The transcription of Hebrew letters
used on chayas.com (by Shemaryahu Esrael):
For the sake of simplicity and clarity, as well as accuracy, chayas.com
originally based
its transcription of Hebrew characters on the system used in the Septuagint--
although we actually rely on the Masoratic text in our religion--this system was
adopted.
Since Greek words are an integral part of the English language, the phonology
is familiar to readers world-wide. Also, the
flexibility of Greek phonology allows us to
represent Yemenite pronunciations with a marked degree of accuracy.
HOWEVER,
this is an ongoing process which is not yet complete. As I have received
and incorporated
thousands of sniblits of material from readers and contributors, it is very
difficult (probably
impossible) to impose this standard on everything that is contributed. On this
site, you will
see everything from dictionary transliteration to homemade Temani
transliteration.
I apologize in
advance for the
current level of nonconformity in this area. Although some would argue against
transliteration altogether, we think it is worthwhile for our English speakers. So please bare
with us.
The letters will be transcribed as follows (plosive/fricative):
Although Sin and Samawkh have slightly different
sounds --we present them as the (same) English letter "s" below.
TRANSCIPTION
alef: not transcribed, except as the accompanying vowel
beth: b/v
jimmal: j/g
dalath: d/dh
hei: h
wow: w
zayin: z
heth: hh
teth: t - hard to present in Greek
yodh: y
kaf: k/ch
lamadh: l
mem: m
nun: n
samawkh: s
ayin: as alef, see above - there is no way to present this
sound in Greek.
pei: p/f
saddi: s - no way to properly present this sound in Greek
qof: q (hard G sound)
resh: r (rolling r)
shin: sh/s
tow: t/th
Vowel Transcription:
qomas: alpha (a)/omicrcon (o)
pathah/sajjol: alpha (a)
sere: eta (e)
shewa: not transcribed (shewa nah)/epsilon (e - shewa na)
hiriq: iota (i)
holam: omega (o)/occasionally interchanged wth sere
shuruq/qubbus: upsilon (u)/omicron-upsilon (ou)