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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] kap or kop

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  • From: "Tyler Williams" <lists AT biblical-studies.ca>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] kap or kop
  • Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 12:49:12 -0600

>So, what is the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the letter ק qof or qoph? And
>what is Kittel's rendering? Do Ashkenazis distinguish the sounds of the
>letters כ kaf and ק qof?

Hi Peter, Kittel has כ as khof and ק as qof. From what I can determine
Modern Israeli, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi all pronounce כ as /k/ (plosive) or
/x/ (fricative/spirant), while ק is pronounced in all three as /k/.

What I think may be going on in Kittel upon further reflection is a
inconsistent use of Ashkenazi for some pronunciations (perhaps due to
influence from liturgical usage?). In the aleph-bet song on the CD that you
can purchase with the Textbook, the ק is pronounced as "quf" which is also
the Ashkenazi pronunciation (although the text lists the letter as "qof").

-Tyler Wiliams






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