Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Parshat Mishpatim

Column #15. The contents of this weekly column are based on the sefer: EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM, by R' Nissan Sharoni, Ashdod, a guide to correct pronunciation of Hebrew, specifically in davening and Torah reading. 

We received two pieces of feedback on NE-er-mu being a double nasog achor (DNA). The first was a long explanation as to why NE-er-mu only looks like a DNA, but it really isn't. The SEGOL under the AYIN came from a CHATAF-SEGOL, which in turn came from a SH'VA, which means that the AYIN-SEGOL isn't a real syllable. That means that it can't get an accent, so that when the accent on the last syllable retreats (because the following word is MA-yim), it skips over the pseudo-syllable and ends up on the first syllable. Thanks, YL for the clarification. (And YL points out that there is another word like this in Tanach - in Eicha 2;16. va-YA-char-ku—SHEIN, they (Israel's enemies) gnash their teeth...

DL wrote that he found 5 other DNAs in Tanach, "and there might be more". One is in Vzot HaBracha (D'varim 33:28), YA-ar-fu—TAL. Thank you DL for sharing your knowledge.

Last week's column ended with a "promise" to discuss another aspect of the CHATAF in an upcoming column. So here it is.

To review: CHATAF-PATACH, CHATAF-KAMATZ and CHATAF-SEGOL are the PATACH, KAMATZ, and SEGOL with an extra two dots, vertically oriented (like a SH'VA) attached to the right of the vowel. The CHATAFs generally appear under the letters ALEF, HEI, CHET, and AYIN, when the vowel "should have been" a SH'VA, but the letter needed a shortened vowel help us hear the letter better than a SH'VA would allow (something like that). In the case of ALEF (and AYIN too for us Ashkenazim), the CHATAF vowel gives sound to an otherwise silent letter. In the case of HEI and CHET, it helps with the smooth pronunciation of the word. In the SH'ma we have va-a-vad-TEM, the AYIN would not be heard at all (or for S'fardim and Teimanim, you'd just barely hear it) if the SH'VA were left under it. The CHATAF-PATACH - a short version of a PATACH - allows the AYIN to be heard. Same for the ALEF in the other va-a-vad-TEM (without the S'fardi-Ashkenazi diff). Also in SH'MA, end of second passage, ha-a-da-MA and la-a-vo-tei-CHEM, the ALEFs would be lost without the CHATAF-PATACHs. In the third passage, a-cha-rei-HEM, rather than ach-rei-HEM. With the Ashkenazi way to say a CHET, the CHATAF seems less necessary for the smooth pronunciation of the CHET, than the guttural, almost wispy way of saying CHET.

Be that as it may, we also find a CHATAF-PATACH under other letters besides the four mentioned above. When Rivka experienced difficulty in pregnancy, the phrase is VAYITROTZ(A)TZU HABANIM B'KIRBAH. The first of the two TZADIs has a CHATAF-PATACH. 

In B'reishit, the Torah tells us of the four branches of the river from Gan Eden, one of which was PISHON, which circles all of Eretz HaChavila, where the gold is. And the gold - UZ(a)HAV - of the land is good... The ZAYIN has a CHATAF-PATACH. How are these CHATAFs pronounced?

Three opinions. One is that they all are sounded as if the vowel were a SH'VA. VAYITROTZ'TZU, U-Z'HAV, etc. Second opinion is that they should be pronounced like a CHATAF-PATACH. UZAHAV. U-SADEI (Vayikra 256:34). All who hear (of Sara's giving birth at such an advanced age) will laugh at me, YITZACHAK-LI.

The third opinion distinguished between the CHATAF-PATACHs of this type (meaning, under non-guttural letters). Those that are under the first of two identical letters (VAYITROTZ'TZU or TZA-L'LU in SHIRAT HAYOM) are pronounced like a SH'VA. So too if the word is about eating or blessing. TO-CH'LENA (B'reishit 3:17), VA-A-VA-R'CHA M'VA-R'CHE-CHA (G-d to Avraham in B'reishit 12:3). The others are pronounced like a CHATAF-PATACH. Not simple.