Based on a reader's question, we're going to begin a topic that will take more than one column to complete (forget complete, even to just do it justice). This topic will probably branch off in a few directions. We're counting on reader comment to keep us honest, as the expression goes.
Let's start with the specifics of the question from AL.

R'UVEIN, eldest son of Yaakov. His name begins with a REISH voweled with a SH'VA NA. The first syllable of his name is R'U. When a LAMED is prefixed, the LAMED gets a CHIRIK and the SH'VA of the REISH changes to a NACH. The first syllable is now LIR and the word continues as U-VEIN. It might seem awkward that the LAMED breaks the REISH away from the rest of the name, but that's what happens.

As another example, it used to bother me to say (in the SIM SHALOM bracha of the AMIDA), UTZ-DAKA and UV-RACHA. The word without the conjunctive VAV is TZ'DAKA. It seemed reasonable to let the VAV (as a SHURUK) stand in its own syllable - especially because a SHURUK is a major vowel (T'NU'A G'DOLA). It turns out that the SHURUK which results from a VAV/SH'VA that needs to change because (in this case) it would precede a letter with a SH'VA, does not behave like a major vowel and does capture the first letter of the word to form a closed syllable. When this happens, the SH'VA NA becomes NACH. (Not always, as we shall see, but often. Patience, please.)

B'RACHA becomes UV and then RA-CHA.

AL was particularly "upset" by Z'VULUN. With the prefixed LAMED, it becomes LIZ-VULUN. If, in fact, the ZAYIN now has a SH'VA NACH, then by the rules of DIKDUK we learned back in elementary school or high school (or wherever), the VET should get a DAGESH KAL and we should say LIZ-BULUN. Which we don't. The answer is that the ZAYIN's SH'VA is NACH and the DAGESH does NOT go into the VET.

There are many words like this and we will have to modify and firm up the rules of DAGESH KAL to explain words like ET-CHEM (or ES-CHEM as we would say in Ashkenazis), where a CHAF follows a SH'VA NACH and does not become a KAF. Let's take this as the beginning of a topic, to be continued, IY"H next week.

[The Parshat Sh'lach Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
[www.ou.org]