Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <speederson AT erols.com>]

It was partly on this list that I got the answer to that question, so I'm sure others can provide answers more articulate that mine.  But as one who has learned both systems and settled on the latter, let me see what I can say about it.

 

First, I wouldn't say it's quite a true dichotomy.  There are grammar books that use Modern Hebrew pronunciation.  One example that I know is Rocine's new introductory grammar.  I believe Lambdin uses it as well, but I'm not sure about that.  It seems that the trend in scholarship is moving more in the direction of using modern pronunciation, but I'm probably not qualified to say a lot about that either.

 

But who says we have to do things because they're popular, anyway, right?  Well, one related issue is that Modern Hebrew, as a living language, provides a natural language community from which to learn.  Some languages have changed so much over the centuries that learning the modern form is not very helpful, perhaps even counterproductive to learning the ancient.  But the Hebrew used today is not so different from Biblical Hebrew that the differences should become more of an obstacle than the living language community is a help.  If all you want to learn to do is translate and parse, then it probably doesn't make much difference.  But if you want genuine fluency that enables you to read both silently and aloud at a pace comparable to your native language, you'll probably need to develop a certain degree of conversational skill; and the Modern language community can be a great means of doing that.

 

So much for actually learning Modern Hebrew, but what about the pronunciation system itself?  I've found that the Modern system seems a good deal more natural.  Maybe it's just me, but that's the impression that I get.  Keep in mind, too, that the scholarly standard doesn't really distinguish sounds much better than Modern Hebrew does.  Modern Hebrew may confuse spirantized kaph with het, for instance, but school Hebrew tends to do the same thing with the two forms of kaph.  And remember that we have numerous sounds in English that are represented by multiple forms in writing.  Almost every language faces that problem at some stage.  (I should note that, since the original question raised only two possibilities, I'm omitting the reconstructed Masoretic pronunciation system described, for instance, in Jouon.  Such a system does have its own merits for distinguishing letters from one another more clearly and for being an attempt to represent what was once a living form of the language.  The disadvantage is that it is a dead system and therefore lacks the living community of Modern Hebrew.)

 

In short, then, I wouldn't say that it's impossible to use the scholarly system quite well or to achieve a degree of fluency with it.  But if you want to use a system that has numerous avenues of reinforcement through a living community and that represents a genuine form of pronunciation used by real people in real life, I think Modern Hebrew is your best bet.  If you go all the way and learn Modern Hebrew in its own right, you'll have potential opportunities to use it conversationally, and you'll have access to the increasing body of scholarly literature that is being written in Modern Hebrew.

 

Trevor Peterson

CUA/Semitics

-----Original Message-----
From: Bearpecs AT aol.com [mailto:Bearpecs AT aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 10:53 PM
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: beginning grammars & computer assisted programs

In a message dated 5/16/01 11:58:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dwashbur AT nyx.net writes:

pronunciation is absolutely crucial for Hebrew

I'm curious about people's thought regarding the pronunciation of Biblical
Hebrew according to the grammar books versus using Modern Israeli Hebrew.  
Assuming the student knows the difference and can apply that to the
phonology, etc, does it make a difference how it's pronounced in class?  I'm
not supporting either or the other, just asking.
Hayyim

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