Aleph-bet

Alternative Spellings

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

Definitions

• "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).