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Pronunciation and history - Printable Version

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Pronunciation and history - Avis Glauca - 01-16-2023

I am an outsider, but curious about that.

I've read on Wikipedia that Hebrew in Biblical times was pronounced completely differently than it is today, for example the letter Vav was pronounced like English "W", and the letters Teth and Koph were pronounced like ejective consonants [t'] and [k'] like ones found in Amharic or some Native American languages.

My question is: when Hebrew was brought back to life, why wasn't the original pronunciation restored in the State of Israel?


RE: Pronunciation and history - searchinmyroots - 01-16-2023

Avis,

Welcome to the forum.

Just to let you know the first couple of posts are moderated to help keep out spam and bots.

I don't have a solid answer to your question but I'm sure someone on the forum will reply.

If I'm not mistaken, the earlier Hebrew was Paleo, maybe that had something to do with it.

Also, languages "evolve" over time and sometimes things are pronounced differently later on.


RE: Pronunciation and history - ctjacobs - 01-18-2023

(01-16-2023, 03:38 PM)Avis Glauca Wrote: I am an outsider, but curious about that.

I've read on Wikipedia that Hebrew in Biblical times was pronounced completely differently than it is today, for example the letter Vav was pronounced like English "W", and the letters Teth and Koph were pronounced like ejective consonants [t'] and [k'] like ones found in Amharic or some Native American languages.

My question is: when Hebrew was brought back to life, why wasn't the original pronunciation restored in the State of Israel?

According to Wikipedia at least for the letter ע Ayin it was in part due to European influence. Seems Europeans cannot pronounce it.