The right way to spell Hanukkah. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 24 spellings for Hanukkah, during which Jews light candles on a menorah to celebrate the miracle of a one-day oil supply lasting eight after the Maccabean Revolt in the second century B.C. Or is it Chanukah? So what is Hanukkah, and where does it come from? Like the Chaf, though, the Chet has a throat-clearing sound that is commonly read as C-H in English, so if you weren't concerned with differentiating the Chet from the Chaf in transliteration, it makes sense you'd want to start the English-letter version of the word with a guttural C-H. Translation Spell check Synonyms Conjugation Hanukkah, therefore, emerged as a celebration of the dedication and refurbishment of the Temple, as the word itself suggests in Hebrew. Here's some Hebrew help for anyone celebrating Chanukah! Let’s see why that version is a favorite. Or Hannukah? Hebrew words for hanukkah include חֲנוּכָּה and חֲנוּכָּה. More on Jewish holidays: Don't say 'Happy Yom Kippur': How to greet someone observing the Jewish Day of Atonement, What is Hanukkah? As you see throughout this site, we use “Hanukkah,” which a non-scientific study revealed conducted in 2012 found to be the second most popular way to spell the word.eJewish Philanthropy reports These kids (and their rabbi) explain. If you type in the aforementioned three spellings, it shows you results for "Hanukkah," a spelling that has been the most popular on the search engine for at least the past 15 years, with second-place spelling "Chanukah" significantly waning in popularity in the past five years. LIST: Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hanukkah. As Hanukkah is spelled in Hebrew it is written as חנֻכה or חנוכה (Ḥǎnukkâh) and it is translated to mean “to dedicate”. Updated: November 28, 2017 3:47 PM ET | Originally published: December 21, 2011 4:08 PM EST, Pelosi Says House Will Impeach Trump Unless Pence Acts, What Is the Insurrection Act And Does it Give Trump the Authority to Send Military Troops Into States? Hebrew for Chanukah. Woody Guthrie's festive songs use spellings "Hanukah Tree" and "Hanuka Gelt," while Adam Sandler calls his series of Jewish celebrity tunes "Chanukah Song." As for the spelling of the word, Hanukkah or Chanukah or Chanukkah (etc. You can unsubscribe at any time. Other Hanukkah traditions include eating potato pancakes called latkes and jelly donuts called sufganiyot (because they're foods fried in oil), spinning a top called a dreidel to win chocolate coins called gelt and exchanging gifts. Don't say 'Happy Yom Kippur': How to greet someone observing the Jewish Day of Atonement, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The K sound in the middle of “Hanukkah” comes from the Hebrew letter Kaf. Put the confusion behind you with the correct spelling and background of its origins. Because Hanukkah is a Hebrew word, there is no one correct way to translate the spelling of the word into English. Hanukkah 2011: Why the Holiday Is So Popular in America, Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hanukkah. And all are equally correct, though the … With so many ways to correctly get the point of Hanukkah across, the proper spelling really turns into a matter of preference and mass appeal. By signing up you are agreeing to our, 'There Is Not Some Separation Between Jesus and Justice.' Hanukah is starting soon. We've heard of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, but it's not actually in the Jewish Torah. And although there are a few cases when the holiday is written with K-H, that spelling would feel “wrong” to Krinsky, because that transliteration seems further removed from the Chet letter and sound. Even in pop culture, there are a number of ways to spell it. So, when the Hebrew word was transliterated in the 17th century, the ḥet became ch (Chanukah). The answer comes down to transliteration. She grew up with both, though her organization officially uses Hanukkah. Still, one K is acceptable because the extra K doesn't technically change the way the word sounds. It is pronounced with a guttural sound that is similar to the /ch/ in loch. The K sound in the middle of “Hanukkah” comes from the Hebrew letter Kaf. In Hebrew, it’s “חנוכה”—but since Hanukkah is a Hebrew word, and Hebrew can’t be spelled with English letters, there is no standard English spelling. Rachel Bloom's "Santa Baby" parody is "Chanukah Honey" but she included other spellings of the holiday in her CW show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," in a scene where her character Rebecca mulls over which "Happy" holiday banner is best among Chanukah, Hanukah and Hanukkah. The main complication is the first letter, which corresponds to the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: chet (or het, or heth, or cheth; there’s no right spelling there either). William J. Barber II Uses His Faith to Fight for the Poor, Why 'The Great Gatsby' Now 'Belongs to the People', Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know now on politics, health and more, © 2021 TIME USA, LLC. As little as about five years ago, the top spelling choice on the Internet was Chanukah. In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" begins with the Hebrew letter Chet. There is no English equivalent of the chet sound, which is rendered in transliteration variously with a h, ch or kh. Hanukkah is observed by lighting candles on a nine-branched candelabra called a menorah over eight nights. “I actually can’t see any linguistic reason why there should be two Ns” Krinsky says. In Hebrew, the N sound in Hanukkah comes from a single letter, Nun. Accordingly, Krinksy prefers to double the English K in Hanukkah. Pronounced with the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, chet, a guttural, throaty sound similar to the "ch" in Johann Brach, according to Chabad. Let’s first see what the words “happy” and “Hanukkah” are like in Hebrew: Happy = שמח = Sameach Hanukkah = חנוכה = Chanuka At Lila’s pre-school Hanukkah party, there were three different spellings within 10 feet of one another. This is based on the belief and tradition that Hanukkah is a celebration for the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. But, Hanukkah and Chanukah are the two versions that are most widely used and accepted. "Personally, I don't think it's really that big of a deal which version people use in writing," Zietman says. But, everyone, including the judges, learned a little bit about why there are so many different ways to spell Hanukkah, and why Hebrew is the best way. Hanukkah means "dedication" in Hebrew. 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