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- "סוסים ודרכים."
49 Comments
Hey Luke (: If vav appears in the beginning of the word it is always (almost) pronounced as "v".
For example the word ורד (vered - rose) or ורוד (varod - pink).
When it appears in the middle of the sentence, it is pronounced as "o" or "u", and if we want to pronounce the "v" sound, we simple double the letter vav.
For example: יוון (yavan = Greece) , while יון (yon = ion).
Happy learning! (:
12
Just to be clear, it seems from context clues than you meant "in the middle of the word" rather than "in the middle of the sentence".
Adding to what MattRosenb2 wrote, the vav (when used as 'and') is pronounced 'u' also before a syllable beginning with a 'schwa' sound (which is like a short é sound): ve + d(é)rakhim => ved(é)rakhim => ud(é)rakhim וְ + דְרכים => וְדְרכים => וּדְרכים
And as Heysoos1 mentions, this distinction is practically not present in nowadays colloquial Hebrew.
220
not caring= "being cool about it", but that is not at all the same as those same 'cool' people appreciating correct pronunciation and correct usage.
Don't give people the wrong idea.
220
this is wrong. Correct pronunciation is appreciated in every cultural setting. However, the 'religious purpose' of which you speak is true for all traditions, such as Sanskrit for Hindus and Latin for Catholics, inter alia...
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*example correction for Hebrew course
A commander in the Roman army stationed in Tiberias asks his captain: “What factors are most important in reaching Aelia Capitolina quickly?”
“Horses and roads!”
Actually, the ו in ודרכים does mean "and"; it's just pronounced as "oo" (or the French "ou") rather than the more common "ve". Other variants of the ו pronunciation are "vi" (as in וירושלים, "vi-(ye)-rushalayim" ["and Jerusalem"]; the (ye) is mute) and "va" (as in את ואני, "at va-ani" [you and I]). That being said, colloquial Hebrew generally sticks to "ve". BTW, או ("or") is pronounced as "oh" (that is, something similar to the actual English pronunciation of "or").
220
This post and all similar posts are WRONG. "colloquial Hebrew generally sticks to "ve". " It is simply not true.
However, in many -- but not all, cases "colloquial" situations involve people who will accept bad, incorrect pronunciation without correcting.
VAV is pronounced as oo before letters בומ"פ [boomaf), and more specifically (https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25595316/Pronunciation-of-and-in-Hebrew):
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Before a sound you make with your lips (mnemonically, בומ"פ) or before a consonant (other than "י" (Yod)) with a "shva" (so it has no moving vowel sound), the "ve" becomes "oo".
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Before a "י" (Yod) with a shva, (famously like in the word for Jerusalem, "ירושלים"), the "ve" becomes "vee" (like an 'i' sound).
600
There is a convention in Hebrew, and in many other languages, that the masculine plural includes both males and females, whereas you use the feminine plural if you are talking only about females. In the same way, masculine is the default gender if you are speaking about or to an unknown person or animal. Part of the process of learning another language in any depth is changing the way that you look at the world. Translation is, at best, a clumsy tool.
353
I'm confused. I thought, דרך means also way. So I wrote horses and ways and it was wrong.
220
Posts similar to the one quoted here are WRONG. "colloquial Hebrew generally sticks to "ve". " It is simply not true.
However, in many -- but not all, cases "colloquial" situations involve people who will accept bad, incorrect pronunciation without correcting.
VAV is pronounced as oo before letters בומ"פ [boomaf), and more specifically (https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25595316/Pronunciation-of-and-in-Hebrew):
-
Before a sound you make with your lips (mnemonically, בומ"פ) or before a consonant (other than "י" (Yod)) with a "shva" (so it has no moving vowel sound), the "ve" becomes "oo". This includes DALET oo-drah'im
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Before a "י" (Yod) with a shva, (famously like in the word for Jerusalem, "ירושלים"), the "ve" becomes "vee" (like an 'i' sound).
Bonus: shalom oo-vrah'a is a common greeting and a response to salutations for "have a good week" include shavuah tov oo-mevorakh [these are used without deviation from the 'rule']
extra bonus: people will even respond: "--- oomevorakh" without repeating shavuah tov .