| Yiddish Letter |
Sound Equivalent |
Numbers |
Romanization |
| shtumer alef |
א |
(silent) |
1 |
|
| pasekh alef |
אַ |
a as in father |
|
a in gas 'street' |
| komets alef |
אָ |
o as in sort |
|
o in yorn 'years' |
| |
|
u as in hut |
|
o in hot 'has' |
| beys or beyz |
ב |
b as in ball |
2 |
b in brem 'eyebrow' |
| [veys or veyz] |
בֿ |
v as in heavy |
|
v in mazl-tov 'congratulations' |
| giml |
ג |
g as in give |
3 |
g in gornisht 'nothing' |
| daled |
ד |
d as in done |
4 |
d in dorf 'village' |
| daled zayen shin |
דזש |
j as in jump |
|
dzh in dzhez 'jazz' |
| hey |
ה |
h as in hot |
5 |
h in hungerik 'hungry' |
| vov |
ו |
u as in put |
6 |
u in un 'and' |
| |
|
oo as in goo (syllable-final) |
|
u in du 'you' |
| tsvey vovn (2 vovs) |
װ |
" |
|
v in vursht 'salami' |
| vov yud |
ױ |
oy as in boy |
|
oy in moyl 'mouth' |
| zayen |
ז |
z as in zebra |
7 |
z in zumer 'summer' |
| zayen shin |
זש |
s as in measure |
|
zh in zhuk 'beetle' |
| [khes] |
ח |
ch as in German "achtung" |
8 |
kh in bokher 'young man' |
| tes |
ט |
t as in time |
9 |
t in tuml 'noise' |
| tes shin |
טש |
ch as in chair |
|
tsh in kvetshn 'to squeeze' |
| yud |
י |
i as in fit, or |
10 |
i in tish 'table' |
| |
|
ee as in feet |
|
i in zi 'she' |
| yud (before a vowel) |
י |
y as in yet |
|
y in yagdes 'berries' |
| tsvey yudn (2 yuds) |
ײ |
ey as in grey |
|
ey in eynikl 'grandchild' |
| pasekh tsvey yudn |
ײַ |
y as in sky |
|
ay in fayer 'fire' |
| [kof] |
כּ |
k as in kill |
20 |
k in kosher 'kosher' |
| khof |
כ ך |
ch as in German "achtung" |
|
kh in khapn 'to catch' |
| lamed |
ל |
l as in lake |
30 |
l in luft 'air' |
| mem |
מ ם |
m as in mark |
40 |
m in mentsh 'person' |
| nun |
נ ן |
n as in neck |
50 |
n in nudnik 'bore' |
| samekh |
ס |
s as in self |
60 |
s in samet 'velvet' |
| ayen |
ע |
e as in end |
70 |
e in entfer 'answer' |
| pey |
פּ |
p as in pack |
80 |
p in ponim 'face' |
| fey |
פ ף |
f as in fence |
|
f in frish 'fresh' |
| tsadik |
צ ץ |
ts as in fruits |
90 |
ts in nayntsik 'ninety' |
| kuf |
ק |
" |
100 |
k in kamf 'struggle' |
| reysh |
ר |
r as in French rue |
200 |
r in royt 'red' |
| shin |
ש |
sh as in show |
300 |
sh in shande 'shame' |
| [sin] |
שׂ |
" |
|
s in soyne 'enemy' |
| [tof] |
תּ |
" |
400 |
t in toyre 'Torah' |
| [sof] |
ת |
" |
|
s in toes 'error' |