Learning to Read a Semitic Abjad: The Triplex Model of Hebrew Reading Development

Abstract

We introduce a model of Hebrew reading development that emphasizes both the universal and script-specific aspects of learning to read a Semitic abjad. At the universal level, the study of Hebrew reading acquisition offers valuable insights into the fundamental dilemmas of all writing systems-balancing the competing needs of the novice versus the expert reader (Share, 2008). At the script-specific level, pointed Hebrew initially employs supplementary vowel signs, providing the beginning reader a consistent, phonologically well-specified script while helping the expert-to-be unitize words and morphemes via (consonantal) spelling constancy. A major challenge for the developing Hebrew reader is negotiating the transition from pointed to unpointed Hebrew, with its abundance of homographs. Our triplex model emphasizes three phases of early Hebrew reading development: a progression from lower-order, phonological (sublexical) sequential spelling-to-sound translation (Phase 1, Grade 1) to higher-order, string-level (lexical) lexico-morpho-orthographic processing (Phase 2, Grade 2) followed, in the upper elementary grades, by a supralexical contextual level (Phase 3) essential for dealing with the pervasive homography of unpointed Hebrew.

Contribution of phonological and morphological information in reading Arabic: A developmental perspective

“…According to this view, the more proficient the reader is, the more accurately (s)he will decipher pseudowords. The unique features of both Semitic languages encourage the reader to gradually pay less attention to phonological information in favor of greater reliance on higher order, word-level lexical and morphological information (Share & Bar-On, 2017).…”

Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language

“…This deep unvowelised orthography creates a challenge for the reader because several possible sound correspondences can be applied to most strings of consonant letters (Schiff, 2003). Specifically, between 25% and 40% of Hebrew words in a regular text are homographic (Share & Bar-On, 2018;Shimron & Sivan, 1994). Resolution of this homographic ambiguity and reconstructing the missing vowel information require the Hebrew reader to rely on morpho-syntactic information as well as lexical and pragmatic clues from the context (Share & Bar-On, 2018).…”

Morpho-Orthographic Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Case of Hebrew Orthography

“…Hebrew is encoded in two orthographic versions: one is phonologically transparent, and the second is phonologically opaque but morphologically transparent [56]. The phonologically transparent version, namely, pointed script, is mainly used for beginning reading instruction, but also in poetry and most religious texts.…”

“…Share and Bar-On [56] propose a triplex model of learning to read Hebrew that consists of three developmental phases. The first phase is related mainly to the first grade, when children learn to read pointed script.…”