A Simplified Introduction

Transcription

1 TAAMEY HAMIKRA A Simplified Introduction Alan Smith Elibooks

2 A. Smith, 2009 (5769) All rights reserved 2

3 THE BASICS OF TA AMEY HAMIKRA (of the 21 books) in a few short easy lessons PREFACE The te amim help with singing the tune, but also provide a punctuation system. It is assumed that the reader is used to seeing the te amim as printed and hearing them sung, has possibly learnt to sing them for his Bar Mitsvah (and since forgotten), but is totally ignorant of their meaning in punctuating the verse. We are concerned here, not with the tune but with the punctuation, which enables us to understand the text and often removes ambiguity. This is not quite the same as the punctuation system we are used to, but very similar, and the beginner can ignore the differences. There are three systems of te amim two Tiberian and one Babylonian. We are concerned only with the Tiberian, the ones printed in our books. (The others are found only in manuscripts.) There are two systems of Tiberian one is used only in the books of Psalms, Job and Proverbs, is very complicated and confusing, and is NOT dealt with here. There are 24 books in the Tenach, and we are concerned with the system used in the other 21 of them known as the 21-book system. With a minimum of detail this booklet aims to help ther reader to grasp the basics in five easy lessons. Please note: This is not a book to read through. If you read through it you will get hopelessly muddled and may never be able to sort it all out. It contains five lessons, and each lesson in turn must be thoroughly mastered you may have to go through it a few times before proceeding to the next one. You have been warned! 3

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5 LESSON 1 Introduction The text is divided into verses and (mostly) half-verses, which are then divided into sections, sub-sections, and so on. For the moment we will use the term segment to mean a verse, half-verse, section, sub-section etc., as appropriate. Each segment in this sense ends with a ta am that indicates a pause, the end of that segment. The ta am rules over the whole of the segment since the last ta am of equal or higher status (this will become clear soon), which is from now on called the sphere of that ta am. We will no longer use the term segment in this sense. The primaries The text is divided into verses which end with a ta am called silluk or sofpasuk, represented by a vertical line where the accent or stress occurs in the word thus ¼Ü¼X½¼^ HÖ. (This should not be confused with a similar vertical line which means something quite different and is extremely complicated, but can generally be ignored, but which never occurs where the accent is.) The verse is usually divided into two half-verses, and if so, the first one ends with a ta am called etnachta ¼ÅXLf DÌKÕ Dß JÅ. (Beware: in Psalms etc., the etnachta means something else.) IMPORTANT NOTE. As far as the te amim are concerned, the basic unit is NOT the verse, but the half verse. Silluk and etnachta may be regarded as equal, and each rules over a half-verse. If there is an etnachta, its sphere is from the beginning of the verse to itself, and the sphere of the silluk is from after the etnachta to the silluk. (If there is no etnachta, the whole verse is treated as a halfverse, the sphere of the silluk.) With three very minor exceptions which you can meanwhile ignore, there is no difference between the first half-verse and the second half-verse. The silluk and the etnachta are the two (and only) primary te amim. There can never be more than one of each in a verse. The secondaries The basic unit, the half-verse, is divided into sections in theory by a zakef, though in practice this is sometimes substituted by something else, which we will consider next time. That is to say, in a simple case where there are only two sections, the zakef appears at the end of the first section, and all leading up to it is the sphere of the zakef. The second section will of course end with the primary. 5

6 LESSON 2 The secondaries As we mentioned last time, the secondary is the zakef, but we will, in a moment, modify this. Singing, or understanding? We are learning to understand the te amim, not to sing them, so that we are able to simplify things quite a lot. Each ta am represents not merely a status in punctuation, but also a tune in singing, which depends on the punctuation, but also on other things. We are not concerned with these other things at all. So we may find (and in a moment will have an example) two, or three or more different te amim which are for our purposes all the same thing. They differ in tune, because of things that do not interest us, and so they have different symbols and different names. We need to learn to recognise them, and to know to which grade each belongs, but not to distinguish between those in the same grade. The grades are the primary or first grade (which we have met), the secondary or second grade (which we meet here), the third grade, the fourth grade, and everything else (which as beginners we ignore). Back to the secondaries. Dividing and sub-dividing. The zakef can be big ¼Ñ¼Df¼ÈLU?¼ØIÜLË or small ¼ÔeLÍLÜ?¼ØIÜLË, both are the same, there is no difference. At first it divides the half-verse into two. The first section, the sphere of this zakef, cannot be sub-divided by a secondary, only by a tertiary (a later lesson). But the second section, after the zakef, can be divided again by another zakef! This second zakef therefore indicates a weaker pause than the first one. Its sphere is from the first zakef to itself. (Please try to grasp this before proceeding.) The same can be done again. The sphere of the second zakef cannot be subdivided by a secondary, but the rest of the half-verse (after this second zakef) can be divided by a third zakef, which therefore indicates a weaker pause than the previous one. Its sphere starts after the second one. And so you can have a whole string of zakefs, following one another (with perhaps other words in between), each in turn being weaker than the one before. (This is a bit hard to digest, but please persevere.) Now the last zakef in a half-verse is replaced by a tippeha ¼ÅYLÌDbHÍ, which may be regarded as a zakef. There is always one, and only one, in every half-verse, unless the half-vese consists of just one word. Note that the tippeha is a relatively weak pause it is the weakest secondary in any half-verse. But a tippeha in one half-verse may mark a far stronger division than a zakef somewhere else. 6

7 In the following example we find a sequence of secondaries that become progressively weaker. (&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&) ' (&&&&&&&&&&&&&&+ ' (&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& ' ' (&&&&&&&&&&&&& ' ' ' (&&& ' ' ' '<XI$DxK(0-H²'0YK6I2'3J%eJ$L(0>J$0 0D0L&D)'1-eH<L'F6L(00L 0 8D5L$I-0<J F$0'K6'c0K/ 40$N00 <D2$N K)' Just one more thing about the secondary, and we have all we need. In some cases (and there is no rule for when this occurs), the first zakef in a half-verse is replaced by a different ta am called segol c¼ñ¼d¼ç JÖ or by (both of these are the same). Each of these may be regarded as a form of zakef, only that it is always the first zakef in the half-verse. This means that it marks the strongest division, not because it is inherently strong, but because it is always the first secondary in the half-verse. So we see that the secondary can take five forms zakef katan, zakef gadol, tippeha, segol or shalshelet. The tippeha is always the last secondary, and vice-versa (the last secondary in the half-vese is always a tippeha); the segol or shalshelet is always the first secondary in the half-verse, but NOT vice-versa (the first secondary need not be one of them, but can still be a zakef). Exercise Before going on to the next lesson, try reading a few bits of chumash, noting the primaries and secondaries and ignoring everything else that is to say take in all the words, but ignore all the other te amim. Note how the verse is broken up into large groups of words, the main divisions. Note especially the sequence of secondaries and how they in turn weaken. This lesson is the hardest one. The rest are easier. 7

8 LESSON 3 Recapitulation The sphere of a ta am is from immediately after the last ta am of equal or higher grade down to and including the taam referred to. The primaries (silluk & etnachta) divide the text into independent units of half-verses. A secondary divides the sphere of a primary into sections which are not independent. All secondaries (big or small zakef, tippeha, segol, shalshelet) are equal, but a sequence of secondaries in the sphere of one primary steadily decrease in power, becoming weaker. The tippeha being the last one is always the weakest, but this is relative in one half verse, and may be stronger than a zakef in another half-verse elsewhere! How the tertiary (third grade) works. This is extremely simple. The tertiary splits up the sphere of the secondary into sub-sections in exactly the same way as the secondary splits up the sphere of the primary. In the same way, successive tertiaries in the sphere of a secondary become progressively weaker. What is confusing is the names, and the way they work. There are five tertiaries, but all you need to remember is that for grammar, all are the same. There are complicated rules for which one is used where, but you need not bother about that. The main tertiary is the revia K ¼Î ghæuý with a single dot on top. (Sometimes called revi i.) It is however often substituted by a zarka h¼å LÜUÝKË, or a tevir ¼Ý¼Î]HÆDf, or a pashta i¼ålídikb, and for a different reason the pashta is sometimes replaced by a yetiv ¼Æ¼Î Hß\DÎ. Placing of the ta amim. Some te amim are placed at the end of the word, some at the beginning, most over the letter that carries the accent, but you need not worry about that, with two exceptions pashta and yetiv. Each of these unfortunately has the same form as another taam that you need not worry about, and the only difference is the position where they are placed, so this is vitally important. 1) The pashta is always placed over the end of the last letter of the word. If the accent is not on the last syllable, you may find another one earlier on in the word ignore it. If we take the word ¼ÝLÆLV for example, i¼ýlælv has a pashta. ¼ÝjLÆLV does not have a pashta, and nor does j¼ý¼lælv. Contrast the first word in each of the following ¼F¼ÎeJÕLÙDÑi¼F¼ÎjJÆDÎÃÅ ¼ß[IßLÑDÊi¼FDѼÎHcKÉDÑ and ¼I¼De¼ÈLÜ ¼Ò^K DÑi¼D¼Ñ*[¼Éj¼FDÓ¼ÎHÜDÎ 8

9 2) The yetiv is the exact opposite!!! It is always placed under the beginning of the first letter of the word, under the very very beginning, before the vowel, perhaps even a tiny bit before the letter. If the same sign comes under the middle of the letter, or after the vowel, it is something else, ignore it! ¼ß\IÅ has a yetiv. ¼ß[IÅ does not have a yetiv. There are no more like this, don t worry. Thus i¼ôãì¼îhö ¼ß\IÅ we have a yetiv and a pashta, but i¼élålñdfké?¼ñl] ¼ß[IÅ we have only a pashta (and something else that you can ignore, which is NOT a yetiv). Sequences In a sequence of tertiaries in the sphere of a secondary, the different types of tertiary may get mixed up, but that makes no difference. You may find a sequence iåíþù ÎgÆÝiÅÍÞÙ ÎgÆÝ, in which case the first revia is the strongest pause, the first pashta weaker, the second revia weaker than the first pashta, and the second pashta weakest of the lot. (See Gen. 17:19). [For technical reasons a revia usually comes first, but not necessarily, and people are misled into believing that it is a stronger pause inherently it is not, only by virtue of its position, which is not always the case (as just explained and illustrated).] (&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&) ' (&&&+ ' (&&&&&&+000' ' (&&&&&& '000' ' (&&& '000000'000' ' '000'000000'000000'000' '%el$}20 J0J2'i;L0Lx'9gK6L-0(K2'i$L4?<L/D*'-gH K6' 9

10 LESSON 4 We have nearly finished. The fourth grade These divide the sub-section (spheres of the tertiary) into sub-sub-sections, in much the same way, but they do not necessarily get weaker in sequence. Again there are different te amim, with confusing variants, but all are the same overall, that is to say no one is inherently stronger than another. But we may find in a particular verse that one is stronger than another, and in a different verse it is the other way around. The rules are too complicated to worry about, and you can generally see for yourself how it goes in practice. Here are the te amim of the fourth order or degree or grade. Ordinary pazer ¼ÝnIËLb [A very few times only once in the Torah this is replaced by the great pazer, pazer gadol, also known as karney farah ¼ÉqLÝ LÙ?¼ÎIÕUÝ KÜ, and nobody knows why.] Telisha gedolah ¼ÉLѼD¼ÈpDU? ¼Å LI¼Î HÑ Df (placed at the beginning of the word, or of the second word if two words are hyphened) Geresh (also sometimes called azla) ¼IkIÝIU, or its variant gershayim ¼ÒHÎ mkiuýiu. Legarmeh (full name munach the vertical line is important whose form we will explain in the next (final) lesson. We only mention it here because it has the same value as the others, but the form is a bit complicated and confusing. For the moment, do not worry about it, till we explain it next time. We have now covered all the mafsikim or pauses. 10

11 LESSON 5 (Final lesson) We have covered all the mafsikim or pauses. The mesharetim or servants. You can ignore all these, but we will list them out of interest. Incidentally if you find two te amim on a word, you can always ignore the first one. (Remember, we are talking about grammar, not singing.) All of these have the same value. Telisha ketanah o¼él`kídü?¼ålþ¼îhñdf (only occurs before a kadma). Kadma ¼Å jlóuè KÜ do not confuse with pashta. Merecha Munach ¼Å_LÐUÝ IÓ with its very rare variant double merecha ¼É`LѼX ¼Ù DÐ? ¼ÅLÐUÝ IÓ ¼Ì^KÕ ¼X ¼Ó with its variants: ¼E[Kb DÉ KÓ (do not confuse with yetiv), ¼ÅaLU UÝKV, ¼ÌKÝbJÎ. Still less is a word with no ta am at all, and this is joined to the next word with a hyphen?øüó. The vertical line. The vertical line placed after a word is a bit confusing, and often misunderstood. It can be one of three things: 1. It is always placed after shalshelet and is part of the ta am. ¼@¼ßJÑdJIDÑKI. 2. If placed after a munach it often means that it is not a munach (a servant ) but a (munach) legarmeh,¼wióuýkçdñ ¼ÌKÕ¼X¼Ó a fourth-order mafsik that we mentioned in the last lesson. 3. Otherwise it is a ¼Ü IÖLb which is frequently misunderstood. (This is explained below.) How do you know if a line after a munach is a pasek, or indicates a legarmeh? As a rough guide, if it is in the sphere of a revia it is a legarmeh, otherwise it is generally a pasek. (This is the rule given by an early grammarian, but it has been questioned. However, it is near enough for a beginner.) The pasek This vertical line is placed after a mesharet (servant) only, never after a mafsik, and raises its status to that of a mafsik, indicating the need for a slight pause. However, this is not a grammatical pause, and so for our purposes it may 11

12 be ignored. The sort of pause it requires is for instance one of respect before or after the Divine Name, or placed between two words when the second is the same as the first, or after a word that ends with the same letter as the next one begins with. In other words, it is important in speech, but not in silent reading, as it does not affect the grouping of the words. There are no rules for when it is used, only guidelines that is to say, there are some rules, but for each observance of the rule there may be even more exceptions when it is not used! This is only for information when considering the division of a verse by te amim for grammatical purposes, the pasek may be ignored. The legarmeh may not be ignored. Mutations There are cases where a mesharet is used instead of a mafsik, and vice-versa, but do not get tangled up in this. It is not for beginners. Conclusion These five lessons, if mastered, should give the student a firm foundation in the grammatical aspect of the te amim, but are not fully comprehensive. There may be rare exceptions to the rules, but a subject should not be learnt with exceptions they come in later. SUMMARY Primaries $XLº D+K4 D> J$ B; ½ H5 Secondaries zakef and variants: $YL+D²H, B¼0¼}f'Ly?¼7I;L* ¼3eL,L;?¼7I;L* Bc0¼}¼&J5 B¼@¼>J0dJ D0Ķ Tertiaries (third grade) revia and variants ¼<¼-]H%Dº B¼%¼-H>\D- Bi$L,ḐK² Bh$L;U<K* BK6¼-gH%U< Fourth grade miscellaneous ¼@¼{^I2U<K&D0?¼+K4¼ ¼2 B¼ ki<iy B¼(L0¼}¼'pDy?¼$Ļ¼-H0Dº B¼<nI*L² and variants ¼1H- mķ U<Iy B(¼0¼}q'Ly?U<I* L²) ¼(qL< L8?¼-I4U< K; 12