why do some people spell the jewish celebration Chanukah differently?

Question

why do some people spell the jewish celebration all different ways? which is the correct spelling?

Chanukah

Hanukkah

Hanukah
?? thanks

Answer 1

There is no "correct" English spelling, but there are some which are more incorrect than others. Sometimes the spelling is regional. For example, in addition to the other spellings already provided, you should also know that in Latin America it is not all that uncommon to see it spelled Janukah (or Janukkah, etc). Here the J is pronouced as an "H" like the Spanish name Jose. This is a correct spelling in Latin America, but in Brooklyn this would not be a correct spelling. Likewise whether it is 1 K or 2 and 1 N or 2 depends on whether the Hebrew letter contains a dagesh (a dot in the middle) which "doubles" the letter.

It is just a question of transliteration from the Hebrew. The first letter is a gutteral "CH' sound like in "Johann Sebastian Bach", but some pronounce it less gutteral and more like an "H" sound.

Similarly you read news reports about "Hamas" which in Hebrew is actually "Chamas" which means "violence".

There is an album by a group called The LeeVees which has a very funny song called "How Do You Spell Channukkahh?"
You can hear the entire song on their MySpace at:
http://www.myspace.com/theleevees
or on their website at:
http://www.theleevees.com/

Answer 2

There are probably a dozen different ways to spell the name of the holiday in English - and the crazy part is, they're all right! It's because Chanukah is not an English word, it's a Hebrew one. And the pronunciation may vary depending on the speaker's accent (Spanish Jews pronounce things differently from Yemenite Jews who pronounce things differently from German Jews etc). The word is actually spelled with the letters Chet, Nun, Vav, Kaf, Hei. In fact, a more classical pronunciation of the letter Chet isn't really the same as "H" or the gutteral "CH" - it's somewhere in the middle. Nowadays, the subtlety is lost on most Jews (except some of the oriental Jews, like the Yemenites), and they pronounce "Chet" the same way they pronounce the letter "Chaf". But in Hebrew, they're different letters, so they make different sounds. But that's really splitting hairs... anyway, I find that a lot of people for some reason can't pronounce that sound (either that of a chaf or a proper chet), so they approximate it by making it either an h or a k. An h is reasonably close, but when they harden it into a k, and begin a benediction (Baruch ata Hashem - "Blessed are you L-rd") with "Baruk ata..." well, to me at least it sounds like nails on a blackboard - it's like a gentile alarm just went off. ;) So aaaaanyway, the double "k" may actually be because the kaf is lengthened in the Hebrew word (in some words, a consonant can be doubled in how its read, without it being written twice). But since it's such a subtle distinction, it may get lost in the transliteration (as opposed to translation - "transliteration" is what it's called when you take a word written in one alphabet and write it in another alphabet, like, from Hebrew letters into Roman letters, which are what we use in English). Anyway, it's way more complicated than that, but this should give you some idea of the nuances of transliteration, and the difficulties inherent in bringing Hebrew words into other, particularly non-semitic, languages. I hope you find this information helpful, and happy Hanuka/Hanukkah/Chanukah!

Answer 3

It is because it is translated from Hebrew and not actually a latin word...

Alternative spellings based on transliterating Hebrew letters

As mentioned above, there is a frequent confusion over the many alternative spellings of Hanukkah in the English language. The only standard spelling of Hanukkah is the Hebrew five letters - Chet(Ch, H,K) Nun Vav Kaf Hey - plus the vowels, which are not written in advanced Hebrew. Thus, the most accurate transliteration to English is 'Ch(a)n(u)k(a)h'. But as 'ch' is pronounced differently in English than it is in the traditional Romanisation of Hebrew (which was based upon analogies to German and Latin spelling), and the 'kaf' consonant is part of a long syllable instead of a short one, "Hanukkah" (technically with a small dot under the first 'H,' to show it is pronounced like broad Latin and German 'ch') emerged as an alternative that is more pronounceable to the Anglophone eye.
spelling variations are due to transliteration of Hebrew Chet Nun Vav Kaf Hey
Enlarge
spelling variations are due to transliteration of Hebrew Chet Nun Vav Kaf Hey

* Hanukkah (most common in the United States)
* Chanukah (common alternative in the United States)
* Hanukah (less common alternative in the United States)
* Chanuka (rare spelling; in Hebrew, dropping the final 'h' would change the gender of the word)
* Chanukkah
* Hanuka (rare spelling; again, the gender would be masculine instead of feminine, in Hebrew)
* Channukah
* Hanukka (rare spelling)
* Khanike (YIVO standard transliteration from the Yiddish and/or Ashkenazic pronunciation of the Hebrew)

Answer 4

Good question.
Here's a portion from the link that might help explain:

"The only standard spelling of Hanukkah is the Hebrew five letters - Chet(Ch, H,K) Nun Vav Kaf Hey - plus the vowels, which are not written in advanced Hebrew. Thus, the most accurate transliteration to English is 'Ch(a)n(u)k(a)h'. But as 'ch' is pronounced differently in English than it is in the traditional Romanisation of Hebrew (which was based upon analogies to German and Latin spelling), and the 'kaf' consonant is part of a long syllable instead of a short one, "Hanukkah" (technically with a small dot under the first 'H,' to show it is pronounced like broad Latin and German 'ch') emerged as an alternative that is more pronounceable to the Anglophone eye."

Answer 5

Chanukah is a Hebrew word. Different people transliterate this word with different spellings. There is no one correct way.

Answer 6

I'm just guessing, but it would parable have something to do with the Jewish language, they parable didn't have the letter h so that when translated the closest thing they had to use for English was ch, and some others liked h better, just spell it the way you like it.

Answer 7

The proper spelling is in Hebrew lettering. As long as folks know what you mean, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Mary Krissmass... see what I mean?

Answer 8

It's spelt right in Hebrew, eh?

Answer 9

depends on which part of the country you are in...kind of like potato and potatoe.

Answer 10

I dun no cause I just dont!