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Encyclopedia > Ashkenazi Hebrew

Ashkenazi Hebrew is the pronunciation system for Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Ashkenazi Jewish practice. Its phonology was influenced by languages with which it came into contact, such as Yiddish and various Slavic languages. It survives today as a separate religious dialect even alongside Modern Hebrew in Israel. This article describes the Biblical dialects of Hebrew. ... The Mishnaic Hebrew language or Rabbinic Hebrew language is the ancient descendant of Biblical Hebrew as preserved by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity, and definitively recorded by Jewish sages in writing the Mishnah and other contemporary documents. ... A liturgy is the customary public worship of a religious group, according to their particular traditions. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Phonology (Greek phonÄ“ = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). ... Yiddish (Yid. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... Hebrew redirects here. ...

Contents

Features

As it is used parallel with Modern Hebrew, its phonological differences are clearly recognized:

  • א ʾālep̄ and ע ʿáyin are completely silent at all times in most forms of Ashkenazi Hebrew, where they are frequently both pronounced as a glottal stop in Ashkenazi-style modern Hebrew. (Compare Yisroeil vs. Yisra'el.) A special case is Dutch (and historically also Frankfurt a.M.) Hebrew, where ‘ayin is traditionally pronounced as a velar nasal (ŋ), probably under the influence of the local Spanish and Portuguese Jews.
  • ת ṯāw is pronounced /s/ in Ashkenazi Hebrew, unless there is a Dagesh in the ת, where it would be pronounced /t/. It is always pronounced /t/ in Modern Hebrew, (Compare Shabbos vs. Shabbat, or Es vs. Et.)
  • The vowel ṣērê (/e/) is pronounced [ej] (or [aj]) in Ashkenazi Hebrew, where it would be pronounced /e/ in Sephardi Hebrew; Modern Hebrew varies between the two pronunciations. (Compare Omein vs. Amen.)
  • The vowel qāmeṣ gāḏôl (/a/) is pronounced /o/ (occasionally /u/) in Ashkenazi Hebrew, where it is /a/ in Modern Hebrew. (Compare Dovid vs. David.)
  • The vowel ḥôlam (/o/) is, depending on the subdialect, sometimes pronounced [au], [ou], [oi] or [ei] in Ashkenazi Hebrew, where it is /o/ in Modern Hebrew. (Compare Moishe vs. Moshe.)
  • Unstressed qubbutz or shuruq occasionally becomes /i/ in Ashkenazi Hebrew, when in all other forms they are pronounced /u/ (Kíddish vs. kiddúsh.)
  • There is some confusion (in both directions) between final tzere (e) and hiriq (i) (Tishrei vs. Tishri; Sifri vs. Sifre.)
  • In earlier centuries the stress in Ashkenazi Hebrew usually fell on the penult, instead of the last syllable as in most other dialects. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was a campaign by Ashkenazi rabbis such as Jacob Emden and the Vilna Gaon to encourage final stress in accordance with the stress marks printed in the Bible. This was successful as concerned liturgical use such as reading from the Torah. However, the older stress pattern persists in the pronunciation of Hebrew words in Yiddish and in early modern poetry by Bialik and Tchernichovsky.

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Painting of the Amsterdam Esnoga — considered the mother synagogue by the Portuguese and Spanish Jews — by Emanuel de Witte (ab. ... The dagesh (דגש) is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. ... In Hebrew orthography, Niqqud or Nikkud (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; dots) is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. ... The Sephardi Hebrew language is the pronunciation system for Biblical Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Sephardi Jewish practice. ... In Hebrew orthography, Niqqud or Nikkud (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; dots) is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. ... Jacob Emden was a Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and opponent of the Shabbethaians. ... Elijah Ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist. ... Template:Jews and Jewdaism Template:The Holy Book Named TorRah The Torah () is the most valuable Holy Doctrine within Judaism,(and for muslims) revered as the first relenting Word of Ulllah, traditionally thought to have been revealed to Blessed Moosah, An Apostle of Ulllah. ... Hayyim Nahman Bialik (January 9, 1873–July 4, 1934), also commonly written as Chaim or Haim Nachman Bialik and in the Hebrew language as חיים נחמן ביאליק, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. ... Shaul Tchernichovsky (August 20, 1875 - October 14, 1943), Hebrew שאול טשרניחובסקי, was a poet of the Hebrew language. ...

Variants

There are considerable differences between the Lithuanian, Polish (also known as Galician) and German pronunciations. These are most obvious in the treatment of ḥôlam: the German pronunciation is [au], the Polish pronunciation is [oi] and the Lithuanian pronunciation is [ei]. Other variants exist: for example in the United Kingdom, the original tradition was to use the German pronunciation, but over the years the sound of holam has tended to merge with the local pronunciation of long "o" as in "toe", and some communities have abandoned Ashkenazi Hebrew altogether in favour of the Israeli-Sephardi pronunciation. (Haredi communities in England usually use the Galician [oi]]). Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ...


Influence on modern Hebrew

Although Modern Hebrew was intended to be based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation, the language as spoken in Israel has adapted to Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in the following respects: Hebrew redirects here. ... The Mishnaic Hebrew language or Rabbinic Hebrew language is the ancient descendant of Biblical Hebrew as preserved by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity, and definitively recorded by Jewish sages in writing the Mishnah and other contemporary documents. ... The Sephardi Hebrew language is the pronunciation system for Biblical Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Sephardi Jewish practice. ... Phonology (Greek phonē = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). ...

  • the elimination of pharyngeal articulation in the letters het and ayin
  • the conversion of /r/ from an alveolar flap to a voiced uvular fricative or trill (see Guttural R)
  • the pronunciation of tzere as [eɪ] in some contexts (sifrey and teysha instead of Sephardic sifré and tésha' )
  • the elimination of vocal sheva (zman instead of Sephardic zĕman)
  • some of the letter names (yud and kuf instead of Sephardic yod and qof)
  • in popular speech, penultimate stress in proper names (Dvóra instead of Dĕvorá; Yehúda instead of Yehudá).

A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx. ... The alveolar tap/flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In Hebrew orthography, Niqqud or Nikkud (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; dots) is the system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. ...

Parallels

Some of the differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Hebrew correspond to those between the Eastern and Western dialects of Syriac, e.g. Eastern Syriac Peshitta as against Western Syriac Peshito. The Sephardi Hebrew language is the pronunciation system for Biblical Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Sephardi Jewish practice. ... Syriac ( Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible in the Syriac language. ...


Literature

  • A. Z. Idelsohn: Die gegenwärtige Aussprache des Hebräischen bei Juden und Samaritanern, in: Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 57 (N.F.: 21), 1913, p. 527-645 and 698-721.
  • Dovid Katz: The Phonology of Ashkenazic, in: Lewis Glinert (ed.): Hebrew in Ashkenaz. A Language in Exile, Oxford-New York 1993, p. 46-87.
  • Werner Weinberg: Lexikon zum religiösen Wortschatz und Brauchtum der deutschen Juden, ed. by Walter Röll, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1994.


  Jewish Languages
v • d • e
Afro-Asiatic
Hebrew eras: Biblical | Mishnaic | Medieval | Modern
dialects: Ashkenazi | Sephardi | Mizrahi | Yemenite | Tiberian | Samaritan Hebrew
Judeo-Aramaic (Aramaic): Biblical | Targum | Talmudic | Barzani | Hulaulá | Lishana Deni | Lishán Didán | Lishanid Noshan | Samaritan Aramaic
Judeo-Arabic (Arabic): Southern Iraqi | Northern Iraqi | Moroccan | Yemenite | Libyan | Algerian
Other: Cushitic: Kayla | Qwara Berber: Judeo-Berber
Indo-European
Yiddish (Germanic) dialects: Eastern | Western | Litvish | Poylish | Ukrainish
argots: Klezmer-loshn
Jewish English: Yeshivish | Yinglish
Judeo-Romance (Romance): Catalanic | Judeo-Italian | Ladino | Haketia | Tetuani | La‘az | Shuadit | Zarphatic | Lusitanic | Judeo-Aragonese
Judeo-Persian (Indo-Iranian): Bukhori | Juhuri | Dzhidi | Judeo-Hamedani | Judeo-Shirazi | Judeo-Esfahani | Judeo-Kurdish | Judeo-Yazdi
Judeo-Kermani | Judeo-Kashani | Judeo-Borujerdi | Judeo-Khunsari | Judeo-Golpaygani | Judeo-Nehevandi
Other: Yevanic (Hellenic) | Knaanic (Slavic) | Judæo-Marathi (Indo-Aryan)
Turkic Dravidian Kartvelian
Krymchak | Karaim Judeo-Malayalam Gruzinic

  Results from FactBites:
 
Britain.tv Wikipedia - Hebrew language (5998 words)
Hebrew, long extinct outside of Jewish liturgical purposes, was revived at the end of the 19th century by the Jewish linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, owing to the ideology of Zionism.
Mishnaic Hebrew from the 1st to the 3rd or 4th century CE, corresponding to the Roman Period after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and represented by the bulk of the Mishnah and Tosefta within the Talmud and by the Dead Sea Scrolls, notably the Bar Kokhba Letters and the Copper Scroll.
Hebrew functioned as the local mother tongue, Aramaic functioned as the international language with the rest of the Mideast, and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire.
Hebrew Information Center - hebrew alphabet (3773 words)
While the term "Hebrew" as a nationality is customarily used to refer to the ancient Israelites, the classical Hebrew language was extremely similar to the Canaanite languages spoken by their neighbors, such as Phoenician; indeed, Moabite and Hebrew are often considered to be two dialects of the same language.
Hebrew was also used as hebrew prayers a language of communication among Jews from different countries, particularly for the purpose of international trade.
Sephardi Hebrew hebrew symbols language is the basis of Standard Hebrew and not all that different hebrew calendar from it, although traditionally hebrew lexicon it has had a greater range of phonemes.
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