History
Throughout history, there have been two main systems of Hebrew spelling. One being vocalized spelling, also called 'defective' spelling, and the other being unvocalized spelling, also called 'plene' spelling.
In vocalized spelling (ktiv menukad), all of the vowels are indicated by vowel points (called niqqud). In unvocalized spelling (ktiv male), the vowel points are omitted, but some of them are substituted by additional vowel letters (Vav and Yud). This system is the spelling system commonly used in Israel today.
Vowel points are always optional in Hebrew. They can be used fully, partially or not used at all. The recommended approach endorsed today by the Hebrew Language Academy and other Israeli educational institutions is to use the 'plene' spelling when not adding vowel dots (which is the usual case), and place a vocalization sign on a letter only when ambiguity cannot be resolved otherwise. The 'defective' spelling is recommended for fully vocalized text, hence its use is becoming rare. Texts older than 50–60 years may be written in an unvocalized 'defective' spelling (for example, the word ħamiším "fifty", was written חמשים on banknotes issued by the British Mandate for Palestine or the Bank of Israel in its early days. Today, the common spelling is חמישים). A vocalized 'plene' spelling system is common in children books, when it is better to accustom the children to the more popular 'plene' spelling, while still letting them benefit from the vowel dots as a reading aid in early learning stages.
A third system that was endorsed in the past by the Hebrew Language Academy as an optimal system, but abandoned due to low popularity, calls for the use of ħolám (וֹ), šurúq (וּ), dagéš in Bet, Kaf and Pe (בּ, כּ, פּ vs. ב, כ, פ), Šin Smalít (שׂ) and mappíq (הּ), while abandoning all other vowel dots (in everyday writing). According to this system, matres lectionis are still introduced to mark vowels, but the letter Vav is used only as a consonant, while its variants ħolám and šurúq serve as vowel letters. This system also makes clear distinction between final He used as a vowel marker (e.g. ילדה /jalˈda/ "a girl" ) and as a consonant (e.g. ילדהּ /jalˈdah/ "her child"). This system was never extensively used, and the Hebrew Academy Language finally abandoned it in 1992, when new rules were published not assuming any use of vowel dots.
Rules for unvocalized spelling were first issued by the Hebrew Language Committee in 1890 (which became the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 1953) and formally standardised in 1996. Even though the rules are established, some of the rules and specific spellings are disputed by writers and publishers, who often create their own in-house spelling system. Also, because having two spelling systems within the same language is confusing, some would like to reform it. In 2004, Mordechai Mishor, one of the academy's linguists, proposed in a session of the Academy of the Hebrew Language a modest reform.
Read more about this topic: Hebrew Spelling
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