# Pronunciation of Tzere



## Squee100

In Modern/Sephardi Hebrew, is the _tzere_ pronounced "eh" or "ay"? Is it different from the _segol_ or not?


----------



## Drink

Squee100 said:


> In Modern/Sephardi Hebrew, is the _tzere_ pronounced "eh" or "ay"? Is it different from the _segol_ or not?



In pure Sephardi Hebrew it is always the same as segol. In Modern Hebrew, it depends on the speaker. Older speakers tend to have more "ey"s, while younger speakers tend to have more "eh"s. A native will perhaps have more details.


----------



## bazq

Tsere in Sephardi Hebrew is [e] or more precisely a lengthened one, in Modern Hebrew it's generally [e].
the diphthong [ey] is of Ashkenazi pronunciation, and there are words in Modern Hebrew which are pronounced with it as a result of the Ashkenazi influence on the early days of Modern Hebrew. Nevertheless, contemporary Modern Hebrew exhibits a monophthongization of /ey/ to /e/. This process is current, and is happening these days, but there's no telling if it'll be complete.


----------



## MuttQuad

I ask just out of curiosity. Does your comment mean that Modern Her brew speakers would sound "bohrai pri hagafen" and "ain lee" with long ai (as in rain) sounds or with short eh (as in get)  sounds?


----------



## bazq

No, בורא פרי הגפן = bore pri hagafen
אין לי = en li


----------



## origumi

bazq said:


> אין לי = en li


Searching the web for אין לי, the first result is אין לי מילים by שי גבסו who clearly says "eyn li" (as in "rain"). Hebrew native is likely to regard both alternatives as natural, at least for tzere male.


----------



## bazq

origumi said:


> Searching the web for אין לי, the first result is אין לי מילים by שי גבסו who clearly says "eyn li" (as in "rain"). Hebrew native is likely to regard both alternatives as natural, at least for tzere male.



I don't hear "eyn" in the song, actually I hear "en". Regardless, I agree "eyn" wouldn't strike a native speaker as wrong or ungrammatical, many older people, especially Ashkenazi, still pronounce "ey" in many words, but he will rarely produce it himself.

Do you hear people say "eyn matsav"?
1: "yesh khalav?"
2: "lo, eyn."


----------



## Squee100

As far as I know, most speakers pronounce _tzereh_ or _tzeyreh_. Some Ashkenazim, at least in liturgical reading, pronounce _tzyreh_ (_y_ as in sky).


----------



## Drink

Squee100 said:


> Some Ashkenazim, at least in liturgical reading, pronounce _tzyreh_ (_y_ as in sky).



To clarify, these are only Ashkenazim who originated in Poland and Hungaria.


----------



## Squee100

Drink said:


> To clarify, these are only Ashkenazim who originated in Poland and Hungaria.


Yeah. They pronounce ב as _bise_ and ר as _rishe_.


----------

