Question 19.2: Why is "shabbat" spelled sometimes shabbath, shabbath, shabbos, shabbes?


                                  Answer:
   
   The Hebrew word is as follows, and it's pronounced in various ways:
      ___  __   _ _ *
      |  | . |  | | |
     _|  | __|_ |/_/
            T    --

   "Shabbos" and "Shabbat" are examples. The final letter in the word is
   pronounced as "s" by Ashkenazis, as "t" by Sephardim, and as "th" by
   Yemenites and (according to some scholars) speakers of Hebrew around
   the year 3700. "Sabbath" is an anglicization of the Hebrew.
   Ephraimites may have been the actual source of this variant, as in
   Judges 12, it is reported that they were not able to pronounce the
   letter shin. It's all the same word, and the pronunciations are used
   interchangeably in this FAQ. Same with Kashrus/Kashrut/Kashruth.

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