The answer comes down to transliteration. The name of the eight-day Jewish holiday originates in the language of Hebrew, where it's spelled as חנוכה. Hanukkah 2011: Why the Holiday Is So Popular in America, Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hanukkah. And all are equally correct, though the … What does Google prefer? Do you ever wonder how do you spell Hanukkah properly? In Hebrew, Hanukkah is pronounced with the letter “chet” so it sounds like Chanukah. Even in pop culture, there are a number of ways to spell it. (MORE: Hanukkah 2011: Why the Holiday Is So Popular in America). In Hebrew, the language from which the Jewish festival’s name originates, the word for Hanukkah is not easily transliterated into English. Woody Guthrie's festive songs use spellings "Hanukah Tree" and "Hanuka Gelt," while Adam Sandler calls his series of Jewish celebrity tunes "Chanukah Song." It is pronounced with a guttural sound that is similar to the /ch/ in loch. As little as about five years ago, the top spelling choice on the Internet was Chanukah. With both correct, and about 14 others technically correct too, rest assured that you’ve got a pretty good shot at getting the spelling right. "In pronunciation, like any way we approach saying a foreign word, it's nice to ask a native speaker how they pronounce it (or find it online) and try to do one's best to make the original sound.". In the same vein, when Hanukkah is transliterated, the “k” is sometimes doubled to reflect the “daghesh” in the Hebrew word. The light miraculously burned for eight nights. Hanukkah means "dedication" in Hebrew. Still, she sees the word written as “Channukah” every year. matzoh, matzo or matzah? The right way to spell Hanukkah. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most important Jewish holidays and is celebrated by Jews worldwide. Rabbi Ilana Zietman, community rabbi of GatherDC in Washington, D.C., a group that helps connect young people to Jewish life, tells USA TODAY that she uses Hanukkah and Chanukah interchangeably. In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" begins with the Hebrew letter Chet. The confusion over the spelling comes because the name of the holiday is a Hebrew word and the English transliteration isn't totally clear. In Hebrew it is spelled חֲנֻכָּה. To make things more complicated, the first letter in the Hebrew version is pronounced differently in modern Hebrew than it was in classical Hebrew (2,3). Like the Chaf, though, the Chet has a throat-clearing sound that is commonly read as C-H in English, so if you weren't concerned with differentiating the Chet from the Chaf in transliteration, it makes sense you'd want to start the English-letter version of the word with a guttural C-H. Please attempt to sign up again. Rabbi Sarah Krinsky of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington prefers the spelling that starts with an H, includes one N, adds two Ks and concludes with an H (Hanukkah). But times are changing, even in the way the Jewish holiday of lights is celebrated and understood, and the Hanukkah spelling has gone mainstream. This is based on the belief and tradition that Hanukkah is a celebration for the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Unlike translation, transliteration is when you “change (letters, words, etc.) Dictionary ... Because Hebrew and English use different alphabets and Hanukkah is a Hebrew word, expressing it in English goes beyond translation to transliteration. So what spelling is best? Whether you’re in tune with the latest spelling trend will be an entirely different story. As for the spelling of the word, Hanukkah or Chanukah or Chanukkah (etc. Reference Menu. The celebration of Hanukkah includes a … and when it is transliterated into English it becomes Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Hanukah, and Chanukah. She grew up with both, though her organization officially uses Hanukkah. The K sound in the middle of “Hanukkah” comes from the Hebrew letter Kaf. Rachel Bloom's "Santa Baby" parody is "Chanukah Honey" but she included other spellings of the holiday in her CW show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," in a scene where her character Rebecca mulls over which "Happy" holiday banner is best among Chanukah, Hanukah and Hanukkah. Put the confusion behind you with the correct spelling and background of its origins. Again, let’s look at the way the holiday is written in Hebrew: Its final letter is a Hei. Learn how to spell Hannukka (or is it Hanukah? It's always an appropriate greeting for the holiday. How do you say happy Chanukah in Hebrew? Hanukah is starting soon. Pronounced with the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, chet, a guttural, throaty sound similar to the "ch" in Johann Brach, according to Chabad. If you type in the aforementioned three spellings, it shows you results for "Hanukkah," a spelling that has been the most popular on the search engine for at least the past 15 years, with second-place spelling "Chanukah" significantly waning in popularity in the past five years. As you see throughout this site, we use “Hanukkah,” which a non-scientific study revealed conducted in 2012 found to be the second most popular way to spell the word.eJewish Philanthropy reports Don't say 'Happy Yom Kippur': How to greet someone observing the Jewish Day of Atonement, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. "I hope people can find meaning and inspiration in the rich story and customs of the holiday itself and use it as a means of greater interpersonal connection and sense of light in these dark times," Zietman says. Happy Hanukkah. If you want to fit in with the crowd, opt for the Hanukkah spelling, now the most widely used of the choices. But if you don’t fall into the Hebrew-scholar category, what should you do? Hanukkah is around the corner, and let’s be honest, you will probably not master Modern Hebrew until then (no harm in starting though! "Personally, I don't think it's really that big of a deal which version people use in writing," Zietman says. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. The C-H sound can be difficult for English-speakers to master. It follows that the transliterated word should also have one N to represent that sound. “I actually can’t see any linguistic reason why there should be two Ns” Krinsky says. You can unsubscribe at any time. The main complication is the first letter, which corresponds to the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: chet (or het, or heth, or cheth; there’s no right spelling there either). Although “there is no actual standardized transliteration” when it comes to that letter, Krinsky has seen it commonly written with an H and in prayer books with and an H and a dot underneath it. In the Hebrew language, which is the language of the bible and was spoken in ancient Palestine, Hanukkah, also spelt as Hanukah, Chanukkah, or Chanukah, means “rededication.” It has a little difference in its spells because it is translated from the Hebrew language, and in English, almost 16 different spellings are found, but the most common ones used are the ones given above. As Hanukkah is spelled in Hebrew it is written as חנֻכה or חנוכה (Ḥǎnukkâh) and it is translated to mean “to dedicate”. The Hebrew Hei functions very similarly to the way the English H can in that “It doesn’t change the pronunciation, like in my name Sarah,” Krinsky says. kippah, kippa, kipa or kipah? ).So, if you got an invite for a Hanukkah party and want to fit in, or for once impress your Jewish grandma, here are your essential phrases for this year’s Hanukkah. With so many ways to correctly get the point of Hanukkah across, the proper spelling really turns into a matter of preference and mass appeal. About the Author You can blame it on the ch sound being similar to the H sound, making Hanukkah a bit easier for English speakers to understand the pronunciation. Because Hanukkah is a Hebrew word, there is no one correct way to translate the spelling of the word into English. Totally clear Ns ” Krinsky says century, the word, there no... 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