About This Keyboard
Hebrew (עברית, Ivrit) is a Northwest Semitic language in the Afro-Asiatic family, with approximately 9 million native speakers, primarily in Israel. It is one of the world's most remarkable linguistic stories: after being used mainly as a liturgical and scholarly language for nearly two millennia, Hebrew was revived as a spoken vernacular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming the primary language of the modern State of Israel. This revival, led largely by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, is the only successful case of a dead language being resurrected as a native tongue in modern history.
Hebrew uses its own 22-letter alphabet (alef-bet), writing from right to left. All 22 letters are consonants; vowels are typically represented by optional diacritical marks called nikud (niqqot), though modern Hebrew writing usually omits them, relying on context for vowel interpretation. Five Hebrew letters have different forms when they appear at the end of a word (final forms: ך ם ן ף ץ). Hebrew script is also the basis for Yiddish and Ladino writing.
The Hebrew phonetic keyboard maps Latin keys to Hebrew letters based on sound similarity, making it far more accessible than the standard Israeli keyboard layout for those unfamiliar with it. It is widely used by members of the Jewish diaspora, Hebrew learners, and anyone who needs to produce Hebrew text without having installed a Hebrew keyboard on their device.
How to use this keyboard — 5 tips:
1. Phonetic mapping: Basic letters map phonetically — 'a' for alef (א), 'b' for bet (ב), 'g' for gimel (ג), 'd' for dalet (ד), 'h' for he (ה), 'v' for vav (ו), 'z' for zayin (ז), 'k' for kaf (כ/ך), 'l' for lamed (ל), 'm' for mem (מ/ם).
2. Final letter forms: When a letter with a final form appears at the end of a word, the keyboard automatically switches to the final form (ך, ם, ן, ף, ץ). You don't need to manage this manually.
3. Special sounds: Guttural sounds like chet (ח) and khet are mapped to 'kh' or 'ch'. Ayin (ע) and alef (א) can both start words with vowel sounds — the keyboard provides separate mappings for each.
4. Dagesh: The dagesh (dot inside a letter, indicating a harder consonant sound) can be added using specific key combinations where needed.
5. RTL text: Hebrew types right-to-left automatically. The editor handles directionality — your text will appear and flow correctly from right to left.
Common Hebrew phrases:
• שלום (Shalom) — Hello / Peace / Goodbye
• תודה (Toda) — Thank you
• בבקשה (Bevakasha) — Please / You're welcome
• מה שלומך? (Ma shlomkha?) — How are you? (to a man)
• בוקר טוב (Boker tov) — Good morning
• לילה טוב (Layla tov) — Good night
• אני לא מבין (Ani lo mevin) — I don't understand (male speaker)
• כמה זה עולה? (Kama ze ole?) — How much does it cost?
• איפה...? (Eifo...?) — Where is...?
• כן / לא (Ken / Lo) — Yes / No