tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 24 11:39:02 1995
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Re: Easter translation
>Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 16:07:30 -0400
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: [email protected] (Jonathan Kallay)
> As a Hebrew speaker, I should be able to shed some light on the subject.
>Hallelujah (or however you prefer to spell it) does indeed start with a 'h'
>sound, the Hebrew letter 'hay'. However, the Halelu is pronounced with the
>'e' sound, like in the word 'yet'- phonetically "ha-leh-loo". The 'h' at the
>end of 'yah' is NOT pronounced.
I'm sorry, I think you're mistaken. The "h" at the end of "yah" is clearly
written with a mappiq. Some modern speakers do not pronounce this, but
many do, and properly Hebrew grammar *does* require that this heh be
pronounced. Same with the mappiq-heh in prepositions and words with
third-person singular feminine inflections. It's one of the three letters
in Hebrew which, if vocalized at the end of a word, have the vowel
pronounced before the consonant: `ayin, chet, and *consonantal* heh. It's
a nach nir'eh, that's why it has the mappiq. That's why bg"d kp"t letters
are not soft after it in the Bible, even when the cantillations are
joining. I'll get you texts to quote at you if you like.
~mark