Why is the word meaning "to jump up and spin for joy to YHWH" variously spelled both alleluia and halleluia?

Question

Why is the word meaning "to jump up and spin for joy to YHWH" variously spelled both alleluia and halleluia?

Answer 1

There is not this "h" sound in the Hebrew.

The English is transliterated.

Answer 2

This is end result when carried over to other languages.

Heb., Ha·lelu-Yah′

Gr., Al·le·lou′i·a

Lat., Al·le·lu′ia

So, the translator must decide whether to go with the sound most familiar to the language he works in or one that carrys the exact sound or meaning.

In the NWT, since the meaning is clear, there is no need to transliterate the phase, which "Praise Jah, you people!"

It is used mostly in Psalms with a few times in Revelation.

Answer 3

There is not standard way to anglicize hebrew words. It may be one of those hebrew words where you give that gutteral "h" sound at the beginning, so this is either spelled with an h or taken out completely.

Answer 4

Because spelling in the English language wasn't standardized until the late 18th or early 19th century.

Answer 5

It is closer to the Hebrew (הַלְלוּיָהּ) with the H.  That is the sound produced by the הַ.  The Aramaic also has the H sound, so the "alleluia" form is a deviation caused by transmission to English through the Latin.  The "halleluyah" form is preferred, and the exact transliteration would be "hall'luYah," since the vowel between the double l and the single l is a shewa (half-vowel), and Yah is a truncated form of YHWH.