The ABCs of Proper Hebrew Pronunciation: Vowels- Interview with Rabbi David Bar-Hayim

Interview with Rabbi David Bar-Hayim
Visit us at www.MachonShilo.org

[@jvnd2785]

It is always such a pleasure and honour to listen to Rabbi David Bar-Hayim. Thank you ever so much for taking the time to make these videos.

[@pedrovasconcellos3346]

Thank you for the video! It elucidated the matter of vowels to me as no one before, and yet it was so simple! Shalom!

[@samuelbenitez2137]

thank you rabbi for your patients.

[@mymovies75]

That is exceptionally simple and as clear as day. God bless your efforts.

[@destructo3915]

Thank you Rabbi for this informative video. I applaud your understanding of Hebrew phonetics. To elaborate, Qames has the same degree of jaw opening as the pronunciation of Patah you mentioned, but all other articulatory features are like the long vowel /o/ in the word 'hole'; most notably the rounding of the lips. Some linguists refer to this vowel as an obtuse /o/ vowel and to distinguish it from /o/ transcribe it like /å/, with a ring diacritic to indicate it's like Patah but with lip-rounding. This sound is in the British pronunciation for 'box' whilst the American pronunciation of this word is like that of long Patah. When Patah is pronounced short i.e when it occurs in a closed, unaccented syllable; it's pronounced like how you described Segol, /a/ in 'apple'. The same applies to Qames when it occurs in a closed, unaccented syllable it becomes what is known as Qames Hatuph, having a pronunciation in-between the jaw height of default Qames and Holem, transcribed in IPA as /ɔ/. This is also known as Qames Qatan. Hireq when short is like in 'hit' and when long is like in 'machine'. The only vowels which are always pronounced lengthened are Tsere and Holem, which is why there's almost always a stress mark whenever these occur in closed syllables in order to retain their length. This was the standard around 700-1000 C.E at the time the Masoretes fixed the text of the Hebrew Bible. Prior to this age, vowels weren't lengthened when they occurred in open or stressed syllables. This makes vowel length in Hebrew largely non-phonemic. Source: The Tiberian tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Geoffrey Khan.

[@MrTrashcan1]

Well, when I started Hebrew school in 1964 in a Conservative schul (in Philadelphia) my teacher was a young Israeli woman. We were told that they were then speaking Sephardic Hebrew in Israel, and that's what they taught us. We were told that the patah and kamatz were pronounced the same--as in "father." The older Ashkenazic Jews pronounced the kamatz as in "awful." And that was the only difference between the two (with regard to vowels). We were taught the segol was as in "egg," the tzere was as in "hay," and the chirik was as in "feet." Not mentioned was the sh'va, which looks like a colon, and is silent at times, and at other times pronounced as almost a short "i" as in "it." This is where you'll see the apostrophe used in transliteration. The prefix b' which means "in" is a bet with a sh'va. And this is how all the teachers, as well as the rabbi, cantor, and other prayer leaders pronounced the vowels.

[@aramisfernandez9378]

btw I'm sorry if the tone in my comments sounds haughty it is not my intent to sound in such a way. I love your shiurim and recommend them all the time to everyone.

[@aramisfernandez9378]

Syrians and Iraqis and others usually pronounce Pathah as your seghol...... this is backed up by Seadhia gaon who calls it Fatah ....(the arabic version of the vowel) which is also pronounced pretty universally as your segol. Temanim do seghol like that because they merged it with pathah, if you look at babylonian vocalization you will see that they merged to patah and segol, so today some yemenites have adopted Israeli patah and keep their seghol the same, however their pronunciation back in yemen pronounced Seghol and Patah both that way. (a in lamb in newyork accent)

[@aramisfernandez9378]

Syrians in USA have merged Qamass and Patah lately and pronounce both as that A but you can find recordings of their elders saying that really that should only be pathah

[@MidEastAmerican]

Many dialects of Arabic pronounce the Arabic vowel "fatHa" (cognate of pataH) in that manner as well.

[@Gstfx20]

Can you tell me where Rav Tzaadia Gaon wrote this? Ty

[@dwinovianti537]

thank you for this info i think it would have also been helpful to have mentiond even if its just a short version of shuruq

[@Jeff-zd8bj]

1st set 5:45 2nd set 9:00

[@ezraorlofsky7809]

i have the book sfath emeth/ siftei kohen by R benzion hakohen. glad to know i'm not the only one :)

[@snazzy1532]

where can I get Rabbi Ben Tzion Cohen's book from?

[@deyoungaza]

I've noticed that the holam is pronounced as a sort or "bent o" or Turkish Ö by many communities including Yemenites, Caucasians and Samaritans.The Lithuanian Ashkenazim pronounce it in a similar fashion, somewhere between a long-I and an Ö, while among other Ashkenazim it seems to have morphed into an "oy.". It is quite interesting that so many diverse communities pronounce it "bent," instead of as the nearly-long-O as described here.

[@aramisfernandez9378]

BTW in my opinion Ssere should be en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel which is NOT a dipthong and IS a pure vowel!

[@davidroberts5257]

What about Ssere + Yodh? Like Ein Keiloheinu, do you say 'En Kelohenu'? Or Seghol + Yodh, do you diphthongize that?

[@aramisfernandez9378]

No its an unchangeable long vowel the yodh is a matres lectonis

[@everythingtorah]

Rabbi Avi Grossman respectfully disagrees with Rabbi David Bar Hayim om צירה too and like you holds its pronounced like the IPA e. He's said the Vilna Gaon זצ"ל seemed to pronounced his צירה like this too, at least for parashath zachor

[@PatrickLauser]

The Tiberian vocalization seems to have the Patah and Qames as they are described in this video, but they have the Segol as in "egg" and the Sere seems to be between Segol and Hireq, similar to how the Qames is between Patah and Holem. I never heard of Segol being pronounced as in "apple" before. Where does this come from?

[@PatrickLauser]

The progression of Hireq, Sere, Segol, would also fit with the formation of their diacritics: one dot, two dots, three dots.

[@TheHebrewBible]

Does this make Qamatz Katan redundant?

[@AM-613]

Can you pronounce ורגלינו ״ג ״ לא דגושה this feels so impossible without the hard g using the rimmel

[@rafoageaeatef4169]

This is probably caused by a mispronunciation of גֿ /ɣ/. This issue is likely caused by an initial mispronunciation of כֿ /x/, which led to an issue while trying to learn how to pronounce גֿ /ɣ/, as גֿ /ɣ/ is the voiced version of כֿ /x/. Most people (incorrectly) pronounce כֿ /x/ as either /ʀ̝̊˖/ or /ʀ̝̊/ which is a combination of a trill and a fricative. The sound is supposed to be a pure voiceless velar fricative /x/ with no trill component. Similarly, גֿ is supposed to be a pure voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ with no trill component. In order to provide a better explanation, it is important to understand why the daghesh qal exists in the first place. It is a feature of the hebrew language that when one of the following plosives בגדכפ״ת is not doubled, and after a consonant, it is pronounced using the plosive, but when it is after a vowel, it is pronounced in the same position, with the same voicing, but as a fricative. This is because it is easier to pronounce a fricative after a vowel than a plosive, yet easier to pronounce a plosive after a consonant than a fricative. Try pronouncing Ab versus Av, and Amarta versus Amartha, and you will see what I mean. There are a few exceptions though, such as the כ in מלכות. Thus, in order to pronounce the sound, one should try to pronounce a fricative in the same spot that the plosive was pronounced. A plosive is created by blocking air and then releasing it. See how when you pronounce כּ /k/, you block air and then release it. Try to instead of fully blocking the air, let a tiny bit of air through. You should have successfully pronounced כֿ /x/. If you do the same thing starting with גּ /g/, you will produce the correct sound for גֿ /ɣ/. Almost all of the other non-daghesh sounds are often slightly mispronounced. בֿ should be /β/ instead of /v/. פֿ should be /ɸ/ instead of /f/, and תֿ and דֿ should be produced with the tongue directly behind the top teeth instead of in between both teeth. You should be able to correct these other sounds using the same technique, by starting with the plosive daghesh sound, and then letting a tiny bit of air through instead of fully blocking it. (except for ת and ד if they are not being pronounced as dental consonants, for both t and d, there are 3 possible sounds for which use the same symbol in the IPA, and they are often mixed up. ד and ת should be always pronounced in the dental position).

[@AmbrosiusEpiscopus]

Shalom! I'm wondering if the kamets, instead of being pronounced as 'fä-thər' (father), sounds more like an 'ȯl-ˈrīt' (alright). I speak portuguese as native language and we have the vowel 'o' (like in 'bold') and also 'ó' (like in 'rock'), it seems to me that the pronunciation the rabbi teaches here is the 'ó'. Can someone clarify this for me? Todah rabah!

[@AmbrosiusEpiscopus]

Wich one represents the Kamets sound? (or is it none of the bellow?) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_back_unrounded_vowel en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_back_rounded_vowel

[@davidroberts3262]

@@AmbrosiusEpiscopus en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_back_unrounded_vowel is correct.

[@davidroberts3262]

@@AmbrosiusEpiscopus listen to this from 0:43 That's the original Qamass: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZfcqmRogbd6qpY

[@ArmenSur]

Does Todah Rabah mean Thanks a lot? That's the same in Aramaic.

[@davidroberts3262]

@@ArmenSur much thanks! How come you know Aramaic?

[@rainstormr7650]

Hi - Thanks for putting up this rare info - The example of 'paras' was quite clear in showing the difference between the vowels (patach, Qamtez, cholam ) - However the 'father' example for the same progression came through a bit muddled & wasnt so clear - it came through more like a 'Patach' sound than a 'Qamets' which was what it was suppoised to be - This info is hard to come by - Ive watched a whole Bunch of videos, as i am in the process of learning hebrew and have NOT come accross this info - Besides the aspect of just having a more correct pronunciation, there is the genuine issue of this info helping while learning words in hebrew as it sorts through the ambiguity, by differentiatiing between the 'Patach' and the 'Qamets'. - while , with seeing the patach, and qametz as same-sounding eventually means they could each be substituted one for the other in words.

[@boliussa]

+rain the word'father' is a terrible example to use to describe the pronunciation of a hebrew vowel

[@rainstormr7650]

thats the example used in the video though.

[@boliussa]

I know.. Actually I just watched the video again, from 4:30 when he really starts. And I see he thinks the Kamatz is not pronounced like the sephardi, ashkenazi or teimani. But like the Jews of Persia pronounce it. And indeed he means to pronounce kamatz, as he does, like the 'a' in father. I don't know why he thinks that ashkenazim sephardim and teimanim all have kamatz wrong(ashkenazim do a kamatz same as Teimanim), and Jews of Persia have it right according to him.

[@declinatiohonesta7695]

Not only the Jews of Persia pronounce Qames the way Rav Bar Hayyim believes is correct, but the Samaritans also have a vowel exactly like this. On top of that, I hear Ashkenazim and Sepharadim subconsciously pronounce Qames like that in a few cases, for example the Qames in "Amen". They say the A in Amen the way the Rav describes, without even realizing it. Lastly, a lot of people find that the Hebrew flows better when Qames is pronounced like this.

[@declinatiohonesta7695]

So if his Qames is therefore correct, it's easy to see how it shifted to sometime be identical to Pathah and sometimes be identical to Holem among Sepharadim, while among Ashkenazim and Teimanim it shifted to almost always be like Holem. The Persians and Samaritans were able to preserve it. That's the best rationalization I can conceive. Plausible?

[@cootmaster]

kamatz is now used as ah now i heard i, ive been taught seri eh egg ay ape ee jeep oh boat oo boot , im 49

[@lettersacademy2718]

How do we say the Shewa (Sheva) [ə] ?

[@anointedblessed1]

Can you make videos for all of the alphabet and vowels and grammar for the new and old versions of hebrew and explain what the difference is and why the Jews will not speak the biblical language in the modern day, why not rid the language of the yiddish or bastardization and have all Rabbi's teach biblical language as God intended people to speak?

[@screamtoasigh9984]

anointedblessed1 I've read that Yemenite Israelis speak the most similar to original.

[@anointedblessed1]

Please do another video and make it plain and clear is there 2 or 3 enunciations per vowel or not, is it three tones per vowel diacritic macron, is that the point? Please spend the entire time with the vowel mark on the screen that correlates otherwise it makes no semantic or semiotic sense. Is there 7 only or is there 21 is it simply 7 with three tones per vowel or not? This made no sense! Going into knowledge of afghanistan and persia is irrelevant please teach the language and make it clear and plain. Thank you. If you are trying to sell the books, it looked like it was in pure full hebrew, is this modern or old biblical or spoken today and what is that difference and why?Does it have the corresponding translation on each page to other languages? How are people to learn a language they do not know if the books on such are in that language with no correlation to all the others?

[@davidroberts3262]

If you really want to know, you can buy the book and ask an Israeli to read it to you in English. You could even pay them for it like a music lesson if you had to. It depends how important learning authentic original Hebrew is to you.

[@justinbalint3768]

יהוה pronounce this name

[@HoangNguyen-bb1xy]

It can be "yehuwah" or "yehuah", although it was pronounced as "yhvh-YeHuVaH". hope this helps you!

[@justinbalint3768]

Nồm Mi I had a dream that the name was given to me as YAHWEH or written in early English Y'HAUEH. Under the a early Hebrew of the time of MOSHEH

[@justinbalint3768]

Nồm Mi hayah howeh drop the HA and keep YAH... and drop the HO and keep WEH .... and it becomes YAH-WEH..

[@kloyo1091]

+Justin balint. Not a good idea..... YAH is scriptural. Yahweh is not. Please see Nehemia Gordon's latest research result for the complete name as found in ancient scrolls.

[@idontfitin.3296]

Nồm Mi close not quit

[@forwhatitsworth5027]

Then it must mean the Jews can say the name of Elohim. yhwh Yehovah.

[@carolinepop3710]

This the Israeli version of pronunciation, where they discarded hundreds of years of traditional pronounciation. Like the word "Kosher", for example, which they want us to believe is pronounced "Kasher".

[@rafoageaeatef4169]

Its more complicated. There are a lot of different traditional pronunciation, one of them does in fact pronounce the word as "Kasher." There is a lot more variation in terms of vowels of the traditional pronunciations than with the consonants. The traditional Ashkenazi pronunciation is not the only traditional pronunciation. Furthermore, what the rabbi is teaching is not how israelis speak.

[@justinbalint3768]

יהוה =YaHWeH

[@jamesworley7033]

NORMAH BTE RAUF (KB) I used to believe in the same nonesence he believes in its never to late for a fool to learn kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4LUd6WwZd1piZI Bærækh Athawh respect onto you my friend and shawlom'''!

[@idontfitin.3296]

justin balint no there's a E vowel under THE Yod it's not Yah with all due respect

[@davidroberts3262]

That's the Samaritian pronunciation and it's probably the name for the Roman god Jupiter who the Samaritians dedicated their temple to. The Rabbis never lost the real vowels. It's a protected name, but the truth is out there. "This is my name לעלם". :)

[@saar144]

I love how he says this is the "true" pronunciation. Not surprising, coming from an indoctrinated orthodox jew.