Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Parshat Vayikra

Column #20. 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. 

Okay, we've been working on the situations when the DAGESH KAL in one of the letters BEGED-KEFET drops out of the first letter of a word, changing the BET to a VET, PEI to FEI, etc. On smelling fragrant spices, we say BOREI MINEI V'SAMIM. (I wonder how many people never noticed that the word is not B'SAMIM.) 

As far as CHUMASH is concerned, there are cantillation (TRUP) in addition to vowels. The TRUP often indicates whether the two words in question (the first ending in ALEF, HEI, VAV, YUD or the equivalent, and the second beginning with BEGED-KEFET) are to be considered joined - in which case the DAGESH will usually drop out, or are sufficiently separated, in which case the DAGESH will stay. UVNEI YISRAEL HA-L'CHI VAYABASHA B'TOCH HAYAM. The TRUP shows us that HA-L'CHU and BAYABASHA (walked on dry land) are joined in a two-word phrase, so the DAGESH drops from the BET and the word becomes VAYABASHA. On the other hand, there is a TRUP-indicated separation (slight) between VAYABASHA and B'TOCH (in the midst of the Sea), so the BET of B'TOCH keeps its DAGESH. 

When we are not dealing with Tanach, we don't have TRUP to guide us. Yet we are still tipped off by the slight pauses - or lack of them - in the correct reading of a phrase. The brachot for wine, fruit, and vegetables end with BOREI P'RI (not F'RI) HAGAFEN, HA-EITZ, HA-ADAMA. One might expect the PEI of P'RI to lose its DAGESH, but the word P'RI is closer joined to the word that follows it and there is a slight pause after BOREI. G-d is the creator of, BOREI, slight pause, the fruit of the vine, tree, or ground, as the case may be. (There is actually some disagreement concerning this example, but we're looking at the situation with Ashkenazi eyes. There are EIDOT that say F'RI.) 

When a word ends with an ALEF - AND - the letter before the ALEF is SH'VAed, then the DAGESH in the first letter of the next word will not drop. VAYAR BALAK, and Balak saw. The BET keeps its DAGESH. 

Sometimes, the two words are joined (at the proverbial hip - actually with a MAKAF, upper hyphen) but the second word does not lose its DAGESH. If the first word ends in HEI (or a virtual HEI) which is preceded by a PATACH, SEGOL, or KAMATZ, then the DAGESH stays. SH'MOT 10:14 in the beginning of Parshat Bo, describes the plague of locust. Take a look at the pasuk. The locust were so numerous, that never before was it like this - LO-HAYA CHEIN, the DAGESH dropped from the KAF of KEIN. Yet at the end of the pasuk, "and after this there will not be so (such a heavy presence of locust), LO YI-H'YE--KEIN. This KEIN is even closer to the word before it than the first KEIN, but the DAGESH stays, according to this rule, called DACHIK. 

When the first word ends in a HEI which follows a SEGOL or KAMATZ, and the word is pronounced MIL'EIL (on its net-to-the-last syllable, AND the word that follows it (you know, the one beginning with BEGED-KEFET) is pronounced on its first syllable, then the DAGESH stays. To the land of Canaan, ARTZA K'NA'AN, not CH'NA'AN. ARTZA ends in a HEI and the DAGESH should drop from the KAF of K'NA'AN, but the vowel before the HEI is a KAMATZ, and the word is pronounced MIL'EIL (i.e. AR-tza rather than ar-TZA) and K'NA'AN is with the accent on the K'NA - so the DAGESH stays. v'a-SI-ta PE-sach. The DAGESH stays in the PEI, even though it follows a virtual HEI. 

If the second word starts with two-the-same letters of BEGED-KEFET, and the first is SH'VA NAed, then the dot stays. In Sh'ma, B'SHIV-T'CHA B'VEITECHA... Two BETs in a row, the first SH'VAed, the DAGESH stays. She grabbed him B'VIGDO. V'VIGDO would sound awkward. BET & PEI are treated like doubles. V'IKAV'DA B'FAR'O.