ellis@spar.UUCP (Michael Ellis) (04/01/85)
Some time ago I requested info regarding the pronunciation of modern Hebrew.
My textbook, which describes biblical Hebrew, indicates that there were 23
consonants (6 with allophones) and 16 vowels (5 short, 3 long, 4 diphthongs,
4 shwas). Apparently, these ancient sounds have coalesced differently in
the modern variants, even though the ancient orthography has been preserved.
Since my interest is in ALL varieties of Hebrew, I'd like to know how to
pronounce these sounds according to each present day tradition.
Can readers out there help me fill out the tables below, or correct any
errors I've already made? I believe all the distinctions expressed in the
written language are present:
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CONSONANTS Biblical Sephardic Ashkenazic
'aleph (1) glottal stop glottal stop silent
beth b b b
beth* v ? ?
gimel g g g
gimel* (2) Greek gamma ? ?
daleth d d d
daleth* th in this ? ?
he h h h
waw w ? ?
zayin z (maybe dz) ? ?
Heth (3) very deep h ? h
Teth (4) emphatic t t t
yodh y y y
kaph k k k
kaph* German `ch' ? ?
lamedh l l l
mem m m m
nun n n n
Samekh (4) emphatic s s s
`ayin (5) uvular stop ? silent
pe p p ?
pe* f ? ?
tsadhe ts ts ts
qoph (6) very deep k ? k
resh r r r
sin s s s
shin sh in shoe sh sh
taw t t t
taw* th in thin ? s
* indicates this hebrew grapheme is written without a daghesh
Notes on Biblical pronunciation:
1) Similar to cockney pronunciation of `t' in (water) as (wa'er);
silent following vowels in open syllables. Arabic ('alif)
2) As modern greek gamma, vaguely similar to French `r'.
3) An unvoiced uvular fricative, Arabic (Ha)
4) `Emphatic' dentals also occur in Arabic, differing from normal
dentals in position as well as force. Arabic (Ta, Sad)
5. A voiced uvular stop, Arabic (`ain).
6) A gutteral `k', Arabic (qaf).
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VOWELS IPA Biblical Sephardic Ashkenazic
pathah a pot ? ?
qamets 0: bought* ? ?
S'ghol e bet ? ?
tsere e: German eh ? ?
tsere yodh ey bait ? ?
Hireq i bit ? ?
Hireq (w/yodh) iy beat ? ?
qamets Hatuph 0 bought* ? ?
Holem o: German oh ? ?
Holem (w/waw) ow boat ? ?
kibbuts u put ? ?
shureq uw boot ? ?
sh'wa i in edit ? ?
Hateph pathah a in about ? ?
Hateph S'ghol a in monday ? ?
Hateph qamets o in obey ? ?
* the same sound, but pronounced for a shorter duration in qamets Hatuph
in IPA, this resembles an upside-down (c).
Note: The IPA column contains how I believe the vowels would have
been transcribed according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
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If there's enough interest, I'll be glad to summarize whatever I receive.
-michael