Questions tagged [grammar-dikduk]
Questions about Hebrew grammar as related to Judaism.
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Were our symbols for trope and nekudos created by the Masoretes, or transmitted by them?
It is commonly said in secular sources that the shapes of the trope and nekudos we use today were invented by the Masoretes (7th to 11th Century CE), but I cannot find any source in our mesorah to ...
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verb + its infinitive
Many, many times in Tanach, including Chumash, a verb has its infinitive nearby. Examples include B'reshis 2:16 מִכֹּל עֵץ הַגָּן אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל (I think that's the first example in Chumash) and ...
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Plural of "Nafka Minah"
(Inspired by HodofHod's commment here: Four Holy Cities)
What is the proper plural for the common Aramaic phrase Nafka Minah נפקא מינה which means something along the line of "practical differences"?
...
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Chassidic Rebbes don't use Hebrew Grammar?
I have not witnessed enough test cases to statistically verify anything, but I have heard various Chassidic Rebbes make b'rachos and daven out loud, and without fail, they mispronounce a majority of ...
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Which books help one acquire a systematic understanding of Biblical Hebrew grammar?
A question for the grammar experts. How can I learn Hebrew grammar in a systematic way? Especially a book that would help me understand how to layn properly. Something that covers rules of nikkud, ...
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3
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Why are there two different forms of the mitzvah brachot ("l-" and "al")?
Some mitzvah brachot are of the form ...vitzivanu "l'X" ("to X", infinitive verb), and others are of the form "al X" ("upon X", gerundive verb). I particularly noticed this during Sukkot with two ...
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3
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Yisgadal or Yisgadel?
I've noticed that some people, when reciting kaddish, pronounce the first words as "yisgadal v'yiskadash" with a patach under the dalet of both words, while others say "yisgadel v'yisgadesh" with a ...
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רָקִיאַע or רָקִיַע
The Minchas Shay at the beginning of B'reshis cites a dispute whether the word 'רָקִיעַ' (and likewise for other words with a furtive patach) is pronounced as רָקִיאַע or as רָקִיַע, that is, with a ...
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Psalm 145: Which Person?
Psalm 145 makes up the bulk of the oft recited prayer known as Ashrei. It is an alphabetic acrostic (missing the letter nun) about the greatness of God.
The verses beginning with Alef, Bet, Dalet, Heh,...
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Zeraim Moed Nashim Nezikim Kodshim Taharos - why not Moadim?
The names of the Shisha Sidrei Mishna (Six Orders of Mishnah) are: Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikim, Kodshim, Taharos. All of them besides Moed are in plural form. However Moed is in singular form. Why ...
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Why so many vocalized shvas in Siddur Tehillat Hashem?
I prayed using a Siddur Tehillat Hashem the other day, and I noticed that many more shvas were marked with an asterisk above, indicating that they should be vocalized, than I'd expect. In particular, ...
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Why "Lach" not "Lecha" in "Modim Anachnu Lach"
Could someone please explain why the "Lach" in Modim Anachnu Lach is not "Lecha"... I guess this is some grammatical point rather than the use of the feminime "you"?
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3
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"־הם" versus "־מו"
Usually, the suffix "־הם" is used to mean "them" as an object, as is "להם" or "אליהם". Or it is used to mean "their" in possessive form, as in "כליהם" or "אבותיהם".
But sometimes, the very same usage ...
- 28.5k
12
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Is there a reason or pattern as to when the Torah uses אֵת instead of אֶת?
I noticed a mix of the two forms of the Hebrew objective marker commonly pronounced אֶת. in the Torah. (There is no English translation of this word. It is used only to notify that an object follows ...
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Does the vav hahipuch also mean "and"? Do all those extra "ands" belong in the Bible?
I know that in Biblical Hebrew, take a word like "Vaydaber." "Yedaber" = "He will speak"; the "v" flips the word from future tense to past, so it's "he spoke."
Most translations understand the "v" ...
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Ashkenazic vs. Sefardic grammar tendencies
I notice that when referring to God in the second person in a possessive form, Sefardim often use the female form where Ashkenazim use the male form.
For example, where Ashkenazim say in kedusha, "...
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Female praying in masculine language
When women daven (pray), even by ourselves, it is convention to daven with male-gendered words ("modeh" vs "moda" as one of many examples). Why is this; are there sources that say we should be doing ...
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Proper recitation of Hamakom Yenachem
Is the proper phrase to console a mourner always the plural המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים or should it be changed depending on whom it is said to (singluar, feminine, etc.)?
user1552
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הוא is he? Or is it?
The third-person feminine pronoun in Hebrew is היא, "hee." But in most instances in the Torah, the word is spelled הוא, with a vav rather than a yud as the middle letter. How does this make sense ...
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גמר חתימה טובה gender
During the nine and a half days ending with Yom Kipur, we wish each other "גמר חתימה טובה" (an end to the good signing). This seems very strange. Shouldn't it be "גמר חתימה טוב" (a good end to the ...
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Good Talmudic Grammar resource for one unfamiliar with grammar in general?
Inspired by: How to say Adonainu Moreinu VeRabeinu in Aramaic
I'd like to understand Talmudic/Aramaic Grammar a little better and am looking for a good resource that will break it down for me.
...
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7
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Ḥaser form of writing "Jerusalem" in the Bible
It seems that Jerusalem is always written "ḥaser" (defective) in the Bible: that is, as ירושלם, without the י/yud, as opposed "malei" (full), as ירושלים. See, for example, Isaiah 62:6. This presents a ...
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Why does the book of Esther use the present tense so often?
I noticed that the book of Esther uses, often very awkwardly, the present tense to describe things that usually are written in the past tense (I didn't notice this much use of the present tense in ...
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Titkabbel vs. Titkabbal
In קדיש תתקבל, most Ashkenazi siddurim I've seen say "תִּתְקַבַּל." ArtScroll, however, has "תִּתְקַבֵּל." Why did this difference arise?
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How to define yetzer
The word yetzer is often translated as impulse, inclination
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's reading of yetzer in Bereshit 6:5 is not that of instinct or impulse, but rather that which the person, qua ...
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What does שליט"א stand for?
I thought that שליט"א came from the Aramaic word שליט (Ruler). But a Rabbi I told this to, pointed out that שליט"א is always written as with " , in the Middle so each the letters must ...
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Why is it a sheva na in ha-leviyim?
Before the Psalm for the day at the end of Shacharis each day, we say a sentence, "Today is the Xth day of the week..." In that sentence is a word for Levites, and that word in Hebrew has a sheva ...
- 7,896
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Aleph with a Dagesh
In four places in Tanakh, our text has an aleph with a dagesh: Gen 43:26, Lev 23:17, Job 33:21, and Ezra 8:18. What is the significance of this, and for the first two examples, how would you indicate ...
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Why does Yitzchak's blessing of Yaakov refer to Yaakov's mother's *sons*?
B'reishit 27:29 reads:
Let peoples serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and ...
- 56.4k
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Is the bracha pronounced "ha-MO-tzee" or "ha-mo-TZEE"?
The blessing we say on bread, "hamotzee lechem min ha'aretz" -- on what syllable is the stress in the word "hamotzee"?
Is the bracha pronounced "ha-MO-tzee" or "ha-mo-TZEE"?
In Psalms 104:14 we find ...
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Accent mark in וישבע לו
In many Chumashim, the word וישבע in Parshas Chayei Sara (24:9) contains both a munach and a meseg (meteg). One example:
I do not understand what the meseg is doing there under the beis. Typically a ...
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What are the rules for sh'va na?
What is the full list of rules for when to pronounce a sh'va (i.e. na) during tefillah and keriat hatorah?
When I was in school, I remember being taught that a sh'va was na in the following 5 cases (...
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כּרְעוּתֵהּ (with a dagesh in the כּ) or כרְעוּתֵהּ (without the dagesh) in Kaddish?
Kaddish starts: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. אמן:
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ
The siddur HaGr”a has כּרְעוּתֵהּ (with a dagesh in the כּ) and all my other siddurim have כרְעוּתֵהּ ...
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Stress of הושיעה and הצליחה in Hallel
Why is הושיעה Mileel (penultimately stressed) whereas הצליחה is Milra (ultimately stressed) in Psalms 118:25?
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Why does the Torah sometimes refer to Shabbat as a masculine noun and other times as a feminine noun?
There are times when the Torah refers to Shabat in feminine as in Shmot (Ex.) 31:13 "...But you shall observe my Shabbats, for SHE is a sign". Other times the masculine voice is used as in Shmot (Ex.) ...
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Why is there a ה in "מוהל"? [closed]
The Hebrew word for the act performed at a circumcision is "לימול". The root appears to be נ.מ.ל. Following the exceptional rules for roots whose first letter is נ, the causative participle and ...
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הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך — or אותו?
There is a popular song some of whose lyrics are "הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך". Does anyone have a source — besides some recent lyricist — for these words precisely, or a source for any instance ...
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Koren Siddur on Kal Atzmotai Tomarna
(Note: likely not relevant to those who Daven/read Hebrew with an Ashkenazi pronunciation.)
This Shabbos I was asked to lead Pesukei Dezimrah at a shul I was visiting, and I was given a Koren Siddur ...
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Why does the Gemara sometimes use the word Ben and sometimes use the word Bar?
Why does the Talmud sometimes refer to someone as Ploni ben Ploni, and other times as Ploni bar Ploni?
Classic example:
In Bava Batra 14b the gemara says Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai
In Bar Ilan's ...
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Why is Sefer Tehillim called Tehillim and not Tehillos?
Tehillim is plural of Tehilla (תהלה). Tehilla looks like a feminine noun, which is why there's a word called תהלות.
So why is the sefer called Sefer Tehillim?
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Same phrase in two places, one uses dageish and one doesn't -- why?
In the seventh aliyah of Parshat Noach, the passage about the tower of Bavel contains the phrase עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ three times. Twice it is written כָל and once כָּל and I would like to ...
- 56.4k
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"Good trees" grammar in the blessing on trees
I see* various versions of the blessing on seeing trees: most seem to refer to good trees as "אילנות טובות", while some refer to them as "אילנות טובים".
(Grammatically, as far as I know, "טובים" is ...
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How do you pronounce the soft reish?
From the Sefer Yetzirah it seems that there is both a hard and soft letter reish (see 4th perek, Aryeh Kaplan edition). How do you pronounce the soft reish?
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Yumatu and the plural in Dev 24
Devarim 24:16 makes a statement which is central to Jewish theology. The posuk makes clear that a father will not be put to death for the sins of his son and that a son will not be put to death for ...
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votes
2
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ברכות switch between 2nd and 3rd person
Why in a ברכה for a commandment (for example, hand washing, Tefillin etc.) do we switch between 'You' ברוך אתה and 'His' במצותיו ?
Why don't we say במצותיך ?
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Paroh vs. Faroh in Parshat Bo
I am used to פרעה being pronounced as "Paroh" as it has been for the last few parshot, but I noticed today that in Parshat Bo (Shemot 10:11) it is to be pronounced "Faroh". What causes this change? ...
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Why don't we use plural "TOVOT" in New Years greeting for ketivah ve-hatimah TOVOT?
Why don't we use plural "TOVOT" in New Years greeting for ketivah ve-hatimah (writing and sealing) tovot?
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1
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Zechuto Yagen/Tagen Alenu?
Why is it that many people say זכותו יגן עלינו - according to grammar, shouldn't it be תגן עלינו since זכות is feminine?
I guess I am just looking for a justification of the general practice.
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Difference in Nikkud for לא כי in Torah and Mishna
The phrase "Lo Ki" occurs in Tanach (Genesis 18, 15):
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ׀ לֹ֖א כִּ֥י צָחָֽקְתְּ׃
and in Mishna:
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא כִי, אֶלָּא חֲצִי בָצָל גָּדוֹל (Trumot 2, 5)
אָמַר לוֹ ...
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Dagesh on Hatslicha nna
I see a machloket sidurim and Tanachim about the Na of Hasem Hatlicha Na in the hallel.
Many sidurim was with dagesh on Hoshianna and not on hatslicha na. I searched an explanation.
The explanation ...
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