your tongue?

[@Linguistix]

It's the wider part just behind the tip

[@alcy0ne1]

Linguistix Pronunciation Great. Thanks!

[@Bozothcow]

It seems the "e" gets raised before a Resh, is that correct?

[@Linguistix]

I think it's safe to raise the "e" before *every* consonant, if you're comparing it to the open EH (Fred said yes) sound we use in English. But you're absolutely right! I even do this weird one-sided lip curl thing when I say ערב or באר שבע

[@Bozothcow]

What I meant by raised is moving from a sound like the e in bed or red, to the vowell in egg or raid.

[@Linguistix]

@@Bozothcow That's what I understood. In my observation, all the "e" sounds are the same. Closer to raid (but without the closure to the "i" sound). Btw, for my American English accent 'egg' has the same vowel as 'bed' and 'red'

[@Bozothcow]

Haha, that's the problem with trying to convey a vowel sound through examples, eh?

[@Linguistix]

@@Bozothcow Definitely tough to do in writing! If you have a look at the 'check ya vowels' video I talk a little more about that "e" sound. Otherwise I'm happy to meet and tell you in real time! www.meetme.so/meetwithruben

[@nameaboveallnames1267]

How do you pronounce Aleph Taw In ancient hebrew?

[@Linguistix]

That spelling coincidentally is a homograph, which means the same spelling can be pronounced in two ways, depending on meaning (like bow 🏹 and bow 🙇🏻‍♂️) if it means you f. it's pronounced "Aht" with the final T released or something like Hot minus the H if you're American. And the alternative is "Et" like in Bet or Set (also with the final T released) though the E vowel may be closer to "Ate" in modern Israeli pronunciation

[@nameaboveallnames1267]

Thank you so much I noticed that in Genesis 1:1 it is pronounced et and wa et with the vav or waw leading and in exodus 4:8 pronounced ha ot with the hey leading and again in exodus 12:13 la ot with Lamed leading.I am from the US but I am trying to learn Hebrew to be able to read Yahs word,because it is so extraordinary how each letter has a meaning,words inside of words and the Gematria meaning! I wish you many blessings. Shalom

[@withreed7224]

So..... tet amd tav have same sounds?

[@Linguistix]

That's right! Though there are some variations depending on religious background, most Israelis today will not distinguish Tav from Tet (or Chaf from Chet, or Samech from Sin, etc)

[@fatimahammouda3242]

The music in the background is noisy

[@benavraham4397]

Israeli Tav and Dalet are difficult for my ears to distinguish.

[@kaligraastana9126]

I like american accent when they're speaking hebrew...unless they pronounce chet like ch in cheese..Towdah rwaba,shalowm aleykeym.

[@mr.shahriar]

Ŧ

[@kjnmbjbmm1975]

It sounds as the "T" in Spanish

[@Linguistix]

Totally the same T! Sounds like* the Spanish T to me too

[@brenosantana1458]

.

[@dsp6373]

To be fair, the most obvious difference in your pronouncing of Hebrew words in an Israeli accent verses an American accent isn’t the consonant your making an example of, it’s e accompanying vowel. The English vowels are what gives the Hebrew words a less Israeli sound no matter how you pronounce the consonant as an aspirated T or a non-aspirated Hebrew ת. By the way, the ט technically shouldn’t even be a T sounds, it’s an emphatic T, which still exists in other Semitic languages but has been lost in modern Hebrew because most Jews who returned from the diaspora couldn’t pronounce it anymore. Only the Mizrahi and Teimani could, but their version of Hebrew didn’t prevail. But that’s for another day.

[@jesusnavin5017]

ну короче русская т

[@stewartschwartz4282]

He's confusing the actual sound of the /t/ with the sounds it's connected to. The /t/ he says is "American" sounds like a speech defect. A speech pathologist.

[@Linguistix]

Stewart, your comment is extremely ambiguous. I'm not sure what it aims to address. Which language does "the actual sound of the /t/" refer to? Also, is the last sentence a clarification in what it sounds like or were you signing off by including your profession? In English we have different pronunciations of /t/ depending on the sounds surrounding it, yes. The point of the video was to share how Modern spoken Hebrew does not. They have a softer, unaspirated /t/ similar to the one in the word sTop or sofTer. Do you have an opinion on Hebrew pronunciation or is it just a critique on my native English pronunciation of an initial, aspirated /t/? Are you a Hebrew student? Teacher? I have so many questions!

[@AJ-vc4se]

the two letters are not pronounced the same. When Hebrew was revived the white Jews excluded the Semitic Jews who could pronounce the difference. #facts