How Do You Spell "Shabbat"?

שבת. It's the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar, and it comes around every week! I've already written about how I've started to empty my pockets of unnecessary things on Shabbat, but now, let's discuss how to spell it! In this post, I'll go over the proper transliteration for "Shabbat," "Shabbat Shalom," and "Shavua Tov," the traditional greetings at the beginning and end of Shabbat.


שבת - Proper spelling: Shabbat

• shin, bet, tav gives us Sha-Ba-T. However, there are two "b"s because, just like in Yom Kippur and Chanukkah, we have what is called, a dagesh chazak, or a hard dagesh. Since the bet is preceded by a letter with a vowel, it receives the hard "b" sound instead of the normal, easy "b" sound. Of course, in modern Hebrew, we can't hear the difference between these two sounds. 
• Note: Sometimes, you may see Shabat, Yom Kipur, or Chanukah. Because transliteration is subjective, these are also considered colloquially correct. It's all about which system you're using for transliteration.

שבת שלום - Proper spelling: Shabbat Shalom

• Meaning: (a blessing for) A Sabbath of Peace (or Wholeness).
• Shabbat we already know. 
• shin, lamed, vav, mem sofit give us Sha-L-O-M, hence, Shalom. Easy peasy! If you see it transliterated any other way, please send it my way. This is one of the few words I have never seen transliterated incorrectly.

שבוע טוב - Proper spelling: Shavua Tov

• Meaning: A good week. Used as a greeting after Shabbat.
• shin, bet, vav, ayin give us Sha-V-U-A, hence, Shavua. Even though we have an "ah" sound at the end of the word, because there is no "ה," we just end the word with an "a."
• tet, vav, vet give us T-O-V. Any guesses for how to spell it? Again, if you see it differently somewhere, please send it to me. I'd be fascinated to see!

Well, there you have it! May you have a Shabbat Shalom and a Shavua Tov!