Hebrew Pronunciation

Are the pronunciations of Hebrew words best said by Yemenites?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question!

I don't think it is accurate to categorize the many different pronunciation of Hebrew that exist nowadays as “correct” or “incorrect.” This is because we know that from the biblical era onwards people from different areas in Israel spoke Hebrew in different ways. The wording and pronunciation of Hebrew by Moshe was a little different from that of the later era of the Judges, which is a little different than that of Isaiah and the major prophets, which is a little different from the Hebrew of the Mishna, which is of course different that the way it is spoken today.  So too, the non-Jews of the area who also spoke Hebrew, such as the Phoenicians (Tzidonim), Moabites, Edomites and Amonites influenced the pronunciation of Hebrew.

It is true, however, that there are some things that appear to be more correct, or more accurate, in Yemenite pronounced Hebrew. For example, it is only the Yemenites who preserved a unique pronunciations for all letters, allophones of the Hebrew alphabet as well as the botted vowels. The Yemenite pronunciation of Hebrew was likely influenced by the Hebrew of the ancient Yeshivas of Babylonia.

The halachic authorities essentially rule that all pronunciations of Hebrew are legitimate however one should be consistent with the custom that you have. It is interesting to note that Rabbi Nosson Adler, the mentor of the Chasam Sofer, switched to Yemenite pronunciation, feeling that it was more authentic, and became all but rejected in Frankfurt for having done so. The sages teach us that one who speaks Hebrew has a share in the World-to-Come (Y. Shabbat 1:3),