How do you spell Hanukkah, this is a very popular question. And with Hanukkah just around the corner one that will likely be asked and Google searched many times. There are a number of ways to spell Hanukkah. Almost 20 if you can believe it.
Hanukkah is the Jewish winter holiday in December. The Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah with menorahs and dreidels and gelt. Presents are exchanged, and lights are lit. Some families will have banners welcoming the holiday; one banner may read Happy Chanukah, while another may state Happy Chanukkah.
Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah? It's both!
You maybe have entered a Jewish restaurant at the festival celebration time and noticed a welcome with Happy Hanuka on it, yet a different spelling. Not only is the spelling aspect of the word difficult for some. The pronunciation can also be difficult and varies. Some say Hanukkah with an H sound at the beginning while others will have the sound of shhh or chhh like Shoe, or church typically spellings of Chanukah, and Channukka are sounded this way.
So why does it have to be so difficult? How do you spell Hanukkah? The main reason there are so many different variations is because of the Hebrew Language. The word comes from the Hebrew alphabet and when translated over time had varied spellings in the English language. When the word is pronounced in the Hebrew language there are throaty sounds that are made to say the word. These sounds, while clear in the Hebrew language are often mixed or interchanged when transferring to the English language.
The CH spelling for example, it is NOT pronounced in the Hebrew language in the same tones as it is in the English language. This takes care of the beginning of the word. You will notice in the number of spelling formats that are found that the majority of them end in H, the others in A. The sound for the Hebrew version of the word is similar to the English translation the way one would say BRA. The A at the end of the word is sounded out as AH.
So conclusion, how to you spell Hanukka is a very difficult question as there are many answers, and reasoning for the variety. Hanuka, Chanukka, Xanuka, and Hannukka are all correct version. Happy Chanuka to you!
