How to pronounce Aleph

Aleph is most commonly pronounced "ah lef" (/ˈɑːlɛf/). This is the widely-used reading among engineers, though edge cases exist.

Aleph is Runway's July-2025 in-context video model, named after aleph (א), the first letter of the Hebrew/Semitic alphabet. Stress falls on the first syllable: AH-lef, with a broad "ah" /ɑː/; the -lif variant (AH-lif) is equally attested. Non-native devs often mis-stress it as "uh-LEFF" (second-syllable stress with a reduced first vowel) the second-syllable stress is wrong, while a long-a "AY-lef" /ˈeɪlɛf/ is a valid but less common dictionary variant. Non-obvious because the spelled "a" is the open /ɑ/, not a schwa or the English long-a, and Runway's own announcement never states a pronunciation or name origin.

Alternate readings you might hear:

• "ah lif" /ˈɑːlɪf/

Source: Wiktionary — aleph (English pronunciation)

Pronouncing project and product names correctly avoids the small but persistent friction of being gently corrected during standups, conference Q&As, and team calls. Hearing the word a few times locks in the right reading better than reading IPA ever will. Pronounce is a community-maintained dictionary — every entry tagged with a confidence level and (where possible) a citable source.