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October 29, 2012 6:17 pm at 6:17 pm
#901931
R.T.
Participant
Concerning the Cholam, my pronunciation (family Masorah) is “oh”. “Oy” would be a vav maleh followed by a yud as in the word Mavoy (Mishna Eruvin 1). On that topic, it seems that the soft Bet would be pronunced closer to a “v” sound than a soft “b” sound. If that is true, then it might imply that the Vav really ought to be pronunced as a Waw sound. And this is the conclusion of Sefer Yetzirah. The Vav being pronunced as a “v” sound is most likely due to European influences (French, German and Spanish) whereas Jews from Arab lands retained the “w” sound. Arabic has a similar construct in its alphabet.