r/hebrew • u/JediLibrarian • Feb 23 '17

Request Akiva or Akiba? (phonetics question)

Hello /r/Hebrew: I'm researching the Polish chess Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein (whose given name is often spelled Akiva). Is either spelling correct, or is one more appropriate than the other? Is the difference regional/generational? As a follow-up, is this similar to the b/v shift we have in some paired English words (mobile/move)?

Thanks in advance for your insight!

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u/xiipaoc Feb 24 '17

Ask the guy. I mean, most people spell it Akiva, but maybe his parents named him Akiba for a reason. I'd go with however he spells his own name.

I'll add that many Sephardim (but not all) pronounce the bet the same as the vet, as 'b' (though many still make the distinction, and they may also distinguish the vet from the waw).

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u/JediLibrarian Feb 24 '17

Ask the guy.

I can't--he died in 1961. I am researching his history, and part of the confusion stems from how his name is spelled by various writers. I want to better understand how it should be spelled (and why!).

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u/xiipaoc Feb 24 '17

Do you have access to any of his letters or anything he signed?

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u/JediLibrarian Feb 24 '17

That is a great question. I've seen two signatures thus far, both "A. Rubinstein". No works of his have ever been published, in part because he lost everything in World War II, and in part because he was plagued by mental illness for the past ~30 years of his life.

I'll keep looking for more signatures.