aleph-bet

Pronunciations

alef beys	(AH-lif BEYS)
aleph bet	(AH-lef BET)

Definitions

• n. "A name for the Hebrew alphabet" (JPS)
  

Example Sentences

• "Jewish children traditionally learn the aleph-bet at the age of three."
  

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• Hebrew אלף בית alef bet, Yiddish אַלף־בית álefbeys
  

Who Uses This

• Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

Regions

• North America

Dictionaries

• The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
• Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
• The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
• The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
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Alternative Spellings

aleph-bet, aleph-beis, aleph-bais, aleph-beys, alef-beis, alef-bet, aleph bet, alef bet, alef beis, aleph beys, aleph bais, aleph beis, aleph bet