Mizrahi Hebrew
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Mizrahi Hebrew or Oriental Hebrew refers to any one of the pronunciation systems for Biblical Hebrew used liturgically by Mizrahi Jews, that is, Jews originating in Arab countries or further east, and with a background of Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Turkish, or other languages of the Middle East and Asia. As such, Mizrahi Hebrew is actually a blanket term for many dialects.
Sephardi Hebrew is not considered one of these, although it has been spoken in the Middle East and North Africa. The Sephardim were expellees from Spain, and settled among the Mizrahim, but in countries such as Syria and Morocco there was a fairly high degree of convergence between the Sephardi and the local pronunciations of Hebrew. Yemenite Hebrew is also considered quite separate, as it has a wholly different system for the pronunciation of the vowels.
The same terms are sometimes used for the pronunciation of modern Israeli Hebrew by Jews of Arab or other Mizrahi origins. This is generally a compromise between standard Israeli Hebrew and the traditional liturgical pronunciation as described in this article.
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[edit] Features
The following features are generally found in the pronunciation of Jews from Arabic-speaking countries, and the variations tend to follow the Arabic dialect of the country in question.
- The stress tends to fall on the last syllable wherever this is the case in Biblical Hebrew
- ב (Bet without dagesh) is pronounced [b] in some countries (e.g. Iraq), and [v] in others (e.g. Morocco)[1]
- ו (Vav) is pronounced [v] in some countries and [w] in others (e.g. Iraq)
- ח (ִHet) is pronounced [ħ], like Arabic ح (voiceless pharyngeal fricative)
- ט (Tet) is pronounced [tˤ], like Arabic ط (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar plosive)
- ע (Ayin) is pronounced [ʕ], like Arabic ع (voiced pharyngeal fricative)
- צ (Tsadi) is pronounced [sˁ], like Arabic ص (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar fricative)
- ק (Qof) is usually pronounced [q] like Classical Arabic ق (voiceless uvular plosive) but other sounds occur, such as [k], [g] or [ʔ] (glottal stop).
- ר (Resh) is usually trilled [r], rather than uvular [ʁ]
- ת (Tav without dagesh) is pronounced [t] in some countries, and [θ] in others (e.g. Iraq)[2]
- Vowels generally have the same sounds as in Sephardi Hebrew: that is
- Tsere is pronounced [e:]
- Holam is pronounced [o:]
- Kamats gadol is pronounced [a:]
The pronunciation of Mizrahi Jews from non-Arab countries differs in some respects. For example, among Persian Jews distinctively Arabic sounds such as ح [ħ] and ط [tˤ] do not occur, and Kamats gadol is backed to [ɑ] (the sound in English "awe") like the long a in Persian.
[edit] History
In Talmudic times it was noted that the Galilean (and maybe Syrian) pronunciation of Hebrew and Aramaic differed from those of both Judaea and Babylonia, principally by the loss of distinct sounds for the guttural letters he, hhet and 'ayin. This feature is still found in Samaritan Hebrew.
Following the Arab conquest of Palestine and Mesopotamia, much work was done by the Masoretes in restoring the correct pronunciation of Biblical Hebrew, under the influence of the Arabic grammarians of the time. Three distinct notations for the vowels were devised: the Palestinian, the Babylonian and the Tiberian, of which the Tiberian eventually superseded the other two.
The process of assimilation to Arabic went furthest with the Babylonian Jews. For example, in Arabic there is no phonemic distinction between "a" and "e", though a phonetic difference is made by the presence of an adjacent emphatic or guttural consonant. Accordingly the Babylonian notation does not distinguish between patach (in other pronunciations /a/), segol (in other pronunciations /e/ or /ɛ/) and sheva na', and these three vowels are still pronounced alike (as /æ/) among Yemenite Jews. In addition, Iraqi Jews, like the Yemenites, retain the Arabic sounds of waw (/w/) and tav raphe (/θ/).
After the expulsion of the Sephardi Jews from Spain in 1492, the exiles took the leading position in most Arab and Ottoman countries, and the local pronunciation of Hebrew assimilated to Sephardi Hebrew in many respects, in particular the pronunciation of the vowels. For this reason, today's Iraqi Jews distinguish between patach (/a/) and segol (/e/) in the same way as most other Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. However, distinct sounds for the guttural and emphatic letters, and the /b/ sound for bet raphe, were retained in many Arab countries, probably under the influence of Arabic.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The [b] presumably reflects the influence of Arabic, where there is no [v]. The [v] pronunciation may reflect the influence of Sephardic immigrants from and after 1492, as it is also found in the pronunciation of Ottoman Sephardim (though not all Sephardim: see Sephardi Hebrew). The pronunciation before 1492, both in Spain and in Arabic-speaking countries, is unclear.
- ^ This difference usually follows differences in the local dialect of Arabic: however, Sephardim too are divided on the pronunciation of this letter, though [t] predominates.
[edit] Bibliography
- Idelsohn, A.Z., Phonographierte Gesänge und Aussprachsproben des Hebräischen der jemenitischen, persischen und syrischen Juden: Vienna 1917
- Katz, K., Masoret ha-lashon ha-'Ivrit shel Yehude Aram-Tsova (ִHalab) bi-qeriat ha-Miqra ve-ha-Mishnah (The Hebrew Language Tradition of the Jews of Aleppo in the Reading of the Bible and Mishnah): Jerusalem 1981 (Hebrew) Edah ve-Lashon series vol. 7
- Katz, K., Masoret ha-qeri'ah shel qehillat Jerba ba-Miqra u-va-Mishnah (The Hebrew Language Tradition of the Community of Djerba, Tunisia) Edah ve-Lashon series vol. 2
- Morag, S., Masoret ha-lashon ha-'Ivrit shel Yehude Bagdad, bi-qeriat ha-Mikra ve-ha-Mishnah (The Hebrew Language Tradition of the Baghdad Community: the Phonology): Jerusalem 1977 (Hebrew) Edah ve-Lashon series vol. 1
- S. Morag, 'Pronunciations of Hebrew', Encyclopaedia Judaica XIII, 1120-1145
- Yeivin, I., The Hebrew Language Tradition as Reflected in the Babylonian Vocalization: Jerusalem 1985 (Hebrew)
[edit] See also
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