Misplaced Pages

#939060

30-575: Sephardi Hebrew is not considered one of these, even if it has been spoken in the Middle East and North Africa . The Sephardim were expellees from Spain and settled among the Mizrahim, but in countries such as Syria and Morocco, there was a fairly high degree of convergence between the Sephardi and the local pronunciations of Hebrew. Yemenite Hebrew is also considered quite separate, as it has

60-533: A shva next to it. In Yiddish orthography, a pataḥ (called pasekh in Yiddish) has two uses. The combination of pasekh with the letter aleph , אַ , is used to represent the vowel [a]; the combination of pasekh with a digraph consisting of two yods , ײַ , is used to represent the diphthong [aj]. The following table contains the pronunciation and transliteration of the different pataḥ s in reconstructed historical forms and dialects using

90-521: A letter. In modern Hebrew , it indicates the phoneme / a / which is close to the "[a]" sound in the English word f a r and is transliterated as an a . In Modern Hebrew , a pataḥ makes the same sound as a qamatz , as does the ḥaṭaf pataḥ ( Hebrew : חֲטַף פַּתַח IPA: [ħaˈtˤaf paˈtaħ] , "reduced pataḥ "). The reduced (or ḥaṭaf ) niqqud exist for pataḥ , qamatz , and segol which contain

120-664: A modified form by the Kimhi family; the current Sephardic pronunciation largely reflects the system that it laid down. By then, the Tiberian notation was universally used though it was not always reflected in pronunciation. The Spanish grammarians accepted the rules laid down by the Tiberian Masoretes, with the following variations: There are further differences: When Eliezer ben Yehuda drafted his Standard Hebrew language , he based it on Sephardi Hebrew, both because this

150-657: A wholly different system for the pronunciation of vowels. The same terms are sometimes used for the pronunciation of Modern Hebrew by Jews of Mizrahi origins. It is generally a compromise between Modern Standard Hebrew and the traditional liturgical pronunciation as described in this article. A common form of such compromise is the use of [ ħ ] , [ r ] and [ ʕ ] for ח ‎, ר ‎ and ע ‎, respectively, with most or all other sounds pronounced as in Standard Israeli Hebrew . The following features are generally found in

180-461: Is inherited from the old Palestinian vowel notation . In formal liturgical use, however, many Sephardim are careful to make some distinction between these vowels to reflect the Tiberian notation. (That can be compared to the attempts of some Ashkenazim to use the pharyngeal sounds of ḥet and ayin in formal contexts, such as reading the Torah.) In brief, Sephardi Hebrew appears to be a descendant of

210-430: Is now consistently pronounced in those communities. Basilectal Modern Hebrew also shares that characteristic, but it is considered substandard. In addition to ethnic and geographical distinctions, there are some distinctions of register. Popular Sephardic pronunciation, such as for Spanish and Portuguese Jews , makes no distinction between pataḥ and qameṣ gadol [a], or between segol , ṣere and shewa na [e]: that

240-432: Is pronounced [ t ] , which is equally consistent with the pronunciation of both Sephardi Hebrew and of colloquial Arabic. The pronunciation of waw as [ v ] , in countries other than Iraq and Yemen, is more clearly Sephardic in origin. Sephardi Hebrew Sephardi Hebrew (or Sepharadi Hebrew ; Hebrew : עברית ספרדית , romanized :  Ivrit Sefardit , Ladino : Ebreo de los Sefaradim )

270-591: Is pronounced [ ɒ ] , like the long ā ا/آ in Persian, ק ‎ (Qof) is approximately pronounced [ ɣ ] ( voiced velar fricative ), and ח (Het) is pronounced identical to ה (Hay), as opposed to the Arab ح [ ħ ] In Talmudic times, it was noted that the Galilean (and maybe Syrian) pronunciation of Hebrew and Aramaic differed from those of both Judaea and Babylonia, principally by

300-549: Is pronounced /no.aχ/ in Modern Hebrew and /no.aħ/ or /no.ʔaħ/ in Biblical Hebrew. This only occurs at the ends of words, only with pataḥ and only with these three letters. This is sometimes called a pataḥ gnuva , or "stolen" pataḥ (more formally, "furtive pataḥ "), since the sound "steals" an imaginary epenthetic consonant to make the extra syllable. By adding two vertical dots ( shva )

330-612: Is pronounced "kal", rather than "kol" (in "kal 'atsmotai" and " Kal Nidre "), and צָהֳרַיִם (noon) is pronounced "tsahorayim", rather than "tsohorayim". This feature is also found in Mizrahi Hebrew , but is not found in Israeli Hebrew . It is represented in the transliteration of proper names in the Authorised Version , such as "Naomi", "Aholah" and "Aholibamah". Consonants Vowels Sephardim differ on

SECTION 10

#1732801237940

360-399: Is the pronunciation system for Biblical Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Sephardi Jews . Its phonology was influenced by contact languages such as Spanish and Portuguese , Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino), Judeo-Arabic dialects , and Modern Greek . There is some variation between the various forms of Sephardi Hebrew, but the following generalisations may be made: This last difference

390-472: Is the standard shibboleth for distinguishing Sephardi from Ashkenazi, Yemenite, and Tiberian Hebrew. The differentiation between kamatz gadol and kamatz katan is made according to purely phonetic rules, without regard to etymology, which occasionally leads to spelling pronunciations at variance with the rules laid down in Biblical Hebrew grammar books. For example, כָל (all), when unhyphenated,

420-543: The International Phonetic Alphabet . The letters Bet ⟨ ב ‎⟩ and Het ⟨ ח ‎⟩ used in this table are only for demonstration, any letter can be used. A pataḥ on a letter ח ‎, ע ‎, or הּ ‎ (that is, ה ‎ with a dot (mappiq) in it) at the end of a word is sounded before the letter, and not after. Thus, נֹחַ ( Noah ; properly transliterated as Noaḥ )

450-607: The 11th century, when the Tiberian notation was adopted: both Saadia Gaon and Jacob Qirqisani report that in their time the Palestinian pronunciation had come to be regarded as standard. Nevertheless, in their reading of unvocalised texts such as the Mishnah , Baghdadi Jews preserve certain peculiarities of the old Babylonian pronunciation, particularly with their choices between dagesh and rafe and between silent and vocal sheva . The process of assimilation to Arabic went

480-602: The Palestinian tradition, partially adapted to accommodate the Tiberian notation and further influenced by the pronunciation of Judeo-Arabic dialects and Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino). The origins of the different Hebrew reading traditions reflect older differences between the pronunciations of Hebrew and Middle Aramaic current in different parts of the Fertile Crescent : Judea , the Galilee , Greater Syria , Upper Mesopotamia , and Lower Mesopotamia ("Babylonia"). In

510-515: The Sephardi pronunciation is the Italian pronunciation of Hebrew , which may be regarded as a variant. In communities from Italy, Greece and Turkey, he is not realized as [h] but as a silent letter because of the influence of Italian, Judaeo-Spanish and (to a lesser extent) Modern Greek , all of which lack the sound. That was also the case in early transliterations of Spanish-Portuguese manuscripts ( Ashkibenu , as opposed to Hashkibenu ), but he

540-689: The furthest with the Babylonian Jews. For example, in Classical Arabic and in some spoken dialects including Mesopotamian Arabic , there is no phonemic distinction between a and e , but a phonetic difference is made by the presence of an adjacent emphatic or guttural consonant. Accordingly, the Babylonian notation does not distinguish between patach (in other pronunciations [ a ] ), segol (in other pronunciations [ e ] or [ ɛ ] ) and sheva na' , and

570-665: The loss of distinct sounds for the guttural letters he , ḥet , and ʿayin . That feature is still found in Samaritan Hebrew . After the Arab conquest of Palestine and Mesopotamia, much work was done by the Masoretes in standardising and refining the pronunciation of Biblical Hebrew, under the influence of the Arabic grammarians of the time. That included establishing the pronunciation of the guttural letters by reference to their Arabic equivalents. Three distinct notations for

600-565: The popularisation of the Tiberian notation. The Sephardi traditions are ultimately related to the medieval Palestinian pronunciation tradition which is represented by the Palestinian vocalization and the Palestino-Tiberian vocalization systems. [...] The Palestinian pronunciation was transferred to Europe, North Africa and most of the Middle Eastern communities. In Iraq and Iran it replaced the Babylonian pronunciation, which

630-608: The pronunciation of Spanish . In Medieval Spanish (and in Judaeo-Spanish ), b and v were separate, with b representing a voiced bilabial stop and v realized as a bilabial fricative [β]. However, in Renaissance and modern Spanish, both are pronounced [β] (bilabial v) after a vowel (or continuant ) and [b] otherwise (such as after a pause). There is also a difference in the pronunciation of tau raphe ( ת ‎, tau without dagesh ): Closely related to

SECTION 20

#1732801237940

660-399: The pronunciation of bet raphe ( ב ‎, bet without dagesh ). Persian, Moroccan, Greek, Turkish, Balkan and Jerusalem Sephardim usually pronounce it as [v] , which is reflected in Modern Hebrew. Spanish and Portuguese Jews traditionally pronounced it as [b ~ β] (as do most Mizrahi Jews ), but that is declining under the influence of Israeli Hebrew. That may reflect changes in

690-522: The pronunciation of Jews from Arabic-speaking countries, and the variations tend to follow the Arabic dialect of the country in question. The pronunciation of Mizrahi Jews from non-Arab countries differs in some respects. For example, among Persian Jews , distinctively Arabic sounds such as ح [ ħ ] and ط [ tˤ ] do not occur, and certain sounds do occur which are not present in other forms of Mizrahi Hebrew. For example, Kamatz gadol

720-553: The three vowels are still pronounced alike (as [ æ ] ) by Yemenite Jews . In Levantine Arabic , by contrast, there are distinct a and e sounds, and both vowels are distinguished in both the Palestinian and the Tiberian notations. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sephardic exiles took the leading position in most Arab and Ottoman countries, and the local pronunciation of Hebrew assimilated to Sephardi Hebrew in many respects, particularly for pronouncing

750-678: The time of the Masoretes (8th-10th centuries), there were three distinct notations for denoting vowels and other details of pronunciation in biblical and liturgical texts. One was the Babylonian ; another was the Palestinian ; still another was Tiberian Hebrew , which eventually superseded the other two and is still in use today. By the time of Saadia Gaon and Jacob Qirqisani , Palestinian Hebrew had come to be regarded as standard, even in Babylonia. That development roughly coincided with

780-462: The vowels were devised: the Palestinian , the Babylonian and the Tiberian , the last of which eventually superseded the others. The distinctive Babylonian pronunciation of Geonic times is still preserved by Yemenite Jews , but they do not retain the Babylonian notation. In Iraq, it appears to have been superseded by the Palestinian pronunciation (similar to today's Sephardi Hebrew) in or around

810-504: The vowels. Today's Iraqi Jews distinguish between patach ( / a / ) and segol ( / e / ) in the same way as most other Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. However, distinct sounds for the guttural and emphatic letters and the [ b ] sound for bet rafe were retained in many Arab countries, probably under the influence of Arabic. Iraqi Jews, like Yemenite Jews, retain the Classical Arabic sounds of waw ( [ w ] ) and tav raphe ( [ θ ] ). In other Arab countries, tav raphe

840-472: Was rare in Ashkenazi Hebrew, in which uvular realizations were more commonly a trill or tap, and in which alveolar trills or taps were also common. Patach Pataḥ ( Hebrew : פַּתָּח patákh , IPA: [paˈtaħ] , Biblical Hebrew : pattā́ḥ ) is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign represented by a horizontal line ⟨  אַ ‎  ⟩ underneath

870-470: Was the de facto spoken form as a lingua franca in the land of Israel and because he believed it to be the most beautiful of the Hebrew dialects. However, the phonology of Modern Hebrew is in some respects constrained to that of Ashkenazi Hebrew , including the elimination of pharyngeal articulation and the conversion of /r/ from an alveolar tap to a voiced uvular fricative , though this latter sound

900-798: Was used in these regions during the Middle Ages. It is possible that it was disseminated in the Middle East by Sephardi teachers who settled in the East after the expulsions from Spain and Portugal in the 15th century. According to Morag (1963, 288–289; 2003) there is evidence that the Babylonian pronunciation was in use in Spain in the early Middle Ages, brought there, it seems, by teachers from Babylonia. The accepted rules of Hebrew grammar were laid down in medieval Spain by grammarians such as Judah ben David Hayyuj and Jonah ibn Janah and later restated in

#939060