Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Modern Hebrew pronunciation

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: David Steinberg <david.l.steinberg AT rogers.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Modern Hebrew pronunciation
  • Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:13:10 -0400

Ryan Clan wrote


Modern Hebrew pronunciation of these letters is certainly a
*practical*option, and there is a lot to be said for a practical,
working solutionthat lets you move on. It was this pragmatism mixed
with the juggernautof Modern Hebrew as a spoken language today, that
has made me think thatMH is indeed at work influencing and
pressuring the way we pronounce andteach biblical Hebrew. I can't
otherwise account for the differences inpronunciation taught of not
only the inseparable preposition, but alsowith the vowels, the
begadkephat letters, and the "waw." Or is it just ahappy coincidence
that the more recent grammarians teach a pronunciationthat conforms
so readily to modern Hebrew? Or perhaps some majordiscovery of
ancient pronunciation accounts for the trend? If ModernHebrew is not
at work here, then what is?

The problem of using pronunciations that developed thousnds of years after biblical texts were written is particularly important when dealing with poetry and wordplay - see http://www.houseofdavid.ca/anc_heb.htm .




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page