October 25, 2017
The Famous Israeli Accent, and How It Came About
By Philologos"I em verry heppy to mit you end yourr femily in yourr hawm.”
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Rabbi Phil Cohen writes:
Like so many of my generation, I grew up hearing English spoken with thick Yiddish accents. Perhaps the naturalness of that experience didn’t compel me to think about the formation of those accents. On the other hand, I’ve wondered many times about the formation of the characteristic Israeli accent. It’s fascinating: a revived language that catches hold among a growing number of immigrants a little over a century ago developed its own unique, and as far as my ear can tell, universal set of sounds.
My question for you is twofold. First, how did this accent come about? And second, other than speakers of Hebrew as a second language—I can generally tell, for instance, when a Hebrew speaker is a native American—are there regional variations of Hebrew pronunciation within Israel?