Hebrew Braille

Hebrew Braille in many ways is similar to the standard braille system used with the Latin alphabet . For instance, the Hebrew letter "gimmel" and the letter "G" in English share the same braille code. When the letter is not generally represented in English, such as the letter "chet", with a "ch" sound, it is represented by its International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol, x, so the x used in English is used. This makes it easy for bilingual speakers to use because the two systems are related based on shared consonants and vowels.

Diagram showing braille cell notations for Hebrew language

Differences between Hebrew Braille and Hebrew print include the fact that Hebrew Braille is read from left to right, whereas written Hebrew is read right to left. Unlike in standard written Hebrew, in Hebrew braille, consonants "vet" and "bet", "kaf" and "chaf", "fei" and "pei", "shin" and "sin" are differentiated. Also unlike in standard written Hebrew, consonant "vav", and the vowels shuruk and cholam that are marked with a "vav" are differentiated. Similarly, consonant "Yud" and vowel hiriq marked with a "Yud", normally written without accents, are differentiated with separate braille characters.

Acknowledgements

Wikipedia (2008) Hebrew Braille. [accessed 19/09/08].
Winter, D. (n.d.) Scripts for the blind. [accessed 18/09/08].