Hebrew keyboard with niqqud

The niqqud signs available

The panel holds fourteen signs. To keep them readable, the table shows each one on a letter; the pronunciation given is a simplified version of modern Israeli Hebrew.

How niqqud attaches to letters

Each sign hooks onto the letter typed just before it; it does not take up a separate slot in the word. Take שָׁלוֹם (“shalom”): type ש, add the shin dot and qamats, then type ל and ו, add holam, and finish with ם. The letter ו actually plays two roles: with holam (וֹ) it reads “o”, and with a dagesh (וּ) it reads “u”.

One letter can carry two signs, such as a dagesh and a vowel. Simply add them in a row: in most fonts the order makes no visible difference. Since the dots are small, it is worth enlarging the text before copying, so that a patah is not mistaken for a qamats or a segol for a tsere.

Who it is for

Niqqud mainly helps pupils learning to read, teachers preparing worksheets, prayer texts and children’s books. With the “PNG image” button, you can also save a vocalized word as a picture to drop into a lesson handout. Niqqud is not limited to religious texts either: easy-Hebrew newspapers and dictionaries also use it to remove any doubt about how a word is read.

To write without vowels, go back to the standard Hebrew keyboard. Arabic is vocalized on the same principle with its harakat: compare both on the keyboards with vowels page or open the Arabic keyboard with vowels directly.