[Avodah] ancient Ashkenazi Hebrew

[S.]

In responding to a comment about the pronunciation of ayin by Ashkenazim, R. Elazar M. Teitz wrote 

"I believe S. has confused Yiddishisms with Hebrew pronunciation.  Ashkenazim, as far as I am aware, have no problem pronouncing consecutive patachs at the beginning of a word.  The use of "mairiv" and "taina" is the Yiddish pronunciation of the Hebrew words "ma'ariv" and "ta'ana," just as, e.g., "cholem" is not a mispronunciation of "chalom," "yontef" is not a mispronunciation of "yom tov' (and, parenthetically, therefore "gut yontef" is not a redundancy, though "gut yom tov" would be), "balebus" is not a mispronunciation of "ba'al habayis), etc. The proof is obvious: the same person who will say "It's time for mairiv" will, a minute later, have no problem saying "hama'ariv aravim."  Indeed, I have never heard anyone say "hamairiv aravim" in his davening, nor does anyone say "bal g'vuros" rather than "ba'al g'vuros," even though that same person will talk about the "bal tfila."  Yiddish incorporated many Hebrew words within itself, but changed their pronunciations, just as it changed grammatiical construction, as in the plural of "bar-mitzva" (bar-mitzvas, not b'nei mitzva) or the female counterpart of "balebus" (balebusta, not ba'alas bayis, or even balas bayis). It is also why "bal koyre" and "bal toikeya" are not incorrect; they are the proper Yiddish terms fro those who leien and blow shofar, respectively."

I have heard people daven this way. In fact I would guess that most nights that is precisely what I hear. I must have heard dozens if not hundreds of Ashkenazi Jews say "mayriv aravim."  I must travel in circles of amaratzim (pun intended). But my anecdotal evidence is as good as yours. Furthermore, I'm not certain we can bring proof from contemporary pronunciation patterns altogether, as they are compromised by influence from the hodgepodging of the Asheknazim in the diaspora, our new vernaculars, etc. For example, havara Ashkenazis with a cholem that sounds like the "o" in "home" lo hayva velo nivra, yet it is quite common nowadays. 

I am not saying that Ashkenazim cannot pronounce words correctly (i.e, their mouths just will not move in the right way). But surely you will not claim that the way Hebrew pronunciation developed in Ashkenazic lands included properly differentiating between mil'el and mil'ra, pronouncing most shevas according to the rules of dikduk? The fact that an Ashkenazi is capable of learning the rules and taking care to pronounce Hebrew correctly according to those rules does not mean that whenever an Ashkenazi fails to do so, really he's speaking Yiddish. Ashkenazim can learn to differentiate between a hheth and a khaf too, but it is insufficient to say that failing to do so is "Yiddish" rather than Hebrew. Call "mayrev" Yiddish if you like, but then so is "Yankev" and "Yankel." If so, whence the ayin?

"As for the "n" sound in "Yankev," that it is an attempt to pronounce ayin can be seen from the halacha that if a Ya'akov is called Yankel, the name is written in a get without a nun"

 

All we see from that is the recognition that "Yankel" is a kinnui for "Ya'akov," and in trying to fix a proper spelling, the poskim decided to prefer an ayin rather than a nun. Many people pronounce "Yankev" as if it's spelled with a peh rafeh at the end, but no one suggests that it shouldn't be spelled with a beis. Why should the "n" corruption be any different?

Also, there is no logical reason why only one ayin should be pronounced by Ashkenazim out of all the Hebrew words and names. The question is whether "Yankev" is some kind of historical residue of a pronounced ayin or just an easier, slurred way of saying "Ya'akov" (with an unpronounced ayin). As I pointed out, Ashkenazim also slur other Hebrew words with the same mishkal. Slurring it in the same way ("Yaykev") is more difficult than softening it to "Yankev." Therefore without additional evidence, I do not see how we know to connect it with a voiced ayin many centuries ago. The question is historical ayins 500 years ago, 1000 years ago. We have to know when Ashkenazim began saying "Yankev" to know if it is related to a voiced ayin or not.

Kol tuv,
S.
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