# names in the Bible



## Qcumber

Many Tagalog translations are available in print or on the web.
How do Tagalogs read the names? For instance, how is *Lakis* read in the following passage? Lákis or Lakís?
Sinira nila ang lahat sa lunsod bilang handog sa Yawe, gaya ng ginawa sa *Lakis*. (Josue 10 :35) [Sinírà nilá ang lahát sa lunsód bílang handóg sa Yawe, gáya nang ginawâ nilá sa *Lakis*.] "They destroyed everything in the city as a present to Yahwe, as they had done with Lakhish."

By comparison it is La’.chǐsh in King James’ Bible, Lachîs in the Reina/Valera Spanish translation, Lakhis لخيش[laxi:∫] in the Arabic translation, and Lakhish 
לכּישׁ
[la:xi:∫] in Hebrew.


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## epistolario

Qcumber said:


> Many Tagalog translations are available in print or on the web.
> How do Tagalogs read the names? For instance, how is *Lakis* read in the following passage? Lákis or Lakís?
> Sinira nila ang lahat sa lunsod bilang handog sa Yawe, gaya ng ginawa sa *Lakis*. (Josue 10 :35) [Sinírà nilá ang lahát sa lunsód bílang handóg sa Yawe, gáya nang ginawâ nilá sa *Lakis*.] "They destroyed everything in the city as a present to Yahwe, as they had done with Lakhish."
> 
> By comparison it is La’.chǐsh in King James’ Bible, Lachîs in the Reina/Valera Spanish translation, Lakhis لخيش[laxi:∫] in the Arabic translation, and Lakhish
> לכּישׁ
> [la:xi:∫] in Hebrew.



We don't really have a rule for pronouncing foreign words and if you will hear local preachers read that, they will either stress the first or second syllable and read it hesitantly since they themselves are not sure of how it is pronounced. 

Most of the times, our pronunciation is borrowed from the original language including the stress and accent.


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## Qcumber

ffrancis said:


> Most of the times, our pronunciation is borrowed from the original language including the stress and accent.


So in this case Lakís should be the preferred pronunciation.
Thanks a lot, Francis.
P.S. I looked for an accented version of the Tagalog Bible, but couldn't find any.


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## epistolario

Qcumber said:


> So in this case Lakís should be the preferred pronunciation.
> Thanks a lot, Francis.
> P.S. I looked for an accentated version of the Tagalog Bible, but couldn't find any.



You can actually stress either syllable as we're not rigid with that. 

If I were a scholar and I knew how to pronounce it in the original language, I would pronounce it the way it is pronounced and say it with confidence.


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