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.
After last column’s focus on the names - both people and places - that end in YUD-ALEF- LAMED, we received an email from DL, whose first name happens to be DA-NI-YEIL (not his spelling, but our transliteration). He pointed out some other names with ALEF-LAMED at the end (not with a YUD before them) that also have an ALEF that is NACH NISTAR, un-voweled and totally not heard from. Among the names he sent were two common, well-known Biblical names. The first is the prophet Y’CHEZ-KEIL. Most people get this one right, although they might not realize that the ALEF does not have a vowel. The KUF has the TZEIREI and the last syllable is KEIL, as if it would be spelled KUF-LAMED. The name is not Y’CHEZ-K’EIL but -KEIL.

The other example is the son of Hagar (from Avraham), YISHMA’EIL. Now this one is practically academic for us Ashkenazim, but a S’fardi or Teimani might be able to handle this name. The AYIN has the TZEIREI and the ALEF is a NACH NISTAR. So the name is NOT YISH-MA’ (with a throat-hurting AYIN sound as part of MEM-AYIN) and then EIL from the ALEF-LAMED, but rather (and do not try this at home, without proper supervision and throat lozenges) YISH (that’s the easy syllable) MA (just like a MEM with a PATACH) and then AYIN-TZEIREI-LAMED, which is sometimes written ‘EIL. Get the difference? Don’t worry about it.

Here’s another one from DL’s list. It appears 29 times in Tanach, so we should mention it here. In English it is Jezreel, as in the valley, with some of the most fertile farm land in the country. In Hebrew, the name is YIZ- then REISH with a SH’VA NA followed by AYIN-SEGOL and an unvoweled ALEF which does not influence the pronunciation, and finally an ALEF. I’m almost sorry we brought it up. Not really. Thanks DL.

Oh, all right, we’ll be thorough. One more from DL. Appears only once in Tanach. Hoshei’a 10:14, to be specific. ALEF-REISH-VET-ALEF- LAMED. Second ALEF is a NACH NISTAR. The name is AR-VEIL, as if the ALEF were not there.

Back to the ALEF-BET and various warnings about easily mispronounced and interchanged letters. VET and FEI (V and F sounds). YIVTACH as in BARUCH HAGEVER ASHER YIVTACH BASHEM... Blessed is the person who trusts in G-d... As contrasted with YIFTACH, as in YIFTACH HASHEM L’CHA ET OTZRO HATOV, May G-d open for you His good treasure house... or YIFTACH the GIL’ADI who lead the people of Israel in battle. With a TAV as the next letter, it is natural to mispronounce the VET as a FEI. That’s because FEI and TAV are both “voiceless” consonants, and they go together better than a voiced VET and the unvoiced TAV. (The voiced counterpart of the TAV, by the way, is a DALET). More of these next week, IY”H. (or maybe this wk.)

This is our fifth “tidbit” from the ACADEMIYA L’LASHON HA’IVRIT — words for things that most people call by their LO’AZI (foreign language) names without realizing there is a Hebrew word for it. The small metal rod that is used to strike a triangle to produce a musical note is called a BADIT (bet-dalet-yud-tav) MAKOSH (mem-kuf-vav-shin) , by the way, is the little hammer for striking the keys of a xylophone, MAKOSHIT in Hebrew, or MACHOSHIT.

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