[HANASHIR:16235] A transliteration problem

[Burton A. Zipser <zipmusic...>]

Chaverim:
        I have an interesting question and I hope that some of you 
may be able to offer an answer or at least point me in the right 
direction.
        A non-Jewish acquaintance asked me about the proper way to 
pronounce Hebrew words which had been transliterated.  He understood 
most of the standard ways to pronounce Hebrew sounds except for the 
second syllable in the word "Shireinu".
        In checking into older published compositions, it seems that 
prior to 1950 there were many different ways of converting Hebrew 
sounds into English.  The "ei" sound, for example, appeared as an "e" 
by itself, or as an "eh" conversion.
        Since the letters "ei" might imply that a diphthong (a letter 
with two sounds, such as the vowels "A", "I", and "O", which are 
spoken and sung as if they were "ay-ee", "ah-ee", and "aw-oo"), in 
which instance the "i" of "ei" might be regarded as the second half 
of the diphthong "A" in which the last sound ("I") is pronounced as 
if it were the Italian "I" which is actually pronounced "ee".
        The logical question then is, if the original Hebrew sound is 
not a diphthong, why isn't the transliteration "ay" as is used in 
such English words as "bay, hay, say, or way"?  Would not a better 
transliteration be "Shiraynu"?
        I will be most appreciative of any answers you may offer.
                                Burton Zipser

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