How do you spell Hannukah?

The title pretty much says it all.

Well, the Hebrew spelling is : חֲנֻכָּה

You need to read it right to left, BTW. Interesting tidbit, Hebrew has no vowels (really!) The letters you see there are called, as near as I can transliterate): "Het," "Noon," "Kaf," and "Hey." Which in English would be close, but not equivalent, to H, N, K, and the last has no real comparison (In Spanish they would be J, N, K/C, and H).

The "vowels" are the dots and lines under the consonants. The horizontal line is "ah," the diagonal dots "ooh," and the T-shape is also "ah" (really!) Semitic languages are tough right off the start.

So a straight Hebrew transliteration is something like "Hanukah." No need for a double "n" or a sound kind of like a mix between H and KH (which sounds almost as though you're clearing your throat). Curiously that odd sound exists in German as "ch"

Oh, while Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet, it does have vowels. See, in Hebrew there are two silent letters (WHY???), Aleph and Ayin. In Yiddish an Aleph with a horizontal line underneath is an "ah" but with a T-line is an "oh," while the Ayin acts as "eh." The Hebrew Vav, I think, becomes "ooh" and the Yud becomes "eeh."

Lest you think all this is too complicated fro anyone to actually speak either language, consider how widely vowels vary their sound in English. For example, the "I" can sound like "aye" or like "ee," the "E" can sounds like "ee" or "eh." And odd cases in common words like "women" have the "O" sounding like an "e."

It's all what you're used to. I've heard of Israelis learning English having a hard time with vowels, more so since modern Hebrew often omits the vowel signs under the letters (I've seen that in Israel).

Unless you're using the Hebrew alphabet, there's no "correct" answer. However, because of the correct pronunciation, I include the leading "C", but object to the double "n" and "k".

I voted "Chanukah".

Note that in Adam Sandler's Chanukah song, the line, "It's not pronounced 'CHanukah'" is correct. (I.E. The CH is not like the CH in "cheers".) His next line, "The 'C' is silent in Chanukah" depends upon who you're talking to.

The correct pronunciation is where you sound like you're working up some phlegm when saying the "Ch" part, although some dialects will pronounce it as if the "C" is silent as Sandler suggests.

Good replies so far. So good that I don't have much cross talk.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Note that in Adam Sandler's Chanukah song, the line, "It's not pronounced 'CHanukah'" is correct. (I.E. The CH is not like the CH in "cheers".) His next line, "The 'C' is silent in Chanukah" depends upon who you're talking to.

I didn't catch those lyrics in The Hanukkah Song.

Quote: Wizard

I didn't catch those lyrics in The Hanukkah Song.

My error. It's in "Part II" - his second version of the song.

Quote: near the end of Part II

It's not pronounced Ch-nakah
The C is silent in Chanukah