ה־

See also: ־ה, ה, ה׳, and Appendix:Variations of "h"

Aramaic

Determiner

הָ־ • (hā-)

this
הָשַׁתָּא (hāšattā, “this year”)

הָכָא (hāḵā, “right here”)

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Possibly akin to Arabic هَا (hā) and هٰذَا (hāḏā, “this”); Rubin posits a connection Akkadian 𒀭𒉡𒌝 (annûm, “this”); the final ־נ (-n) in הַנ־* (*han-) would've been assimilated to the first syllable of consonant-initial words; this form would then be generalised to vowel-initial words as well.^[1]

Compare Arabic اَل (al-), the standardized Arabic definite article, which is of largely disputed etymology, and זה (definite הזה).

Pronunciation

(Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): (usually) /ha/, (sometimes; see usage notes) /he/

Article

הַ־ • (ha-)

(definite article) The.
הוא מגיע לכתה עוד מעט. ― hú magía lakitá ód m'át. ― He's arriving at the classroom shortly.
This: the current or adjacent; used especially with nouns denoting periods of time, and especially יוֹם (yom, “day”).
היום (hayóm, “today”)

הערב (ha'érev, “tonight, this evening”)

הבוקר (habóker, “this morning”)

הלילה (haláila, “tonight; last night”)

הפעם אין אף אחד שם. ― hapá'am én áf ekhád shám. ― This time there's no one there.

Usage notes

Traditionally, Hebrew nouns are considered to have three “states”: indefinite (“a(n)/some __”), definite (“the __”), and construct (“a(n)/some/the __ of”), and the definite article ה־ was considered to be an actual part of the definite noun.
- In modern colloquial use, however, the definite article is often considered and functions as a clitic, attaching to a noun but not actually being part of it.
- For example, traditionally, the definite form of בֵּית־סֵפֶר (bet séfer, “school”, literally “house-of book”) is בֵּית־הַסֵּפֶר (bet-haséfer, “the school”, literally “house-of-the-book”), but in modern colloquial speech, it is often הַבֵּית־סֵפֶר (habet-séfer, “the-house-of-book”).

ה־ is used not only with nouns, but also with attributive adjectives; that is, attributive adjectives agree in definiteness with the nouns they modify. This agreement is strictly semantic; an attributive adjective takes ה־ if its noun is semantically definite, even if the noun does not itself have ה־, for example if it’s a proper noun.

When ה־ follows לְ־ (l'-, “to, for”), בְּ־ (b'-, “in”), or כְּ־ (k'-, “like”), the two merge, with the consonant ל, בּ, or כּ assuming the vowel from the ה־.
In traditional grammar, the consonant after ה־ receives a dagésh khazák (gemination), unless it’s one of the letters that cannot take a dagésh (א, ה, ח, ע, ר), in which case the vowel in the ה־ changes:
- If the consonant after the ה־ is א or ר, or if it’s ע and its syllable is stressed, then a kamáts is used: הָ־ (ha-).
- If the consonant after the ה־ is ע and its syllable is unstressed, then a segól is used: הֶ־ (he-).
- If the consonant after the ה־ is ה or ח, then a patákh is used as usual, unless the ה or ח has unstressed kamáts or khatáf kamáts, in which case a segól is used instead.
- The dagésh khazák may also be omitted if the consonant after ה־ bears a shva, especially if it is a sonorant: הַיְלָדִים, הַלְוִיִּם, הַמְדַבְּרִים, etc.

Distribution of article variants before gutturals according to Gesenius^[2]
Guttural	Vowel following the guttural
Guttural	Stressed qameṣ: ה◌ָ֫	Unstressed qameṣ: ה◌ָ	Ḥatef qameṣ: ה◌ֳ	Other: ה◌
א	הָ־
ר	הָ־
ע	הָ־	הֶ־	הָ־	הָ־
ה	הָ־	הֶ־	הָ־?	הַ־
ח	הֶ־			הַ־

Etymology 2

Compare Arabic أَ (ʔa) (also its purported dialectal, and now obsoleted, variant, هَ (ha)) and Arabic هَلْ (hal).

Pronunciation

(Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ha/

Particle

הֲ־ • (ha-)

(archaic or poetic) An interrogative particle, introducing a yes-no question.
הֲשָׁמַעְתָּ? ― hashamá'ta? ― Have you heard?

הֲיָדַעְתָּ? ― hayadá'ta? ― Did you know?
- Tanach, Genesis 4:09, with translation of the King James Version:
  […] הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי׃
  hashomér akhí anokhí
  Am I my brother's keeper?
- Tanach, 1 Kings 21:19, with translation of the English Standard Version:
  הֲרָצַחְתָּ וְגַם־יָרָשְׁתָּ
  haratsakhtá ve'gám yarashtá
  Have you killed and also taken possession?
- 1890 – 1931, Rachel the Poetess, זמר נגה 1:
  הֲתִשְׁמַע קוֹלִי, רְחוֹקִי שֶׁלִּי,
  hatishmá kolí, rekhokí shelí,
  Do you hear my voice, far one of mine,

Usage notes

Before a sh'va this prefix has a patach.

References

^ Aaron Rubin (2005), “Definite Articles”, in Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization, Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 76
^ https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1192909/FULLTEXT01.pdf#page=115

[1] Aaron Rubin (2005), “Definite Articles”, in Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization, Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 76

[2] ttps://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1192909/FULLTEXT01.pdf#page=115

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