Hamas
Just curious. How is this Palestinian name pronounced in Spanish? "Jamás"? "Amás"? Something else'
20 Answers
Thank you, that makes sense 
Heidita said:
Uly Marrero said:
You're absolutely right - I'm just getting used to the Mac Arabic keyboard which switches sad and sin. Do you speak Arabic?
PUNISHER said:
the correct spelling is '''? just a small correction
Uly Marrero said:
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: '''?
Punisher is from Qatar.
>
Uly Marrero said:
You're absolutely right - I'm just getting used to the Mac Arabic keyboard which switches sad and sin. Do you speak Arabic?
PUNISHER said:
the correct spelling is '''? just a small correction
Uly Marrero said:
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: '''?
Punisher is from Qatar.
Also, interestingly enough, for Lebanese at least '''? is a chickpea stew, '''? and is Hamas.
PUNISHER said:
the correct spelling is '''? just a small correction
Uly Marrero said:
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: '''?
>
You're absolutely right - I'm just getting used to the Mac Arabic keyboard which switches sad and sin. Do you speak Arabic?
PUNISHER said:
the correct spelling is '''? just a small correction
Uly Marrero said:
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: '''?
>
Thanks, Uly, for the very interesting information. You're the perfect person to reply to my question!
Chastised by LadyDi, I did a little digging, and found this amusing comment on the Web:
"(Hamas se pronuncia idéntica a la palabra española sinónima de nunca. Hago la aclaración porque aquí está un pendejo que confunde la fonética con la ortografía española, ¿Puede aplicarse gramática española a palabras árabes')"
The above quote is funny because Arabic words are written in Arabic, not Roman letters, so the spelling of Hamas actually constitutes an English word, and as such, it makes no sense in Spanish. However, probably because of the influence of English media, the spelling of Hamas has become established in Spanish, as has the English pronunciation, which approximates the Arabic.
Thanks to all for your input.
the correct spelling is '''? just a small correction
Uly Marrero said:
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: '''?
>
The original ? pronunciation of Hebrew ? was replaced by a [kh] sound in Modern Hebrew. However it is still used by Hebrew speaking Palestinians. Farsi also uses the Arabic letter in their language for writing words borrowed from Arabic (which accounts for a tremendous percentage of the lexicon), but they pronounce it like English [h]. So Punisher is right - Arabic is the only living language that uses '. I'm half Lebanese so I'm used to hearing it. If you listen to Arabs speak, you'll notice a strong h-sound that sounds like a raspy stage-whisper. It really stands out. As for James' original question, I can't help you because being half Cuban and Lebanese, we always pronounce it in Arabic: ''''
the letter might exist there but i dont think it is pronunced like arabic pronunciation just like in iranian language.
sorry if i took this subject off-topic, but im almost sure (might be mistaken) that its not pronunced like arabic.
you might be right james because i dont speak hebrew, but be aware of the difference between that letter AND the same letter with a dot on top ( ? ) wich is pronunced almost like the J in mujer.
James Santiago said:
This is getting off-topic, but are you saying that other Semitic languages (especially Hebrew) don't have this sound? I thought the word lachaim (¡Salud!), for example, contained the sound represented by the Arabic letter '.
>
This is getting off-topic, but are you saying that other Semitic languages (especially Hebrew) don't have this sound? I thought the word lachaim (¡Salud!), for example, contained the sound represented by the Arabic letter '.
i dont think so james,, in iran (the closest pronunciation to arabic) they have this letter yes but they pronunce this letter as H in english, and im almost sure
that none of the countries that you mentioned have that letter BUT it doesnt mean that no one can pronunce it, its just hard to pronunce.
James Santiago said:
the letter does not exist in english or spanish or any other languageReally? I'm pretty sure it exists in other Semitic languages. And I wouldn't be surprised if it existed in languages spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.
>
the letter does not exist in english or spanish or any other language
Really? I'm pretty sure it exists in other Semitic languages. And I wouldn't be surprised if it existed in languages spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.
the H in hamas is just the closest to the LETTER( ? )in arabic but its hard for a non-arabic speaking person to pronunce it, and the letter does not exist in english or spanish or any other language, so if you are pronuncing it in english it would be Hamas and in spanish Jamas. but remember its just the closest pronunciation to it.
James Santiago said:
LadyDi said:
You might want to "check your local listings" to find out how it's being pronounced.
Man, can't a guy be lazy around here?
Hehehe...And here I thought I was being subtle. 
I've always heard it pronounced "jamás". El movimiento islámico Hamas (The Islamic movement Hamas). ¿Es qué jamás habrá paz en Oriente Medio'.
LadyDi said:
You might want to "check your local listings" to find out how it's being pronounced.
Man, can't a guy be lazy around here? 
