Currently we have the following major types:
Samaritan
Used by Samaritans in the religious context. I will not describe this pronunciation because I am focusing on the Jewish topics.
Used by Samaritans in the religious context. I will not describe this pronunciation because I am focusing on the Jewish topics.
Teymani
Yemen in Hebrew is called Teyman.
The Jewish community in Yemen is one of the earliest geographic offshoots of the Jewish nation. There are various legendary and historic opinions regarding the antiquity of the Jewish settlement in Yemen. The Teymani Jews have 5 regional pronunciations that will be described in a following article. At the moment most Teymani Jews are in Israel and they use the Teymani pronunciations only in the religious context. In daily life they use the common Israeli pronunciation.
Yemen in Hebrew is called Teyman.
The Jewish community in Yemen is one of the earliest geographic offshoots of the Jewish nation. There are various legendary and historic opinions regarding the antiquity of the Jewish settlement in Yemen. The Teymani Jews have 5 regional pronunciations that will be described in a following article. At the moment most Teymani Jews are in Israel and they use the Teymani pronunciations only in the religious context. In daily life they use the common Israeli pronunciation.
Mizrahi
'Mizrahi' (מזרחי) means 'eastern'. This applies to Jews living in the Muslim lands from Morocco all the way to India, which used to be under the Muslim rule until the British took over.
In 1492 Jews were expelled from Spain and in 1497 from Portugal. These Jews, called sefaradim (Sephardic), settled in Europe all the way to the Slavic lands and along North Africa all the way to Israel, and in the Ottoman empire. Sephardic Jews formed a distinct community and their pronunciation existed in parallel with the local pronunciations. It is not correct to classify the Sephardic pronunciation under Mizrahi but practically both correlate with Arabic and with the local languages and both differ from Ashkenazi and Teymani in the same points.
It is also incorrect but practical to classify the pronunciation of Georgian, Kavkazi (Jews of Caucasus), Persian and Bukhari (Jews of Bukhara and Samarkand) Jews under Mizrakhi for the same reasons, except correlation with Arabic.
Most Mizrahi Jews have left the Muslim lands and settled in Israel, in France and in North America.
The official pronunciation of the State of Israel is based on the pronunciation of the Sephardic community in Jerusalem. This Israeli pronunciation is used by many non-Mizrahi Israelis in prayer and studying of Torah, especially among Israelis who return to religious observance and among the Modern Orthodox (כיפות סרוגות). The Israeli pronunciation is also widely used in the non-Orthodox communities in the US (Conservative, Reform)
I will dedicate an article to these pronunciations.
'Mizrahi' (מזרחי) means 'eastern'. This applies to Jews living in the Muslim lands from Morocco all the way to India, which used to be under the Muslim rule until the British took over.
In 1492 Jews were expelled from Spain and in 1497 from Portugal. These Jews, called sefaradim (Sephardic), settled in Europe all the way to the Slavic lands and along North Africa all the way to Israel, and in the Ottoman empire. Sephardic Jews formed a distinct community and their pronunciation existed in parallel with the local pronunciations. It is not correct to classify the Sephardic pronunciation under Mizrahi but practically both correlate with Arabic and with the local languages and both differ from Ashkenazi and Teymani in the same points.
It is also incorrect but practical to classify the pronunciation of Georgian, Kavkazi (Jews of Caucasus), Persian and Bukhari (Jews of Bukhara and Samarkand) Jews under Mizrakhi for the same reasons, except correlation with Arabic.
Most Mizrahi Jews have left the Muslim lands and settled in Israel, in France and in North America.
The official pronunciation of the State of Israel is based on the pronunciation of the Sephardic community in Jerusalem. This Israeli pronunciation is used by many non-Mizrahi Israelis in prayer and studying of Torah, especially among Israelis who return to religious observance and among the Modern Orthodox (כיפות סרוגות). The Israeli pronunciation is also widely used in the non-Orthodox communities in the US (Conservative, Reform)
I will dedicate an article to these pronunciations.
Ashkenazi
Ashkenaz is the nickname for the German lands. Nickname and not a real name because in the Bible Ashkenaz refers to a different location.
Jews in the German lands and later in the Slavic lands have 2 distinct pronunciations: the Ashkenazi proper and a pronunciation that was common in Ukraine.
Most European Jews have been exterminated by the Nazis and their local collaborators.
Most surviving Ashkenazi Jews who are not religious have switched to the Israeli pronunciation.
The Ashkenazi pronunciations survive in the Orthodox and Hasidic communities mostly in Israel and the US.
I will dedicate and article about these pronunciations.
Ashkenaz is the nickname for the German lands. Nickname and not a real name because in the Bible Ashkenaz refers to a different location.
Jews in the German lands and later in the Slavic lands have 2 distinct pronunciations: the Ashkenazi proper and a pronunciation that was common in Ukraine.
Most European Jews have been exterminated by the Nazis and their local collaborators.
Most surviving Ashkenazi Jews who are not religious have switched to the Israeli pronunciation.
The Ashkenazi pronunciations survive in the Orthodox and Hasidic communities mostly in Israel and the US.
I will dedicate and article about these pronunciations.
