waw vs vav

[Karl]

Thanks for the reply, Karl. For biblical Hebrew, they used this:

Bet, "v" as in "cave"
Bet-dagesh, "b" as in "bat"
Vav, "v" as in "vine"
Kaph, "ch" as in "Bach"
Kaph-dagesh, "k" as in "keep"
Qoph, "k" as in "keep"

I bet they also say taw/"tav" (??) and Teth (??) are the same sound too, huh? <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->

Is the Syriac Qoph considered to be different than "k"? Like maybe just slightly softer, inbetween the "k" and "ch"?

Lars is right, kaph ("k") is different from qoph ("q"). The "k" sound is just like the English sound, but "q" is pronounced further back in the mouth. It's not really "slightly softer" (if you ask most people, they would even say it's "harsher") nor is it in between a "k" and "ch" (either phonetically or anatomically). Here's a rough picture of where "k" and "q" are articulated in the mouth (the red lines point to where the back of the tongue makes contact):



Basically, in "q," your tongue touches the ball thing hanging off the back of the roof of your mouth (your "uvula") so that it gets squished between your tongue and the roof of your mouth (trust me, I've tried it in the mirror before <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->).

You can hear the distinction here (if you can play .OGG files):

• A "k" sound: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Voiceless_velar_plosive.ogg">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... losive.ogg</a><!-- m -->
  
• A "q" sound: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Voiceless_uvular_plosive.ogg">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... losive.ogg</a><!-- m -->