The medieval grammarians also talk about a secondary pronunciation of ṣade, which sounded like an emphatic/pharyngealized version of zay. For those familiar with Arabic, it is pronounced like the letter ẓā (ظ) in some pronunciation traditions of Arabic. To pronounce this, constrict your throat and make your tongue concave to create an open cavity in the mouth while pronouncing "z". It is not entirely clear when such a pronunciation was used, but there is at least a specific mention that it was used in the name אֲמַצְיָהוּ 'Amaziah'.

 

In fact, there seems to be a degree of confusion regarding the specific terminology for this sound. Indeed, the term zāy makrūkh (see quotations below) may actually refer to this voiced pronunciation of ṣade.