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(also spelled '''Heth''', '''Het''', '''Chet''', '''Khet''', '''Kheth''', or '''Cheth''') is the reconstructed name of the eighth letter of the Proto-Canaanite Alphabet , continued in descended Semitic Alphabets as Phoenician , Syriac , Hebrew (also , heth) , and Arabic (in Abjadi Order ). Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either represents . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Eta (Η), Etruscan , Latin H and Cyrillic И . While H is still a consonant in the Latin alphabet, the Greek and Cyrillic equivalents have come to represent Vowel sounds. ORIGINS The letter shape ultimately goes back to a Hieroglyph for "courtyard", (possibly named in the Middle Bronze Age Alphabets , while the name goes rather back to , the name reconstructed for a letter derived from a hieroglyph for "thread", The corresponding South Arabian letters are ḥ and ḫ, corresponding to Ge'ez ሐ and ኀ. HEBREW HETH Pronunciation In official Modern Israeli Hebrew , the letter Heth is usually pronounced as a Voiceless Pharyngeal Fricative ( IPA /ħ/) in accordance with Oriental Jewish traditions, although it is commonly a Voiceless Velar Fricative ( IPA /x/) due to European influence. Variations Heth, along with Aleph , Ayin , Resh , and He , cannot receive a dagesh. As the voiceless fricative is difficult for most English speakers to pronounce, it is usually Anglizised to /h/. Thus ''challah'' (חלה), pronounced as '' X A L A '' or '' ħ A L A '' by Hebrew speakers is prounced '' H A L A '' by most English speakers. It is often possible to tell a person's place of origin by their pronunciation, especially of Heth. If it is pronounced softly, like a Voiceless Pharyngeal Fricative , then the person is probably of Eastern origin. If it is pronounced like an English H, then the person is probably a native English speaker. Significance In Gematria , Heth represents the number eight, and when used at the beginning of Hebrew Years , it means 8000 (i.e. חתשנד in Numbers would be the Date 8754). In Chat Rooms and Online Forums , the letter Heth repeated denotes laughter, similar to the English '' Lol ''. |