Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - RE: Pronunciation of WAW

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Trevor & Julie Peterson" <06peterson AT cua.edu>
  • To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: Pronunciation of WAW
  • Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 20:11:53 -0500


Okay, I'm still curious. On what basis do you make this distinction? We use
the Israeli pronunciation, which doesn't make a distinction; but one of my
profs thinks it was originally a lateral fricative and explained it as
positioning the tongue for /l/ and blowing air around it.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics

> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Athas [mailto:gathas AT hotkey.net.au]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 6:43 PM
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Re: Pronunciation of WAW
>
>
> The samekh is a rounder "s" sound. If I can describe it this way:
> Put your mouth in position to
> make an "r" sound but make an "s" sound instead. It's similar to
> our English "s", but with a bit of
> a whistle quality to it.
>
> With sin, it is a much more sibilant sound, similar to modern
> Arabac sad (ie, tsadhe). Put your
> mouth in position for "th" (as in "think"), but say "s". It
> should come out as a hissing sound,
> almost like a "th", but distinct from "th". You should feel very
> snake-like as you pronounce it.
> :)
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> (Sydney, Australia)
>
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to b-hebrew as: [06peterson AT cua.edu]
> To unsubscribe, forward this message to
> $subst('Email.Unsub')
> To subscribe, send an email to join-b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu.
>





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page