Reply To: Correct Pronunciation of Tav

Home Forums Decaffeinated Coffee Correct Pronunciation of Tav Reply To: Correct Pronunciation of Tav

#979003
akuperma
Participant

What is the correct pronounciation of “come” or “light”? You do know the “e” at the end of “come” is pronounced (just ask Chaucer – it’s written for a reason). You do know that “gh” is pronounced similar to the “ch” (the ? ) in Chanukah.

Languages evolve. Even the accepted international standard for English, how the Queen speaks, evolves (as has her accent if one compares her speech in the 1930s and 1940s to how she speaks in public today). The correct prounciation of American English was largely determined at Appomattox in 1865 – Ohio rather than Boston or Richmond – though most of the English speaking world considers American English to be in error.

If you are Ashkenazi, the correct pronounciation of ? is like an English “s”. If you are Israeli sefardi, it is probably like a “t”, and while it was probably a “th” in ancient times, only a handful of Jews (e.g. Temanim) pronounce it that way.

But if you still pronounce “come” and “kom-eh” and “knights” as “k-nicht” (“ch” as a gutteral), feel free to try to speak Hebrew that way some anthropological linguisists think it might have been pronounced in the past. However living languages change over time, and Hebrew has always been a living language (no matter what the secular fanatics claim).