As is the norm for linguistic rules, the rules for spelling without niqqud are not entirely static. Changes occur from time to time, based on amassed experience. For example, originally the rules for spelling without niqqud dictated that
isha ("woman") should be written without a yod (to distinguish it from
ishah – "her husband"), but currently the exception has been removed, and now, the Academy prefers . The last substantial change to the rules for spelling without niqqud was made in 1993 updated in 1996. The following is the summary of the current rules: • Every letter that appears in vowelled text also appears in unvowelled text. • After a letter vowelled with a
kubuts (the vowel /u/), the letter waw appears: , , (
kufsa,
hupal,
kulam). • After a letter vowelled with a
holam haser (the vowel /o/) the letter waw appears: , (
boker,
yishmor). • After a letter vowelled with a
hirik haser (the vowel /i/) the letter yod appears: , , (
dibur,
yishuv, ''ta'as
iya''). The letter yod does not appear in the following situations: • Before a
shva nah, for example: , , (
hirgish,
minhag,
dimyon); • Words whose base forms do not contain the vowel /i/: , , (
livi,
itkha/itakh,
itim), which are inflected forms of , , ; (
lev,
et,
et), respectively • After
affix letters, like in , (
mi-beto,
mi-yad), and also in the words:
im,
hine • Before (/ju/ or /jo/): , , , (
diyun,
kiyum,
briyot,
netiyot). • After a letter vowelled with a
tsere (the vowel /e/) the letter yod generally does
not appear: (=), (=) (
memad,
ezor), but there are situations when yod does appear: , (
teva,
heseg) and in words in which
tsere replaces
hirik because of the presence of a
guttural letter (): , (''te'avon
, teaved''). • Consonantal vav (the consonant /v/) is doubled in the middle of a word: , (
tikva,
zavit). The letter is not doubled at the beginning or the end of a word: , , (
varod,
vatik,
tzav). Initial vav is doubled when an affix letter is added except for the affix (meaning "and-"). Thus from the word
varod one has
ha-varod but
u-varod. • Consonantal yod (the consonant /j/) is doubled in the middle of a word, for example: , (
binyan,
hayta). The letter is not doubled at the beginning of a word or after affix letters: , , (
yeled,
yatza,
ha-yeled). Still, consonantal yod is not doubled in the middle of a word where it appears before or after a
mater lectionis: , , , , (
proyekt,
mesuyam, ''re'aya
, hafnaya/hapniya
, be'aya''). These are the most basic rules. Each one has exceptions which are described in the handbook "" (spelling rules without niqqud) that the Academy publishes in Hebrew.
Notes • When a reader is likely to err in the reading of a word, the use of partial vowelling is recommended:
minhal (to distinguish it from
menahel). • While the rules above apply to the writing of native Hebrew words, they are not used for spelling
given names, which are frequently written in
ktiv haser rather than
ktiv male: , , (
Shlomo, ''Ya'akov
, Kohen''). ==See also==