Column #79. 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.

Reminder: The fourth pasuk in this week’s haftara (Nachamu, Yeshayahu 40), begins with the words KOL-GE (as in GET without the T, and not GEI as in the English word GAY). Since many people would porpbably read the word as GEI, it would be a nice thing to go over to the one getting Maftir this Shabbat and tell him in advance what the pronunciation should be. This is far, far better than shouting out a correction in the middle of the reading of the haftara.

As long as we’re mentioning the haftara of Nachamu, let’s point out a few examples in the opening p’sukim of commonly misponounced words. First word, second pasuk: DABB’RU. The BET has a DAGESH CHAZAK in it. The letter gets an emphasis that allows the BET sound to be part of the first syllable as well as the beginning of the second syllable. DAB-B’RU. The SH’VA under the BET is a NA and is sounded. Obviously (is anything really obvious?), one does not pause between the DAB and the B’RU syllables, because there is only one BET. But it should sound like two BETs that are fused together.

In the same pasuk are two words with the same situation. MA-L’A and LA-K’CHA. The SH’VAs under the LAMED and KUF respectively are both NA. That means that the letter with the SH’VA does not finish the first syllable, but rather begins the second syllable. Not MAL-A, not LAK-CHA, but MA-L’A and LA-K’CHA.

In the third pasuk is another word like DABB’RU. YASH-SH’RU. Not that there are two SHINs, but the SHIN is emphasized because of the DAGESH in it, and doubles as the closer of the first syllable and the opener of the second syllable.

To continue on the topic of pauses of different levels, from last week...
TROP (the notes above or below words - and in one case, following - that tell us how to intone the Torah reading (or haftara or megila), how to break up a reading into sentences and phrases, and how to accent words) comes in five flavors, as far as the topic of pauses is concerned. One type of TROP is a M’SHAREIT (plural: M’SHARTIM - we’ve done some of this in past columns, but we need to review), which leads the word into the next word without a pause. The other four types all tell us to pause after the word before continuing, but the length of the pause differs according to the rank or level of the pause-TROP, known collectively as MAFSIKIM (singular: MAFSEIK). The length of a pause or the lack of a pause is vital to the correct phrasing (grouping of words) within a pasuk. The four levels of pause- TROPs are named: KEISARIM (caesers) which are the strongest pauses - SOF PASUK (end of a pasuk) and ETNACHTA (sort of like a semi- colon). The next three categories of pauses do not have a counterpart in English - sometimes a comma would be called for, and sometimes not.
M’LACHIM (kings), MISHNIM (secondaries), and SHALISHIM (tertiaries) are the names of the second, third, and fourth levels. (Don’t be confused by the names, with third sounding like second and fourth sounding like third. It’s like the ground floor with the floor above it which is really the second floor, but called the first in many buildings.)

There are many words in Tanach that don’t have their own TROP, but rather they are connected to the following word by a MAKAF, an upper-hyphen (AL P'NEI is the first example in the Torah, on the face of the void, and KOL YISRAEL is the last one).

Two words thus joined are more connected than a word with a M’SHAREIT is connected to the word that follows it.

In future columns, IY”H, we’ll take a closer look at the TROP and the instructions it carries.

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