tzere
Tzere is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign used in pointed Hebrew texts to indicate a specific front vowel. The sign consists of two horizontally arranged dots and is placed next to the consonant in right-to-left writing. Tzere denotes the vowel sound commonly transliterated as “e,” and in Modern Hebrew it is typically realized as a mid-front /e/ sound. The exact quality can vary with dialect, stress, and the surrounding consonants, and in traditional cantillation the vowel may be heard with slight length variation.
Tzere is one of the seven basic niqqud signs that mark vowel quality in Hebrew orthography. In
Transliteration of the vowel name varies in English sources, with spellings such as tzere, tseire, or tzereh.