[HANASHIR:16238] just so we're clear on the matter...

[erik contzius <contzius...>]

although Eric Komar's posting was "mostly" correct
regarding transliteration, the tzeirei is technically
NOT a dipthong. Tzeirei Malei (Tzeirei followed by a
yud) is a dipthong, but tzeirei by itself is the long
form of segol (the eh sound). Imagine the "ei" sound
(as in "weigh") and before getting to the "ee" sound
at the end of the dipthong, you stop. That's
technically a "tzeirei". and in fact, many israeilis
pronounce a tzeirei much like a segol. Hebrew is much
closer to Latin in proper pronounciation than English.
Vowels are pure. The only dipthongs that occur in
Hebrew involve the malei form (vowel followed by a
yud) or two apparent vowels together (vowel followed
by patakh ganuv, like in "Eloah" or "Ruakh").

chappy chanukkah
erik


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Cantor Erik L. F. Contzius
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