Days of the week, their etymology, and pronunciation.

Question

In Hebrew, I gather that the five working days are named Yamim Scheni, Schlischi, Revi-i, Chamischi, and Schischi. Is the vav in Yom (conventionally rendered as the letter O) pronounced as in *h****o****t* or as in ***o****pen*? Also, I'm fairly confident, but just want to be absolutely certain, that most of the time the letters **ch** appear on their own in transliteration, they don't represent the **ch** in ***ch****oose,* but rather a phlegmy sort of **h** that doesn't appear in English (the so-called *ach-laut*, which the Germans and Ashkenazim have, for example, in the word *ma****ch****t* and in the name *Ei****ch****mann*). Would I be right in that assumption? I pronounce the name of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur with the O as in open, the U as in the name *Gr****u****ber*, and emphasis on the PUR. So, approximately, *yohm kipPOOR*. I've also heard it pronounced *yarm* *KIPper* (first part rhymes with *farm*, and the ***e*** in the second part is a schwa, as in the name *Himml****e****r*). The second pronunciation (the one I don't use) is one I've heard from some of my Jewish friends (middle-class "cultural Jews" who don't believe there's a God and don't have even a smidge of Hebrew). Likewise for Yom Tov - is it *yohm tohv* or *yarm tarv*? Who's saying it right? Me or aforementioned cultural Jews? In English, Tuesday was named for the Norse god Tiw, Wednesday for the god Wodin (bka Odin), Thursday for Thor, Friday for Freya (and in fact used to be Tiw's Day, Wodin's Day, Thor's Day, and Freya's Day). In French, Mardi was named for Mars, Mercredi for Mercure, Jeudi for Jove (Jupiter), Vendredi for Vénus, and Dimanche (Sunday) for Yahweh (the Hebrew *haShem* is rendered in Latin as *Dominus*, which became the root of the Italian *Domenica* and the Spanish *Domingo*). Aside from Yahweh, the French names derive from Roman gods. I wonder if Hebrew also fits the pattern. Are Scheni, Schlischi, Revi-i, Chamischi, and Schischi theonyms? I have a feeling they're not, as names of Judaic religious significance tend to be instantly recognisable and unmistakable (like Mike, Uri(el), Becky/Rivkah, Hanna(h), S(h)imon, Adam, Moses, Ben(jamin), Zeke, Abe(raham), Hiram, and so on, and so on, and so on). Schischi etc. don't seem to fit that mould. Finally, the days of the weekend are (in reverse order) Yom Rishon and (Yom) Shabbat. For Saturday, does one say Yom Shabbat or simply Shabbat?

Answer 1

Your question has many parts, and I will address each in turn:

The Hebrew work week is six days not five. The first day is Sunday, called Yom Rishon. It means first day. As you surmised, each is the following days are named Yom Scheni, Yom Shlishi, Yom Revi-I, Yom Chamishi, and Yom Shishi. Saturday is Shabbat or Yom Shabbat. The names are taken directly from The story of creation in Genesis and simply mean second day, third day, etc. Shabbat, the seventh day, is the day God rested from the work of creation. The name means to cease productive work. You are correct that the letters chet and chaf are pronounced like the ch in Bach and not like the ch in choose. The reason for the two pronunciations of Yom Kippur is that there are two different pronunciations of Hebrew called Ashkenazi and Sephardic. What most American Jews, like your culturally Jewish friends, use is the Ashkenazi pronunciation because that is the way it was pronounced by the Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe, from whom most American Jews are descended. However, what is spoken in Israel today and taught in America is the Sephardic pronunciation, which is the one you are using. You can’t say one is right and the other wrong anymore than you can say American English pronunciation is right and British pronunciation is wrong. However, the Sephardic pronunciation is now preferred. There are three main differences, one of which you observed: The emphasis on the second syllable of Kippur, not on the first. The other two result in people saying Shabbos, with the accent at the beginning rather than Shabbat, with the accent at the end. The pronunciation of the vav as the o in open rather than as yarn is correct..