The Letter “Chet”

Question

Dear Rabbi, can the letter het ח be pronounced KH?

For example: “Ḥizkiyya” “Menaḥem” “Yoḥanan”

Can we pronounce “Ḥizkiyya” “Menaḥem” “Yoḥanan” as: Hizkiyya, Menahem, Yohanan and not as Khizkiyya, Menakhem, Yokhanan?

Can we ever pronounce the letter het ח as h and not KH?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    No. The letter “chet” has no real equivalent in English. It makes a guttural sound as opposed to “h” or “kh” or the regular sound that the letters “ch” make in English.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team