kamatz

Kamatz is a diacritic in the Hebrew writing system, one of the niqqud vowels used to indicate pronunciation. Placed beneath a consonant, it represents the vowel sound commonly transliterated as "a" and is typically realized as an open jawed /a/ sound, as in the word for "father" in biblical Hebrew. In modern Hebrew, when vowels are included, kamatz is usually heard as an /a/ sound, though the precise quality can vary with context and speaker.

In traditional cantillation and vocalization, there are two related forms known as kamatz gadol and kamatz katan. Kamatz gadol denotes a fuller or longer /a/ sound in certain environments, while kamatz katan signals a shorter or reduced /a/ in others. The distinction is largely a feature of the Masoretic system and is often not pronounced distinctly by modern speakers; it is primarily of interest for linguistic description, biblical reading, and careful textual scholarship.

Usage and typography: Kamatz is part of the system of niqqud developed by the Masoretes in medieval Hebrew manuscripts. Today, niqqud is typically omitted in everyday Hebrew writing, with vowels indicated by context or by diacritics only in educational materials, dictionaries, or liturgical texts. The exact visual shape of the kamatz sign can vary by font and typeface, but it is always a diacritic mark under the consonant it accompanies.

See also: Niqqud, Patach, Seghol, Shva, Hataf vowels.