20
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason or pattern as to when the Torah uses אֵת instead of אֶת?
When the word stands on its own, with its own trup-mark, it's אֵת, with a tzeireh. When it's attached to the next word with a dash and therefore does not have its own trup-mark, it's אֶת, with a segol....
- 47.3k
15
votes
Is there a reason or pattern as to when the Torah uses אֵת instead of אֶת?
The word is אֵת. When the word is "joined" with the next word with a makaf "־" then they become treated as one long word, and there is no longer an accent on that syllable. Unaccented closed syllables ...
- 96k
14
votes
Accepted
Dagesh at end of בראת
The tav is one of the beged kefet letters, which always takes a dagesh kal, when it starts a new syllable after a previously closed one (i.e. the previous syllable ends with a consonant).
To quote ...
- 39.7k
12
votes
Reason for different punctuation of the prefix vav?
In biblical Hebrew:
When preceding an imperfect (future-form) verb to make it past tense, the vav has a patach.
However, that patach becomes a kamatz before an alef.
Otherwise, when the word is the ...
- 73.5k
11
votes
Is there a chasidus that is makpid on dikduk?
Yes, the Minchas Elazar was very makpid (strict) on both dikduk (grammar) and wording.
His hakpada (strictness) is a major subject in the preface to the current main Munkacser siddur, Tzvi Tiferes. ...
- 6,596
10
votes
Accepted
Pronunciation of בשגם - Patach or Kamatz?
R. Yaakov Sappir had the same question about 150 years ago and asked the community in Aleppo to check the Aleppo Codex for a final ruling. They reported that בשגם has only Patch vowels. You can't ask ...
- 96k
9
votes
And it was so? Perhaps mistranslated?
See here for more.
Biblical Hebrew employs a rule called the "vav ha-hipuch." The preceding "v'" flips the tense from past to future, or vice versa.
Thus "yehi chen", it will be so; "vayhi chen", it ...
- 128k
9
votes
Accepted
כּרְעוּתֵהּ (with a dagesh in the כּ) or כרְעוּתֵהּ (without the dagesh) in Kaddish?
The general rule is that letters "בגד כפת" do have a dagesh when they appear in the beginning of a word, unless the word follows a word that ends with one of the vowels (אהוי), and there's a ...
- 3,794
9
votes
Accepted
Adon Olam: "Yetzir" or "Yetzur"?
DISCLAIMER: While the study Hebrew grammar is of interest to me, I am far from proficient in it, and hopefully those who know more will add to the discussion. My answer is marei mekomos and a highly ...
- 1,571
9
votes
Accepted
What rule governs the varying nikkud in words מִשְׁתֶּה and מִשְׁתֵּה?
When משתה is in construct state it has a tzere instead of a segol and would mean "drinking-party of" instead of just "drinking-party".
- 96k
9
votes
Accepted
How to apply the Masoretic note, "2x, once plene and once defectively" to Ruth 1:1?
The Masoretic note you have is from the Leningrad Codex. However, the Aleppo Codex indicates in the masorah gedolah in Chronicles that there are 3 instances of the word (see also Mikraot Gedolot ...
- 7,262
9
votes
What does שליט"א stand for?
For what it's worth, the Otzar of Roshei Teivot on Bar Ilan lists both שיחיה לאורך ימים טובים ארוכים and שיחיה לאורך ימים טובים אמן. I prefer the latter, because the former is redundant, as pointed ...
- 20.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is תורה sometimes written תורת?
As Gesenius writes in his Hebrew Grammar:
(b) The original ־ַת is regularly retained as the feminine termination in the construct state sing. of those nouns which in the absolute state end in ־ָה,...
- 20.2k
8
votes
Accepted
In Bamidbar 11:5 why does it use the word נֹאכַ֥ל which is typically future tense?
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin in his אזנים לתורה suggests that they were hinting that they wished to return to Egypt.
אשר נאכל במצרים. אשר אכלנו לא אמרו, אלא "אשר נאכל" - בזה טמון רמז דק: "אשר נאכל" אם נשוב ...
- 912
8
votes
Where is exactly is שָֽׁם in the pasuk גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף יְהוָ֔ה בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם (Devarim 1:37)
שמה is not the feminine form of שם. Inasmuch as there is a difference in meaning, שמה may mean "to there" (as in מצרימה - "to Egypt" in, e.g., Genesis 12:11) whereas שם just means "there". See also, ...
- 17.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Why are there varying vowels on proper nouns in Megillas Ester?
There are grammatical rules in general, but for your case:
It's always שושַן הבירה, otherwise שושָן.
It's always מרדכַי except on an esnachta, sof pasuk, or in exactly one case a zakeif katon ויגידו ...
- 9,019
8
votes
Mil'al vs. Milra on "Lamah"
The word is spelled לָמָה (without a dagesh and stressed on the final syllable) when the following word begins with an א or ה or ע,* and spelled לָמָּה (with a dagesh and stressed on the penultimate ...
- 23.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Priestly blessing grammar - יאר
The root of יָאֵר is אור. The binyan is הפעיל (and נחי ע"ו). The form יָאֵר instead of יָאִיר is due to jussive mood ("may he shine" instead of "he will shine"). The word וְיָשֵׂם in the next verse is ...
- 23.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Why isn't המלך המשפט a grammatical mistake?
This question is in fact dealt with by Rashi on the spot, who says that the first ה is redundant, and this has the same meaning as מלך המשפט, citing scriptural precedents for this phrasing. Basically -...
- 1,304
8
votes
Final Pay ף ??? - Exists or Not?
It does exist and appears precisely once in Tanach, in Mishlei 30:6:
אַל־תּ֥וֹסְףְּ עַל־דְּבָרָ֑יו פֶּן־יוֹכִ֖יחַ בְּךָ֣ וְנִכְזָֽבְתָּ׃
- 39.7k
7
votes
Is the rule of "Nasog Achor" specific to the Bible?
Koren Publishers, for one, is unsure whether Nasog Achor applies outside the Biblical context, particularly to prayers. Consequently, in their publications, they default to not applying Nasog Achor ...
- 47.3k
7
votes
What is the reason that the Torah uses a ן (final "Nun") at the end of 2nd person plural verbs?
The addition of a nun is referred to in some grammars as "nunation"; this particular type of nun is the "paragogic nun", and its usage is controversial. It appears over 300 times throughout Tanakh (...
- 18.7k
7
votes
Where can one learn the grammatical functions of the te'amim
I have used and found excellent the book Chanting the Hebrew Bible by Joshua Jacobson. It comprises a background/history of the subject, a detailed grammatical treatment (one-by-one introducing the ...
- 9,216
7
votes
How to pronounce ישראל - Yisroel or Yisrael?
The Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew distinguishes seven different vowels. They can be arranged more or less as follows (first represented in Hebrew orthography under the letter א, then in IPA if you ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Why are there varying vowels on proper nouns in Megillas Ester?
מרדכי takes a Kamatz when it is on a hard pause (same as most nouns that have a patach or segol on the primary stress).
שושן takes a Patach when it is attached to הבירה (same as any noun ending in a ...
- 96k
7
votes
Vowels in tefilat Hashachar
This kind of vowelization doesn't appear anywhere in the Tanach, because nouns in semichut, or which mark possession, can never have a definite article in front of them.
Dayan Levi Yitzchak Raskin, ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the form of טבו in מה טבו אהליך יעקב?
The word טֹּבוּ is a verb (not an adjective like טוֹב), conjugated for past (perfect aspect). Compare the conjugation of אֹרוּ (I Samuel 14:29). This is the conjugation normally used to describe a ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Gomel chasadim tovim - are there bad chasadim?
Some thoughts:
טוב can be used to mean complete. For example:
One of Rashi's explanations of why it says טוב zero times on day 2 of Creation and twice on day 3 is because nothing was completed on ...
- 57.8k
7
votes
In Parshas Chukas, why is first mention of Parah Adumah "פָרָה" instead of "פָּרָה"?
Generally, when a word ends in a vowel sound, without a pausal cantillation note on that word, the first letter in the next word loses its dagesh. Usually, the rule is stated in terms of the previous ...
- 47.3k
7
votes
Accepted
The grammatical nature of וָאִמָּלְטָה in the context of Job 1:15. How exactly did the only surviving servant "slip away"?
I don't think that the final ה indicates the cohortative here, but rather it is a paragogic ה- attached to a wayyiqtol form of the root מלט (nif`al). This type of ה is described in Joüon & Muraoka ...
- 3,496
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