hebrew.js 📜

A JavaScript/TypeScript library for Hebrew text processing and manipulation. This library provides utilities for working with Hebrew diacritics (niqqud and cantillation marks / te'amim) and converting between Hebrew and Paleo-Hebrew scripts.

✨ Features

• 🔍 Diacritic Identification / Removal: Identify or strip diacritics from Hebrew text.
• 🔄 Script Conversion: Convert Hebrew text to Paleo-Hebrew script
• 📘 TypeScript Support: Full TypeScript definitions included
• ⚡ Zero Dependencies: Lightweight with no external dependencies
• 📦 Multiple Module Formats: Supports CommonJS, ES modules, and UMD

📦 Installation

npm install @yehuthi/hebrew

Or using pnpm:

pnpm add @yehuthi/hebrew

🚀 Usage

📥 Basic Import

import * as hebrew from '@yehuthi/hebrew';

🧹 Removing Diacritics

The library can remove different types of diacritics from Hebrew text:

// Sample Hebrew text with full diacritics
const hebrewText = "בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃";

// Remove all diacritics (niqqud and cantillation)
const stripped = hebrew.remove_diacritics(hebrewText);
// Result: "בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ׃"

// Remove only niqqud (vowel diacritics)
const withoutNiqqud = hebrew.remove_diacritics(hebrewText, hebrew.char_niqqud);
// Result: "בראש֖ית בר֣א אלה֑ים א֥ת השמ֖ים וא֥ת הארץ׃"

// Remove only cantillation marks
const withoutCantillation = hebrew.remove_diacritics(hebrewText, hebrew.char_taam);
// Result: "בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃"

🏺 Converting to Paleo-Hebrew

Convert modern Hebrew text to Paleo-Hebrew script:

const modernHebrew = "בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ";
const paleoHebrew = hebrew.to_paleo(modernHebrew);
// Result: "𐤁𐤓𐤀𐤔𐤉𐤕 𐤁𐤓𐤀 𐤀𐤋𐤄𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤕 𐤄𐤔𐤌𐤉𐤌 𐤅𐤀𐤕 𐤄𐤀𐤓𐤑"

🔤 Character-Level Functions

Check individual characters for diacritics:

import * as hebrew from '@yehuthi/hebrew';

// Check if a character is a niqqud
hebrew.char_niqqud('ָ'); // true
hebrew.char_niqqud('א'); // false

// Check if a character is a cantillation mark
hebrew.char_taam('֖'); // true
hebrew.char_taam('א'); // false

// Check if a character is any type of diacritic
hebrew.char_diacritic('ָ'); // true
hebrew.char_diacritic('֖'); // true
hebrew.char_diacritic('א'); // false

📚 API Reference

🔧 Core Functions

remove_diacritics(input: string, type?: function): string

Removes diacritics from Hebrew text.

• Parameters:
  • input: The Hebrew text to process
  • type: Optional function to determine which diacritics to remove (defaults to removing all diacritics)
• Returns: String with specified diacritics removed

to_paleo(str: string): string

Converts Hebrew text to Paleo-Hebrew script.

• Parameters:
  • str: Hebrew text to convert
• Returns: Text converted to Paleo-Hebrew script

🔍 Character Detection Functions

char_niqqud(char: string): boolean

Checks if a character is a niqqud (vowel diacritic).

char_taam(char: string): boolean

Checks if a character is a cantillation mark (ta'am).

char_diacritic(char: string): boolean

Checks if a character is any type of diacritic (niqqud or cantillation).

🔢 Character Code Functions

char_code_is_niqqud(charCode: number): boolean

Checks if a character code represents a niqqud.

is_taam_code(charCode: number): boolean

Checks if a character code represents a cantillation mark.

is_diacritic_code(charCode: number): boolean

Checks if a character code represents any type of diacritic.

🏺 Paleo-Hebrew Conversion Functions

char_to_paleo(char: string): string | undefined

Converts a single Hebrew character to Paleo-Hebrew.

char_to_paleo_unchecked(char: string): string

Converts a single Hebrew character to Paleo-Hebrew (unchecked version).

char_code_to_paleo(charCode: number): number | undefined

Converts a Hebrew character code to Paleo-Hebrew character code.

char_code_to_paleo_unchecked(charCode: number): number

Converts a Hebrew character code to Paleo-Hebrew character code (unchecked version).

💡 Examples

📖 Processing Biblical Text

import * as hebrew from '@yehuthi/hebrew';

// Genesis 1:1 with full diacritics
const genesis1_1 = "בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃";

// Remove all diacritics for plain text
const plainText = hebrew.remove_diacritics(genesis1_1);
console.log(plainText); // "בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ׃"

// Convert to Paleo-Hebrew
const paleoText = hebrew.to_paleo(plainText);
console.log(paleoText); // "𐤁𐤓𐤀𐤔𐤉𐤕 𐤁𐤓𐤀 𐤀𐤋𐤄𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤕 𐤄𐤔𐤌𐤉𐤌 𐤅𐤀𐤕 𐤄𐤀𐤓𐤑׃"

📊 Text Analysis

import * as hebrew from '@yehuthi/hebrew';

function analyzeHebrewText(text) {
    const chars = [...text];
    const niqqudCount = chars.filter(hebrew.char_niqqud).length;
    const taamCount = chars.filter(hebrew.char_taam).length;
    const totalDiacritics = chars.filter(hebrew.char_diacritic).length;
    
    return {
        totalCharacters: chars.length,
        niqqudCount,
        taamCount,
        totalDiacritics,
        plainTextRatio: (chars.length - totalDiacritics) / chars.length
    };
}

const analysis = analyzeHebrewText("בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים");
console.log(analysis);

🛠️ Development

🔨 Building

pnpm build

🧪 Testing

pnpm test

📁 Project Structure

• src/index.ts - Main library code
• src/index.test.ts - Test suite
• dist/ - Built distribution files (CommonJS, ES modules, UMD)

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

🏷️ Keywords

Hebrew, alphabet, script, letters, phoenician, niqqud, taamim, diacritics, paleo-hebrew, text processing