A.Z. Idelsohn and the Study of the Traditional Pronunciations of Hebrew (Hebrew)

A. Z. Idelsohn (1882-1938) is well-known for his pioneering work in the field of Hebrew musicology, primarily for his recording and research of the music of the various Jewish ethnic groups, presented to the scholarly world in his monumental ten-volume Thesaurus of Hebrew Oriental Melodies (1914-1932).  Through his work on the liturgy of the aforementioned groups, Idelsohn also became acquainted with their traditional pronunciations, which he described and discussed in several articles and monographs. Idelsohn distinguished nine different groups in the traditional pronunciations, his division being based on phonetic criteria. He also differentiated phonetic features which are to be considered ancient, from others, which resulted from the influence on Hebrew of the vernaculars of the ethnic groups. Taking into consideration the paucity at that time of historical data regarding the pronunciations of Hebrew, Idelsohn's achievements were of significance.

Yemenite Hebrew, as spoken on certain occasions by members of the community and as read in the liturgy, especially aroused the interest of Idelsohn. He notes the beauty and richness of this variety of Hebrew, a variety which he considers to be a 'living language.' Living in the period which saw the transformation of Hebrew into a spoken language, possessing a normal existence, Idelsohn also deals with the question of which pronunciation of Hebrew should be established as the standard pronunciation of the revived language. According to his view, a unified standard pronunciation should be created only for the literary language; the spoken language, on the other hand, should not be unified: the various ethnic groups should carry over the distinctive features of their traditional liturgical pronunciations into the spoken Hebrew, thus creating dialects which will continue the traditional pronunciations.

Idelsohn's work contributed towards enhancing interest in the traditional pronunciations of Hebrew; his pioneering work has its distinct place in the research history of the Hebrew language.