לכלבים

[Ali Smith]

שלום!

Is לכלבים pronounced lekhlavim or laklavim (note that the former contains the fricative version of כ while the latter does not)?

Here's the context:

ככה הוא זורק אותנו לכלבים, אחרי שעזרנו לו?

Thanks!

 

[Drink]

Note that without the definite article, the formal pronunciation would be "likhlavim", while the colloquial one would be "leklavim". What you gave "lekhlavim" is like a mix of the two, which sometimes happens when people try to speak more formally but don't do it perfectly.

Anyway, in this expression, I believe the definite article is there, and so it's laklavim.

 

[GeriReshef]

The expression means to get rid of somebody who became worthless.
Maybe its source is in the story of the queen Jezebel (for example: the end of Books of Kings 2, chapter 9).

 

[Ali Smith]

Thank you, drink and gerireshef! However, why would the person use the definite article before "dogs"?

 

[Drink]

Same reason you would in English, for example "he is throwing us to the dogs". Really, it's just the eat the expression is. Either could work in theory.

 

[GeriReshef]

Thank you, drink and gerireshef! However, why would the person use the definite article before "dogs"?

I think the article gives it the context of "those dogs that are supposed to kill him" and not "some dogs that one may find in the street by a chance".