Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Column #52. 

Contents of this weekly column are (mostly) 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.

The column two weeks ago was dealing (at the end) with SH’VA NA. We mentioned then the two situations that are “easy”: The SH’VA at the beginning of a word and the SH’VA following another SH’VA. One practically doesn’t need a reminder in the Siddur to get those SH’VAs right.
The tougher SH’VA NA is the one that many people pronounce as a SH’VA NACH. Remember that a SH’VA NA is a very short vowel sound and a NACH is no sound at all, except for the consonant it is under.

There are (at least) two kinds of “tough” SH’VA NAs. (Please remember that the term “tough SH’VA NA” is completely made up.)

Refer to the Amida, the MISHPAT bracha. ha-SHI-va sho-F’TEI-nu k’va-ri-sho-NA. Restore our judges as they were originally... It is very common for people to say pronounce “our judges” as SHOF and then TEINU. The SH’VA under the FEI is a NA. It begins the following syllable F’TEI, and does NOT close the first syllable SHO. The SHIN is voweled by a CHOLAM MALEI and that usually makes it its own syllable. 

Similarly, two brachot later (AL HATZADIKIM), we find so-f’rei-HEM - again, the “temptation” to break it up as SOF and REI-HEM. Since this is a review, let us say again that most of these errors in pronunciation are not that serious, in that they do not change the meaning of the word in question. SOF-REI-HEM and SO-F’REI-HEM mean the same thing. It’s “just” that the first pronunciation is wrong and the second one is correct. It behooves us to pronounce words correctly when we are talking to G-d (and even to each other). Further in the same bracha, ha-bo-T’CHIM. Easy to say BOT and CHIM. “Tough” to remember to “sound” the SH’VA under the TET and to prefix it to the following syllable, rather than NACHing the SH’VA and attaching it to the previous syllable.

There are many of this kind of SH’VA NAs to pay attention to. A “good” Siddur marks its SH’VA NAs and keeps us honest — IF we look into the Siddur when we daven. And that’s a big IF, sometimes.

There’s another “tough” SH’VA NA, related to the one just discussed, and maybe a little harder to handle.

Stay with Birkat HaTzadikim. Your nation. A word that recurs very often in the Amida. AYIN with a PATACH, MEM with a DAGESH in it and a SH’VA under it, and a CHAF-SOFIT with a KAMATZ. The SH’VA under the MEM is a NA. But the DAGESH (dot) in the MEM sort of assigns double-duty to the MEM. The first syllable of the word is AM, the second syllable is M’CHA. The DAGESH in the MEM “creates” an imaginary first MEM with a SH’VA NACH, in addition to the MEM with a SH’VA NA. The “two” are not to be separated and pronounced distinctly; they are blended by stretching the sound of the MEM. A[(M)-M’]CHA. (It’s hard to write in English.) The point is, we are dealing with a SH’VA NA, so the word is not just AM-CHA. However, it isn’t A-M’CHA either. The AYIN with a PATACH, a minor vowel, does not usually make a whole syllable. Here it is joined by the beginning of the emphasized, drawn-out MEM to complete the first syllable.

Go back to the MISHPAT bracha. V’TZA(D)D’KEI- NU (accent on the D’KEI syllable). Very easy to say V’TZAD and then KEINU. But that NACHs the SH’VA under the DALET. Because there is a DAGESH CHAZAK in the DALET, its SH’VA is NA and is sounded, as well as prefixed to the following syllable. But because of the DAGESH, the DALET is stretched back to complete the opening V’TZA syllable. Same for the word earlier in the same bracha - K’VA(T)-T’CHILA. It cannot be K’VAT-CHILA. The SH’VA is NA, etc. And again, same bracha, L’VA(D)-D’CHA. Long explanations, repetition, but hopefully helpful. 

Occasionally we consult the Academiya L’Lashon HaIvrit for the Better Davening column. As a fringe benefit of those consultations, we pick up some Hebrew words for things that people call by their English or brand names and don’t even know there’s a Hebrew word for it. E.g. French fries or chips are TUGANIM. <mtc>