Contents of this weekly column are (mostly) based on the sefer: EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM, by R' Nissan Sharoni, Ashdod, a guide to correct pronunciation of Hebrew, specifically in davening and Torah reading. We have received several complaints about this column - here is one sample: “Ever since you started writing about proper pronunciation of Hebrew in davening, it takes me longer to daven than formerly. I read more and say less by heart. And I find that I notice more things, like SH’VA NA and accents. And now I find I’m understanding more of the davening and putting in more kavana.” Keep those complaints coming. Okay, we’re back with the ALEF-BET and the pairs of letters commonly confused, pronunciation-wise. Last week, we mentioned voiced and voiceless pairs of consonants as being easily interchanged. For each pair, the letters are shaped by our mouths, lips, tongue the same way, but the vocal chords contribute to the sound in the voiced letter, and there is a silent blast of air in the other. Practice saying BET and PEI a few times each. Notice how your mouth parts are the same, with the difference being the voice or lack of it. Same for VET and FEI. Notice further, the fact that BET and VET are really the same letter, as are PEI and FEI. GIMMEL and KAF/KUF are another pair. So are ZAYIN and SAMACH/SIN. DALET and TAV/TET too. For each pair, there are words that we often mispronounce by exchanging a voiced for a voiceless letter, or vice versa. Sometimes, the wrong pronunciation produces a word with a different meaning; sometimes it doesn’t. The former case is more serious than the latter, but if you want to be careful, then attention must be paid to both. We also mentioned last week, that a voiced letter will often pull us towards voicing a neighboring letter, when it should be voiceless. The many acts of Chessed that G-d performs for us, are CHASDEI HASHEM. Not CHAZDEI, but many people will inadvertently say it that way, voicing the SAMACH because the DALET is voiced. L’MAAN TIZ-K’RU... This is a famous example from the Sh’ma. Many people exaggerate the ZAYIN sound, because TIS-K’RU has a different meaning. TIS-K’RU, pronouncing the ZAYIN as a voiceless SIN, results from the following letter (KAF) being voiceless. And if one davens very quietly, this too adds to the difficulty of sounding the voiced letters. Kaddish: YIT-GADAL V’YIT-KADDASH... watch out for the GIMMEL in the first word. It easily comes out YIT-KADAL because of the TAV if follows and because of the following word with a KUF following the TAV. Two things help in this issue of the voiced- voiceless interchange: [1] davening more audibly than one is used to, and [2] davcening a little slower and paying more attention to the words. Using a good siddur helps. <mtc> [The Parshat Mishpatim Homepage]
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