Syrian Jews - Traditions and Customs - Pronunciation of Hebrew

Pronunciation of Hebrew

The Syrian pronunciation of Hebrew is similar to that of other Mizrahi communities, and is influenced both by Sephardi Hebrew and by the Syrian dialect of Arabic. It does not reflect the formal rules for the pronunciation of Classical Arabic (tajwid) to the same extent as the pronunciation of Iraqi Jews. Particular features are as follows:

• ב (Beth without dagesh) is traditionally /b/, but in Israel is often now under the influence of Israeli Hebrew
• ג (Gimel without dagesh) is often pronounced, like Arabic غ (voiced velar fricative)
• ד (Daleth without dagesh) is pronounced as in Israeli Hebrew, not as in Yemenite pronunciation.
• ה (He with mappiq) is often pronounced with a very short postpended schwa
• ו (Vav) is pronounced, not
• ח (Heth) is pronounced, like Arabic ح (voiceless pharyngeal fricative)
• ט (Teth) is pronounced, like Arabic ط (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar plosive)
• כ (Kaph without dagesh) is often pronounced, like Arabic خ (unvoiced velar fricative)
• ע (Ayin) is pronounced (this sound is sometimes described as "the sound of swallowing a grape, backwards"), like Arabic ع (voiced pharyngeal fricative), but this is less emphatic than in some other dialects
• צ (Tsadi) is pronounced, like Arabic ص (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar fricative); that is, like English voiceless "s" but with the tongue a little retracted
• ק (Qof) is "supposed" to be, like Classical Arabic ق (voiceless uvular plosive) but sometimes slips: historically, into, a glottal stop as in colloquial Syrian Arabic, and today, into in conformity with English or with Israeli Hebrew
• ת (Tav without dagesh) is pronounced as in Israeli Hebrew, not as in Yemenite and Iraqi pronunciation.

The retention of distinct emphatic sounds such as and differentiates Syrian pronunciation from many other Sephardic/Mizrahi pronunciations which have failed to maintain these phonemic or phonological distinctions, for example between and .

Vowels are pronounced as in most other Sephardi and Mizrahi traditions: for example there is no distinction between patach and qamats gadol, or between segol, tsere and vocal sheva . Ħiriq is sometimes reduced to or in an unstressed closed syllable, or in the neighbourhood of an emphatic or guttural consonant.

A semivocalic sound is heard before pataħ ganuv (pataħ coming between a long vowel and a final guttural): thus ruaħ (spirit) is pronounced and siaħ (speech) is pronounced .