In the Hebrew language, “There are, generally speaking, two main
pronunciations: the Ashkenazi, or German, originated by central and Eastern
European Jews and carried to all countries to which those Jews have
emigrated (Western Europe, America, etc.); and the Sephardi, or Spanish,
used by Jews of Spanish or Portuguese stock in Europe and America and also
by Jews from Oriental countries. In all universities and throughout Israel,
the Sephardi pronunciation has been adopted, since it is generally believed
that this is the pronunciation nearest to the original.” (Biblical Hebrew
Step by Step, vol. 1, p 33, by Professor emeritus of Hebrew and Semitic
studies, Menahem Mansoor).
It is a well known fact, that the Ashkenazi Jews had changed the
pronunciation of the jod to that of the “y” sound. However, the Sephardic
Jews have kept the original pronunciation of the jod as “j.”
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