Does Hebrew Pronounce Ayin and Alef Differently?

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In this new series, "?מה הקטע" (Ma haketa - What the heck) we touch on common issues that deal with Hebrew speaking and pronunciation.
This video was created particularly for English-speaking, non-native learners of Hebrew. Some people who speak natively will pronounce Ayin differently. They are a minority, but should not be disregarded.
The message is that learning a new sound can be avoided and communication is otherwise not affected.
'In my Ulpan class, I'm learning that there's a difference between Ayin and Alef, but most of the time I just hear people pronouncing them the same... Ma haketa!?'
More at www.linguistixpro.com/hebrew

[@jonorisin73]

Overstated. "Ayin" is still found among middle-age and some young "mizrahim" (middle eastern Jews), not just Yemenite Jews either. "Het" is indeed rarer, but still not associated with Yemenites perse, just "mizrahim" in general.

[@Linguistix]

I agree with you, Jon. What I failed to add in the video is that the necessity to employ this sound for native English speaking learners of Hebrew is less important because they will be understood just as well. I didn't mean to imply that no one uses Ayin - simply that they are a minority. When learners are looking for ways to master the language, it's important to know who uses which pronunciations, so I thank you for your comment.

[@jonorisin73]

Thanks for your kind response. Keep up the great work.

[@isaacder3i121]

I wouldn't say Het is rarer than Ayin, its extremely common among North African Jewish, whether they are sefaradi or mizrahi. But yeah, generally these sounds are found almost exclusively among the middle aged population. The trilling of the Resh is common among Sefaradi Jews and Mizrahi Jews as well, just not in the younger population.

[@omaralzoman5866]

as Arabic speaker Form SUADI ARABIA the original is butter and more worm and it's feel that belongs to the middle not White people that speak European language

[@ra8682ra]

@@Linguistix very misleading

[@tomr5803]

Modern Hebrew needs a second linguistic revolution, imho. Modern Hebrew was revived by European Jews speaking Indo-European languages who, try as they might, could not reproduce the full, linguistic richness of Semitic Hebrew and so reduced, simplified and assimilated many heretofore distinct letters and sounds. Hebrew is a lot richer than what standardized Modern Hebrew pronunciation suggests today, and it's ironic that some of the most phonetically rich Hebrew today is heard from not just Mizrahi Jews but second language Hebrew speakers spoken by Israeli and Palestinian Arabs.

[@Linguistix]

I'm actually with you on this one. It's tough to see languages change so drastically in the direction of another language family. What keeps me going are those unique consonant clusters reminiscent of the Semitic languages

[@Abilliph]

You are exaggerating. The Ashkenazi influence on Hebrew is summed to 1 letter and a couple of known phrases. Sephardic pronunciation is what dominates the Hebrew language. Ashkenazi are about 30% of Israel. I understand the frustration, but I never hear people crying for old English and their original pronunciation of r, and for old Germanic, and even for old Arabic that also changed in their pronunciation of many letters, like the emphatic letters. No language was left untouched by others. The main motivation behind the changes in letters in Hebrew is to sound less Arabic, which Israelis associate with hate towards Jews.

[@Abilliph]

@@williamanstett5305 the r sound. Hebrew has the German or French r sound. The rest of the letters are the same or not pronounced any more.

[@mujemoabraham6522]

@@Abilliph The Hebrew language kidnapped by the Westerners specially German language and here is the prove : 1- The letter ח Hhet converted to German CH ( KH ) 2- The letter ט Ttet converted to normal T 3- The letter ע A"yen converted to sound like A 4- The letter צ Ssadi converted to German Z ( TS ) 5- The letter ק Qof converted to sound like K 6- The letter ר Resh converted to German R ( GH ) 7- The letter ו Waw converted to German W ( V )

[@mujemoabraham6522]

@@williamanstett5305 There are seven Semitic letters disappeared from the modern Hebrew details as follow : 1- The letter ח Hhet converted to German CH ( KH ) 2- The letter ט Ttet converted to normal T 3- The letter ע A"yen converted to sound like A 4- The letter צ Ssadi converted to German Z ( TS ) 5- The letter ק Qof converted to sound like K 6- The letter ר Resh converted to German R ( GH ) 7- The letter ו Waw converted to German W ( V )

[@saragreenberg8885]

When I was growing up in Brooklyn, all the Syrian Jewish kids pronounced the ayin gutterally. (And differentiated between chet and chaf.).

[@rjmaroof]

It's not only Yemenite Jews. North African and Middle Eastern Jews distinguish between these (and between chaf and chet) routinely.

[@Linguistix]

rjmaroof You're absolutely right and I didn't mean to claim there weren't people who actually distinguish those sounds, but just that they are still a minority. Since this video and series are aimed at native English speakers learning modern Hebrew, I find theyd be wasting effort and time on these distinctions as they acquire it as a second language. I do appreciate your additional information

[@BarakYisrael]

@@Linguistix yeminite are a minority too though. And yea they would be wasting time if it was just modern hebrew and speaking they were aiming for, but if it was regarding tefillah and biblical hebrew it it very important. Every word we say has a structure based on it's wavelength and when we daven with kavana our hearts radiate the hebrew words with it's electromagnetic and give it ruach increasing it's vibrational frequency. But the form of the words in tefillah is based on precise pronunciation

[@jeremybravo8486]

I am sephardic and we differentiate these sounds as well.

[@layladventures]

3ayn is a sound that lot of millennial Jews can’t pronounce because it doesn’t exist in western languages where they grew up probably, to Sephardics that grew up in Arabic speaking countries they can easily pronounce it because it exists also in Arabic

[@272arshan]

Actually, there is a benefit to pronouncing Ayin and Alef differently, especially in the presence of learners. By distinguishing these sounds, you allow learners and native speakers to distinguish between words that would otherwise sound the same when using the colloquial pronunciation. Furthermore, you grossly overstated the stigmatization of using ayin. Any middle eastern hebrew speaker who natively or sometimes non natively speaks another semitic language besides Hebrew is probably going to pronounce ayin, tet, and ħet differently from alef, taw, and chaf, especially if they learned hebrew either later in life or alongside the formal training of said native language. Another important point to mention is that Palestinians, young Arab Jews, and young Yemenite Jews, when speaking hebrew, were/are often made fun of for using the pronunciation made above, largely for racist reasons, so a fair few of them either deliberately conform, or deliberately use the old pronunciation to protest that racism. On yet *another* note, there are certain jewish legal traditions that require a legal expert's speech to have as few homophones in the readings and pronunciations as possible (i.e. using the authentic, archaic semitic rather than the colloquial), and in these the ayins are a requirement. These additional dimensions are of no small importance and would've benefited the video with their presence. A fun final addition, of no great importance, is that some european dialects of hebrew actually still distinguish the ayin, but the sound itself has changed to a weird sort of nasal g, kind've like ng [IPA: ŋ]. Some people say it sounds pleasing (I am in this camp) while others believe it to be comical.

[@Rolando_Cueva]

This comment is much more informative than the video! Well done.

[@messianic_scam]

Isn't it how ancient hebrew should sound?

[@EbrahimHasan]

I'm an Arab learner. Distinguishing Ayin, Chaf, Sad, Tet, and Qof is helpful for two reasons. First, it's easier to remember spelling. Second, since many words are shared between Arabic and Hebrew, it becomes easier to learn and remember words.

[@doh7844]

Interesting, but, Zadi in hebrew (that you wrote as Sad) is pronounced almost exclusively as ts sound like Italian z, its different from Samech

[@EbrahimHasan]

@@doh7844 @D'oh! Yes, you're right. What I'm proposing there is to pronounce these sounds much like they are pronounced in Mizrahi/Yemenite Hebrew and other Semitic languages, and not like they are in modern Hebrew. Tsade is, as you pointed out, much like the Italian and German letter. In other Semitic languages, the letter is quite distinct from the Italian Z and the samech. It's a completely different sound, and the letter is called Sad in Arabic. This technique has helped me a great deal in memorising Hebrew words, especially since a great deal of words are shared between Hebrew and my mother tongue. To a European, this technique would be a disaster I guess.

[@strnbrg59]

@@EbrahimHasan Keep doing what you're doing. It'll help your spelling (as you note). And in a way, you'll be setting a good example for Israelis!

[@multilingual972]

It is very important to know how to make both sounds, to clarify and differentiate at times-- Ani meaning "I" and Awwni meaning "poor".It is a valuable tool when someone asks how to spell and word and is not sure about the aleph or the yin. I think this video was meant eradicate the ayin sound and is very Ashkenazicentric.

[@Linguistix]

Thanks for the comment, Mark! I agree that the removal of the Ayin sound comes off as favoring one population over another, but it is merely an observation of a particular sound that is tending to move out of many speakers' pronunciations - including people who have a Sephardic background. I am merely acting as conduit through which English-speaking learners of Hebrew can get a sense of how to best master the language spoken by the majority of Israelis. And since the video was meant to simplify the learning process, it was a way to show English-speaking learners that you won't be misunderstood pronouncing them both as Alef. That could have been clearer in the video. I also agree that it's nice to be able to differentiate two similar sounds to be extra clear, but rarely is it a necessity to have to explain that you meant to say 'poor' instead of 'I' with the right context, especially since Ayin doesn't change the inherent vowel sound. Always appreciate and respect the comments of others, so thank you again!

[@multilingual972]

Fair enough, but I lived in Israel for 8 years, 2004 to 2013. I had several YOUNG Yemenite friends and I am talking late 20's to mid 30's, second and third generation, who are very proud of their roots and do the ע א ח כ the whole nine yards. I have an Ashkenazi friend now in his mid 40's, who would always pronounce these letters when I would ask to spell something--just once for the spelling exercise. Anyhow, it doesn't come off as imitating their elders. I would avoid sweeping statements. I know you mean well, but please get to know more young Mizachi people and try to do more research:-))

[@ask825]

Orthodox Fox would hope all Ashkenazim or all people in general would use the original way of speaking again

[@joshuarosen6242]

@@multilingual972 This video is clearly aimed at people learning Hebrew not people who are already fluent speakers as in your examples.

[@sjl2135]

Interesting. My family in Israel is Iraqi Kurdish and lots of my family members pronounce the ayin. It in fact skews older, but a lot of those who pronounce it are not elderly.

[@pesterlis]

Very interesting video. Thanks!

[@MidEastAmerican]

I agree that it is impractical to try to pronounce all the Hebrew letters distinctly as was historically done, while speaking colloquial Hebrew; HOWEVER, although correct pronunciation of Aiyin is not normative for Israelis below the age of 40, Aiyin is still WIDELY correctly pronounced by Israelis of Middle Eastern Jewish descent from around the age of 40 and up, and that is a substantial percentage of the population. In fact, more Israelis pronounce Aiyin than pronounce the letter Heh. Most people who do not pronounce Aiyin also do not pronounce the letter Heh, and many who DO pronounce Aiyin do not pronounce the letter Heh. Furthermore, many who do not pronounce Aiyin properly do still pronounce it -- as a glottal stop. In fact, a great many do...including many younger Israelis. Whether pronouncing Aiyin properly will make you sound weird depends on what people you're hanging around. If you're hanging around Mizrahi Jews from around the age of 40 and up, they'll very likely appreciate that you're pronouncing Aiyin. If, on the other hand, you're trying to fit in with younger Israelis, it really is likely to just make you sound weird...but I really wouldn't compare it to pronouncing the 'k' in the word 'know'. That's an exaggeration. It's more akin to speaking English with a southern accent while in NY, or vice versa (still not a perfect analogy... but closer than the 'know' comparison).

[@Linguistix]

Loved this --> "more Israelis pronounce Aiyin than pronounce the letter Heh" You're totally right about using a glottal stop as well - maybe an easy alternative and happy medium for some speakers. To be honest, I regretted using the K as in Know analogy as soon as I posted. It's not the same. Thank you for your feedback and comments!

[@user-pk4cw5xf4e]

MidEast American great insight! Thank you. I have a question if you would please help me sort it out. 1. If we put in a room a Rabbi from early 1900s Morocco with a millennial from modern day Israel, would they understand each other? 2. Do younger generation Israelis from Sephardic origin pronounce the “Arabic” Ain at synagogues? 3. What is the difference between old Biblical Hebrew, modern Hebrew spoken in Israel, and Hebrew taught to Jewish children in Morocco some 100 years ago, and probably the same one recited in North African synagogues in modern days? Thank you very much for shedding some light on this topic.

[@omaralzoman5866]

from my opinion as Arabic speaker Form SUADI ARABIA . i find the modern Hebrew is weird,

[@joshuarosen6242]

Thank you for this. As a beginner Hebrew student I have been struggling with this. I had read that ayin is a pharyngeal stop and aleph a glottal stop. I know what the latter is but I'm English and I find it hard to distinguish between the two. I am pleased to know that I don't need to. I know how to pronounce aleph and if I can pronounce ayin the same, that is very convenient. Your video was succinct and perfectly answered my question.

[@shosmyth1454]

Thank you for help in making the distinction.

[@bmwmerc89]

it sounds weird because the people who invented israeli hebrew couldn't pronounce the ע ח א ט ק all these letters arent dead they are pronounced all over the arab world. so no its not weird at all, its only weird in israel. for christs sake even aramaic speakers pronounce their letters correctly despite the language being almost dead.. so as an arab speaker if i want to read the torah or speak israeli its much easier for me to sound the letters the way they're written

[@Linguistix]

M Lawand That's an excellent observation, but this video was not intended to discuss sounds that have spread 'all around the Arab world'. It also isn't a video against the preservation of certain sounds. Languages are living, they evolve, and no one can really put a finger on why sounds merge or get removed or added. I actually like that you pronounce the sounds distinctly when reading! And I like when I hear it from people who naturally distinguish those sounds. However as a pronunciation coach, I find that teaching native English speakers to adopt an Ayin distinct from an Alef sounds a little out of place since nowadays, in Modern Hebrew, for whatever reason, the majority of speakers with no native background in Arabic don't pronounce Alef and Ayin differently. It was simply a way to facilitate language learning. I definitely agree these sounds still exist and they were created to be distinct. In the future, I will try and clarify my intention and audience but I appreciate your feedback!

[@bmwmerc89]

Linguistix Pronunciation I understand totally and respect your opinion. I actually love the way the Torah sounds when I pronounce the letters the way they should be. A lot of it starts to make sense especially since I am a native Arabic speaker. What are your thoughts on dawud bin 3anan? דוד בן ענן He’s the real revivalist in my opinion.. but that’s just my opinion 😂

[@vandikautama7173]

​@@Linguistixyou have killed theese letters... You should preserve the original sound of them... Shame on you! Sorry to say that

[@D.E.IsraelSawyer]

Thank you for your video. I studied linguistics in college and was fascinated by the subject. I'm a bit of a fanatic in that I like to know exactly the 'proper' way to pronounce a word versus the colloquial way. I knew the 2 letters were not redundant and that Aleph and Ayin had to have a sound.

[@saar144]

Hi Ruben, you are absolutely correct. Although you would still hear news anchors on tv and radio maintain the proper pronunciation of Ayin, in day-to-day life it would sound weird to most israelis. I would argue further, that even the pronunciation of the letter Heh has been "eroded" to sound like Alef in the past few decades. My name is Sa’ar (סער) and most of the time people confuse my name when they hear it (especially in Aroma, our Starbucks equivalent) as Sahar (סהר), bcz both names are now commonly pronounced as (סאר).

[@saar144]

I love your videos btw

[@manar1863]

The original Hebrow has the letter Ayin just like אייל גולן pronounces it !!! This is the right hebrow !! The Arab people don’t speak Hebrew with Arabic accent !! Cause the original Hebrew litters are the same as in arabic language!!!!!

[@Abilliph]

Some of them are the same. The original Hebrew didn't have thal, tha, the j sound , and maybe also rayin. And it had the hard g and p

[@screamtoasigh9984]

No, Eyal Golan pronunces them with an Arabic accent because he's from an Mizrachi background, Arabic and Hebrew are on two different branches of Semitic, Hebrew is NW, NOT like Arabic. Second, it's thought that different parts of the nation had different accents. (Like Texas, Oregon and Boston are all correct accents.) Third, it's like looking to England for the best example of the original British accent. You know where you'd find that? In the US. Fourth: forward.com/opinion/398738/no-sephardic-pronunciation-is-not-more-correct-than-ashkenazi/ Fifth: a whole series on the accent www.jewishlinknj.com/search?searchword=Sephardic%20pronunciation&searchphrase=all

[@SammytheawesomeILikePotatoes]

Abilliph there was a tha isn’t it ת?

[@Abilliph]

@@SammytheawesomeILikePotatoes ancient Hebrew had the letter tav which only made the sound t. Later, Aramaic influences introduced the soft forms of the letters, v, soft g, both sound of th, f, and kh.

[@SammytheawesomeILikePotatoes]

@@Abilliph so what is the proper way of praying? Paying attention to dagesh or ignoring?

[@M.athematech]

Many Israelis seem to pronounce Ayin (as well as Aleph) as a glottal stop and given the current understanding that the emphatics in early Hebrew were glottalized sounds not pharyngealized (which seems to be a peculiarity originating in south Arabia), this glottal stop is probably also how Ayin was pronounced in ancient Hebrew. This raises the question of what Aleph was in ancient Hebrew and the answer seems to be that it was originally just an absence of a consonant before a vowel and that the glottal stop (Hamza) that the Arabic Alif typically acquires is a late development one that created a merger between Alif and Ayin in some Arabic dialects (hence the development of the diacritic Hamza which is actually just a small Ayin written on top of the Alif meaning that the Alif had acquired an Ayin pronunciation) but which was a reintroduction of a glottal stop in other Arabic dialects in which the original glottal Ayin had become pharyngeal. Thus the Ashkenazi and Sepharidi silent Aleph is probably how ancient Aleph always was while Israeli pronunciation of Aleph as a glottal stop is influence from Arabic as is the pharyngeal Ayin amongst some Israelis.

[@waleedl.albayyari4179]

i think i got disagree with this , israeli people from arab roots and arab israelis pronounce ע ח differently because these two letters have equivalent letters from arbic language just like all letters in hebrew do ,and its not weird to pronounce them that way in isreal today , lestin to אייל גולן for example he is popular singer in isreal and he pronounce these letters in this way tho its not the common pronunciation ,im not expert in the language im just saying .thanks :^)

[@Linguistix]

Thank you, Farah, and you're right! Israelis with Arab roots and native speakers of Arabic often pronounce Ayin like in Arabic. They have Arabic accents in Hebrew. So does אייל גולן. He clearly has a Yemenite/Moroccan background. It doesn't make him, or anyone for that matter, any less of a Hebrew speaker. But this video is for foreigners (mostly native English speakers), who would sound a bit unnatural if they pronounced Hebrew with an Arabic accent. I wanted to explain what connotations or associations that sound creates. I wouldn't mind singing like אייל גולן but I wouldn't want to talk like him ;)

[@judhah]

No, they do not have Arabic accents in Hebrew, they have Hebrew accents in Hebrew. It is you who has the foreign accent.

[@xxkq0]

Linguistix Pretty sure Eyal Golan only sings with ayin. He speaks like a normal native Israeli if you listen to him in interviews and so on.

[@Jem5490aa]

I have family in Israel who speak regularly with Het and Aayin, they're Iraqi

[@thejack544]

Linguistix LOL talk about your own ignorance about your semitic background. Just proves to you how dumb ashkenazim are.

[@TziporaRaphaella]

Interesting. I've been studying Hebrew kind of in and off for the last 8-9 years but one of my first teachers was an older (I suppose elderly though he had a lot of Israeli spunk so elderly sounds wrong!) who was definitely not Yemenite or of Arab origin. My mind is drawing a blank on exactly where he was born but I'm thinking somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Not Russia though. Anyway he definitely has a gutteral ayin. I remember him and his American wife kind of debating it when teaching Hebrew. No idea if it's related but this guy had ultimately spent much more of his life in the US than Israel yet still has one of the strongest Israeli accents I've ever encountered in Israeli English speakers. I wonder if having that extra guttural sound is a contributor to that. Perhaps worth adding he grew up on a kibbutz so maybe regardless of his own birth country, it was more the people he was around? It's a shame I fell out of touch because I'd be curious to ask more about it.

[@yoshevhaaretz7094]

I have a question about accent in general here, before starting to study Hebrew a Muslim friend taught me how to read and pronounce Arabic so when I started Hebrew I kept the Arabic sounds (the kaf and qof, alef 3ayin, khaf 7et, s`adi as opposed to tzadi). But I was only learning classical Hebrew, so I wasn't going to talk to anyone anyways. If I were to go to Israel, how understood would I be? I know in some instances the grammar is waaay different! But should I even bother to drop my perfected 3ayinayim wa qofim??? Can't I just keep them? I'm guessing the waw has to become a vav, but otherwise???? Qof sounds like kaf, you know? the only super different word I can think of is tiqwah being tikvah.

[@Jem5490aa]

Yoshev Haaretz that's the real way to speak! Good! When speaking to Israelis it would only be "weird" if you used waw, but when reading the Torah or praying try to use the real pronounciation(qof, waw, thaw, etc.)

[@LidiaCGPadro]

I just want to learn Biblical Hebrew so I can read in English the Hebrew pronounciation. Where can I find the Holy Scriptures in English/Hebrew in big print. [e-mail] Thanks

[@phulo]

Thank you very much.

[@dansizemore6319]

This was a great video! As a fairly advanced Hebrew learner (US native) I found it to be very helpful. I don't understand the negative comments. The presenter is not judgemental, but the commenters are. Just as in English there are speakers who make certain sounds that the majority don't--The use of that marks them--neither good or bad--just sets them apart. I will probably never be able to make the ע sound "right" but hopefully I will be forgiven, just like I, as An English speaker forgive Arabs who have difficulty with P and B or Thais who have difficulty with R, and Koreans who have difficulty with L- Philipinos who mix up P and F--the list goes on and on-most of us will never come off as a native speaker for whatever secondary language we study. That there are vids such as this that explain the historical perspective is enough for me.

[@jimmydebb3402]

Hi, thank you for your video and it made me consider about one question, if I use the pronunciation of the Biblical Hebrew which similar to Yemenite Hebrew , can people understand me ? I insist doing the biblical pronunciation for every ancient texts and prayers just like the Orthodox Jews do

[@Linguistix]

People will understand most of what you say for sure. I suppose it also depends on word choice but changing Alef, Ayin or Shva pronunciations for example will likely just come off as a particular accent

[@isaacder3i121]

Ayin isn't an exclusively arabic sound.Its found in aramaic as well and in 'mizrahi' hebrew. Its not exclusive to Yemenite Jews either. Elderly North African Jews (many of whom ironically came from europe) also speak with a guttural Ayin and Het (which is different than khaf). They tend to be more religious. Elderly members of the Shas party are a good example. These sounds are virtually absent among the younger generation, no matter where their parents or grandparents emigrated from. Young Jews of Yemenite background never use these sounds in speech, but they do in prayer. Same with North African Jews. I don't think its wrong to speak with Modern Hebrew with these sounds, even if you are a native speaker. I doubt Yemenite Jews would be offended or interpret it as 'cultural appropriation'' because its an authentic Hebrew sound, not arabic. Ashkenazi Jews forgot how to pronounce these sounds, so did european Sefaradim from Greece, the Netherlands, England, ,etc. So yes, it may sound awkward for these jewish groups to attempt to use these in conversation. Learning these sounds actually shows a great respect for mizrahi culture and tradition. I hardly think someone would get offended if a tourist or immigrant spoke like this, but it would sound odd because even younger jews with mizrahi parents do not speak this way. The Resh is usually trilled by elderly Jews. Young Jews pronounce it like French. There are many other sounds that modern hebrew leaves out that are also found in Aramaic, Arabic, and even Amharic. One thing for sure is it will appear very strange to pronounce the tsadi like the arabic saad in conversation. Many people may have trouble understanding you, confusing it with the samekh or sin sound even though its not the same thing. And never try to imitate the ghimmel "gh" or people with think you are pronouncing modern Resh. Pretty much only Iraqi Jews and Yemenite Jews use this in prayer, never in speech. Not even North African Jews pronounce this when praying. I have never heard it anyway. That sound is pretty much lost.

[@ask825]

It’s simply the original Semitic pronunciation which is still alive in any Semitic language except from Hebrew because Europeans tried to erase the “barbaric Arabness” of it

[@screamtoasigh9984]

It's untrue. Arab is a different branch. It's not the same thing. Smh. Stop using Arabic comparisons. It's ridiculous. forward.com/opinion/398738/no-sephardic-pronunciation-is-not-more-correct-than-ashkenazi/

[@ask825]

ScreamToASigh you are wrong

[@verysmoky3605]

​@@ask825 No ScreamToASigh is literally right... Hebrew is in the Northwest Semitic branch and Arabic is in the Central Semitic branch. Look it up. Mentioning "Arabness" in the context of Hebrew makes as much sense as describing French phonology in terms of Romanian. What's completely wrong is your ridiculous claim that Hebrew pronunciation changed because of an intentional effort to make it sound European. If anything the opposite is true. The institution which regulates Hebrew, the Academy of the Hebrew Language, explicitly recommended the "Oriental" pronunciation over the "Non-Oriental" one. The language naturally acquired some European sounds because the majority of the first speakers of Modern Hebrew spoke European languages as their first language. Not every little thing related to Israel has to be about "Arabs" vs "European Jews", smh.

[@messianic_scam]

North africa jews didn't come from Europe but from arab jews background who lived in Andalusia that's why queen Isabella and Fernando kicked them out cause they were not originally from spain they called them arab jews they wrote in arabic spain monarchs expelled every one cane with islam stop lying people

[@Bahrta_sai]

So how is alef pronounced? I thought it was silent, & only used as a vowel marker. Also would it be reasonable to pronounce ayin as an 'eh' sound (for a conlang written with Hebrew) or what would be the closest choice? diacritics are fine.

[@strnbrg59]

Alef is not silent. It's the first sound in "animal" - the release that precedes the actual "a". That is, when "animal" is the first word in a sentence; there's no alef sound if you say "the animal" and you slide from the long 'e' of "the" right into the 'a' of "animal".

[@uriyahyaakov5774]

Thia ia misleading and ineffective...I guess it's effective if you goal is to teach people incorrect pronunciation of a very important language. Maybe not important in Israeli Hebrew but in biblical hebrew the distinguishes must be made

[@Linguistix]

"Maybe not important in Israeli Hebrew" You're absolutely right! This video was not meant to discuss Biblical Hebrew, and though I agree with you that the sounds are different, this video is meant to teach (mostly English-speaking) students to pronounce the language as we do in Modern Hebrew. It's a simple language hack. Not going against the preservation of the language.

[@uriyahyaakov5774]

Linguistix Pronunciation understood. Thanks for clarity

[@screamtoasigh9984]

How is it misleading to write modern Hebrew in the title?

[@bernardcornellisvanmeijere4375]

I agree with you that absolute beginners need not concern themselves with the whole ח וכ or ט ות or א וע. Mind you if you become much more comfortable in the language it could be useful to learn how to pronounce the differences, both to understand anyone who actively pronounces the difference and to articulate words a little clearer (so no one gets mixed up with אני and עני and he like). Also I have found that many younger Israelis want to learn the various different pronunciations for various reasons (some want to learn Arabic, some want to culturally closer to Mizrahim, some find it easier, or they have a lot of Mizrahi friends or idols they want to emulate).

[@adlew]

Let's accept (as I do) that in Modern Hebrew, alef and ayin are pronounced the same. But HOW are they pronounced? Is there a glottal stop? For example, is מסעדה (restaurant) pronounced "misada" or "mis.ada". In the latter case, the dot denotes a tiny pause after the ayin (which, if it exists, would be the same after an alef). In the same vein, what if the "silent" consonant was absent? Would you pronounce מסעדה the same as the (non-existent) מִסָדָה? That's what I'm trying to find out.

[@Linguistix]

This is exactly the question to be asking! And the answer is 'no glottal stop necessary'. Many will add it to distinguish similar words like תשיר (sing!) and תשאיר (leave it!) and some even use a glottal stop in place of an Ayin. But the truth is you really only hear that break when people are slowly and clearly articulating their speech. As we join words together at a natural rate and apply natural rhythm, it becomes stilted and choppy to always use a glottal when you see an Alef or Ayin. מסעדה should be misaDA (mee sah DAH). Additionally, when the same vowels are on either side of the Alef / Ayin like in בארץ or בערך breaking the vowel with a glottal actually takes away from the quality sometimes resulting in a 'buh'-AHretz pronunciation instead of a true baAretz (bahAHretz).

[@marcioguerra1798]

I looked for this video because my rabbi spell "Ain" in a different way than "Aleph" and after try and try, I can't spell like him lol

[@Waiting4Him111]

Phonetically, it helps when learning how to spell in Hebrew. When I taught my children to spell English words I would have them sound out the world how it's spelled to help them get it in their head. They would never in conversation pronounce the k in know, but for spelling purposes it is helpful.

[@RudydeGroot]

I am learning Hebrew and I have adopted the Jemenite pronunciation. It makes sense to me to pronounce the difference of the two vowels as they are different. Why pronounce a patach and a qamats as an 'a' while they are clearly distinct?

[@Linguistix]

It's a good question. And the answer tends to have to do with Prescriptive and Descriptive language. Why pronounce them the same? Since almost all native speaking children do. Since you're learning a specific dialect / variation of Hebrew, it seems to match! If your goal is to preserve what was intended originally, then absolutely distinguish them, but know it will come off unnatural (generally) in conversation with a majority of speakers in Israel. I'm a fan of both but my personal goals are to remove any doubt that I'm not a native speaker 🤷‍♂️

[@RudydeGroot]

@@Linguistix You can ask yourself: What is a 'native speaker'? Israelis, American Asjkenazim (read: Chabad) or Theimanim? An Israeli will say 'David', while Chabad will pronounce the qamats as an 'o': 'Dovid'. Or 'beit', which becomes 'beis' in Chabad custom because there is no dagesj in the taw. Both linguistic rules are similar in Jemenite Hebrew: 'doawid' and 'beith'. (Where the 'th' is like the English 'the'.) So who is the actual native here? I guess my goal is to follow logic (if two tribes follow the same linguistic principle and one tribe is not, then it must be the majority that is most probably correct) rather than to make myself understood or fit in.

[@Linguistix]

@@RudydeGroot I totally get you. There are two different systems at hand. And there's no need to consider the other to be any more or less native. If you're born and grow up speaking a language, you're native. Simply put. But since you yourself are labeling them as Chabad or Teimanim, you're already classifying them as not Israeli. Plus the insularity and relatively low populations leave those dialects a lot less accessible to Hebrew students. Many regions speak in variations of the core language, heck that's how new languages form! I support it. But remember why we're here (or at least why I'm here). It's not to show or prove what's right or wrong. In this video, it's to show native English speaking Hebrew students that they don't need to distinguish alef from ayin to sound like an Israeli. If I get any Chabad or Teimanim pronunciation requests, I'll surely suggest otherwise!

[@vandikautama6053]

@@Linguistix that's because u don't belong to the middle east...

[@brianniemi]

I’m studying Egyptian hieroglyphics and understanding the difference between these sounds is helpful. The vulture corresponds to Hebrew aleph and the forearm corresponds to Hebrew ayin

[@RENATONOVELETTO]

I am "trying" to learn hebrew since April and another day i was thinking, why they say Biblical Hebrew instead Hebrew. Because is the Hebrew the original language used at the holy book!?

[@abhishekrhema3830]

What do you think about ghimel, dhalet, thaw,etc are they important to learn

[@Linguistix]

Absolutely! In fact, all sounds should be double checked for any slight variations in production. Depending on your native language, Gimel isn't the same as all G sounds, Dalet has a slightly different placement from the English D, and Tav and Tet also see variation. There's a video on this channel on it! So, ya! They're important to learn.

[@bobbobson4069]

Very interesting video, especially as I am just starting to learn modern Hebrew! I hope you produce other Hebrew related videos! תודה

[@Linguistix]

Thanks! And glad to have you here! Feel free to check out the other Hebrew videos on this channel or at www.mivtaim.com בהצלחה!

[@freesoul6122]

I am learning hebrew and I am a native Egyptian Arabic speaker, I can pronounce the Ayin perfectly since it's the same Ayin in Arabic, can I do that or stick with the Alef sound?

[@Linguistix]

If you speak Arabic natively it makes perfect sense to keep Ayin separate from Alef. You may also choose to switch between the two pronunciations, depending on the audience. Great question!

[@eduardoiiigo3932]

Adonai has a sound A and Elohim has a sound E that Aleft is the first letter. Where the sounds come from if Aleph has no sound or silent?

[@GabrielSolanoEscotto-rf4kw]

Aleph is a placeholder for the vowels, not the vowels itself

[@mayanlogos92]

I was scared I thought you were going to say that we must do the ayn guttural...

[@WongTinKay]

My objective is NOT to be understood by people or communicate with them. I do agree with Tom R. Where can you find that the ayin when place at the end of a name is pronounced as /a/, that is ... an aleph.

[@ImagineResults]

HI Ruben , I'm doing some research on Paleo Hebrew symbols , their meaning and their pronunciation, and I have come up with a theory about the name of God given to Moses which is translated to English as I Am. I looked into the Hebrew Alphabet A The ‘Aleph’ is the picture of an ox head and illustrates strength, power, leader. M The ‘Mem’ illustrates water & blood, flow, Sustainer of life. Aleph Mem - means Mother. I've seen some references to the pronunciation of Aleph Mem be AyEm which is amazingly similar to I Am . Could it be that I Am is actually Aleph Mem? What is the actual Hebrew letters for the name of God that was spoken to Moses ? It's known as "I Am that I Am" In truth God is both male and female ( not gender but elemental unconditional infinite intelligent power) God is demonstrated in all universal laws, like in the Law of Polarity and Electricity, you have to have the Active element we call positive or male and the Receptive element we call negative or female in order to have light manifest or energy flow. Why do you think people call God He? that would leave out the true power of Light. God certainly can't be one gender. That would be absurd. Life can't flow from the male alone and God is the source of all life and light. Thank you for your channel.

[@eustacemason8871]

My question wasn't answered what I would like to know is how is the Ayin pronounced when it has a dot . under

[@Linguistix]

Ayin with a dot directly underneath [עִ] is pronounced like the English "EE", just short and punched. עִברית / עִיר / עִניין

[@daleknight7433]

I agree with you.

[@yoonpender5661]

i am always wondering how i pronounce "ע" guttural.

[@matthewdavis9437]

If you're actually curious about that, you can look up how to pronounce the Arabic letter ع. It's the same sound (if distinguishing it from א).

[@MixedFruit876]

You're generally right but you're exaggerating a bit. It's definitely not only Yemenites but people from any Middle Eastern country, and it's not just the elderly, many times it's also the younger ones. Go to the market in Jerusalem for example, or go to the small towns in the south or anywhere where the majority is Mizrahi... You'll find lots of people of all ages (definitely not everyone) pronouncing the Ayin. (I'm Israeli)

[@Linguistix]

Agreed. I've since clarified the level of exaggerating in previous comments. I was aiming at an audience learning Hebrew from English and just wanted to make sure they weren't spending too much time on a tricky sound that _may_ have made things sound less natural. Appreciate the clarification!

[@MixedFruit876]

@@Linguistix You´re אחלה :)

[@strnbrg59]

Educated people sometimes pronounce a guttural ayin, if they think there could be some confusion otherwise. Osher (אושר=joy, עושר=wealth) is a common one because often either one makes sense in context.

[@RenewalCreations]

What does Ayin actually mean? I do not speak Hebrew, but one day several years ago I was in prayer and that word came to mind and I had never spoken it or heard it before. And I am sure the Lord brought it to mind for a reason...I just don't know Hebrew or the context of the language.

[@Rmagid]

Im english, i cannot hear any difference between עני and אני

[@ah795u]

In ashkenazi hebrew the ע and א, and ח and כ were still differentiated till about 300 years ago. Even after they mostly merged, many ashkenazi rabbis still tried to encourage the differentiation of these sounds and some still do. Its mostly been lost in modern hebrew

[@Linguistix]

Totally, and I hear a lot of people distinguishing the sounds with glottal stops at least to show the difference from ה but for native English speakers learning modern Hebrew it may not be as necessary to focus on Ayin pronunciations, unless for a particular audience / accent preference.

[@lm7338]

I heard that it used to be something along the lines of "gh"ayin but was simplified into the guttural ayin , and then the glottal stop. Would make sense since the Arabic word for West is Ma(gh)reb and the modern Hebrew is M(a'a)rav. The english bible translations the city as Gomorrah, while in hebrew its name is Amorah, and Gaza is Azah.

[@strnbrg59]

No. Ayin and ghayin are two distinct and separate letters in Arabic. They're "close" in the sense that in cognate Hebrew words both the ayin and the ghayin correspond to a (Hebrew) ayin, e.g. Ali --> Elion, Ghaza --> Aza. But they're definitely not the same letter.

[@lm7338]

@@strnbrg59 okay

[@Robwolf28]

I pronounce the ayin as Ah sound? Then pronounce the Aleph with an E sound. Then some pronounce the Tav with a th sound and Chet as Het. Like some say, Noach or Noah. Some say Shalom Aleichem while others Shalom Aleihem.

[@Linguistix]

The letters themselves have no vowels remember, so there's no ah or eh associated with either necessarily. The ch (chaf/chet) is helpful to distinguish from regular h (hay) sounds so whether you say Noach (Hebrew) or Noah (English) your pronunciation will reflect a particular accent. Shalom aleiCHem is proper Hebrew for second person plural

[@Robwolf28]

@@Linguistix עַזְרִיאֵל ‛azrı̂y'êl az-ree-ale' See. יֵשׁוּעַ⁠ yêshûa‛ yah-shoo'-ah Then Eliezer is pronounced with an E basically and it's Aleph. אֶלְעָזָר 'el‛âzâr el-aw-zawr'

[@Linguistix]

@@Robwolf28 the transliteration for ישוע should be yeSHUa not yaSHUa

[@Robwolf28]

@@Linguistix It is how words are transliterated and translated from Hebrew into Latin especially by Jerome in the 4th or 5th century AD. Like חוה is AVA or Hava in Latin because of the HA or A= ח, V= ו, A=ה. So the A. So you see what I mean? Like Isaias or Esaias in Latin A= ה. Isaia (adds an S because of Latin grammar.) Now, ישׁעיהו I or E= י S=שׁ A= ע I= י A= ה (S Latin). See Latin has no Sh sound. See names that often spelled with א an E is used in Latin אֶלְיָקִים 'elyâqı̂ym el-yaw-keem "Eliacim"'. See it relates to transliteration the ah or E in El sound. See Hoshia הושׁע is transliterated Osee which Latin is changed to Osia O=ו S=שׁ EE or IA =ע. Because in Latin words like meo get changed to mio in like Italian. Hoshea is Hoshiana (Hosanna) see changing the e to i. See Hosanna is Hoshiana Psa 118:25 Hoshia-na! Please, Adonai, save now! We beseech You, Adonai, prosper us! 26 Baruch haba b’Shem Adonai-Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Adonai. We bless you from the House of Adonai. (TLV) Psa 118:25 אנא יהוה הושׁיעה נא אנא יהוה הצליחה נא׃ (HOT) הושׁיעה נא = Hosanna or Hoshia-na Psa 118:26 ברוך הבא בשׁם יהוה ברכנוכם מבית יהוה׃ Mar 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: (KJV) Mar 11:9 Those going before and those following kept shouting, “Hoshia-na! Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (TLV)

[@Linguistix]

@@Robwolf28 Yes, I understand now. Transliteration does complicate things, especially when assuming a one-to-one relationship. However, this video was meant to address and facilitate the Pronunciation of modern spoken Hebrew, particularly for students starting from English. Sadly, I have little expertise on the progression or history of the letters themselves.

[@SB-nk1od]

I wanted to learn how to properly pronounce someone's name that is spelled with an "aa" and I didn't learn anything from this video.

[@user-re3zu1yj3z]

Summing up: If I go to Israel, should I or should I not pronounce 'ayin in Hebrew nowadays?

[@akd7576]

you should not pronounce it

[@jonnymoses8812]

You should ask @Hebraicomfaby above

[@user-re3zu1yj3z]

@@akd7576 Todah raba

[@adamgeller5361]

can you tell us how to tell between kuf and kaf because I get confused all the time

[@Linguistix]

Are you referring to the letter shapes themselves or the sounds they represent? כּ = Kaf; ק = Kuf In Modern spoken Hebrew, these letters are pronounced with the same K sound, which is also cause for many homophones (and therefore many common misspellings!)

[@adamgeller5361]

The sounds

[@adamgeller5361]

When I am verbal spelling I get confused and don't know which one I should use

[@Linguistix]

@@adamgeller5361 That is super common among learners, including myself! There are a few patterns to consider to help out. For example as a final consonant you would never use a hard כּ kaf, but rather a continuous ך chaf sofit, therefore all final K sounds are ק kuf. Similarly, intervocalic כ (between vowels) is more commonly the continuous כ chaf, so you'll see words like סקר - SEker (survey) and שקט - SHEket (quiet) with kuf and שכל - SEchel (mind) and אכל - aCHAL (ate) with chaf

[@adamgeller5361]

Thank you so much that was super useful and thankyou for responding

[@TheHebrewBible]

So the name Immanuel עִמָּנוּ אֵל when uttered could be HEARD as אִמָּנוּ אֵל “God our mother”.

[@strnbrg59]

Well, "our mother" is "imenu".

[@TheHebrewBible]

@@strnbrg59 yes, it could be read that way given there were no vowel points then.

[@strnbrg59]

@@TheHebrewBible If you really wanted to say "God our mother", it would be more like אמנו האל

[@TheHebrewBible]

@@strnbrg59 yes but most colloquialisms don’t consider grammar rules. Btw, check out the verb genders in Job 33:4 רֽוּחַ־אֵל עָשָׂתְנִי וְנִשְׁמַת שַׁדַּי תְּחַיֵּֽנִי׃

[@strnbrg59]

@@TheHebrewBible There's nothing odd about the genders in that verse. Ruach and neshama are feminine nouns.

[@kiankuiper8520]

מה הקטע

[@thorinsonofthran1053]

when does Alef make a sound

[@MidEastAmerican]

When it is coupled with a vowel. When no vowel is associated with it, it is silent.

[@necromantic420]

@@MidEastAmerican yeah and at the beginning of words

[@ask825]

„And I’m not saying it’s acceptable to pronounce ע and א the same, I’m saying it would be strange if you didn’t.“ This statement actually is filled with a lot of ignorance. I find it heavily counterproductive to describe the learning of the ORIGINAL and RIGHT PRONUNCIATION of this language as „strange“ since it even helps to understand the grammar way better. So this would be the ultimate benefit while learning a language, right? The only thing strange is that Europeans changed the pronunciation because they wanted to get rid of the “barbaric” tone of it and until today just being too lazy and arrogant to learn it the right way. And you don’t have to differentiate between Modern and Biblical Hebrew because the pronunciation! would/should be exactly the same. Also it is not “ridiculous” nor does it “mock” Mizrahim. Actually does it mock and degrade the exact same people not to speak like that. In colloquial use there is still a lot of these pronunciation even within younger generations though it gets rarer the younger they are. Plus it is getting a revival right now in pop culture. And not only is it connected to Jews from Yemen but from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, and the rest of the Arab peninsula. That is a lot of countries and a big amount of land. So you sound very ignorant with an ounce of racist only attaching it to “elderly Jews from Yemen”. “It sounds weird,....very weird” This attitude only comes from people who can’t pronounce the ע. Since you tried to pronounce it in the video and nearly choked I see now where this attitude is coming from. Also the comparison with the “k in know” is just wrong since it is simply not comparable. Wish you the best of luck and hopefully an enhancement in your knowledge of history and linguistics of Israel.

[@Linguistix]

Angelo, thank you for your detailed comment. I think in many places you're right. But first of all, you have to know this video is intended for an audience learning Hebrew (mostly from English) and the goal is sounding natural in Hebrew when speaking with Israelis, most of whom do not distinguish Ayin from Alef. ORIGINAL is not what this video is for. RIGHT is your opinion. Maybe you can understand the grammar 'way better' but millions of Israelis (and second language learners) are using context just fine. There is also a prescriptive and descriptive pronunciation of Modern Hebrew. The Ayin pronunciation is used by all those people from all those countries because you're just naming Arabic-speaking countries! Of course, they're going to employ a perfect Ayin in Hebrew. They're using a sound from their own native language! What about all the Russian, Ukrainian, French, Polish, Dutch, Argentinean, Brazilian, American, Canadian, Spanish, British, etc. immigrants who don't? If you're going for preservation, fine. I'm not. If you're going for sound like Biblical Hebrew because it should be the same, fine. I get that logic, but I'm not basing it off of anything but experience. Living and working in Israel, watching TV shows and movies, listening. to songs of all kinds, speaking with Israelis and the Ayin always stands out. Not in any bad way, just as a marker. You obviously haven't studied how spoken human language evolves, but it's hard to fight the masses. You can call it laziness or inability but Ayin is Dayin. See what I did there? No, but seriously, it's not. It's just not used by enough people to tell a student they need to learn it. Because when they try to learn it, they often pronounce it wrong, and it ends up sounding off. Your comment about my over-exaggerated pronunciation as 'choking' on the Ayin was exactly what I was talking about. It clearly made an impact on you. I retract the whole "K in Know" analogy; that was not well thought out. It's more like dropping the R in Car: You might sound British or like you're from New England when you speak and it's totally cool if you do, but don't be surprised if someone guesses that about you. And if you're trying to learn General American (GA) English, it's important to maintain. Well, maybe I'll see you in the comments section telling me that ט and ת need to be preserved, or maybe ש and ס but I welcome any thoughts since we're all here to learn.

[@videogrillo]

1. Trying to pronounce the ע won't make people believe that you are mocking teimanim, 2. there're also northern israelis, iraki jews, etc, that pronounce tha ע. - Maybe 3, to most Americans, which have a distinctive way of mispronouncing almost half of the letters, it will sound like he's trying to mock. 4. There are differences between ע and א: Ayin sometimes works as an extra vowel: try saying " to miss" with א: להתגאגא (lehit- ga-ge) vs להתגעגע (lehit- ga'a-gea). Or with actual words: hate vs. Listening. שונא - שומע, So-né vs. Sho-me'a.

[@benavraham4397]

I think that if you pronounce that 'Ayin and Het as the Mizrahim do, those individuals who use such pronunciation will be flattered and respond using the same pronunciation. But that pronunciation is clearly discouraged by the the establishment, and Mizrahi pronunciation is seen as clinging to a lost cause.

[@robertblack3867]

The two letters should be pronounced differently for many reasons.

[@Linguistix]

If your reasoning is to preserve sounds that are 'supposed' to be distinct, based on history, linguistic families, etc. I totally get it. This video is meant to facilitate the pronunciation of spoken Modern Hebrew for English speaking foreigners, and so the idea is to observe what the majority of Israelis are using today. I agree with you that they *should* be different, but the reality is they've evolved away from each other. Either way, I'd love to hear what some of your reasons are. 🙏

[@cattubuttas4749]

Wow ! You finally answered a BIIIG question I've been wondering ever since ! Thank you. As there are still many remaining sounds in the Hebrew language that are mispronounced, according to the original semitic language, like the majority of the 15 vowels, the two "H" sounds (Hé and Het), the 2 "T" sounds: Tet and Tav. The 3 "S" sounds etc... so...any attempt to reproduce them faithfully like the original ancient language would be felt like pretending something or being ridiculous, am I right ?

[@pvdguitars2951]

There is a much bigger difference than just the pronouncing of the letter. Compare two similar words : אָבַד (Strongs Concordance H6) pronounced as ‘avad’ Compared to עָבַד (Strong’s H5647). One means to perish, the other to serve. The second one is the root for Obed ( the grandfather of David). From which we have contemporary words as obedience and obey. Check out other words in Hebrew with the root Arab (Aleph resh bet and Ayin resh bet). You will be amazed by the meanings. Or names and words with the root Ayin Lamed vs Aleph Lamed (El, Eli, Elohim…) Scripture is filled with these, in Hebrew as well as in Greek. Jesus truly is King, Lord of lords ✝️💕

[@Ousios]

Reading the commentaries I see that I am not alone in my opinion. I find it stupid to renounce such an important "opposition" (distinction). Once it is lost, you'll never have it again.

[@Linguistix]

What do you mean "Once it's lost, you'll never have it again?" Do you think it's my *fault* that Ayin is disappearing from Modern Hebrew? That I, personally, am perpetuating the potential loss of a sound that millions of Israelis don't distinguish anymore? Of course, you're not alone; it's a controversial topic. What is your background to make such a claim? Are you a native speaker? An Ayin user? A teacher or linguist of any kind?? Since you're so good at reading other people's comments, maybe make an effort to read my responses (or the video description)... Your opinion is welcome, but you must not understand who the intended audience is.

[@DanielSRosehill]

Hey man, Not totally correct. Firstly, aleph and ayin were indeed historically pronounced differently. I don't think you'll find many people arguing against that. If for no better reason than if they were pronounced identically, why would there be two letters. Regarding your comment that pronouncing ayin in the correct manner (that is, as a pharyngeal) identifies one as Yemenite. I don't think it's specifically to Yemen. I would regard it as a feature of all Mizrahi Jews who came from Arabic-speaking countries. And the reason is pretty simple: Modern Arabic preserves that pronunciation across (AFAIK) all of its dialects. To pronounce ayin in that manner doesn't mark one out as being from Yemen any more as it does as being from Baghdad or Cairo. I've heard it from all manner of Sephardic Jews.

[@Linguistix]

Totally agree with you, and you may see some edits and qualifications in previous comments. The message was aimed at a native English speaking audience to help avoid any unnecessary difficulty, but I've learned a lot from originally posting. Not 100% accurate for a historical perspective and maybe a bit exaggerated in retrospect. It's caused a lot of good, sometimes healthy discussion though. Appreciate your comments 😊

[@nelsonjagualing7836]

Wer ayin orinated?

[@jamesjahavey1681]

Was it not the Almighty and his son that confused the languages at Babel so they must know what you mean when you say what you say is that not so?

[@Linguistix]

James JAH Avey oh, it is so!

[@tianalevi]

That’s not so true...some people do pronounce Aylin the correct way. I’ve heard high school students and even younger kids pronounce it the original middle eastern old historic Hebrew - way. And no they’re not Yemeni...I even heard little blonde Israeli kids pronouncing it correctly :p

[@tianalevi]

It’s just that people pronounce Ayin in a delicate soft kinda way...and not deep from the throught like in Arabic and like old Yemeni Jews...today ayin became more softer in modern Hebrew

[@tianalevi]

But it shouldn’t be confused with Alef.

[@MegaMayday16]

@@tianalevi lebanese pronunce it also less than saudis. Because they spoke aramaic before arabic. I think that influenced pronunciation. So maybe that's a similarity between Mediterranean coast Semites from Lebanon and israel

[@akd7576]

it sounds strange to me because i'm israeli and i have never heard children and young people pronounce ayin

[@Linguistix]

@Jihan Yakub It's actually the contrary. It's not that I can't hear the difference; it's that I can! And I don't think it makes enough of a difference even after being able to distinguish when it comes to natural, spoken Modern Hebrew acquired by non-native speakers.

[@superslash7254]

Enormous numbers of israelis today still differentiate between ayin and alef, as well as het and chet. The catch is they're mizrahi, yemeni, and sefardi jews so I guess to our glorious ashkenazi overlords they just don't count.

[@vandikautama7173]

It sounds weird in Israel because you are NOT originally semitic..

[@jamesworley9888]

Aעyin is one of my favorite letters of all time '''𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 '' and it would be deeply and embarrassingly insulting to me if other people though I was mocking their elders!!! I also find it insulting that people think it doesn't matter how we pronounce it, you might as well rip out half of the alphabet and burn it if you think it's ridiculous. I'm sorry but there is no emotion I can feel other than rage knowing that people actually think this about our ancestral language ''' 𝘼 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝙎𝘼𝙔 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙊 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙐𝙍𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙊𝙐𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙊𝙐𝙎 ''' !!!! That's like saying my heart beat sounds too much like the Jewish elders so why not just rip it right out of my chest !!!

[@petarjovanovic1481]

Whoever says that there is no difference between א and ע needs to leave Tel Aviv and the "merkaz" and it will hear it in Haifa, Rahat, Ofakim, Dimona...

[@kimimon6286]

لا should in Hebrew read as ع in Arabic

[@messianic_scam]

Thers is a big difference to speak ancient hebrew when it comes to the text so many angry peopl in this comment section im out

[@CDRNY25]

Nope, Hebrew spoken by Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews from Arabic speaking countries is closest to ancient Hebrew and Aramaic. Arabic was heavily influenced by Aramaic so AYIN was used since those days. Western Jews shouldnt be trying to correct those who pronounced them correctly when they have difficulty pronouncing words from any Semitic languages. And no, Yemenis arent the only one who uses it.

[@Linguistix]

Of course, many people use Ayin and the usage by the speakers you mentioned is closest to the pronunciation of ancient Hebrew. But that's not why we're here. We're talking about majority and the facilitation of the learning of a language that overall doesn't really see a huge difference in these sounds. Maybe it's a generalization, but languages evolve, and I've lived in Israel. People think I sound strange when I try to employ an Ayin sound because I don't have the background that would cause that accent. It's easy to claim one is right or wrong but I'm just trying to make it easier for new learners of the language. I do appreciate all feedback!

[@ironears]

Well intended video but incorrect explanation with a touch of unintentional racism. Up until late 90's even news casters on our official national TV and radio channels would use the correct pronunciation, emphasizing the Hebrew 'ע'. Why? Because it was the official accent. There is a much deeper explanation involving the reviving of the Hebrew language by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the linguists who were involved in making sure the modern day Hebrew maintains as much as possible consistency with the biblical one. In short - yes, most Tzabars who live in central cities or at least come from Eastern European families would not pronounce the 'ע' differently, originally because their family members were not able to articulate it, not because it is the correct way. To this day, you will hear many many many people, even young ones who were born and raised in Israel and do pronounce it the correct way, it's just that they are most likely to come from North African countries and at some point, to be associated with these origins meant to be looked down at. That's all.

[@Linguistix]

Definitely will work on the explanation next time to cover all the bases. This video was initially intended to show that you could still become fluent (as a native English speaker) without distinguishing these two sounds. But it may have come off a little aggressive and I've since learned a lot from comments like yours. Thanks for your help!

[@ironears]

@@Linguistix Thank you for reading and commenting :)

[@strnbrg59]

Well put. This video does a good job presenting the slightly contemptuous relationship some Israelis have with their own language. It's a shame that such people take up teaching their language to foreigners. Teachers of French or Russian - nations with more self respect - won't be heard saying "Yeah, that would be the right way, but no one talks like that".

[@M4th3u54ndr4d3]

I disagree completely. Its so sad to hear that our letters are disappearing, and "pronouncing them in modern israel is a shame". It should not be like this! This sounds are with the jewish people since our beggining. We have to pronounce these letters in prayers and songs. It is in talmud. ד of אדני should be pronounced DH, long D. If you cant pronounce this you are unable to sing the prayer. Just d and dh!!! Imagine if our sages lived today, we would be very ashamed because our pronounciation is terrible!! What they would think? Sorry, my english is terrible but i think you can understand me.

[@Linguistix]

Thanks for this. I completely agree with you that it's sad to hear that sounds (not letters) are disappearing and that it shouldn't have to be this way. I think one problem is that it's hard to pass on exact sounds, generally speaking, over a large area, and it's also difficult to perceive what a "DH" or a "long D" actually sound like, without audio recordings. That terminology just isn't widespread enough. As far as Ayin, as I've said in many previous comments, this video was made for native English speakers learning Hebrew and though I admit I was a little harsh with the analogy, I still encourage learners to avoid distinguishing Ayin from Alef because still toDAY in 2019 almost 2020, we don't see a difference in the ability to communicate words with Alef or Ayin. I know native Israelis who misspell words because they hear two of the same sounds (even three if you include Hay). Finally, the Jewish traditions are very rich with cultural expression, and for Jews who've been forced to move around the world and also for Hebrew-learning people, Jewish or not, with dozens of native languages who may slowly make their way to Israel over decades, you're really talking about a unique situation, linguistically. It doesn't mean people won't or shouldn't preserve these sounds. I never pronounce Ayin any differently from Alef and everyone thinks I'm from Israel. This video's claims are more concerned with probability of use than on preservation of the sounds from an ancient language. I'm just telling you like it is.

[@servantofaeie1569]

It's supposed to be, but unfortunately revived "Hebrew" was Europeanized.

[@hirshtveria4715]

I believe that the gutteral Ayin and other pronunciations of Classical Hebrew should eventually be revived so as to de-assimilate Jewish identity further and to "decolonize Jewish identity," if you will. Classical Hebrew is what we spoke in our native homeland of historic Judea before Roman colonizers destroyed Judea, destroyed the temple, committed a genocide upon us of approximately 580,000, ethnically cleansed most of us from the land, and enslaved tens of thousands to a hundred thousand Jews and took us to Rome. Throughout the diaspora, we have been continually ethnically cleansed over and over again, being forced to move to a new location and we were forcibly assimilated and although we retained aspects of our root culture, the culture we ended up practicing was essentially a creolized version of it that went through the filters of the environments of our host nations. About a little less than half of all Jews worldwide have returned to our homeland and we have some sort of self-determination and liberation, but now it is time to revive ancient Judean traditions and preserve them. Leaving the diaspora physically means also leaving the diaspora mentally.

[@Linguistix]

Very well said. It's tough to see these waves of evolution affecting the language. Since my role as a coach is to help learners feel more comfortable and confident when speaking to Israelis, it's important for me to present both sides (and in this video, I may have come off too strong or opinionated) so they can choose which is 'right'. It's hard to go against the majority, but if history has taught us anything, it's that we can adapt to linguistic change.

[@hirshtveria4715]

@@Linguistix Yes, I understand. The fact that Hebrew was revived into a living, spoken language for everyday use at all is a miracle in and of itself, so I can appreciate that and I can acknowledge the modern Hebrew pronunciation. With this, we can eventually revive the Classical pronunciation and see from there how people will catch on and if we can fully de-assimilate.

[@Ousios]

I understand, you have a prejudice against Yemenites, especially when they are old an jewish.

[@Linguistix]

Of course not! (I hope you're joking) Just identifying a particular pronunciation as one that is used by a minority group and therefore less necessary for non-native students to stress out about.

[@Ousios]

I wonder if the drastic reduction of the original sound system in modern hebrew causes difficulties in communication.

[@Ousios]

And we must not forget that without language engineering modern hebrew could not have come into being. Language engineering formulates aims, e.g. the conservation of some sound. I can tell you that I understand a speaker who conserves ע much better than other speakers.

[@Linguistix]

Allow me to remove any doubt; native Hebrew speakers can all understand each other with little difficulty.

[@Linguistix]

You're absolutely right! But it's hard to say why certain sounds simplify and others don't. And I think it's clearer when I hear Ayin as well! Helps me spell words. And sometimes I'll use a glottal stop to show the difference, but it doesn't change my observation that I don't hear it most of the time from other natives.

[@aprendahebraicocomabiblia1090]

אני מעדיף את המבטא המזרחי!!

[@yahselect5108]

This is only for modern hebrew

[@strnbrg59]

You couldn't be more wrong. An Israeli (of your age) who pronounces guttural ayins will sound like a nerd. But for a foreigner it's a whole different ball game; he'll sound "off" no matter what. An American will confuse with the vowels he turns into diphthongs, with the final consonants he pronounces as indistinct tongue flaps, with his broken grammar and odd word choice. If he distinguishes between alef and ayin (likewise het and khaf, kaf and qaf) that can only be to the good as it gives natives a few more clues.

[@Linguistix]

Your comment assumes that every foreigner is a beginner or intermediate speaker. With all these broken grammar and odd word choice remarks. Give people some credit. You said yourself that "an Israeli who pronounces guttural ayins will sound like a nerd." Your words. What if a foreigner wants to sound like... not a nerd? It's clear you don't have extensive experience with language acquisition. Either that or you're just only in contact with learners who sound "off" no matter what. You start the comment with a strong opinion claiming that I'm wrong, and then immediately back pedal saying that 'yeah ok for natives of your age blah blah blah'. *No one* wants to sound like a nerd and people from other places *can* speak Hebrew with proper vowels and even distinct 'tongue flaps'. I admit that this video (made years ago) was a little strong, and I admit that it doesn't include all native Hebrew speakers fairly, but your argument is something else. If you're going to leave such non-inclusive, closed minded comments at least tell us a little about your background and why your experience tells different. Do you even distinguish these two letters?

[@strnbrg59]

@@Linguistix מותק, אני חי בירושלים. עולים אמריקאים, ולא משנה אם הם פה שנתיים או ארבעים שנה, אם הם הגיעו לכאן אחרי גיל שמונה עשרה הם מדברים עברית עילגת. יוצאי דופן יש, אבל מעטים ביותר - דיוויד בלאט מאמן הכדורסל, קארולין גליק העתונאית. אלה שהגיעו בין גיל 10 ל-17 שולטים לא רע בשפה אבל נדבק להם מבטא זר.

[@abdelazizboucelham528]

אוכלוסיה באים מאורופה חייבים ללמוד )(ע) כשהם קטנים.

[@144ky8]

You received some strong comments, but I think I understood the video. I don't think you intended to sound like you said the elder pronunciation is wrong, from what I saw you just wanted to say that some people do that in a mocking way and therefore it could be interpreted as such. Jesus loves you.

[@patricktilton5377]

The first letter of the place-name Gomorrah is actually an Ayin, not a Gimel, which indicates that the translators who wrote the Septuagint (Greek) version heard Hebrew Ayin as a hard-G sound, which made them transliterate it as a Gamma (at least when transliterating `aMoRaH as Gomorrha). On another note, I find it bothersome that the 6th letter [vav] is often pronounced like a V rather than as a W (which it historically was), with the 2nd letter [beth] in modern times being pronounced more often as a V sound rather than a B, as in Avraham instead of Abraham -- it leads to confusing the 2nd and 6th letters. I can see pronouncing Beth as a V sound if there's no dot [daghesh] drawn inside it, but it seems unreasonable to pronounce Vav as a V sound, since the English/Latin letter V originally was pronounced like a W -- Shakespeare's first narrative poem has its title page reading "VENVS AND ADONIS" for example. Ideally, Vav [pronounced Waw] would only be a W or U sound, Beth [with daghesh] would be pronounced B, and without the daghesh would be pronounced V -- and perhaps transliterated as Bh, just as Pe without a daghesh is pronounced like an F and is transliterated Ph.

[@zacharyjohnigan452]

If something is historically pronounced a certain way, it's best to keep that custom. Why would you teach preference to practicality over historical accuracy? Whenever I find how a word is historically pronounced, I go with the historical pronunciation. It's best to go with what's accurate and not what new generations say is practical. This is how cultures get lost. This is how languages get mudded down. This is a western mindset, (out with the old, in with the new). Yahshua says: 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Don't seek to please people over historical accuracy.

[@Linguistix]

I appreciate the comment and I agree that it's best to keep things in one way! Ideally as a linguist, teacher and student of language I would love nothing more than for things to be simple and as they always have been. But the sad truth for this mindset is that native speakers are not doing it consciously. And I personally have nothing to do with the evolution. I'm a reporter here telling you what the weather's like out there. I've mentioned in previous comments that my overall tone could have been improved but generally speaking, the majority isn't pronouncing Ayin. I adopted this pronunciation modification and native Israelis are convinced I'm from there by the way I speak. Ergo, this tip will help you sound more native today in Israel and has little to do with linguistic preservation or even preference.

[@Abilliph]

The thing is, it's not accurate in modern Hebrew. Who cares how a language was spoken 2000 years ago. If you want to learn ancient languages then learn biblical Hebrew. When people learn English , are they learning English of a 1000 years ago?

[@zacharyjohnigan452]

@@Abilliph the universe was "spoken" into existence. Ponder on that.

[@Abilliph]

@@zacharyjohnigan452 so every language have a permission to change but not Hebrew? The 9 million people who speak it would decide how it would be spoken, not a religious foreigner.

[@Ousios]

I mean what you do is really abominable. Your task would be to say: Guys, don't bother much about ע. But you qualify more than 20 % of native hebrew speakers as weird, insulting expressly the Yemenite polulation. Shame on you!

[@Linguistix]

You have every right to think that, but you must understand who this video is for and for what purpose. No one is insulting a population, just identifying them (as you confirmed) as a minority. A minority who tends to pronounce a sound that isn't a deal breaker for most speakers. I help hundreds of language students make the right connections they need to facilitate the learning process. I'm not a preservationist, nor do I have any problem with the wonderful Israeli people wherever they may come from. The thing is, no native *English* speaker needs to sound like a Yemenite or an Arabic speaker, or a French or Amharic etc. unless they specifically have that background / desire.

[@isaacder3i121]

Samaritans may also pronounce this sound, but the younger samaritans like the jews have lost the sound in speech. Neither Samaritans or Mizrahi Jews are Arabs. Both groups descend from the Hebrews but branched out thousands of years ago. Genetically there is very little difference between Samaritans and Jews.

[@verysmoky3605]

@perakole It depends how you define "Arab", but it's clear that those three groups are "Arab" in a sense that Samaritans and Mizrahi Jews are not.

[@alessioleporati1478]

You should pronounce the ayn and alif differently because they are different phonetic sounds. The rest of the Middle East distinguishes them the reason the jews don’t is because they are Europeans and not real natives to the lane like the very people they call terrorists.

[@vandikautama6053]

It's because, you, modern Hebrew speakers have disconnected yourselves to the real Hebrew.. the way you pronounce Hebrew-ayin should be the same way Arabs pronounce Arabic-ayin. Having said that means you are not semitic

[@vandikautama6053]

@Said Al-murabit hahaha are you sure?

[@vandikautama6053]

@Said Al-murabit generally and technically speaking, the real semitic languages have this ayn sound.. u can't hide from the truth... Modern Israelis are not semitic.. they were Europeans who converted to Jews.. look at them.. white skin and blue eyes.. cmon... Palestinians look and sound 100% semitic.. coz they were the real cananites.. and ancient Israelites looked the same as nowadays Palestinians

[@vandikautama6053]

@Said Al-murabit Arabic speakers lost "jeem" and "dhaad"? Have u lost your mind?

[@vandikautama6053]

@Said Al-murabit uh dude... Go back to school! Arabs never lost their ancient letters nor ancient pronunciation. I know spoken Arabic is kinda different.. but all Arabs know how to speak fusha Arabic.. they stick with it... Let's compare to modern Hebrew.. They can't even pronounce the ayin

[@calbacoller897]

The speaker is almost a psychologist in his ability to discuss matters that no one else will admit exists. I'm enjoying this videos immensely.

[@vandikautama6053]

Lestening to modern-hebrew now feels like listening to a European who is speaking Arabic with some European accent... What a fake Hebrew....

[@jeremybravo8486]

It is shocking that modern israeli mock the ayin and trilled resh when they are the ones who are pronouncing it wrong. Sephardic for life!

[@saar144]

It's just sounds weird and forced now-a-days

[@meriounrio1011]

In the name of the laziness, and with a fallacy as a motto (the authority of the many) let's erode the proper hebrew.

[@abdelazizboucelham528]

Les vrais juifs prononcent ע ע

[@yahselect5108]

This is false

[@omaralzoman5866]

from my opinion as Arabic speaker Form SUADI ARABIA . i find the modern Hebrew is weird, not native to the region and not original the modern feel agile and more European language not symmetric one you can`t compare modern to original.

[@strnbrg59]

So Hebrew doesn't sound Semitic to you? Please list all the Semitic languages you know (besides Arabic).

[@user-re3zu1yj3z]

לא!

[@adamberg7182]

God bless ✝️🙏❤️ you all! God the Father Almighty loves you endlessly and His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, loves you endlessly as well! ❤️ Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He is the Messiah and God is the Father of all. Follow The 10 Commandments, praise, love and fear God, praise and love Jesus Christ. ✝️🙏 I’ll pray that all of your days are filled with an abundance of blessings from the Highest One, God. ✝️🙏❤️😊👑🔥💯 Amen! ✝️🙏❤️👑🔥😊💯

[@il967]

Go preach somewhere else

[@adamberg7182]

@@il967 ✝️🙏❤️ I’ll say a prayer for you

[@yaakovtzerkesi6762]

It´s a myth that the "correct" pronunciation of Ayin is like the arabic ayin. The real pronunciation of Ayin is the sephardic nasal "ng" sound.

[@MrEVAQ]

mamash..

[@user-hk9gc1pg7s]

Yaakov Tzerkesi Man Arabic preserves its originality not like Hebrew. You cannot study the ancient semtiec languagrs without Arabic.