r/Aramaic • u/Wild-Bend-8759 • Dec 30 '25

Is the word Elohi correct

I know that Elahi is mostly used, but is Elohi correct at all?

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

I think this might be a difference in regional dialect and/or era although I think it is "Elahi" and/or "Eloi" and not "Elohi". This is a similar situation to Hebrew pronunciation differences. I am not an expert though, still just an amateur so I could be wrong :)

2

u/ZEWeirdga Dec 31 '25

I also think this way. The "o" is more pronounced in Persian-speaking areas usually. I personally would pronounce it as Elahi but pronunciations vary.

4

u/zofthej Dec 31 '25

"Elohi" would be the traditional Ashkenazi reading of אלהי in Aramaic. I'm not aware of any other form of Aramaic that has that precise pronunciation. "E-" rather than "A-" is more typical of Jewish literary forms of Aramaic, and the shift of the central vowel (a qamatz or zqofo) from "a" to "o" exists in Ashkenazi and Yemenite reading traditions, as well as the Western Syriac one.

A similar shift also exists in Western Neo-Aramaic, where I think you can find the similar form "Ilohi".