I just wanted to clarify the pronunciation of [name]Reuven[/name]
Is it:
Reh-oo-ven (3 syllables)
R’oo-ven (more like 2.5)
And would it be incorrect/wrong to pronounce it Roo-ven ([name]Reuben[/name] with a V way and easier)?
I don’t know the pronunciation of the name, I’ve never come across it before, but if I was a teacher guessing it off a register I’d go with Roo-ven, like [name]Reuben[/name] with a V.
Either way the vowel in the first syllable is pretty short, as the emphasis is on the last syllable. I’ve always heard it (among Jewish friends and in my Hebrew classes) pronounced more like Reh-oo-VAYN or R’-oo-VAYN, last syllable rhyming with “train”.
I guess you could pronounce it ROO-ven. I’d expect someone with the more “hebrew” spelling of [name]Reuven[/name] to pronounce it more “properly” though, but the average person would probably pronounce it ROO-ven like the anglicized [name]Reuben[/name].
Is there a reason you prefer [name]Reuven[/name] over the more conventional/recognizable [name]Reuben[/name]?
Thanks @labelo!
I prefer the spelling, but needed to know if I was pronouncing it right. I guess I wasn’t.
No problem! I think they’re both lovely. I wouldn’t worry terribly about pronouncing it “right” unless you’re around a large Jewish population. The more I think about it the more I expect people would intuitively pronounce it ROO-ven.
I would say it just like [name]Reuben[/name]. 2 syllables.
I pronounce it like [name]Reuben[/name] with a V.
Literally pronouncing the Hebrew, רְ”וּבֵן, is r’ooh-vain. Meh, just stick with roo-ven.
It’s 2.5 syllables. I doubt anyone who isn’t Jewish would know that though, everyone will just see [name]Reuben[/name]-with-a-v.