Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Parshat T'rumah

Column #16. 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. 

Let's put many of the pieces we've had about syllables together, add a few points, and make a complete review of the topic of syllables.

HAVARA - syllable. They come in two forms: S'GURA (closed) and P'TUCHA (open). Basically, an open syllable is made up of a consonantal letter and a vowel (T'NU'A). A closed syllable is made up of a letter with a vowel which is followed by either another letter that has a SH'VA NA (no vowel sound) under it, or by a letter with a DAGESH. 

The word SHABBAT is made of two syllables, both of which are S'GUROT (closed). The first, SHAB is made of a SHIN with a PATACH and the BET with a DAGESH. The DAGESH doubles the BET, giving the SHA a BET without a vowel sound to finish off the syllable. SHAB. The second syllable is BAT, consisting of the BET with a KAMATZ GADOL and the TAV at the end of the word, without a SH'VA under it, but it behaves as if it had a SH'VA NACH, meaning that it has no vowel sound of its own.

Simpler yet is the one syllable word GAN (garden), which is a closed syllable - GIMMEL with a PATACH, GA, closed off to GAN by the NUN.

The word MA (MEM-HEI) is also a one-syllable word, that syllable being open. MEM with a PATACH and a silent HEI which does not close the syllable.

SHANA, year, is a two syllable word, both of which are P'TUCHOT, open. SHIN with a KAMATZ, SHA and NUN with a KAMATZ (and the silent HEI), NA.

So far, so good. It gets a little stickier from here.

Whereas a letter with a SH'VA NACH (no vowel sound) is attached to the previous letter with vowel to close of that syllable, a letter with a SH'VA NA (a short vowel sound) does not constitute its own syllable but is rather attached to the following syllable. This week's sedra is T'RUMA. One might think it has three syllables, but it only has two. The TAV with the SH'VA NA does not stand on its own, but is attached to the REISH-SHURUK, making the first syllable T'RU, an open syllable. The second syllable is also open, MA, the MEM-KAMATZ-silent HEI. So the statement that an open syllable is made of a letter and vowel has just been modified, A letter with a SH'VA NA will attach itself to the syllable. 

In the SH'MA, uk-shar-TAM L'OT, And you shall bind it as a sign... the LAMED-SH'VA of L'OT is part of the closed syllable ALEF-CHOLOM-TAV. The first word of the phrase, by the way, has three closed syllables.

SH'MA is a one-syllable word. The SHIN with the SH'VA NA is attached to the MEM-PATACH-AYIN. Is it an open syllable or a closed one? Ashkenazim pronounce the word as if the AYIN is silent, so the syllable is open (incorrectly so). S'fardim (and others who give the AYIN a guttural sound) would say the word as the closed syllable it is.

A letter with a CHATAF also does not make its own syllable, but is attached to the following syllable. EMET, truth, is actually a one-syllable word. The ALEF is voweled with a CHATAF-SEGOL which is supposed to be sounded shorter than a full SEGOL. eMET, not e-MET, and certainly not E-met. (As opposed to YE-led, BE-ged, ZE-rem, KE-sher, SHE-leg, etc. all of which are two syllables - the first is open and the second is closed.

Many people say the word e-CHAD at the end of the first pasuk of SH'MA, with a prolonged CHET-KAMATZ. The result of this is to break up the CHAD syllable into two disjointed parts: CHAAAA and D. When the Gemara says to stretch ECHAD it was referring to the DALET at the end of the word. We've previously pointed out that if one pronounces that DALET like a D, then it cannot really be stretched. TH (as in the) can be stretched.