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| transliterative_alphabet [2024/04/21 13:25] – [Usage Notes] ken | transliterative_alphabet [Unknown date] (current) – external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1 |
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| |ס |c| s| | |ס |c| s| |
| |ש |s| sh| | |ש |s| sh| |
| |ט |f| t| | |[[ט]] |f| t| |
| |ת |t| t| | |ת |t| t| |
| |צ |x| tz| | |צ |x| tz| |
| * both כ and ק map to a "k" sound. The transliteration of כ is 'k' and of ק is 'q' | * both כ and ק map to a "k" sound. The transliteration of כ is 'k' and of ק is 'q' |
| * both ש and ס map to a "s" sound, although sometimes ש tends to shift toward "sh". The transliteration of ש is 's' (based on phonetic /ʃ/) and of ס is 'c'. (think of a soft c as in cycle or cent) | * both ש and ס map to a "s" sound, although sometimes ש tends to shift toward "sh". The transliteration of ש is 's' (based on phonetic /ʃ/) and of ס is 'c'. (think of a soft c as in cycle or cent) |
| * both ת and ט map to a "t" sound. The transliteration of ת is 't' and of ט is 'f'. The letter f was chosen because it was unused, and vaguely resembles an upside down 't'. It should not me mistaken for פ which sometimes is pronounced "f" in other Hebrew transliteration schemes. | * both ת and [[ט]] map to a "t" sound. The transliteration of ת is 't' and of ט is 'f'. The letter f was chosen because it was unused, and vaguely resembles an upside down 't'. It should not me mistaken for פ which sometimes is pronounced "f" in other Hebrew transliteration schemes. |
| * the letter צ is pronounced "tz". The chosen transliteration of צ is 'x' | * the letter צ is pronounced "tz". The chosen transliteration of צ is 'x' |
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| - map all letters using the chart above | - map all letters using the chart above |
| - add "e" after each consonant that is not already followed by another vowel, unless it is an "h" at the end of the word which essentially functions as a vowel. | - add "e" after each consonant that is not already followed by another vowel, unless it is an "h" at the end of the word which essentially functions as a vowel. |
| - an ending ה results in an "ah"/"eh" sound. | * an ending ה results in an "eh" sound, unless it is immediately preceded by a vowel, in which case it modifies the vowel's normal sound as in "ah", "ih", or "oh" |
| - map pronunciation from the transliteration as required | - map pronunciation from the transliteration as required for ק(q->k), ס(c->s), ש(s->sh), ט(f->t), צ(x->tz) |
| *any transliterated word can be mapped back to Hebrew by a two step process: | *any transliterated word can be mapped back to Hebrew by a two step process: |
| - ignore all "e"s | - ignore all "e"s |
| Certain scenarios exist where the possible pronunciations allowed within the system appear to fall short of actual pronunciations used in the verbal language. However, the intention of this mapping is to cover Ancient Hebrew only. We are not attempting to cover Modern Hebrew. Thus, it is important to differentiate between the Ancient and Modern versions; a task which is stymied by the fact that only the Modern pronunciations can truly be known. We are forced to perform some guesswork when it comes to the pronunciation of the Ancient Hebrew, based on the extant written evidence and informed (but not necessarily limited) by the Modern pronunciations, even though we know there to be significant differences. | Certain scenarios exist where the possible pronunciations allowed within the system appear to fall short of actual pronunciations used in the verbal language. However, the intention of this mapping is to cover Ancient Hebrew only. We are not attempting to cover Modern Hebrew. Thus, it is important to differentiate between the Ancient and Modern versions; a task which is stymied by the fact that only the Modern pronunciations can truly be known. We are forced to perform some guesswork when it comes to the pronunciation of the Ancient Hebrew, based on the extant written evidence and informed (but not necessarily limited) by the Modern pronunciations, even though we know there to be significant differences. |
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| Ultimately though, the goal of this transliterative alphabet is not to provide [[consistent pronunciation]] but rather, to provide a tool capable of aiding in the discovery of [[semantic consistency]] within the Ancient corpus. | Ultimately though, the goal of this transliterative alphabet is not to provide consistent [[pronunciation]] but rather, to provide a tool capable of aiding in the discovery of [[semantic consistency]] within the Ancient corpus. |
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| Since the discussion has necessarily turned to linear algebra, it should be stated also that shortcomings are not one-to-one and onto with problems. That is to say, that the admitted shortcomings reveal only //potential// problems. They may or may not materialize into actual problems, dependent upon how they affect our ability to achieve our goal of [[semantic consistency]]. Each case must be evaluated by its specific impact. So what are the possibly problematic cases? | Since the discussion has necessarily turned to linear algebra, it should be stated also that shortcomings are not one-to-one and onto with problems. That is to say, that the admitted shortcomings reveal only //potential// problems. They may or may not materialize into actual problems, dependent upon how they affect our ability to achieve our goal of [[semantic consistency]]. Each case must be evaluated by its specific impact. So what are the possibly problematic cases? |
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| * leading and trailing [[a vs e]] are indistinguishable | * leading and trailing [[a vs e]] are indistinguishable |
| * the "J" sound appears to be represented in the verbal but not the written language | * the "J" sound appears to be represented in the verbal but not the written language. This is explored further under the heading: [[#The Judah Problem]] |
| * the "Judah" problem | * the "V" sound appears to be represented in the verbal language but is inadequately represented in the written language. This is explored further under the heading: [[#The Levi Problem]]. |
| * the "V" sound appears to be represented in the verbal language but is inadequately represented in the written language | |
| * the "Levi" problem | |
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| Other strange cases: | Other strange cases: |
| * the "Sabbath" problems(s) | * [[#the "Sabbath" problem]](s) |
| * a few other weird pronunciation topics | * a few other weird pronunciation topics |
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| At first glance this may appear to be an example of a rather common occurrence of the Hebrew letter ו seeming to perform multiple duties. It happens quite regulary that the ו, though generally sounding like "o", will often take on a trailing consonant sound and become "ov". That may explain the presence of the "v" sound. But does it? If this were the case, we would have "lovi", not "levi". | At first glance this may appear to be an example of a rather common occurrence of the Hebrew letter ו seeming to perform multiple duties. It happens quite regulary that the ו, though generally sounding like "o", will often take on a trailing consonant sound and become "ov". That may explain the presence of the "v" sound. But does it? If this were the case, we would have "lovi", not "levi". |
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| Strangely, a "v" sound often occurs in common Hebrew pronunciations, where we should expect a "b". That is to say, the letter ב is usually understood to correspond to "b", but sometimes it is a "v" instead. This is generally explained away with the argument that the diacritic dot in the middle of בּ turns a "b" into a "v". A valiant effort, but we have already addressed how trustworthy [[diacritics]] are. | Strangely, a "v" sound often occurs in common Hebrew pronunciations, where we should expect a "b". That is to say, the letter ב is usually understood to correspond to "b", but sometimes it is a "v" instead. This is generally explained away with the argument that the diacritic dot in the middle of בּ turns a "b" into a "v". A valiant effort by it's proponents, but we have already addressed how trustworthy [[diacritics]] are. |
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| The usual pronunciation of "levi" emphasises the long e sound, which we would normally spell using "ee". However, this is an additional problem. The Hebrew alphabet does not include such a sound. The closest we get would be a short 'i' which is represented by י. But in this particular word, that letter appears only at the end, and is supposedly pronounced as a long i, something fairly atypical for the letter י. | The usual pronunciation of "levi" emphasises the long e sound, which we would normally spell using "ee". However, this is an additional problem. The Hebrew alphabet does not include such a sound. The closest we get would be a short 'i' which is represented by י. But in this particular word, that letter appears only at the end, and is supposedly pronounced as a long i, something fairly atypical for the letter י. |
| * find an example with y - o | * find an example with y - o |
| * a - o | * a - o |
| | * null as o - see occasional alternate spellings of [[gebor]], and [[neheset]] |
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| ===the Sabbath problems=== | ===the Sabbath problems=== |
| FIXME | FIXME |
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| | ===Sometimes Y=== |
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| | Consider the word גלעד. It is pronounced "Gilead", and this pronunciation is very closely aligned with the transliteration of '[[geleyed]]'. In this case it is clear that the letter ע is functioning as a consonant, as in the English word 'yes', rather than a vowel, and that the vowel sounds are supplied by the "invisible E". Although there are probably other examples where ע may have been intended to act more like a vowel, it is impossible to know for sure, and our approach is to treat the letter ע consistently. |
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| | As another example, consider another well known word, בעל, which is typically rendered "Baal" and pronounced with a hard A very similar to "bail" or "bale". We see that English has two different words with different spellings that match up to this pronunciation. Other possible spelling are possible as well, such as "bayel" or even "beyel". It is the latter which matches our chosen orthography, and in fact is the exact transliteration our algorithms output for בעל - [[beyel]]. |
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| | ===Ghost Vowels=== |
| | example [[pix]], [[gedol]] |
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