Ning #4

[Unitha Cherry]

Hebrew mas much of the same basic sounds as in English but pairs the sounds differently it also has many sounds that do not appear in English and there are sounds that appear in English that do not appear in Hebrew. For example the equivalent to the letter ‘a’ (aleph) in Hebrew does make the same sound as the letter ‘a’ in English and is sometimes silent. The same is for the letters dalet, hei, and teit to give a few examples. The sounds that are the hardest to me to reproduce are the ones that don’t exist in English or at least not in the same context. The sound that comes to mind is cheit in Hebrew which makes a ‘ch’ sound. In English it’s the start of the word cherry but in Hebrew it tends to be at the end of words and I have yet to determine if it is a cultural marker or how the language functions, but it always when pronounced comes from the back of the throat almost harsh. Another sound that does not exist in English is tzadei which is meant to make a ‘tz’ sound. This sound alone does not exist in English and I thought it  strange sound to specify but then realized how often it comes up, at least in conversations surround specific topics like prayer.  Specifically for Hebrew I think one of the hardest things to learn or get past is the fact that some letters when at the front or end of a word make different sounds, sometimes having a role in the word and sometimes silent. Additionally I think this is where parroting comes in handy for me because replicating the sounds is what makes them easier to make the issue for me lies in being able to hear  the differences between sounds that are similar to give an example kahf ‘kh’ sound and qof ‘q’ sound the same to me, I physically cannot hear a difference and I think in that instance understanding the different is going to have to come as I learn more and understand differences in spelling.