Why the word [ אוֹר ] is reading like [ or ]?

[Tiger45]

Shalom!

I start learn Hebrew and I have a question:

Why is word [ אוֹר ] reading like [ or ]?

Word [ אוֹר - light ] consists of three letters [ א - aleph ] [ ו - vav ] [ ר - resh ].
Why is reading like [ or ], why not - like [ alvar ] or [ avar ]?

Who knows please help me understand!

[Brzeczyszczykiewicz]

Shalom!

Indeed, the word "אור" is pronounced "or", and that's because the "א" in it is actually silent and only serves as a support for the "o" sound of the "ו".

This is a rule of written Hebrew and, simply put, it states that no Hebrew syllable may begin with a vowel, and so, if a word begins with a vowel sound, then that word will be written either with an "א" or an "ע" at the start.

Some more examples of this are:

אי ("i") - island

אבן ("even") - stone

אני ("ani") - I (the personal pronoun)

אולי ("ulai") - perhaps

עיר ("ir") - city

עור ("or") - skin

עוגה ("uga") - cake

עזרה ("ezra") - help

For the word "אור" to be pronounced "alvar" or "avar" you would have to change its spelling:

אלוור / אלבר - "alvar"

אוור / אבר - "avar"

[Tiger45]

Thank you!

[Brzeczyszczykiewicz]

A pleasure!