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In the final paragraph of the bracha of kedushas hayom / malchuyos which we recite in every Rosh Hashanah amidah, we find the phrase "ויאמר כל אשר נשמה באפו". Is there a dagesh in the 'ב' of 'באפו'?

The reason I'm asking is that every Artscroll publication I've checked has it without a dagesh in musaf, and with a dagesh in every other tefillah. Is this deliberate, or simply a printing mistake?

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In Biblical Hebrew if an open syllable is followed by a begadkefat letter, the initial letter of the syllable loses dagesh, unless it is separated by a divider trop (e.g. tifcha). Please refer to the two set of teamim of the Ten Commandments, which illustrates this very good. However it has become a bit less clear cut after the Biblical era, and sometimes grammarians tried to revert to the Biblical rules. I've found a more detailed entry about this topic below: http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?/topic/61754-some-nitpicky-siddur-and-leining-questions/

In the books I have, it's written consistently with dagesh:

  • Sefas Emes (Heidenheim): dagesh

  • Heidenheim machzor: dagesh

  • Anton Schmid machzor: dagesh

  • Schlesinger machzor: dagesh

  • Artscroll Ashkenaz Hebrew/English machzor: dagesh

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  • I currently have with me the all-Hebrew Artscroll siddur Ner Naftali (nusach sefard) printed 5767. This contains the amidah for Rosh Hashanah and has no dagesh for musaf, but does have a dagesh for ma'ariv/shacharis/minchah. I noticed the same thing in shul in my Hebrew/English nusach sefard Rosh Hashanah machzor as well as my friend's Hebrew/English nusach ashkenaz Rosh Hashanah machzor, but don't have those in front of me right now to give you the precise names / dates of publication.
    – Joel K
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 9:08
  • Indeed, I wouldn't say that it should be this or that way, I'm just telling you that this rule was not respected with the exception of very clear cases of semikhut and such. But a more striking example is the one of בורא פרי הגפן. Except for an old Jew from Beirut, I've only heard it with dagesh.
    – Kazi bácsi
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 9:16
  • In my 2012 English/Hebrew Ashkenaz Artscroll machzor it's with dagesh at all instances. Since it's not consistent, I would say that it's more probably a typo (with a valid justification). Indeed, please vote for my answer if you accept it! ;)
    – Kazi bácsi
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 9:24

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