Sign in
targum

How targum reads Hebrew

Hebrew is easy to read once you know it, and hard for a machine that does not. These are the hard parts, each solved on a real text. Every example is targum's own output, copied from a reader.

Hebrew hides its vowels

Hebrew is printed without its vowels, and a learner reads by them. targum points every word of a text that came without them, and the reader can take the points off again.

חֶבְרַת סַמְסוֹנְג הִצִּיגָה שָׁעוֹן חָכָם חָדָשׁ, Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. הַשָּׁעוֹן עוֹבֵד בִּתְנָאִים קָשִׁים. בִּבְדִיקַת "גְּלוֹבְּס" הַסּוֹלְלָה מַחֲזִיקָה זְמַן רַב. הַחִיסָּרוֹן הַמֶּרְכָּזִי הוּא הַמְּחִיר הַגָּבוֹהַּ.

חברת סמסונג הציגה שעון חכם חדש, Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. השעון עובד בתנאים קשים. בבדיקת "גלובס" הסוללה מחזיקה זמן רב. החיסרון המרכזי הוא המחיר הגבוה.

Samsung has unveiled a new smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. The watch works in harsh conditions. In Globes' testing, the battery lasts a long time. The main drawback is the high price.

targum's weekly news

One spelling can be five words

Without vowels, ספר can be a book, a barber, a border, he counted or he told. Only the sentence says which. targum reads each word in its sentence and files it as the word it is there.

דִּיוּוּחַ

noun · report

שָׁבוּעַ שֶׁל דִּיוּוּחַ עַל אַזְהָרָה מִצְרִית לִפְנֵי 7 בְּאוֹקְטוֹבֶּר, הַצָּעָה אִירָאנִית עַל מֵצַר הוֹרְמוּז, עִסְקַת קַרְקַע בַּצָּפוֹן וְהֶפְסֵד שֶׁל אִינְטֶר מֵיָאמִי.

A week of reports on an Egyptian warning before October 7, an Iranian proposal on the Strait of Hormuz, a land deal in the north, and a loss for Inter Miami.

targum's weekly news

דִּיוֵּוחַ

verb, past · reported

הָעִיתּוֹן הָאָמֵרִיקָאִי ווֹל סְטְרִיט ג'וֹרְנֶל דִּיוֵּוחַ עַל שִׂיחַת טֵלֵפוֹן.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on a phone call.

targum's weekly news

יָרַד

verb, past · went down; descended

בַּבֹּוקֶר יָרַד גֶּשֶׁם בִּצְפוֹן הָאָרֶץ.

In the morning it rained in the north of the country.

targum's weekly news

יָֽרֶד

name · Yered

וַֽיְחִי מַֽהֲלַלְאֵל חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־יָֽרֶד׃

Mahalaleil lived sixty-five years and he had a son, Yered.

Genesis 5:15

Words wear their prefixes

And, the, in, to, from, that and as are single letters, written onto the front of the next word, often several at once. targum takes them off and files what is left under its dictionary form.

  • כְּשֶׁהַמַּכְשִׁיר כ asש thatה the מכשיר מכשיר device; instrument
  • וּבְמוֹסְדוֹתֶיהָ ו andב in מוסדותיה with an ending מוסד institution
  • מֵהַמַּפְגִּינִים מ fromה the מפגינים מפגין demonstrator; protester

targum's weekly news

Roots and patterns

Most Hebrew words grow from a root of three letters set into a pattern. targum names a verb's root and its pattern, and one word list runs from Genesis to this week's news.

ע־ל־ה

פָּעַל go up

וְאֵד יַֽעֲלֶה מִן־הָאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁקָה אֶֽת־כָּל־פְּנֵֽי־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

A mist rose up from the earth, and it watered the entire surface of the soil.

Genesis 2:6

מֵלָאגָה עָלְתָה הָעוֹנָה לַלִּיגָה הַבְּכִירָה וְקִיוְּותָה לְהַפְתִּיעַ בְּמַדְרִיד.

Malaga was promoted to the top division this season and hoped to spring a surprise in Madrid.

targum's weekly news

הִפְעִיל bring up, raise

וָאֵרֵד לְהַצִּילוֹ ׀ מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם וּֽלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ מִן־הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא …

I have descended to free them from the hand of Egypt, and to bring them up from that land …

Exodus 3:8

הִיא גַּם מַעֲלָה אֶת הָאִינְפְלַצְיָה.

It also raises inflation.

targum's weekly news

נִפְעַל be lifted

וּבְהֵעָלוֹת הֶֽעָנָן מֵעַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן יִסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכֹל מַסְעֵיהֶֽם׃

When the cloud rose up from over the mishkon, the B’nei Yisrael would set out in all their travels.

Exodus 40:36

Speech has no punctuation

A transcript of speech comes back as one run of words, with no full stop and no comma. targum gives it its sentences back without changing a word that was heard, and times every word to the recording, so the line you read is the line you hear.

As heard

אנחנו כמעט שם אבל יש עיכוב קטן הלקוח ביקש עוד שני שינויים בדף הבית אז לא נספיק עד יום ראשון אני חושב שנצטרך עוד שבוע

As read

אנחנו0:12.0כמעט0:12.5שם,0:13.0אבל0:14.2יש0:14.4עיכוב0:14.8קטן.0:15.3

We're almost there, but there's a small delay.

הלקוח0:16.7ביקש0:17.1עוד0:17.7שני0:18.0שינויים0:18.3בדף0:18.7הבית,0:19.1אז0:20.3לא0:20.4נספיק0:20.6עד0:21.0יום0:21.1ראשון.0:21.3

The client asked for two more changes to the homepage, so we won't make it by Sunday.

אני0:22.7חושב0:22.9שנצטרך0:23.3עוד0:24.1שבוע.0:24.5

I think we'll need another week.

A recorded team meeting

Any medium, the right reader

A text is read in the shape it came in. A reel stays upright with its words beside it, a post keeps its author at the top, and a chat stays a chat, each line under the name of whoever sent it.

A frame of the reel

אָז מְטַגְּנִים אֶת הַיְּרָקוֹת וְהַטּוֹפּוֹ לְפִי הַסֵּדֶר, וְכַמּוּבָן שֶׁאֶפְשָׁר לְהוֹסִיף גַּם פִּטְרִיּוֹת וּמָה שֶׁבָּא לָכֶם.

So we sauté the vegetables and tofu in order, and of course you can also add mushrooms and whatever else you like.

שִׂימוּ לֵב לְצוּרַת קִיפּוּל שֶׁאֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִבְרַח שׁוּם דָּבָר מֵהַצְּדָדִים, וְגַם אַל תַּגְזִימוּ עִם הַמִּילּוּי.

Pay attention to the fold shape I'm doing so nothing escapes from the sides, and don't overdo it with the filling either.

Vegan Friendly · On YouTube

  1. אבי · ועד הבית

    בוקר טוב לכולם, ביום שלישי מגיע טכנאי לתקן את המעלית. בין 8 ל-12 לא תהיה מעלית, תתכננו בהתאם.

    Good morning everyone, on Tuesday a technician is coming to fix the elevator. Between 8 and 12 there will be no elevator, plan accordingly.

  2. רינה קומה 3

    שוב?? תיקנו אותה לפני חודש

    Again?? They fixed it a month ago

  3. משה

    מישהו שוב חונה בחניה שלי. רכב לבן, מספר מסתיים ב-47. תזיזו בבקשה

    Someone is parked in my spot again. White car, plate ending in 47. Please move it

A building's group chat, read from a screenshot

Aramaic beside the Torah

Onkelos, the Aramaic translation read beside the Torah each week, is a language of its own, and targum keeps a word list of its own for it. A word of Onkelos is filed under its Aramaic headword, apart from the Hebrew it translates.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

בְּקַדְמִין בְּרָא יְיָ יָת שְׁמַיָּא וְיָת אַרְעָא

  • יְיָ the LORD [the divine name]
  • יָת [marks the direct object]
  • שְׁמַיָּא heaven; sky
  • וְיָת ו + ית [marks the direct object]
  • אַרְעָא land; earth; ground

Onkelos on Genesis 1:1, with the verse it translates

Credits

Vowel points by DICTA · CC BY 4.0

Dictionary forms by DICTA · CC BY 4.0

The Tanakh's words are tagged by Open Scriptures · CC BY 4.0

Genesis and Exodus in English from Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 · CC BY

The reel is by Vegan Friendly · CC BY 3.0

The work is on GitHub.