Note here that English is the outlier language.
- Most languages have the sounds a="ah", e="ay", i="ee", o="oh", and u="oo".
- English is different because it combines sounds from French and Anglo-Saxon.
- Knowing Spanish makes it a lot easier, because Hebrew vowels are usually close
to the Spanish vowels.
| READING NAMES IN ENGLISH VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| OLD TESTAMENT - HEBREW | NEW TESTAMENT - GREEK | ||
| PHRASE | SOUNDS | PHRASE | SOUNDS |
| a | ah | a | ah |
| ch | ch, kh | ch | ch, kh |
| e | eh, ay | e | eh, ay |
| g | as in golf, never as in gel | g | usually as in golf |
| i | ih, ee | i | ih, ee |
| j | j, y | j | j. y |
| o | oh (never as in on) | o | oh, aa, uh |
| ph | f | ph | f |
| u | oo (never as u mud) | u | oo, uh |
| y | ih, y | y | ih, y, can sound like eye |
| ai, ay | as in eye | ai, ay | as in eye |
| iah | ayah | iah | ayah |
| aiah | ayah | aiah | ayah |
| EXAMPLE NAMES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLD TESTAMENT - HEBREW | NEW TESTAMENT - GREEK | ||||||
| NAME | PRONUNCIATION | NAME | PRONUNCIATION | NAME | PRONUNCIATION | NAME | PRONUNCIATION |
| Nun | NOON | Joshua | JOE-shoo-ah | Ananias | ah-nah-NIH-us | Sapphira | sahp-FIH-rah |
| Amram | AHM-rahm | Amminadab | ahm-IHN-ah-Dab | Nicanor | NIH-kahn-or | Lystra | LOO-strah, LIH-strah |
| Nashon | NAH-shone | Nethanel | neh-THAH-nehl | Aquila | ah-KWIH-lah | Priscilla | prih-SKIH-lah |
| Giddel | Ghih-dehl | Beersheba | beh-EHR-shih-bah | Apollos | ah-PAA-lohs | Epaphroditus | eh-PAH-fro-dih-tuhs |
| Binnui | Bih-NOO-ee | Bebai | BEH-beye | Tychius | TIH-kih-kuhs | Trophimus | TROH-fih-muhs |
| Asaph | AH-sahf | Menahem | Meh-NAH-ehm | Euodia | Eh-oo-OH-dih-ah | Syntyche | Sihn-tih-che |
| Nebuchadnezzar | neh-boo-khahd-NEHZ-ar | Nebuzaradan | neh-BOO-zar-ah-dahn | Laodicea | lah-oh-DEE-sih-ah | Nympha | NIHM-fah |
| Tiglath Pileser | TIHG-lath-pih-LEH-zer | Sennacherib | seh-NACK-er-ihb | Archippus | ar-CHIH-puhs | Onesiphorus | oh-neh-SIH-for-us |
In the following table, I display Hebrew letters before corresponding Greek letters because Greek letters are easier to recognize.
Some Hebrew letters have two forms. The final form is placed left of the normal form because Hebrew reads right-to-left.
| HEBREW | GREEK | ENGLISH (AS IN BIBLE NAMES) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Heb | Grk | Sound | Info | Letter | Grk | Sound | Info | Letter | Sound | Info |
| Alef | א | Α | spacer | - | Alpha | Α | ah | - | A a | usually ah | aa = "ah-ah" |
| Beth | ב | Β | b | - | Beta | Β | b | - | B b | b | - |
| Gimel | ג | Γ | g as in golf | - | Gamma | Γ | g as in golf | - | C c | k, s | out of order |
| Daleth | ד | Δ | d | - | Delta | Δ | d | - | D d | d | - |
| He | ה | Ε | spacer | - | Epsilon | Ε | eh | - | E e | usually eh, ay | ee = "eh-eh" never "ee" |
| Vav | ו | Υ | v, w | - | Digamma | F | f | Removed | F f | f | - |
| Zayin | ז | Ζ | z | - | Zeta | Ζ | z | - | G g | usually g as in golf | out of order |
| Het | ח | Η | h | - | Eta | Η | ee | - | H h | h | - |
| Teth | ט | Θ | th | - | Theta | Θ | th | - | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| Yod | י | Ι | ih, y | - | Iota | Ι | ih, y | - | I i | usually ih | ii = ih-ih |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | J j | j | - |
| Kaf | ך כ | Κ | k | - | Kappa | Κ | k | - | K k | k | - |
| Lamed | ל | Λ | l | - | Lambda | Λ | l | - | L l | l | - |
| Mem | ם מ | Μ | m | - | Mu | Μ | m | - | M m | m | - |
| Nun | ן נ | Ν | n | - | Nu | Ν | n | - | N n | n | - |
| Samekh | ס | Ξ | x, kh | - | Xi | Ξ | x | - | ----- | x | out of order |
| Ayin | ע | Ο | spacer | - | Omicron | Ο | o as in hog | - | O o | usually o as in owe | oo = "oh-oh" never "oo" |
| Pe | ף פ | Π | p | - | Pi | Π | p | - | P p | p | - |
| Tsadi | ץ צ | ⊧ | ts | - | San | ⊧ | ts | Removed | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| Qof | ק | Q | q | - | Qoppa | Q; | q | Removed | Q q | q | - |
| Resh | ר | Ρ | r | - | Rho | Ρ | r | - | R r | r | - |
| Sin, Shin | ש | Σ | s, sh | שׂ, שׁ | Sigma | Σ | s | - | S s | s | - |
| Tav | ת | Τ | t | - | Tau | Τ | t | - | T t | t | - |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | Upsilon | ϒ | oo | - | U u | oo | uu = "oo-oo" |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | Phi | Φ | f, v | - | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | Chi | Χ | ch, kh | - | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | Psi | Ψ | ps | - | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | Omega | Ω | o as in owe | - | ----- | - | not in alphabet |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | V v | v | - |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | W w | w | - |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | X x | ks | - |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | Y y | y, ih, ee | - |
| ----- | - | - | - | not in alphabet | ----- | - | - | not in alphabet | Z z | z | - |
The sound transliterations in these tables have English pronunciation.
"Out of order" means it is in the other alphabet in a different order.