How to Spell Hanukkah

I  got an email requesting to be removed from the blog subscription because of how I spelled Hanukkah.

In English there are at least 16 ways to spell it, including: Channuka, Channukah, Chanuka, Chanukah, Chanuko, Hannuka, Hannukah, Hanuka, Hanukah, Hanukkah, Kanukkah, Khannuka, Khannukah, Khanuka, Khanukah, Khanukkah, and Xanuka.

Hanukkah (rededication) has only five letters in the original Hebrew. in Hebrew, there is only one correct spelling for the Holiday, which is spelled by the Hebrew letters chet, nun,vav,kaf, hey.

Everybody has a different idea of how to transliterate the Hebrew characters. In order to sound out that Hebrew word in English, we have to add vowels.

But the variations don’t come from the Hebrew word – it’s been the same for hundreds of years. It means “dedication,” referring to the rededication of the Jerusalem temple in 164 B.C.

Spelling the word in English depends entirely on phonetic preference.

Learn More About Hanukkah

• View all Hanukkah Articles on this site
• A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays Ebook (600 p)
• A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays (600 p Paperback)
• Hanukkah, Purim and Sabbath (EBook) (200+ p)

Hanukkah, Purim, Sabbath Ebook $17.00 over 250 pages Add to cart

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