[HANASHIR:16291] Re: the continuing "ruach" discussion

[rahel <rahel...>]

At 01:17 PM 12/24/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>An English-language example might be a word like "serious"....


I don't mean to offend anyone, but please think in Hebrew when speaking 
(writing or reading in) Hebrew. As one who learned Hebrew as an adult, and 
now speaks and teaches Hebrew, I can safely say that no-one benefits from 
making comparisons to the English language. Learn the language in its own 
form.

As Ilana correctly pointed out, there is no "w" sound in Hebrew. Not even 
in the word "wadi" - which is pronounced "vadi". An example of when a "w" 
sound is made is when speaking Arabic - as in "wa-la" - which also includes 
a gutteral sound because of the "ayin".

And for those who think spiritually, please allow me to point out that the 
word "ru-ach" is quite a high level word - meaning in the pshat: "wind", 
and going down deeper paths, refers to G-d! So let's give it the proper 
respect and pronounce it correctly!! <smile>

Chag Chanukah Sameakh!

Rahel