Israeli pronunciation

saw50st8

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 9:40 am

I try to follow what the parents want but my friend is Israeli and has a daughter Ayala, which sounds awkward to me the "proper" way. I generally follow the ruchel vs rachel vs ray-chel based on what the person wants.

My cousin Sarah (pronounce the english way) is called Sarah the israeli way now. I asked her if it bothers her and she said no, not really.

Mine name is Shira and I don't care how anyone wants to pronounce it. Israelis say it different than I do.

Isramom8

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 12:46 pm

I try to say a name the way the bearer or his/her parents prefer. My six week old grandson is Elchanan. That can be pronounced in three different ways. My daughter says ElchaNAN, so I do too. My son in law says ELchanan, but defers to his wife. :-)

yo'ma

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 1:56 pm

It's not only names or in E'Y. I was telling someone today E"Y and Chasuna. I had to pronounce like they do or else they wouldn't have understood me. I don't think I did a great job because I don't think they understood me Rolling Eyes

tikva18

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 2:11 pm

This is why certain names are off my list. I was taught Israeli pronunciation - as is common in way OOT places - although my father's pronunciation was heavily ashkenazi. My dh uses ashkenazi pronunciation. As a sign of support, I have taken on ashkenazi pronunciation so my children will sound the same as their tatty (never mind the kid that went chassidish). When we first moved here my oldest started pre-school. I was on the floor rolling when he came home singing "l'shana tova u'meSUka". I now can say that with a straight face.

So. One of my all time favorite names is not on my list because it has the potential of being mangled - Itamar. Isahmr - no thank you. I'm okay with slight differences in my kids names - as really, I prefer sfardi pronunciation. So, I have Akiva Daniel, Yehuda Nachman, Rashi (yes that's his first name) Eliyahu, Gedalya Yechezkel Ephraim, and Tehila Chana Devora.

I call people by the way their names have been said to me. I think it's insulting otherwise.

sarahd

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 2:14 pm

shalhevet wrote:

But AYAla is just a mistake. It sounds stupid in Israel because it's incorrect (like sometimes when people from chul sing kodesh songs and the words are pronounced incorrectly). YonaTAN/ YonaSAN or NetanEL/NeSAnel is a Sephardi/ Ashkenzai thing - but most Israelis - including Israeli Litvish - will use the "Sephardi" pronunciation.

And here in my family we thought aYAla was the Israeli way...My mother has a cousin Ayala and she calls her AHyala. Actually, so do her sisters, IIRC, and whereas my mother is Hungarian-born and can use that as an excuse, her cousins are all sabras.

6yeladim

Mon, Dec 05 2011, 11:55 pm

shalhevet wrote:

I don't see aYAlah as a mistake. Ashkenazi pronunciation has a long history. You should hear my husband complain about incorrect ashkenazis pronunciation, like using a saf but not distinguishing between a kamatz and pasach.

-Hannah, who learned modern Hebrew pronunciation in day school and only has a vague idea about the difference between kamatz and patach.

chanchy123

Tue, Dec 06 2011, 12:15 am

OK, so my name is Chana, pronounced the old fashioned way - CHAna, not the correct ChaNAH.
If I were born today, I'd be a ChaNAH, my younger two siblings names are pronounced that way, but hey I was born 31.5 years ago so here I am.
I don't mind when people I don't know call me ChaNAH, but people who have been introduced to me as CHAna, and have heard the name used - I can't stand that. It seems very condescending to me when people use the "correct" pronunciation of my name to me. It's like they are teaching me the right way to say my own name. I can't stand it.
Of course, throughout my life, I've almost always had an actual ChaNAH around to confuse people, so I may be judging people harshly (because they might be confusing me with the other Chana).
Anyhoo, I'm I am who I am, and I'm not going to change the way I pronounce my name.

BTW I think the emphasis on the emphasis has become more prevalent because people in Israel have been Hebrew speakers for many years, and it's just ridiculous to say a word that you'd use in a sentence differently because it's a name of a person.

imamama

Tue, Dec 06 2011, 1:41 am

I find I say my children's names differently, depending on who I'm talking to, and what language I'm speaking. The same way I'll say Shabbos when I'm speaking English, but Shabbat when I'm speaking Hebrew. If someone asks me what my baby's name is in English, I say "HAllel." If they ask me in Hebrew, I say "HaLLEL," (which I actually like the sound of much better). Amichai is emphasis on the first syllable in English, and "AmiCHAI" in Hebrew. Or aMIchai, if you're my American yeshivish brother. Smile

I only speak English to my kids, so I say their names the "English" way when I'm addressing them.