why are there so many different spellings of chanukah?

Question

Why are there so many different spellings of Hanukkah's?

Answer 1

Because in all Jewish holidays the language is Hebrew, or ancient Hebrew.
In Hebrew, there is only one correct spelling for the holiday, which is spelled by the Hebrew letters chet, nun,vav,kaf, hey.
when trying to write a Hebrew word in English (also true to any other language rewriting), the result is not always clear. for example, the right pronunciation of chanukah is.

Neither "ch", nor "h", but a consonant that doesn't exist in English (similar to the spanish "J").
Therefore, you can write hanukah in every way you want, as long as the other side knows what you are talking about...

Here you go:

There are 16 different ways to spell it:

http://joemaller.com/2005/12/21/sixteen-ways-to-spell-hanukkah/

Answer 2

Because the word itself is Hebrew. The Hebrew alphabet is very different from the Roman alphabet we are used to. For example the first letter of Hanukkah (pronounced with a guttural sound in the back of your throat and often transliterated as kh) has no equivalent in many languages, including English.

Also, people who speak Hebrew in different parts of the world often pronounce the words somewhat differently.

So, people who try to transliterate the word into English try to approximate the way they hear it and come up with a lot of different spellings.

Answer 3

Because the name of this holiday is a transliteration of Hebrew word, there are many possible ways to spell it in English. The "Ch" at the beginning reflects the fact that in Hebrew, the first of the letter of the holiday is not the exact equivalent of the English "h," but rather a more guttural, throaty letter that does not appear in English. Think of the "ch" of the "Bach." However, it is acceptable to spell it with just an "H" at the beginning, as we have here, just to simplify matters.

Answer 4

Because it isn't an English word, and there is no English letter or letter combination that is taken to universally stand for the sound it starts with. And then there's the question of how many K's to use in the middle, and if it should end in an H.

Answer 5

Because when you transliterate a phrase or word from a foreign alphabet, it depends on what is heard, since not every letter in foreign alphabets have equivalents in English.

Answer 6

Kinda like the Libyan leader Khadafi..Quadaffi etc

Answer 7

rebel cause sometimes we write with our eyes closed & so was the mind

Answer 8

There are more than 1 Jewish language. Hebrew, Yiddish, etc. etc....