Hebrew spelling Hebrew spelling Hebrew spelling ( , "Hebrew spelling") refers to the way words are spelled in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are primarily consonants. This is because the Hebrew script is an abjad, that is, its letters indicate consonants, not vowels or syllables. An early system to overcome this, still used today, is "matres lectionis", where four of these letters, alef, he, waw and yodh also serve as vowel letters. Later, a system of vowel points to indicate vowels (diacritics), called niqqud, was developed. Throughout history, there have been two main systems of
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet some Qumran documents, YHWH is written in Paleo-Hebrew while the rest of the text is in Aramaic square script. The vast majority of the Hasmonean coinage, as well as the coins of the First Jewish–Roman War and Bar Kokhba's revolt, bears Paleo-Hebrew legends. The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet fell completely out of use only after 135 CE. The paleo-Hebrew alphabet continued to be used by the Samaritans and is also known as the Samaritan alphabet. The Samaritans have continued to use the script for writing both Hebrew and Aramaic texts until the present day. A comparison of the earliest Samaritan inscriptions and