Ashkenazi Hebrew Language

Information about Ashkenazi Hebrew Language

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.

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.

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]]).

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:

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).

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.

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 Cannstadt 1994.

Jewish Languages

• • [ e]

Afro-Asiatic

'''Hebrew

eras:

Biblical | Mishnaic | Medieval | Modern

dialects:

Judeo-Aramaic (Aramaic):

Judeo-Arabic (Arabic):

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):

Judeo-Persian (Iranian):

Other:

Yevanic (Hellenic) | Knaanic (Slavic) | Judo-Marathi (Indo-Aryan)

Turkic	Dravidian	Kartvelian
Krymchak \| Karaim	Judeo-Malayalam	Gruzinic

Biblical Hebrew, sometimes called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, in which the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh was written, and which the ancient Israelites spoke.
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The Mishnaic Hebrew language or Early Rabbinic Hebrew language is one direct 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.
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A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. In religion, it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual such as the Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim Salats (see
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Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (Standard Hebrew: sing. אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, pl.
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Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca.
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For the journal, see .

Phonology (Greek φωνή (phōnē), voice, sound + λόγος (lógos), word, speech, subject of discussion), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a
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Yiddish}}}
Writing system: uses a Hebrew-based alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia (de jure only); officially recognized minority language in Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel and Moldova
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Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of
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religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience.
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Anthem
Hatikvah
The Hope

Capital
(and largest city) Jerusalem

Official languages Hebrew, Arabic
Demonym Israeli
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glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʔ.
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The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ŋ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N.
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Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on.
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The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ) is a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to the Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points).
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Sephardi Hebrew is the pronunciation system for Biblical Hebrew favored for liturgical use by Sephardi Jewish practice. Its phonology was influenced by contact languages such as Ladino, Portuguese, Persian, Dutch and Arabic.
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Niqqud or Nikkud (Hebrew: נִקּוּד, Biblical נְקֻדּוֹת, Standard
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Jacob Emden was a Jewish rabbi and notable talmudist, and prominent opponent of the Shabbethaians. He was born at Altona June 4, 1697, and died there April 19, 1776. He was the son of the Chacham Tzvi, and a great-great grandson of Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm.
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Vilna Gaon, (also known as the Gaon of Vilna or as The Gra — a Hebrew acronym of "Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu"), (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797), was one of the most outstanding rabbis in recent centuries.
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Tanakh
Torah | Nevi'im | Ketuvim
Books of the Torah
1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5.
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Hayyim Nahman Bialik

Born: January 9 1873
Ukraine
Died: July 4, 1934
Vienna, Austria
Occupation: Poet, journalist, Children's writer, Translator
Literary movement: Hovevei Zion
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Shaul Tchernichovsky
Born: 20 July 1875
Mikhaelovka, Crimea, Russia
Died: 14 September 1943 (aged 68)
Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine
Occupation: Poet, Essayist, Translator
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Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism.^[1] A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi (Haredim in the plural).
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Anthem
Hatikvah
The Hope

Capital
(and largest city) Jerusalem

Official languages Hebrew, Arabic
Demonym Israeli
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For the journal, see .

A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.

Pharyngeal consonants in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):

IPA Description Example (Mishnaic Hebrew)
Orthography IPA Meaning
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The alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar flaps is ɾ
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The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʁ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R.
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The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʀ, a small capital R.
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