The Life Foundations
Nexus
The Hierosolyma Manuscript Collection
HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE
WORD “HIEROSOLYMA”
By Dr. Michael J. Bisconti
The word
“Hierosolyma” is pronounced much differently than it looks. “Hierosolyma” is pronounced (using phonetic
spelling):
'Hi-uh-ro-"sah-luh-muh
The
little symbol (primary accent mark) " tells you to put primary (strongest)
emphasis on the syllable it is attached to.
The (secondary accent mark) ' symbol tells you to put secondary (not as
strong as primary) emphasis on the syllable to which it is attached.
The
syllable “Hi” rhymes with “sight, night, and light.”
The
syllable “uh” rhymes with “hut, but, and jut.”
The “h” in “uh” is silent.
The
syllable “ro” rhymes “low, snow, and bow.”
The
syllable “sah” rhymes with “blah, ha, mop, and cot.” The “h” in “sah” is silent.
The
syllable “luh” rhymes with “hut, but, and jut.” The “h” in “luh” is silent.
The
syllable “muh” rhymes with “hut, but, and jut.” The “h” in “muh” is silent.
The
following phonetic spelling more clearly reflects the emphasis to be given to
the two accented (' and ") syllables:
Hiii-uh-ro-sahhhh-luh-muh
The
following table associates the above phonetic syllables with their
corresponding literal (letter) syllables:
|
LITERAL (LETTER) SYLLABLES |
Hi |
ero |
sol |
y |
ma |
|
|
PHONETIC SYLLABLES |
Hiii |
uh |
ro |
sahhhh |
luh |
muh |
You will
notice that “ero” is not separated into “e” and “ro.” This is because the pronunciation of these syllables runs
together. In terms of the phonetic
syllables, that would be “uhro.” So, here
is an even better phonetic spelling of the word “Hierosolyma”:
Hiii-uhro-sahhhh-luh-muh
Technical
Footnote: the literal (letter)
syllables “sol” and “y” make it hard to see their correct pronunciations because
they make it appear that the “l” in “sol” runs together with the “sahhhh”
sound. It does not. If it did, you would have to pronounce the
third, literal (letter) syllable (which is “sol”) “sahhhhl,” almost like the
first syllable in the name “Sally.”