Tzere (also spelled Tsere, Tzeirei, Zere, Zeire, Ṣērê; modern , , sometimes also written ; formerly ṣērê) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by two horizontally-aligned dots "◌ֵ" underneath a letter. In modern Hebrew, tzere is pronounced the same as segol and indicates the phoneme /e/, which is the same as the "e" sound in the vowel segol and is transliterated as an "e". There was a distinction in Tiberian Hebrew between segol and Tzere. Usage Tzere is usually written in these cases: In final stressed closed syllables: מַחְשֵׁב (, computer), סִפֵּר (, he told; without niqqud סיפר). Also in final syllables closed by guttural letters with an added furtive patach: מַטְבֵּעַ (, coin), שוֹכֵחַ (, forgetting). Notable exceptions to this rule are: The personal suffixes ־תֶם (, 2 pl. m.), ־תֶן (, 2 pl. f.), ־כֶם (, 2 pl. m.), ־כֶן (, 2 pl. f.), ־הֶם (, 3 pl. m.), ־הֶן (, 3 pl. f.) are written with segol. (But the words הֵם (, they m.), הֵן (, they f.) are written with Tzere.) The words אֱמֶת (, truth), בַּרְזֶל (, iron), גַּרְזֶן (, axe), כַּרְמֶל (, Carmel, gardenland), עֲרָפֶל (, fog) are written with segol. The word בֵּן (, son, boy) is written with tzere in the absolute state, but with segol in the construct state: בֶּן־. In the Bible this rule also applies to other words which end in tzere, when they are written with maqaf. In non-final, unstressed open syllables: עֵנָב (, grape), תֵּבָה (, chest, ark; without niqqud תיבה). In the first (stressed) syllable of about 70 segolate words, among them חֵלֶק (, part), סֵפֶר (, book), עֵדֶן (, Eden). In other – much more numerous – segolate words the first sound is a segol. In final open syllables, when the mater lectionis is yod (י) or aleph (א‎): בְּנֵי־ (, sons of), מוֹצֵא (, finding). When the mater lectionis is he (ה), the vowel sign is usually segol, but tzere is written in the imperative and absolute infinitive forms of the verb, in nouns in construct state, and in the base form of several other nouns (see below for details). In declension tzere sometimes changes to other vowels or to shva. The full rules for these changes were formulated the Academy of the Hebrew Language. In modern Hebrew there are words which are homophones and homographs in spelling without niqqud, but are written