[Mesorah] shuruq pronounced like chiriq

[Kenneth Miller]

> True Story [free chuckle!]
>
> My buddy once lained Hee with a Hiriq in West Hartford when
> it was supposed to have a shuruq
>
> The gabbai was a Galitzianer and yelled out "HEE!"
> [Meaning the shuruq version]
>
> My friend repeated HEE emphatically. This loop/cycle repeated
> several times until the Galitizaner Gabbai broke down and
> finally said "HU!" And then the baal K'riah finally lained it
> that way.

I think this might be the most important post in this particular thread.

It often occurs that certain groups are unfairly mocked for what are perceived as mispronunciations, when in actuality they only *appear* as mispronunciations to the untrained ear. (A similar thing occur when an outsider hears what sounds like "ElokaynEE", and he retorts, "Hey! He's not just your G-d, He's my G-d too!")

The reason why I say the above story is important, is because it illustrates that to the insiders, who have a trained and discerning ear, they CAN tell the difference between:

- a proper shuruk, and
- a chirik which sounds like a shuruk to outsiders.

Perhaps this chart will be helpful, to illustrate the shades and gradations of the sounds:

A) chirik with a yud is a very strong "eeey" sound
B) chirik  without a yud is closer to an "ee" without a "y", or perhaps even a strong "i".
C) shuruk, as pronounced by some, is lighter still, almost but not quite a sheva; but the fact that it is closer to "ee" than to "oo" causes outsiders to misinterpret it.

(All in all, I think it's not much different than when outsiders misunderstand the mechitzah and think it is misogynistic, while the insiders have trouble figuring out how the others got it so very wrong.)

Akiva Miller
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