Freenikud mark
Kamatz בָ
"a" as in father. Ashkenazi and Yemenite readers say "o". Written below the letter.
בָshown on bet (ב)
Sound
a
"a" as in father. Ashkenazi and Yemenite readers say "o".
Position
below the letter
The same mark reads "o" in a closed, unstressed syllable (kamatz katan): כָּל is "kol".
Examples
| English | Hebrew | Transliteration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| hello | שָׁלוֹם | shalom | |
| thing | דָּבָר | davar |
Sounds the same as
Kamatz and Patach are both read “a” in Israeli Hebrew. They are written differently because they come from different historical vowel lengths, a distinction some communities (Yemenite, older Ashkenazi pronunciation) still keep in speech.