Hiriq (Hebrew: חִירִיק ḥiriq [χiˈʁik]) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by a dot ⟨ ִ ⟩ underneath the letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates the phoneme /i/ which is the same as the "ee" sound in the English word deep and is transliterated with "i". In Yiddish, it indicates the phoneme /ɪ/ which is the same as the "i" sound in the English word skip and is transliterated with "i".
Contents
In Israeli writing a ḥiriq is often promoted to ḥiriq male (Hebrew: חִירִיק מָלֵא IPA: [χiˈʁik maˈle]) for the sake of disambiguation (see ktiv male). A ḥiriq male in Hebrew spelling is a ḥiriq under the preceding yud ⟨ִי⟩, while in Yiddish orthography the ḥiriq is placed under the yud ⟨יִ⟩. In writing without niqqud, the ḥiriq is omitted leaving only the yud ⟨י⟩. The usage of a consonant (in this case yud) to indicate a vowel comes from mater lectionis.
Pronunciation
The following table contains the pronunciation and transliteration of the different Hiriqs in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The pronunciation in IPA is above and the transliteration is below.
The letter Bet (ב) used in this table is only for demonstration. Any letter can be used.
Vowel length comparison
These vowels lengths are not manifested in Modern Hebrew. In addition, the short i is usually promoted to a long i in Israeli writing for the sake of disambiguation.
Note: In Yiddish orthography only, the glyph, yud-ḥiriq (יִ), pronounced /i/, can be optionally used, rather than typing yud then ḥiriq (יִ). In Hebrew spelling this would be pronounced /ji/. /i/ is written ḥiriq then yud (ִי).