| Yiddish
Letter |
Sound
Equivalent |
* |
Romanization |
| shtumer alef |
 |
(silent) |
|
|
| pasekh alef |
 |
a as in father |
|
a in gas 'street' |
| komets alef |
 |
o as in sort |
|
o in yorn 'years' |
| |
|
u as in hut |
|
o in hot 'has' |
| vov |
 |
u as in put |
|
u in un 'and' |
| |
|
oo as in goo (syllable-final) |
|
u in du 'you' |
| yud |
 |
i as in fit, or |
|
i in tish 'table' |
| |
|
ee as in feet |
|
i in zi 'she' |
| tsvey yudn (2 yuds) |
 |
ey as in grey |
|
ey in eynikl 'grandchild' |
| pasekh tsvey yudn |
 |
y as in sky |
|
ay in fayer 'fire' |
| vov yud |
 |
oy as in boy |
|
oy in moyl 'mouth' |
| ayen |
 |
e as in end |
|
e in entfer 'answer' |
| beys or beyz |
 |
b as in ball |
|
b in brem 'eyebrow' |
| [veys or veyz] |
 |
v as in heavy |
[H] |
v in mazl-tov 'congratulations' |
| tsvey vovn (2 vovs) |
 |
" |
|
v in vursht 'salami' |
| giml |
 |
g as in give |
|
g in gornisht 'nothing' |
| daled |
 |
d as in done |
|
d in dorf 'village' |
| hey |
 |
h as in hot |
|
h in hungerik 'hungry' |
| zayen |
 |
z as in zebra |
|
z in zumer 'summer' |
| [khes] |
 |
ch as in German "achtung" |
[H] |
kh in bokher 'young man' |
| khof |
 |
" |
|
kh in khapn 'to catch' |
| tes |
 |
t as in time |
|
t in tuml 'noise' |
| [tof] |
 |
" |
[H] |
t in toyre 'Torah' |
| yud (before a vowel) |
|
y as in yet |
|
y in yagdes 'berries' |
| [kof] |
 |
k as in kill |
[H] |
k in kosher 'kosher' |
| kuf |
 |
" |
|
k in kamf 'struggle' |
| lamed |
 |
l as in lake |
|
l in luft 'air' |
| mem |
 |
m as in mark |
|
m in mentsh 'person' |
| nun |
 |
n as in neck |
|
n in nudnik 'bore' |
| samekh |
 |
s as in self |
|
s in samet 'velvet' |
| [sin] |
 |
" |
[H] |
s in soyne 'enemy' |
| [sof] |
 |
" |
[H] |
s in toes 'error' |
| pey |
 |
p as in pack |
|
p in ponim 'face' |
| fey |
 |
f as in fence |
|
f in frish 'fresh' |
| tsadik |
 |
ts as in fruits |
|
ts in nayntsik 'ninety' |
| reysh |
 |
r as in French rue |
|
r in royt 'red' |
| shin |
 |
sh as in show |
|
sh in shande 'shame' |
| zayen shin |
|
s as in measure |
|
zh in zhuk 'beetle' |
| daled zayen shin |
|
j as in jump |
|
dzh in dzhez 'jazz' |
| tes shin |
|
ch as in chair |
|
tsh in kvetshn 'to squeeze' |