Note: If you are looking for instructions for the PC, please visit the PC page
Note: these instructions assume that you are using OS 10.2 or later. For best results with Voiceover and braille, I recommend using Yosemite or a later release.
For my Hebrew course, I recommend that students install the SBL Hebrew-SIL keyboard available for the Mac. This keyboard includes support for symbols related to Biblical Hebrew which are not included in the keyboards that are native to the Mac. My students tried other keyboards and were able to produce Hebrew text correctly. However, this is the only one that I have validated.
To type Hebrew on the Mac once you have installed this keyboard, please use the keyboard layout as follows:
Alphabet
| letter name | Symbol | Key Assignment | Transliteration | Braille Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aleph | א |
> | ‘ | 1 |
| bet | ב |
b | v | 12 |
| gimel | ג |
g | g | 1245 |
| dalet | ד |
d | d | 145 |
| he | ה |
h | h | 125 |
| vav | ו |
w | v | 2456 |
| zayin | ז |
z | z | 1356 |
| het | x | ch | 1346 | |
| tet | ט |
v | t | 2345 |
| yod | y | y | 245 | |
| kaf | כ |
k | ch | 16 |
| lamed | ל |
l | l | 123 |
| mem | מ |
m | m | 134 |
| nun | נ |
n | n | 1345 |
| samek | ס |
s | s | 234 |
| ayin | ע |
< | ! | 1246 |
| pe | פ |
p | f | 124 |
| tsade | צ |
c | ts | 2346 |
| qof | ק |
q | q | 12345 |
| resh | ר |
r | r | 1235 |
| sin | שׂ |
f | s | 156 |
| shin | שׁ |
j | sh | 146 |
| taw | ת |
t | t | 1456 |
The final forms of letters are formed by typing shift plus the letter, e.g. shift+p for final pe.
Vowels and other Symbols
Note: Vowels are shown with a bet in this table. Accent marks are shown with a bet and a vowel.
| Symbol Name | Symbol | Key Assignment | Transliteration | Braille Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qamets | בָ |
shift+a | a | 126 |
| tsere | בֵ |
shift+e | e | 34 |
| holem | בֹ |
o or shift+o | o | 135 |
| holem vav | בוֹ |
w+shift+o | o | 246 |
| shuruq | בוּ |
w+= | u | 346 |
| patach | בַ |
a | a | 14 |
| seghol | בֶ |
e | e | 15 |
| hireq | בִ |
i | i | 24 |
| qubuts | בֻ |
u | u | 136 |
| sheva | בְ |
; | ‘ or e | 3 |
| hateph qamets | בֳ |
opt+shift+o | a | 345 |
| hateph patach | בֲ |
opt+shift+a | a | 25 |
| hateph seghol | בֱ |
opt+shift+e | e | 26 |
| daghesh | בּ |
= | See pronunciation lesson. | 5 |
| maqqeph | ־ |
dash | – | 36 |
| accent | בָ֫ |
opt+shift+backslash | indicates stress on the word | 46 135 |
| methegh | בָֽ |
opt+1 following the letter | 4 |
If you are using a Mac, please know that Hebrew is not supported in all applications. In unsupported applications, Hebrew may display with characters out of order, in reverse, or be mishandled in other ways even if you have a Hebrew font installed. There are several options for composing Hebrew documents on the Mac. These include TextEdit, OpenOffice, Pages, and a fully featured word processor called Mellel which is designed specifically for editing with right-to-left languages. Mellel does have some accessibility problems. Please see Eric Harvey’s review.
To display Hebrew properly on the Web with a Mac, please use Firefox. You can also display and compose Hebrew in email, in Google apps, in Skype chat, and (should you have a need) in PowerPoint.