For those who speak a very widespread language, such as English, it is taken for granted that there are many different dialects, accents and pronunciations. It is obvious, for example, that someone living in New York will sound different from someone in London. Nonetheless, the Hebrew language is only spoken by a few million people, and therefore it might seem odd that there would be a wide variance of pronunciations. While relatively few people speak Hebrew, its long and complex history must be taken into account when thinking about the Hebrew language’s development. It is important to note, for example, that in very general terms, the Jewish people are defined as either Ashkenazi (coming from Central or Eastern Europe) or Sephardi/Mizrachi (coming from Spain or the Arab lands).
While there were many other Jewish communities and dialects throughout the world, it was due to this division, that the two most well-known pronunciations of Hebrew emerged. There is the Ashkenazi pronunciation and the Sephardi pronunciation. While there are various differences, some of the most easily recognizable ones relate to the pronunciation of certain letters. The clearest example of this is with the letter “Tav”, which, according to Sephardi pronunciation, is always pronounced like a “T”. In contrast, the “Tav” is pronounced like an “S” in certain circumstances according to the Ashkenazi pronunciation.
The origins of this division are not completely clear. Some scholars claim that it occurred because what became the Ashkenazi pronunciation is derived from the ancient dialect spoken in the Land of Israel, whereas, what became the Sephardi pronunciation is rooted in the ancient Babylonian pronunciation. Others claim that the division is even more ancient, as it stems from the differences between the Galilean and Judean dialects from about two thousand years ago! When Eliezer Ben Yehuda revitalized the Hebrew language over one hundred years ago, he preferred the Sephardi pronunciation. Therefore, the Modern Hebrew language is primarily according to this pronunciation, although Ashkenazi and many other pronunciations can still be heard in the recitation and singing of religious texts in synagogues throughout the world.