SHEVA AND DAGESH

REVIEW
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ִמ ְל ָחמָה‬
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ִמ ְל ָחמָה‬
Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫י ְדַ ּבֵר‬
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫י ְדַ ּבֵר‬
Vocal, it is not preceded by a short vowel. It is
beginning a word and a syllable.
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ּתִ כְּת ֹב‬ .

Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ּתִ כְּת ֹב‬

Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel.
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ׁשּפָט‬
ְ ‫ִמ‬
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ׁשּפָט‬
ְ ‫ִמ‬
Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel.
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ָהֶאְֹלהִים‬
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ָהֶאְֹלהִים‬
Vocal, compound sheva are always vocal.
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ַויְב ֶָרְך‬
Silent or Vocal Sheva?

‫ַויְב ֶָרְך‬
ְ ‫ י‬is a vocal sheva because it is preceded by a short vowel.
‫ ְך‬always takes a silent sheva.
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫י ְדַ ּבֵר‬
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫י ְדַ ּבֵר‬
Dagesh forte because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter and it is preceded by a vocal
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ּדָ בָר‬
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ּדָ בָר‬
Dagesh Lene because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter and is not preceded by a vowel.
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ִהּנֵה‬
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ִהּנֵה‬
Dagesh Forte, because it is not in a BeGaD
KeFaT letter
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ׁשּבֵר‬
ִ
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ׁשּבֵר‬
ִ
Dagesh Forte, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter and is preceded by a vowel
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫י ְַרּדֵ ן‬
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫י ְַרּדֵ ן‬
Dagesh Lene, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter and is preceded by consonant and a silent
sheva
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫י ְַרּדֵ ן‬
Dagesh Lene, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter and is preceded by consonant and a silent
sheva
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ַהּמִדְ ּבָר‬
Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte?

‫ַהּמִדְ ּבָר‬
‫ ִמ‬is a dagesh forte because it is not in a BeGaD KeFaT
letter.
‫ ָּב‬is a dagesh lene because it is in a BeGaD KeFat and is
preceded by a consonant (silent sheva)
ACCENTS AND
SYLLABLES
Accents
• The same scholars who supplied Hebrew texts with vowel
pointings also devised a system of accent signs and added
these to the vocalized text.
• Every word in the Hebrew Bible, unless joined to the following
word by a maqqef, carries a primary accent mark on its tone
syllable.
• Some longer words may receive a secondary accent in
addition to the primary accent.
• In BHS there are 27 prose accents and 21 poetic accents, the
latter occurring mainly in the books of Psalms, Job, and
Proverbs
• These accents are about equally divided between those that
are written above the word and those that are written below it.
The Purpose of Accents
• They mark the tone syllable (accented
syllable) in a word
• Hebrew accents regulate the chanting
of biblical texts in the synagogues
• Hebrew accents serve as marks of
punctuation, showing how sentence
structure was perceived at the time the
accents were placed in the text.
They mark the tone syllable (accented syllable) in a
word
• The tone syllable/ accented syllable will normally be the
last syllable in a word, but it also may be the next to last.
• Kelley does not print the Hebrew accent signs, but if there
are words accented on any syllable other than the final
syllable they are marked with the munah accent.

‫ּדָ לֶת אָלֶף‬

They mark the tone syllable (accented syllable) in a
word
• If the word appears without a munah, it
can be assumed that it is accented on the
final syllable.
• Hebrew words are normally accented on
the last syllable

‫יִׁש ְָראֵלמֹׁשֶה ּדָ וִד אַּתָ ה‬

Hebrew accents regulate the chanting of biblical texts
in the synagogues
• Remember that
synagogue
scrolls are left
unpointed and
the vowels and
accents are
cited from
memory
Hebrew accents serve as marks of punctuation, showing how
sentence structure was perceived at the time the accents were
placed in the text
• As marks of punctuation, the accents
are either:
• Disjunctive (separating)
• Conjunctive (joining)
• They help us to identify the component
parts of a Hebrew sentence, and are
thus a vital aid to exegesis.
Disjunctive Accents
• There are two major disjunctive accents within each
Hebrew verse or sentence
• They indicate where the two halves of the verse end
• The accent that marks the end of the first half of the verse is known
as the atnah

^
• It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in the first
half of the verse, as in
Disjunctive Accents
• It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in
the first half of the verse.

1 ‫ַָּׁשמי ִם וְאֵ ֥ ת הָאָ ֶֽרץ׃‬

֖ ַ ‫אֱֹלהים אֵ ֥ ת ה‬
֑ ִ ‫ָּברא‬
֣ ָ ‫ְּבראִׁש ֖ ית‬
ֵ
Disjunctive Accents
• The second major disjunctive accent is known as the silluq

• It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in the last
half of the verse, the word that immediately precedes sof passuq
(“end of sentence”)
Disjunctive Accents
1 ‫ַָּׁשמי ִם וְאֵ ֥ ת הָאָ ֶֽרץ׃‬
֖ ַ ‫אֱֹלהים אֵ ֥ ת ה‬
֑ ִ ‫ָּברא‬
֣ ָ ‫ְּבראִׁש ֖ ית‬
ֵ
2
‫ַל־ְּפני תְ ֑הֹום‬
 
֣ ֵ ‫ְו ָה ָ֗א ֶרץ ָהי ָ ְ֥תה תֹ֙ה ּ֙ו ו ָ֔ב ֹהּו ו ְ֖ח ֶֹׁש ְך ע‬
‫ו ְ֣רּו ַח אֱֹל ִ֔הים מ ְַר ֶ ֖חפֶת עַל־ְּפנֵ ֥י הַָּמ ֽי ִם׃‬
• Note that the two major divisions of a verse are
determined not by length but by sense.
• Thus the two “halves” of a verse may vary greatly in
length.
‫‪Disjunctive Accents‬‬

‫ַוַּי ֣עַׂש אֱֹלהִים֮ אֶת־ה ָָרקִי ַ֒ע‬ ‫‪ 7‬‬

‫וַַּיבְֵּד֗ ל ֵּב ֤ ין ַהַּמ֙ י ִם֙ אֲֶׁש ֙ר‬

‫ּובין הַַּמ֔ י ִם‬
‫ִמַּת ֣ חַת ל ָָר ִ֔קי ַע ֵ ֣‬
‫ֲאֶׁש ֖ ר מ ַ ֵ֣על ל ָָר ִ ֑קי ַע וַ ֽיְהִי־כֵ ֽן׃‬
In Pause
• A word marked by either atnah or silluq (as
well as certain other strong disjunctive
accents) are said to be “in pause”
• This means that there is a break in recitation at
this point.
• Compare this to the pause that follows commas,
semi-colons, and periods in modern languages.
• A word in pause must have a long vowel in its
accented or tone syllable
• If the vowel of the tone syllable is regularly short, it
must be lengthened when placed in pause
In Pause Examples
• Regular Form • Pausal Form
• ‫( אְַנִי‬I) • ‫אָ^נִי‬ (Jer. 17:18)
• ‫( א ֶֶרץ‬earth) • ‫ָארץ‬
ֶ (Exod. 15:12)
• ‫( אַּתָ ה‬you) • ‫( אָּתָ ה‬Isa. 44:17)
• ‫( ַּבי ִת‬house) • ‫( ָּב^י ִת‬1 Chr. 17:12)
• ‫( ֶהבֶל‬Abel) • ‫( ָה^בֶל‬Gen. 4:2)
• ‫( י ַדְ עּו‬they know) • ‫( י ָדָ עּו‬Jer. 4:22)
Meteg
• Meteg is a secondary accent that sometimes appears in
addition to the primary accent in a word.
• It is made exactly like the silluq, but the two are easily
distinguishable, since silluq appears only on the
tone/accented syllable of the last word in a verse.
Meteg
• The meteg serves several purposes, of
which the following are the most important
• It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that
stand two or more syllables before the tone
syllable of a word, in order to insure that these
long vowels are given proper stress in
pronunciation.
 ‫ְלמִינֵ ֶהם‬
(“to their kinds”-Gen. 1:20)

‫הָר ֹ ֶמׂשֶת‬
(“that moves”-Gen. 1:21)
Meteg
• The meteg serves several purposes, of
which the following are the most important
• It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that
stand two or more syllables before the tone
syllable of a word, in order to insure that these
long vowels are given proper stress in
pronunciation.
• It is often used with short vowels that stand
immediately before compound shevas.
 ‫נַעְַׂשֶה‬
(“Let us make”-Gen. 1:26)

‫ּתַ עְַב ֹד‬

(“You shall labor”-Exod. 20:9)
Meteg
• The meteg serves several purposes, of which the
following are the most important
• It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two
or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in
order to insure that these long vowels are given proper
stress in pronunciation.
• It is often used with short vowels that stand immediately
before compound shevas.
• It may also be used with either long or short vowels that
stand immediately before simple (vocal) shevas.
 ‫ְו ַחי ְתֹו‬
(“and beasts of”-Gen. 1:24)

‫יָלְדָ ה‬
(“she bore”-Gen. 4:22)
Meteg
• The meteg serves several purposes, of which the
following are the most important
• It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two
or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in
order to insure that these long vowels are given proper
stress in pronunciation.
• It is often used with short vowels that stand immediately
before compound shevas.
• It may also be used with either long or short vowels that
stand immediately before simple (vocal) shevas.
• It may also be used with unchangeably long vowels that
stand before a maqqef.
‫ְּפנֵי־ ָהאְַדָ מָה‬
(“face of the earth”-Gen. 2:6)

‫ּבֵית־אֵל‬
(“Bethel”-Gen. 12:8)
Weak Letters
• ‫ א‬and ‫ ה‬function as regular consonants at the beginning of
syllables.
• At the end of syllables they sometimes become quiescent
(silent), losing their consonantal values and remaining only as
vowel letters (matres lectionis).
• When this occurs, neither ‫א‬or ‫ ה‬is able to close the syllable.
• ‫ א‬is always quiescent at the end of a syllable, whether in the
middle of a word or at the end of a word.
• ‫ ה‬is quiescent only when it stands as the consonant that ends a
word.
 ‫ּב ְֵראׁשִית‬
(“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1)

‫ָהי ְתָ ה‬
(“was”-Gen. 1:2)
Mappiq
• A mappiq is a dot that can be inserted in a
final )‫ ה (ּה‬to signal to the reader that it is a
consonant, and not simply a vowel letter.
• Final ‫ ה‬with a mappiq (‫ )ּה‬is considered to
be a strong guttural, in the same class with
‫ח‬and ‫ע‬.
• It therefore closes the syllable in which it
stands.
 ‫ַוּיִגְּבַּה‬
(“he was taller”-1 Sam. 10:23)

‫ְלמִינָּה‬
(“according to their kinds”-Gen. 1:25)
Syllables
• Every consonant in a Hebrew word, with the
exception of final consonants and of ‫א‬when it
stands at the end of a syllable or is otherwise
quiescent, must be followed by a vowel sound
or by a by a silent sheva.
• A consonant + A Vocalization Mark
• CvCvCv
• The vowel sound may be either a full vowel or
a half-vowel. The half-vowel may be either
simple (a sheva) or compound.
 ‫ּב ְֵראׁשִית‬
(“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1)
• ‫ א‬is quiescent at the end of the syllable and there
has no vowel or silent sheva following it.
• ‫ ת‬is final and likewise has no vowel or silent sheva.
• The three remaining consonants all have vowel
sounds following them
 ‫ְ אֶֹלהִים‬
(“God”-Gen. 1:1)
• The first three consonants have vowel sounds
following them.
• Final ‫ם‬stands alone, without a vowel or silent
sheva.
 Note: the dagesh in the
yod here is not a dagesh

‫ַוּיַבְּדֵ ל‬
forte! It belongs with the
vav that precedes it. This
is a peculiarity with this
type of verb which we will
discuss later.
(“and separated”-Gen. 1:4)
• This contains 5 consonants, three vowels, and a silent
sheva (syllable divider).
• The sheva under the ‫ ב‬has to be silent because it is
followed by a BeGaD KeFaT letter with a dagesh lene
(‫)ּד‬.
• So each of the letters except the final letter is supported
by either a vowel or a syllable divider.
Syllables
• All syllables in a Hebrew word must begin with a
consonant, which may be any consonant in the
alphabet.
• The one seeming except to this rule occurs when a
word begins with the vowel ‫ּו‬, as in ‫“(ּובֵין‬and from”-
Gen. 1:4).
• Some grammarians argue that even this is not a true
exception, but that the ‫ ו‬in an initial ‫ ּו‬may be regarded
as functioning in a dual capacity, both as a consonant
and as a vowel, i.e., both as a vav and as a shureq.
Syllables
• A Hebrew syllable must include one (and only one) full
vowel.
• However, in addition to a full vowel, it may also contain a
half-vowel (simple or compound sheva), in which case the
half-vowel will stand beneath the consonant that begins
the syllable.
• The number of syllables in a word is determined by the
number of full vowels in that word, irrespective of the
number of half-vowels that may be present.
 ‫ּב ְֵראׁשִית‬
(“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1)
• This word has two full vowels, and thus two
syllables.
• It also has a vocal sheva (a vocalization marker),
which stands underneath the consonant that begins
the first syllable.
 ‫ְ אֶֹלהִים‬
(“God”-Gen. 1:1)
• This word has two full vowels and therefore two
syllables.
• The half-vowel under ‫ א‬does not constitute a
separate syllable but attaches itself to the first
syllable of the word.
Open and Closed Syllables
• Hebrew syllables are classified as either open or
closed.
• Cv
• CvC
• An open syllable ends in:
• A vowel
• The vowel in an open syllable will normally be long.
• However, it may be short if it is accented or if it is followed by a
consonant that is supported by a vocal sheva.
• A Quiescent Letter
• ‫יוהא‬
• These letters occasionally lose their normal consonantal character and
coalesce with the preceding vowel
• They will not have their own vocalization
Open and Closed Syllables
• A closed syllable is one that ends in a
consonant.
• Whenever a dagesh forte occurs in a letter,
that letter is doubled, and the preceding
syllable is always closed.
• The vowel in a closed syllable will normally
be short, but it may be long if it is accented.
 C O

‫ּב ְֵראׁשִית‬
(“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1)
• The first syllable is open, because it ends in ‫א‬, and
‫א‬never closes a syllable.
• The second syllable ends in ‫ ת‬and is closed.
• A final consonant that closes a syllable does not
require a syllable divider (silent sheva), except in
the case of the final kaf (‫)ְך‬
 C

‫ּׁש ַמי ִם‬

ָ ‫ַה‬
(“the heavens”)
• There are four vowels in this word, which indicates that
there are four syllables.
• ‫ ּׁש‬is written with a dagesh forte, which indicates that it is
doubled.
• The first syllable is therefore ‫הַׁש‬. It ends in a consonant,
thus making it a closed syllable. The vowel is short, since it
stands in an unaccented closed syllable.
 OC
‫ּׁש ַמי ִם‬
ָ ‫ַה‬
(“the heavens”)
• The second syllable is ָ‫ׁש‬.
• It ends in a vowel, and is therefore an open syllable.
• The vowel is long, which is what one would expect in an
unaccented open syllable.
• In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-hatuf
(short o)
 OOC
‫ּׁש ַמי ִם‬
ָ ‫ַה‬
(“the heavens”)
• The third syllable is ‫ַמ‬
• This is an open syllable with a short vowel.
• The short vowel is not what one would expect in an open
syllable but it is explained by the fact that the syllable is
accented.
 C OOC
‫ּׁש ַמי ִם‬
ָ ‫ַה‬
(“the heavens”)
• The final syllable is ‫ י ִם‬, a closed, unaccented syllable with a
short vowel.
• Don’t confuse ִ ‫ י‬with ‫ִי‬
• In the first one, yod is a regular consonant followed by a hireq.
• In the second, yod follows hireq and combines with it to form an
unchangeable long vowel, hireq-yod.
 O

‫יָלְדָ ה‬
• Two full vowels indicate two syllables
• The sheva under ‫ ל‬is a vocal sheva, as determined by the meteg on the
vowel before it and also by the absence of a dagesh lene in the ‫ ד‬that
follows it.
• The first syllable is ָ ‫ י‬, an open syllable with a long vowel, which
requires a meteg since it is followed by a vocal sheva.
• In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-hatuf (short o)
 O O

‫יָלְדָ ה‬
• The second syllable is ‫לְדָ ה‬, which includes a vocal sheva
under ‫ ל‬and a full vowel under ‫ד‬.
• It is an open syllable, since ‫ ה‬never closes the syllable at the
end of a word, unless it carries a mappiq (‫)ּה‬
• The second syllable is the tone syllable and has a long vowel.
• In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-
hatuf (short o)
 O O
‫נַעְַׂשֶה‬
• Two full vowels again indicate two syllables.
• Since compound shevas are always vocal, the division into syllables
must come between ‫ נ‬and ְַ‫ע‬.
• The first syllable is ַ‫נ‬, and open syllable with a short vowel which
requires a meteg since it precedes a vocal sheva. Although a short
vowel does not ordinarily occur in an open syllable, it may do so if it is
followed by a consonant with a vocal sheva.
• The second syllable is ‫עְַׂשֶה‬. It too is open, since final ‫ ה‬without a
mappiq never closes a syllable. The vowel is short, but this is permitted
in an open syllable that serves as the tone syllable of the word.
Hebrew Syllables in Relation to the Tone Syllable
• Near Open
• An open syllable (ending with vocalization)
• A near open syllable is:
• An open syllable immediately to the right or to the left of the tone syllable
• There can be no more that now near open syllables in any Hebrew word

‫נִ ְקּבְצּו‬ >

‫ָמצָאתִ י‬
Hebrew Syllables in Relation to the Tone Syllable
• Distant Open
• An open syllable (ending with vocalization)
• A distant open syllable is:
• Any open syllable that is neither to the immediate right nor to the immediate left of the tone syllable,
i.e. any open syllable that is at least one syllable removed from the tone syllable in either direction
• There may be many distant open syllables in any Hebrew word

‫אֹוצְר ֹתָ ם‬
‫ׁשּפְח ֹתָ מ‬
ְ ‫ְל ִמ‬
Unaccented Closed Syllables
• A closed syllable, i.e., CvC ( a syllable ending with a
consonant)
• Unaccented, i.e. any closed syllable that does not bear the
primary accent for the word

‫ׁש ְלחָן‬
ֻ
‫ָח ְכמָה‬