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.

Over the many months of this column’s existence, we can say that our main expert has been R’ Nisan Sharoni, author of the book from which we have heavily drawn. Not only has his sefer EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM been the mainstay of the column, but he himself has been friendly and helpful in several phone conversations for the purpose of clarifying confusing issues.
But he is not the only one who has contributed to the column. Reader feedback has uncovered several individuals who have become the unofficial watchdogs on TBDATR. Their com- ments have been and continue to be invaluable.

A case in point. DL. This is his email (with a little bit of editing).
In last week’s TBDATR column you wrote, “B’NEI and YISRAEL should also be separated slightly, so that the YUD that ends the first word and the YUD that begins the second are each sounded.”

This is a common misconception.

The YUD of B’NEI is silent and should not be sounded, and hence there is no need to make a conscious break between the two words.

The rule is as follows: A YUD at the end of a word is a consonant (i.e. sounded) if it follows a KAMATZ, PATACH, SHURUK or CHOLAM, and silent if it follows a TZEIREI or CHIRIK.

Although you may not find this rule in any grammar book, an examination of the BGDKFT (that’s BET, GIMMEL, DALET, KAF, PEI, TAV - the six letters that can get a DAGESH KAL, the ones that either have two different sounds - with and without their DAGESH, or the ones that are supposed to have two different sounds that some of us lost) rule proves that it is so (with only three or four exceptions in Tanach).

If a word ending in a YUD has a M’SHARET and the following word begins with one of the BGDKFT letters, the latter will keep its DAGESH if the YUD is sounded (called MAPIK YUD by the medieval grammarians, analogous to MAPIK HEH). If the YUD is not sounded, the word then ends in an open syllable and the DAGESH drops from the BGDKFT of the following word.
Here are examples of each of the possible vowels:

Kamatz: ADO-NAI KOL-B’CHOR (Sh’mot 13:15)
Patach: S’FATAI TIFTACH (T’hilim 51:17)
Shuruck: KALUI BA’ESH (Vayikra 2:14)
Cholam: GOY GADOL (D’varim 4:7 and 8)
For each of these four vowels, the BGDKFT letter has a DAGESH because the YUD is sounded. (In each case, try pronouncing the word without the YUD and see that the YUD makes a difference.)

Tzeirei: V’LIFNEI VANAV (B’midbar 8:13)
Chirik: LI CHOL-B’CHOR (B’midbar 8:17 and also HAKOTI CHOL-B’CHOR in the same pasuk)

For these two vowels, the BGDKFT letter has no DAGESH because the YUD is as silent as a HEI or ALEF would be in the same situation. (Again, try pronouncing the word without the YUD and see that the YUD does not add any sound.)

QED. With best regards, DL
Thanks DL, among all other readers of TBDATR.

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