Sometimes, when the English language isn't enough to capture what we want to say, we import

words from other languages.

Italian words like Alfresco, German words like Shardonn Freude, Spanish words like Taco.

And let's face it, we use Latin phrases ad nauseam.

Then there are French words and phrases like Bon Voyage, rendezvous, or faux pas, that

last one being particularly useful for socially awkward British people living in America.

But some of the words we'd like to import use letters that look very strange in English.

And so, in those cases, we try to preserve the sound of the original word while using

English letters.

It's called Transliteration.

An example would be a Greek word like Metropolis, or the Chinese word Wach.

Believe it or not, America's favorite condiment, ketchup, comes from a Transliterated Chinese

word.

The word Halleluja is a Transliteration of two Hebrew words, Hallelu and Yah.

Write down those two Hebrew words using the closest equivalent letters we have in English

and you end up without strange and beautiful word Halleluja or Halleluja.

The first Hebrew word Hallelu means Let Us Praise.

And the second word is Yah, which is the short form of Yahweh, the very specific personal

name of the God of Israel.

Yahweh has its origin in the name God revealed to distinguish himself from all other gods.

In Exodus chapter 3, when God speaks to Moses for the first time and calls him to bring

his people out of slavery in Egypt, Moses says, If the Israelites ask me your name, what

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