Home  Ask A Rabbi Cultural Proper Hebrew Pronunciation?
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Proper Hebrew Pronunciation? |
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Written by Rabbi Shlomo Z
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 Q: What is the proper pronounciation of the Hebrew letters for Persians? Should young persians attempt to mimic these sounds or follow what they have been thought?
Rabbi Shlomo Z: Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has it's own characteristics which can affect many spiritual aspects of our prayer, and in our tradtion each letter has it own unique sound and meaning. (Listen to audio file for a pronounciation of all the letters)
We see that many of the letters now-a-days are pronounced the same and therefore we have to be carefull to differentiate between the letters that sound the same. In particular, Alef & Ayin with Ayin being stronger and coming from the throat, pronouncing these letters can produce totally different and sometimes opposite meanings. Also we have Hay, Chet & Khaf, Chet is between a Hay and a Khaf (Persians sometimes say Haazagh O' Baruch, Minha, Mehilah) It is proper to say it like the H but more from the throat (listen to audio).
Also in regards to the letter Sadik, the "Tz" or "Ts" is a new thing in Lashon Hakadosh (Hebrew), as Ibn Ezra writes no letter is never made up of two sounds. In the past 500-800 years the Jews in Europe started pronouncing the Sadik with the a "Tz" or "Ts" sound. In original Hebrew language, you never have a letter being comprised of two different letters, and with the Sephardic/Mizrahi tradition we pronounce the Sadik as a deeper Somech with no T sound (i.e. the last name KohanSedegh).
The best way to pick up these if one feels as if they are not pronouncing the letters properly is to practice by reading outloud concentrating on correcting one letter at a time, for example, trying to prounounce the Chet, and once that one is down go to the next letter. After a while the person can be confident in his prayers.
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Comments
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Is the name, 'Izaraida' a Sephardic, Jewish name. My grandmother has this as her middle name; she was named after her grandmother. My grandmother was from England.
Thanks,
Kyle
Posted by Kyle Elliott, on Thursday, 21 December 2006 at 2:51
I GO TO A JEWISH SCHOOL. I WENT TO TORAT HAYIM SINCE PRE-1-A, THEN NOW I GO TO ANOTHER JEWISH SCHOOL- I WAS WONDERING HOW I CAN TRAIN MYSELF TO SAY THE LETTER CHET LIKE HET AND AYIN FROM THE THROAT. LIKE THE ISRAELIS SAY HAR DIFFERENTLY THE RESH IS DIFFERENT. ANY TIPS,-AUDIO OR SHOULD I RECORD SOMEONES ISRAELI VOICE AND LISTEN TO IT CONSTANTLY?
Posted by Jews-good religion, on Wednesday, 02 August 2006 at 11:04
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