Page 1 of 3
how to pronounce some words
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:35 pm
by Kenneth Greifer
Can someone tell me how to pronounce a few words in Hebrew?
תרוממי
Is it "te-rom-mee" or "te-ro-me-mee"?
מרוממ'ם
Is this "me-rom-meem" or "me-ro-me-mee"?
Sort of the same question.
I was reading about vocal schwas and silent schwas, and I was wondering why don't they just have two different symbols instead of having a vowel that can be read two different ways? Has anybody ever come up with different vowel symbols for things like this? It seems silly to have one vowel that can be read different ways, if you can avoid that.
Kenneth Greifer
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:44 pm
by Kenneth Greifer
Also, the word
היתה
Is it pronounced "hay-ta" or "ha-yeta"?
Kenneth Greifer
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:40 pm
by Jason Hare
Kenneth Greifer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:35 pm
Can someone tell me how to pronounce a few words in Hebrew?
תרוממי
Is it "te-rom-mee" or "te-ro-me-mee"?
מרוממ'ם
Is this "me-rom-meem" or "me-ro-me-mee"?
Sort of the same question.
I was reading about vocal schwas and silent schwas, and I was wondering why don't they just have two different symbols instead of having a vowel that can be read two different ways? Has anybody ever come up with different vowel symbols for things like this? It seems silly to have one vowel that can be read different ways, if you can avoid that.
Kenneth Greifer
Can you tell us where you’re getting the last word מרוממ'ם? Did you intend it to have a yod rather than an apostrophe (מרוממים)?
The long vowel ו will not be part of a closed unaccented syllable. It is me-ro-me-mím. The same with תרוממי te-ro-me-mí.
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:41 pm
by Jason Hare
Kenneth Greifer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:44 pm
Also, the word
היתה
Is it pronounced "hay-ta" or "ha-yeta"?
Kenneth Greifer
Either one. Technically, the shva is vocal, but it doesn’t matter.
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:53 pm
by Kenneth Greifer
Jason Hare wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:40 pm
Kenneth Greifer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:35 pm
Can someone tell me how to pronounce a few words in Hebrew?
תרוממי
Is it "te-rom-mee" or "te-ro-me-mee"?
מרוממ'ם
Is this "me-rom-meem" or "me-ro-me-mee"?
Sort of the same question.
I was reading about vocal schwas and silent schwas, and I was wondering why don't they just have two different symbols instead of having a vowel that can be read two different ways? Has anybody ever come up with different vowel symbols for things like this? It seems silly to have one vowel that can be read different ways, if you can avoid that.
Kenneth Greifer
Can you tell us where you’re getting the last word מרוממ'ם? Did you intend it to have a yod rather than an apostrophe (מרוממים)?
The long vowel ו will not be part of a closed unaccented syllable. It is me-ro-me-mím. The same with תרוממי te-ro-me-mí.
Yes, I wanted to write the letter yud, not an apostrophe.
מרוממים
I am assuming from your answers that it would be "me-ro-me-meem."
Thank you for answering me.
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 9:03 am
by Kenneth Greifer
I have another question about the hophal form of the verb רום. Is the word הורמו pronounced "hoor-moo" or "hoo-re-moo"?I think it is "hoo-re-moo". It would be nice if they had different vowels for the vocal schwa and the silent schwa. I am trying to understand the rules about this stuff, but it seems a little tricky to me. I don't plan to ask more about these so don't get upset. Thank you.
Kenneth Greifer
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2024 11:22 am
by Glenn Dean
I'm pretty sure it's hu-re-Mu (accent on the last syllable so I capitalize the M).
You can rule out hur-Mu (you wrote hoor-Moo but those are shereq vowels) because the closed-unaccented syllable must take a short vowel (but the shereq is long).
So the sequence is
"hu" open unaccented (so takes a long vowel)
"re"
"Mu" open accented
Glenn
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2024 8:46 pm
by Kenneth Greifer
How do you know from looking at this word הורמו how the letters are divided into syllables and which one is accented? I have seen words with only three letters, so why can't you have a syllable with just the letters hay vav resh I assume and one with mem vav. Also, how do you know which is accented? I was looking at grammar books and they talk about open and closed syllable and short and long vowels and where the accent is, but I never understand their explanations really.
Kenneth Greifer
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2024 12:31 am
by Kenneth Greifer
In the book "A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew" by J. Weingreen, 2nd edition, on page 9, he says that the word
שומרים is "sho-me-rim." I have seen videos with people saying it is pronounced "shom-rim", so I am confused about this.
Is he right? I didn't want to ask more questions like this, but the book surprised me a little bit.
Kenneth Greifer
Re: how to pronounce some words
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2024 9:37 am
by bdenckla
For words that appear in the Hebrew Bible, you could consult an edition that makes
sheva distinctions. Such editions include:
- Most (maybe all) modern Koren editions (paper books)
- Most (maybe all) Simanim editions (paper books)
- Al-Hatorah (a free web edition)
These editions will disagree in some disputed cases. But they will agree on most cases. And even in disputed cases, it is useful to have a point of reference, even if it is not "the one right/best/definitive way."