Other Marks .א3 Reading Biblical Hebrew Chapter 3: Other Marks John C. Beckman 2016-08-29 Goal: Prepare to Memorize the Other Marks 2 Other marks • Everything other than consonants and vowels Be able to • Symbol name and meaning • Name symbol and meaning Caveat: We will cover specific accents later Not Part of the Original Manuscripts 3 The original texts had only consonants (including vowel letters) • Vowel letters (using consonants) began in 900 BC • No regular vowels, accents, or other marks Vowels, accents, and other marks began in post-biblical period • Consider them an early, generally reliable commentary. • Like breathing marks and accents in the Greek NT iff = If and Only If 4 Compact notation Example: • Dagesh has meaning iff it is preceded by a vowel, not shva • Every dagesh that is preceded by a vowel has meaning. • Every dagesh that is not preceded by a vowel is meaningless. is Consonantal 5 ה Indicates Word-Final He ַמִּפיק Mappiq is a vowel letter iff word-final ה He ָהְיָתהִּ יְהֶיה ִּ הֵּנהֹּכה is a vowel letter ה Word-final • ,elsewhere is always a consonant ה • הָ אָ ֶ רץ א ִּהֹלהים never a vowel letter ?ה What if a word needs to end in a he אֹּתָ ּה ה Put a dot inside the word-final • ַמִּפיק Mappiq • Means ‘Dot’ 6 דָ גֵּׁש Dagesh • Dot inside the consonant (or to the left if there is no ‘inside’) ה Looks like mappiq, but not in a word-final he • • ּב ּג ד ּוּזּטּיכ ּל ּמ נ ּס פ ּצ ּק ּׂש ּׁש ּת and resh (אהחע) Dagesh in all consonants except gutturals • to a point-like sound בכפ Dagesh changes the sound of • Dagesh Doubles Consonant IFF Preceded by Vowel, not Shva 7 בכפ Dagesh always changes the pronunciation of ְכ ֶנְג דֹו Meaningless dagesh • Multiple categories and names • Dagesh qal (‘light dagesh’), dagesh lene • Conjunctive dagesh, … (בכפ Ignore it (other than pronouncing • ַו ְּת ַ דּבֵּ ר Meaningful dagesh • Doubles the consonant • Has meaning. Changes parsing. • Certain verb forms, assimilated consonant, etc. (strong dagesh’; aka dagesh forte‘) ָדֵּגׁש חָ זָק Dagesh ḥazaq • Shuruq or Vav with a Dagesh? 8 ּו Is is vav + dagesh iff it has a vowel (or shva) of its own ּו • Otherwise it is the vowel shuruq • Because never two vowels in a row in Hebrew • Because need vowel before and after a doubled consonant in order to pronounce it. E.g., better, kitten • So actually always vowel before and after vav with dagesh Examples: ִּצ ָּוה ִּק ּוִּ ִּיתִּי מְת אַָּוהְ ּבַׁש ּוְ ִּע י Vav with dagesh • ּו ְרבּו סּורּו ּתּובָ לּון ּו ְדָרׁשּוהּו Shuruq • 9 ־ Maqqaf Hyphen that joins words (מַּקֵּ ף also called maqqef) מַּקָ ף Maqqaf • ִּכ֑י־טֹוב (The first word has no accent (meteg ok • כָ ל־ but כֹֹּּ֫ ל This may cause vowel changes • • Closely connected grammatically ֹֽל ָֹּא־ר ִִּ֧אִּיתי E.g., a negative and what it negates • ַעָל־הָאֶ֑רץ E.g., a preposition and its object • ַֹֽוְַֽיִּה ֹֹּ֖י־בֶקר E.g., a verb and its subject • ַּבָת־אִִּ֣ביו E.g., two nouns in a construct chain • 10 ׃ Sof Pasuq סֹוף פָ סּוק Sof pasuq • Means ‘end of verse’ Appearance ׃ Looks like a colon • • Occurs after the last word of every verse • E.g., Genesis 1:1-2 ְּבֵּר ִֹּ֖אׁשית ָּבִָ֣ראא ִּ֑הֹלהים ֵֵּ֥ אתַ הָּׁש ַֹ֖מִּיםְ ו ֵֵּ֥אתָ הָֹֽאֶרץ׃ ְוָה ָָ֗אֶרץ ָהְיֵָ֥תהֹֹּ֙תהּוָּ֙ו ֹֹּ֔בְהּוו ֹֹּ֖חֶׁשְךַ עְל־פֵּנִ֣יְ ת֑הֹוְםוִ֣רַּוח אִֹּ֔הֹלהים ְמַר ֶֹ֖חֶפתַ עְל־פֵּנֵַ֥י ה ָֹּֽמִּים׃ 11 פ ס Paragraph Markers English paragraph mark: • ¶ ‘pilcrow’ Hebrew paragraph marks ס and פ • ֵ֥יֹוֶם א ָֹֽחד׃ פ וַּיִֹּ֣אמֶ ר ס and פ No distinction between • • Usually at the end of a verse, after sof pasuq ַּתְח ָֹּ֔תיו פ ִּּבְׁשַנִ֣ת Sometimes within a verse • ַהְנֹּטָפ ִּ֑תי ס ִּאַּת יּ֙ At the end of a paragraph • after each item of a list ס Occasionally • 12 ׀ Paseq וַּיִֹּ֣אמֶ ר ׀ Paseq is a vertical line after a word Looks important, but it is very minor • Some occurrences are part of certain minor accents • Other occurrences are not part of an accent • No consensus on the meaning • Perhaps a minor separation between two words • Perhaps a scribe’s concerns about a text Accent Marks 13 Over 20 different accent marks • Any mark we haven’t discussed yet is an accent (almost) • aka ‘cantillation marks’ (’tastes‘) . טְ עָמִּ ים aka • • Have musical value for chanting the text in unison • We will pronounce as stress accents, not tone Every Hebrew word has an accent mark • Except for a word followed by maqqaf לֹּא־ but לֹֹּ֙ א and לִֹּ֣ א Placement of Accent Marks 14 Only the last two syllables of a word can be accented ַהָּמִּ֑ים ְּבִ֣תֹוְך • Most go over or under first consonant of accented syllable ְוָה ָָ֗אֶרץ ְּבֵּר ִֹּ֖אׁשית • If vowel and accent both under same consonant, the accent is ALWAYS to the left ִּ both have a tevir accent ּ֛ , not a ḥiriq ַצ ִּּ֛דיק and ִּאּּ֛מֹו So • A few precede (‘prepositive’) of follow (‘postpositive’) the word ָהָרִּק ַ יע עֵּ ֵ֚שֶ ב • A few have two parts, and pashta is repeated if on the penult ַהַּמִּּ֙י םּ֙ and ַוּּ֙י ֶֹּאמ רּ֙ ְר ָֹּׁ֫ש ִֵּ֥עים ַׁשְל ֶֶׁׁ֓שֶלת׀ • Functions of Accent Marks 15 Pronunciation • Pitch for chanting in the synagogue (traditions vary) • We’ll treat as stress accents • Some accents can cause vowel changes • Loss or movement of accent can cause spelling changes Helps with the parsing of certain words ’they captured‘ ׁשָבֹּ֫ ּו .they returned’ vs‘ ׁשָֹּ֫ בּו • • Discussed in detail later Function like detailed punctuation within a verse • Discussed in detail later 16 ֹֽ מֶֹּ֫תֶ ג Meteg מֶֹּ֫תֶ ג Meteg • Also called metheg ֹֽה Small vertical line under a consonant • • Never part of a two-part accent If there is a vowel under the consonant ָֹֽ ה Meteg usually to the left • ֹֽ ָ ה Rarely to the right of a vowel • The normal secondary accent • Goes on any syllable • Does not have the functions of a regular accent ָֹֽ ה .vs הָ Used on qamats but not qamats qatan • ָֹֽקְט ָֹּ֫לה Precedes vocal shva but not silent shva • .