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Original poster

elijah - hard or soft j?

38 replies

chellechelle26 · 23/06/2014 10:21

do I pronounce it as it is e-lye-jah or e-lye-zhuh?

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Bunbaker · 29/06/2014 08:26

It reminds me of the name Cheryl. I had a best friend at school with the name and the ch was pronounced like the ch in cheese or chocolate. Nowadays I hear it pronounced like sh. It's such a minefield these days.

Bunbaker · 29/06/2014 08:24

Sorry. I misunderstood. I still haven't ever heard it pronounced with a soft J before which account for my confusion.

lloydlf76 · 29/06/2014 00:19

bunbaker it isn't pronounces like Eliza at all though so no risk of confusion. Eliza has a hard 'Z' sound whereas Elijah is a soft J like the french J in Jacques. It's a 'zh' sound rather than 'Z'.

Bunbaker · 28/06/2014 23:41

But if it is pronounced Eliza won't people think it is a girl's name? I have only ever heard the J pronounced like the J in jam or Jesus.

snapple21 · 28/06/2014 23:38

Soft j for us!

PresidentSpreadable · 26/06/2014 13:58

Never heard anyone pronounce it with a soft 'j' in the UK.

lloydlf76 · 26/06/2014 05:04

I have an Elijah and use a soft J. As do 99% of the people we meet, including churchgoers. Both are equally acceptable so it really is a matter of preference.

BeatriceBean · 25/06/2014 07:35

It would be assumed to be a hard J by churchgoers you meet.

AtiaoftheJulii · 24/06/2014 23:49

And no one says Zhoel or Zhudith ... are there other times when we do use a soft j in English? (I can't think of any offhand, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything!)

TessOfTheFurbyvilles · 24/06/2014 23:30

Elijah is the English form of a Hebrew name, so it doesn't have a Hebrew pronunciation. Therefore, I would say that technically, that means both of the pronunciations listed by the OP are "acceptable" in English. It's a case of preference. To answer the OP's question, I pronounce Elijah with a soft J, unless corrected.

The original Hebrew form is Eliyahu, pronounced eh-lee-a-hoo. There is no J sound (soft or hard) in Hebrew. Where there's a J in a Biblical name, it will be a Y in its Hebrew form; Joel is from Yoel, Judith is from Yehudit, for example.

DramaAlpaca · 24/06/2014 22:35

I've always thought of it as being pronounced with a hard J.

Fideliney · 23/06/2014 20:05
KoalaDownUnder · 23/06/2014 18:22

When I say it out loud, the soft-j pronunciation sounds pretentious. Like the way people here say 'Tar-zhay' when they're pretending to make 'Target' (the shop) sound up-market.

squoosh · 23/06/2014 17:38

I feel I must retrospectively visit threads and tell people that if you're thinking of calling your child Elijah I only say 'aye' is it's with a soft J.

Nereida · 23/06/2014 17:35

I think in Hebrew it's 'eh-LEE-yah'

manicinsomniac · 23/06/2014 17:35

I think it's a hard J

Elijah and Elisha are two different people in the Bible aren't they? One pronounced hard and one soft.

So, if you wanted a soft j, you'd have to use Elisha

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/06/2014 17:24

(I just realized I should say, I don't speak Hebew, I just know Jesus is Yeshua and Joseph is Ioseph in lots of old texts.)

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/06/2014 17:21

I believe Hebrew doesn't really have a 'j' sound, does it? So it would presumably be some variant on the soft 'y' sound.

I've always heard it in English with a hard 'j', though.

Lovely name, anyway!

Original poster
chellechelle26 · 23/06/2014 17:16

now I'm even more confused than when I started haha! Hmm

OP posts:
singersgirl · 23/06/2014 16:31

I've never heard anyone say it with a zh sound. In terms of the Biblical prophet, it has a hard 'j' sound like James. Maybe Elizha is a popular American way of saying it.

BeatriceBean · 23/06/2014 14:29

Eliza and Elisha are the softer names, but in terms of the Biblical name its hard!!

AtiaoftheJulii · 23/06/2014 14:28

Hard. That's how I've always heard the prophet referred to. I always think of the soft way add being an American pronunciation.

PandaWatch · 23/06/2014 14:26

Oh ok! Yes - soft j in that case!

Thanks for clarifying Squoosh Grin

squoosh · 23/06/2014 14:24

Eli-zsa.

squoosh · 23/06/2014 14:23

Soft J as in it sounds like the 'zs' in Zsa Zsa Gabor's name.