Akhi

Chicago, IL, United States

Posted

10 Nov 10:10

מ \ ם Mem - 13th letter, Gematria 40

מ is the second letter in the group of 5 letters which has a different ם form when it is found at the end of a word. מ is pronounced simply as M in Germanic or Latin based languages, with the same M pronunciation in both Modern Hebrew and Aramaic.

The word for water in Hebrew is מים (mayim). In Aramaic is מיא (maya)

Posted

10 Nov 10:02

ל Lamed, the 12th letter, Gematria value 30

ל is pronounced similar to English L at the beginning of words or like L in Romance languages.  This is one of the easy letters for an European or English language speaker.  Pronunciation is the same in both Modern Hebrew and Aramaic.

Posted

10 Nov 00:52

כ \ ך Kaf - the 11th letter - gematria value 20

כ is the first letter, out of a set of 5 that has 2 forms. The regular form כ, when not at the end of the word, and the form ך when at the end of the word.

כ is also one of the BegadKephat letters that has a secondary pronunciation. כ is pronounced as K in both Modern Hebrew and Aramaic. The secondary pronunciation in both Hebrew and Aramaic is like that of ח (Khet) in Modern Hebrew. See https://unifyd.tv/community/posts/khet-numeric-value-8-is-the-firs

Posted

10 Nov 00:33

י Yod - numeric value 10

See how small that letter is? Jesus says: "For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota (Yod), not a dot, will pass from the Law (Torah) until all is accomplished."

י is pronounced as Y in English, in both Modern Hebrew and Aramaic.

Posted

10 Nov 00:25

ט‎ Tet - numeric value 9

In Modern Hebrew ט‎ is pronounced as T in English (less breathy though) or like T in Romance languages. In Aramaic ט‎ is pronounced similar to T but more in the center of your mouth, with the tongue forming like a cup against the edges of the roof of the mouth.

Modern Hebrew does not make a difference between ט‎ (Tet) and ת (Tau) the last letter of the Hebrew/Aramaic alefbet (alphabet).

In Aramaic ט‎ (Tet) and ת (Tau) represent 2 different sounds, although sounding so similar, that an untrained ear might not capture the difference.

Posted

10 Nov 00:03

ח khet - numeric value 8

ח is the first consonant that does not have an equivalent pronunciation in English. In Modern Hebrew, it is pronounced exactly the same as secondary pronunciation of Kaf (כ). In Aramaic ח is pronounced like a harsher H, something between H and the Modern Hebrew pronunciation of ח. Many languages have both the sound of ה (He) and Aramaic sound of ח (Khet) marked as the same letter H. They don't capture the slight sound difference between the two, by using a different letter, like Hebrew/Aramaic does.

Modern pronunciation of ח is very noticeable, as if somebody is clearing up their throat of phlegm. Such sound is found also in languages like Dutch or German. For example, in German the CH in Bach or Dach is pronounced as  ח in Modern Hebrew.

חי (Khai) in Hebrew means life. Eve in Hebrew is חוה (Khava). אחי (Akhi) in both Hebrew and Aramaic means My Brother.

Posted

09 Nov 00:27

ז - zayin letter, numeric value 7

ז is another "easy" letter for English and Romance language speakers. It is pronounced as Z in Zebra. This is a pretty straightforward letter, pronounced as Z in both Hebrew and Aramaic.

A common word in Hebrew that starts with Zayin is זה (ze). Which means this.  זה illustrates that in general final ה in Hebrew is not pronounced, it is just a "mothers of reading".

Posted

09 Nov 00:14

ו  Waw / Vav consonant - numeric value 6

ו in Modern Hebrew is pronounced as V in victory.  In Aramaic it is pronounced as W in Waw.  As such, we have David in Hebrew but Dawid in Aramaic.

So now for V sound we have two letters in Modern Hebrew. ו and then ב, when pronounced with the secondary pronunciation.  As we continue, we will run into other letters that have the same pronunciation in Modern Hebrew.  But in Aramaic, and most probably also in Ancient Hebrew, each one of the 22 letters that make up the alefbet (alphabet) has a very distinct pronunciation. 

ו is used a lot in Hebrew and Aramaic to link sentences inside phrases.  In such situations it would normally be translated as and or many times simply omitted in translation. When used as such, ו merges with the first word in the next sentence. E.g.
יהי אור, ויהי אור (Yehi ohr, vayehi ohr), Light will be, and light was.

Posted

08 Nov 23:04

ה He letter - numeric value 5

ה is an easy consonant to pronounce for English and European languages speakers. It is pronounced exactly as the English H in words like Hallelujah. Hallelujah (הללויה) is a Hebrew word that means "praise Yah".

Posted

08 Nov 01:34

ג Gimel - gematria value 3

ג is another consonant that is part of  begadkephat consonants. These are consonants that may have 2 phonetic values, both of which are represented by the same alphabet symbol though.

In its regular pronunciation it sounds exactly like G in Garden.

In Modern Hebrew ג is always pronounced as G.

But in Aramaic it has 2 phonetic values: G, and depending on the surrounding word context it may also be pronounced as described here (Voiced velar fricative - Wikipedia)

If you always pronounce it as G, you will be understood for sure, in both Modern Hebrew and Aramaic. 

ג is an easy consonant to master, as its pronunciation is exactly like G in many contemporary languages.