[hebr/he] Every letter can be a consonant but some can also be a vowel

[bdenckla]

[source] https://r12a.github.io/scripts/hebr/he

The page currently says:

Hebrew is an abjad. This means that in normal use the script represents only consonants.

I fear this could be misleading. Since some letters can represent either a consonant or a vowel, I think it would be better to say something like one of the following:

• [...] in normal use, no letter is used only as a vowel.
• [...] in normal use, no letter is dedicated exclusively to being a vowel.

[r12a]

Changed to

This means that in normal use the script represents consonants but not all vowels

Closing, but as for all issues you raised (i won't repeat this each time) feel free to reopen if you're not satisfied.

[bdenckla]

Come to think of it, I don't like the whole approach of describing Hebrew by defining an abjad. You are trying to describe Hebrew, specifically, but doing so through the (both vague and complicated) definition of an abjad is limiting. Hebrew has specific properties that are worth mentioning that may either not be required of an abjad or may make it an impure abjad. I don't think you want to get distracted, while presenting those properties of Hebrew, with holding them up against what an abjad is or isn't, or whether by "abjad" you mean to include impure abjads.

I would suggest just avoiding all these issues by saying that Hebrew is an abjad and then proceeding to describe Hebrew, without worrying about what properties of Hebrew do or don't make it an abjad, and without worrying about what you mean by "abjad" (e.g. pure or impure).

Hebrew is an abjad. In normal use, Hebrew represents all consonant sounds in a word but often leaves some vowel sounds implicit. All Hebrew letters can represent one or more consonant sounds; a few of them do "double duty," being able to represent one or more vowel sounds as well.

[bdenckla]

I don't seem to have permission to re-open this issue, i.e. my comment-button area just looks like this:

Not like this:

[r12a]

No worries. If i see ongoing comments, i'll reopen.

[bdenckla]

I edited my previous comment's suggested wording a little to make it clearer that:

• One claim is about how the Hebrew alphabet is used to spell words:
  • In normal use, Hebrew represents all consonant sounds in a word but often leaves some vowel sounds implicit.
• The other claim is about the Hebrew alphabet alone, i.e., the claim is somewhat independent of how the alphabet is used to spell words:
  • All Hebrew letters can represent one or more consonant sounds; a few of them do "double duty," being able to represent one or more vowel sounds as well.

A short, sort of mnemonic form of these claims would be:

• Vowel sounds are often implicit
• There are no letters dedicated to vowel sounds