# Sabbatai Zevi



## Jana337

Hello,

I am wondering what the correct pronunciation of Sabbatai Zevi is. I am aware of several incompatible transcriptions. What's the Hebrew one (assuming that there aren't more of them )?

Thanks,

Jana


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## JLanguage

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Hello,
> 
> I am wondering what the correct pronunciation of Sabbatai Zevi is. I am aware of several incompatible transcriptions. What's the Hebrew one (assuming that there aren't more of them )?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jana


 
There is more than one pronunciation as there is the Israeli Hebrew pronunciation used for Modern Hebrew and then all the liturgical pronunciations used for religious purposes, of which there are several including Ashkenazic, Persian, Yemenite, Sefardic, and so on. I myself actually use americanized Israeli for religious purposes and the best Israeli accent I can manage for everything else.

Assuming you want Israeli Hebrew, it's: _Shábtye Tzvi. _



I think the accent is on the first syllable, but I'll let the Israelis confirm this.


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## morgoth2604

Shabtay(last part is like german ei) Tzvi. 

I'm not sure where the accent is on, but I think it's on the first one as JLanguage said.


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## Jana337

Thanks. 

Jonathan, what would the americanized pronunciation be? 

Jana


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## morgoth2604

Why would it be Shabtye? That doesn't make any sense to me.


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## Jana337

morgoth2604 said:
			
		

> Why would it be Shabtye? That doesn't make any sense to me.


Doesn't it? To me it looks like something I would have expected. Remember, Jonathan used that word to indicate its pronunciation, non a correct transcription.

Jana


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## morgoth2604

I realize that, but even with american pronunciation I would still think it'd be "shabtay", except that the a is more american and the "ay" would be like "I"


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## JLanguage

morgoth2604 said:
			
		

> I realize that, but even with american pronunciation I would still think it'd be "shabtay", except that the a is more american and the "ay" would be like "I"


 
Because "ay" is often a long "a", not a long "i". I, ie, ye are the three that immediately come to mind for me. Of these "ye" is the one most consistently pronounced as a long "i". Shabbetai Tzvi seems to be the most common transliteration. However that suggests that the shva is a shva n'a rather than a shva nach.


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## Richie09

*Both my grandfather and grandfather were named Sabbatai (also spelled Shabbatai, Shabbathai, and Sabbathai), as were other relatives in my family, including an uncle and cousin.*

My grandfather and great grandfather were Romaniote Jews from Janina, in Epirus, Greece. Ioaninna or Janina  was an Ottoman protectorate ruled by the despot Ali Pasha Tepelene.  An interesting literary sidenote is that Ali Pasha and Janina are mentioned in Alexandre Dumas' novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo".  The English translation of Janina is "St. John's town".

 Sabbatai was a common first name among Romaniote Jewish men. Surnames were not adopted until the late 19C, so it was common practice to distinguish Romaniotes with a nickname (which was later adopted as a surname). Most Romaniotes in Janina were Levites and spoke Judeo-Greek, a Greek dialect composed of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Those that could write, wrote in Hebrew. 

*In the language of the Romaniotes*, which is  also known as Yevanic,  *they pronounced Sabbathai as Sabetta (sah bet tah).* Accent on the 2nd syllable.

*I am not completely clear about this, but I have been told by my  Spanish/Portuguese relatives that among the Sephardim,* the Spanish Jews who emigrated thoughout the Ottoman Empire following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, *Sabbetai is pronounced as Shabetta (shah bet tah) *in Ladino (Judeo-Castilian Spanish). While both languages were widely used in the Ottoman empire, Ladino  became the predominant one, due to it's eloquence and great literary depth. 

It's important to note that the majority of Sephardic Jews settled in the city of Salonika, Greece -- as did most of Sabbatai Tsevi's converts. Up until the Nazi decimation of the Jewish population of the city, Salonika was 2nd most important Jewish center, after Jerusalem, and was referred to as Malkhah Israel*, “*the Queen of Israel".


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## Nunty

When I was an young Israeli girl in school among American Jews in California, I heard it pronounced Shabtai Tsvi.

Shab rhymed with bob
-tai sounded like tie
They accented the first syllable of Shabtai

Ts was like *ts*ar
vi was like the name of the letter V
Tsvi, however, remained one syllable.


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## Richie09

I forgot to include information about the etymology of *Shabbatai* or *Sabbatai*.

*Shabbatai* or *Sabbatai* was a name given to Jewish males born on the Sabbath. The practice is reputed to have begun in the Middle Ages.


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