I know that some Sephardim, such as Iraqis, pronounce צ as a saturated, or as I like to call it, "ayinized" ס. However, among Syrians I can't tell the difference. Are they pronouncing the two differently? If they aren't, should they?
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I think "pharyngealized" is the word you were looking for. – Double AA♦ Nov 21 '16 at 17:34
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@DoubleAA That's the IPA term. Ive also heard people say saturated, but not in an IPA context. "Ayinized" is a word I made up because it sounds like "ionized" and Ayin is a pharyngeal fricative. – Levi Nov 21 '16 at 18:16
According to K. Katz (see his book "מסורת הלשון העברית של יהודי ארם-צובא (חלב) בקריאת המקרא והמשנה"), צ is a velarized voiceless alveolar sibilant in the language tradition of Aleppo. This is the same as the צ from Iraq (see S. Morag, "מסורת הלשון העברית של יהודי בגדאד בקריאת המקרא והמשנה").
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Compare Syrian to Iraqi reading at pizmonim.org/book.php?recording=2944#P376 the צ is very different – Levi Nov 22 '16 at 2:19
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@Levi I think that is due to the accent of the baal kore. The Jews of Syria were able to easily pronounce emphatic consonants because they exist in Arabic. It is somewhat harder today. This seems emphatic to me: youtu.be/H4roelwZFro?t=1m25s – Argon Nov 22 '16 at 2:37
