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Hebrew allophones

  Tags: Hebrew
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zecchino1991
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United States
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Arabic (Written), Romanian, Icelandic, Georgian

 
 Message 1 of 6
05 December 2011 at 11:25pm | IP Logged 
I have been learning modern Hebrew for a while now, and I have always wondered if there
are any vowel (or even consonant) allophones. The reason I am not sure is because
nothing I have ever read has mentioned them. Yet, sometimes I have trouble hearing the
difference between /a/ and /e/ because people pronounce them very fast, so I have
always
thought that maybe they are actually saying the shwa sound /ə/. Is that true, or are
they just pronounced very quickly? Also, are there any other allophones, vowel or
consonant? I used to think there were some. For example, one time I noticed that
sometimes
/ʃ/ changes to /ʒ/ before voiced sounds, but that doesn't count because apparently the
"zh" sound is a phoneme (it is in a few words that came from French, like "baggage.")

So are there any at all? And remember I am only talking about modern Israeli Hebrew.

Edited by zecchino1991 on 05 December 2011 at 11:26pm

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Yurk
Triglot
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Studies: French

 
 Message 2 of 6
08 December 2011 at 10:42pm | IP Logged 
In Hebrew chaf's standard pronunciation is /χ/ but I'm pretty sure [x] is a relatively common also, so they'd be
considered allophones. Reish can be pronounced as a variety of rhotic sounds (/ʁ/, /ʀ/, and /r/) all of which
would be allophones in Modern Hebrew; though some may be associated with certain ethnic accents.
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zecchino1991
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 Message 3 of 6
08 December 2011 at 11:11pm | IP Logged 
So what about vowels?
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stormj
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Studies: Spanish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 4 of 6
21 December 2011 at 12:26am | IP Logged 
If you are trying to learn Israeli Hebrew, you have to remember that Israel is made up of a bunch of different
ethnicities. Sephardim and Ashkenazim, broadly speaking, are going to say things differently even among the
standard "Sephardic" pronunciation.
Qamats is an allophone that is sometimes 'o' and sometimes 'a' (e.g. chochmah wisdom, etc.)

But many of the Hebrew sounds are merging, not splitting. Almost all Hebrew speakers don't make any sound for
ayin except maybe some who were raised with Arabic or Yemenis.

If you're not in a seminary or trying to be a shliach tsibbur, splitting all of these hairs isn't that important. Just go
with your best approximation of the native speakers you hear on tape and call it good.
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zecchino1991
Senior Member
United States
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Joined 5259 days ago

778 posts - 885 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Arabic (Written), Romanian, Icelandic, Georgian

 
 Message 5 of 6
21 December 2011 at 12:41am | IP Logged 
Yes, when I said Israeli Hebrew I meant the "standard" dialect. I know that doesn't
exactly exist...everyone has their own ways of speaking, pronouncing things etc. But
that's the best way I can explain it. There is a certain dialect that is the most common.
I should have been more clear, sorry about that.

And I'm not trying to "split hairs," I'm just very interested in phonology. :)
I didn't ask because I'm having problems, I'm just curious. It's hard to tell exactly
what sounds people are using sometimes. Even in my native language I'm not always sure
what sounds I am saying!

Well anyway, thank you everyone for your answers so far. :)
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Cabaire
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Germany
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 Message 6 of 6
21 December 2011 at 1:21am | IP Logged 
The most famous allophone of Hebrew was, when the Ephraimites pronounced the Shin in שבלת as סבלת. That cost them their lives. But that is now long ago (Judges 12,5-6) and variation in pronunciation is now less dangerous in Israel nowadays, I hope.

Edited by Cabaire on 21 December 2011 at 1:23am



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