Eliora, It is generally accepted that the aiyin (written below as 3) had a velar G/K-sound as in 3aZa = Gaza. ------
I think it's more likely that Hebrew originally had both an ayin and a ghayin sound (as Arabic, Ugaritic, Sabaic etc do/did), but that they both merged into the one sound (roughly ayin) which later merged into aleph, as it's become in modern Hebrew pronunciation. Regarding the original question, here is an mp3 recording of a fairly good pronunciation of ayin in Arabic, probably the closest you'll get to an authentic rendering of how the ancient Hebrew might have been. http://www.cuevaslab.org/sounds/3ayins/p_ta3aal.mp3 Alef is a hard one to answer, since it seems the letter doubled in most languages as a glottal stop (like when you say "uh-oh") and also as a long "aa" vowel. Regards, Abu Rashid. --- In [email protected], "cohenizzy" <cohen.i...@...> wrote: > > > Eliora asked: > > what are the original sounds of Aleph and Ayin? > > Aiyin > > It is generally accepted that the aiyin (written below as 3) had a velar > G/K-sound as in 3aZa = Gaza. > > I find that words containing an aiyin are sometimes cognate with Greek > and Latin words containing a hard CR-sound. For example, 3oFaL (Ophal, > the high fortified area at the southern end of the Temple mount) seems > to be cognate with Greek acropolis = high (fortified area) of the city. > > BTW, the Hebrew word 3aiYiN = eye also means color. That is > "What eye?" = "What color?". Treating the 3 in 3aiYiN = color as CR > produces "crayon". Compare the standard etymology for crayon from Latin > creta = chalk (which is usually white). > > Aleph > > I think the aleph originally had a northern GHT and Mediterranean > CHS-sound. You can hear a similar sound in German words containing CHT, > such as Licht = light, Nacht = night, and Macht = might (strength). > > Evidence for this original sound is contained in > > 1. ancient toponyms (place names) 2. Rashi script 3. current > Hebrew words where het+shin seems to have replaced an aleph in order to > retain the original sound. 4. cognates where aleph is parallel to > GHT/CHT in Germanic languages. > > > > 1. The area now called (the) Ukraine had been known as Roxolania and > later as Rus (south of Belarus = White Russia). Compare R CHS Slania and > RuS with resh-aleph-shin = head. Then compare Ukraina with Greek kranion > = skull, cranium. > (I do not agree with the opinion that Ukraina is derived from Slavic u > kraina = at/to the border.) > 2. The Rashi-script aleph looks like a het + chupchik. The > Rashi-script shin looks like a tet turned 90 degrees clockwise. The > modern hand-written shin looks like a closed tet. See: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi_script > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi_script> or > http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Rashi_Script/Summary/s\ > ummary.html > <http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Rashi_Script/Summary/\ > summary.html> > 3. MakHSHeV = computer and kHeSHBoN = bill, account are based on the > root het-shin-bet. This root has the meanings "to think" (in a logical > sequence) and "to count" (1, 2, ...) ... that is, to aleph-bet > something. > > kHaSHMaL = electricity occurs in Tanakh only in Ezekiel with the meaning > "color of amber". In many languages, the concept "electricity" is > derived from amber (which evidences static electricity). This word is > sometimes translated as Latin electrum, an alloy of gold and silver with > the same color. If you replace the het+shin with an aleph whose sound is > lost and replace the mem with an MB-sound, kHaSHMaL sounds like ambal or > amber. > > 4. The second word in Tanakh, bet-resh-aleph = created, seems to be > cognate with BRouGHT (forth). LiGHTS (OE for lungs) seems cognate with > resh-aleph-oh-sof = lungs. > > In many Hebrew words, the aleph seems to have moved to the beginning of > the word after it lost its sound. If the aleph is moved back to the end > of the word, aleph-oh-resh = light (radiation) seems cognate with LiGHT. > > Giving the shin its earlier D/T-sound (see 2 above), aleph-shin-heh > =wife seems cognate with DauGHTer. Among the ancient Hebrews, the wife > went to live with the tribe of her husband. For her husband, she was a > wife. For everyone else she was like another daughter. > > Ciao, Izzy >
