Italian Hebrew or Italki Hebrew refers to the pronunciation system for
liturgical Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...
traditionally used by
Italian Jews
Italian Jews ( it, Ebrei Italiani, he, יהודים איטלקים ''Yehudim Italkim'') or Roman Jews ( it, Ebrei Romani, he, יהודים רומים ''Yehudim Romim'') can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in I ...
.
Features
The Italian pronunciation of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
is similar to that of conservative
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the ...
. Distinguishing features are:
* ''
beth rafe
In Hebrew orthography the rafe or raphe ( he, רָפֶה, , meaning "weak, limp") is a diacritic (), a subtle horizontal overbar placed above certain letters to indicate that they are to be pronounced as fricatives.
It originated with the Ti ...
'' is pronounced ;
* ''
he'' is often silent, as in the family name "Coen";
* ''
vav'' is normally as in most Hebrew dialects, but can become in diphthongs (as in the family name "Anau"). Thus, in construct masculine plurals with male singular possessive suffix יו-, the pronunciation is not
_but_[-;
*_''zayin''_is_often_pronounced__like_Italian_voiced_"z";
*_''
_but_[-;
*_''zayin''_is_often_pronounced__like_Italian_voiced_"z";
*_''ayin">;
*_''zayin.html"_;"title="_but_[-;
*_''zayin">_but_[-;
*_''zayin''_is_often_pronounced__like_Italian_voiced_"z";
*_''ayin''_is_pronounced__(like_English_"ng"_in_"sing").__In_some_dialects,_like_the_Roman,_this_sometimes_becomes_,_like_the_Italian_combination_"gn";
*_final_''
_but_[-;
*_''zayin''_is_often_pronounced__like_Italian_voiced_"z";
*_''ayin">;
*_''zayin.html"_;"title="_but_[-;
*_''zayin">_but_[-;
*_''zayin''_is_often_pronounced__like_Italian_voiced_"z";
*_''ayin''_is_pronounced__(like_English_"ng"_in_"sing").__In_some_dialects,_like_the_Roman,_this_sometimes_becomes_,_like_the_Italian_combination_"gn";
*_final_''Taw">tav''_is_pronounced_;
*_speakers_in_communities_south_of_the_La_Spezia–Rimini_Line.html" "title="Taw.html" ;"title="ayin.html" ;"title=";
*_''zayin.html" ;"title=" but [-;
* ''zayin"> but [-;
* ''zayin'' is often pronounced like Italian voiced "z";
* ''ayin">;
*_''zayin.html" ;"title=" but [-;
* ''zayin"> but [-;
* ''zayin'' is often pronounced like Italian voiced "z";
* ''ayin'' is pronounced (like English "ng" in "sing"). In some dialects, like the Roman, this sometimes becomes , like the Italian combination "gn";
* final ''Taw">tav'' is pronounced ;
* speakers in communities south of the La Spezia–Rimini Line">La Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest cit ...
isogloss, and Jewish communities transplanted north of this, pronounce ''dagesh forte'' as a true geminate sound, in keeping with the pronunciation of double letters in Italian.
[Elia S. Artom, "La pronuncia dell'ebraico presso gli Ebrei di Italia", in Scritti in memoria di F. Luzzatto, ''Rassegna Mensile di Israel'' 28 (1962): 26-30.]
This pronunciation has in many cases been adopted by the Sephardi, Ashkenazi and ''Appam'' communities of Italy as well as by the
Italian rite communities.
References
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
Italki Jews topics
Languages of Italy
{{Italy-stub