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Learn about diphthongs
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Hi everyone. |
Welcome to The Ultimate Hebrew Pronunciation Guide. |
In this lesson, you'll learn about Hebrew diphthongs. |
WHAT ARE DIPHTHONGS? |
But what exactly *are* diphthongs? |
Diphthong' means *two* *sounds*. It's the term used to describe two vowel sounds that are pronounced close together in the same syllable. |
"Take the English word 'pain' for example. |
It's not pronounced 'pa-in', but 'pain'. |
Or the word 'foul'. It's not 'fo-ul', but 'foul'." |
Notice the difference? You can think of it like gliding from one vowel to the next very quickly. So diphthongs, begin one way and end in another. |
Hebrew DIPHTHONGS |
Hebrew diphthongs are quite similar to the ones in English, so if you know English, then most of them will already be familiar to you. |
Let's take a look at a few common diphthongs in Hebrew. |
"ַי |
מים ""water"" |
ָי |
עיניים ""eyes""" |
These diphthongs create the same sound as the English 'eye', or the diphthong in the word 'why'. Try it! |
Next is... |
"ֶי |
ֶי |
שילך ""that will go"" |
מיוחד ""special""" |
It's similar to the diphthong in the word 'hey'. Now *you* try! |
Next is... |
"וֹי |
וֹי |
גוי ""Gentile"" |
נוי ""beauty""" |
It's the same as the diphthong in the word 'boy'. Try it! |
Here's the final one. |
"וּי |
וּי |
פנוי ""available"" |
נשוי ""married""" |
It's the same as the diphthong in the word 'inuit'. Try it yourself! |
Well done! In this lesson, you learned about Hebrew diphthongs. |
In the next lesson, you'll learn about stress in Hebrew. |
Do you have any tricks to help you pronounce diphthongs? Share them in the comments. |
See you in the next Ultimate Hebrew Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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