Hebrew cantillation

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cantillation
cantillation
Sof passuk ׃‎  Paseq ׀‎
Etnakhta/atnakh ֑‎  Segol ֒‎
Shalshelet ֓‎  Zakef katan ֔‎
Zakef gadol ֕‎  Tifcha/tarkha ֖‎
Rivia ֗‎  Zarka ֘‎
Pashta ֙‎  Yetiv ֚‎
Tevir ֛‎  Geresh ֜‎
Geresh muqdam  [ de ]֝‎  Gershayim ֞‎
Karne parah ֟‎  Telisha gedola/talsha ֠‎
Pazer ֡‎  Atnah hafukh  [ de ]֢‎
Munakh/shofar holekh ֣‎  Mahpach ֤‎
Merkha/ma’arikh ֥‎  Mercha kefula ֦‎
Darga ֧‎  Qadma ֨‎
Telisha qetana/tarsa ֩‎  Yerah ben yomo ֪‎
Ole ֫‎  Illuy ֬‎
Dehi  [ de ]֭‎  Tsinnorit ֮‎
Genesis 1:9: And God said, "Let the waters be collected." Letters in black, niqqud (vowel points) and d'geshim (gemination marks) in red, cantillation in blue. Bare transliteration: wy'mr 'lhym yqww hmym. With accents: way-yomer elohim yiqqawu ham-mayim. Example of biblical Hebrew trope.svg
Genesis 1:9: And God said, "Let the waters be collected."
Letters in black, niqqud (vowel points) and d'geshim (gemination marks) in red, cantillation in blue.
Bare transliteration: wy‘mr ‘lhym yqww hmym.
With accents: way-yōmer ĕlōhīm yiqqāwū ham-mayim.

Hebrew cantillation, trope, trop, or te'amim is the manner of chanting ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic Text of the Bible, to complement the letters and vowel points.

Contents

These marks are known in English as 'accents' (diacritics), 'notes' or trope symbols, and in Hebrew as taʿamei ha-mikra (טעמי המקרא) or just teʿamim (טעמים). Some of these signs were also sometimes used in medieval manuscripts of the Mishnah. The musical motifs associated with the signs are known in Hebrew as niggun or neginot (not to be confused with Hasidic nigun) and in Yiddish as trop (טראָפ): the word trope is sometimes used in Jewish English with the same meaning.

There are multiple traditions of cantillation. Within each tradition, there are multiple tropes, typically for different books of the Bible and often for different occasions. For example, different chants may be used for Torah readings on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur than for the same text on a normal Shabbat.

History

Three systems of Hebrew punctuation (including vowels and cantillation symbols) have been used: the Babylonian, the Jerusalem, and the Tiberian, only the last of which is used today.

Babylonian system

Babylonian Biblical manuscripts from the Geonic period contain no cantillation marks in the current sense, but small Hebrew letters are used to mark significant divisions within a verse. Up to eight different letters are found, depending on the importance of the break and where it occurs in the verse: these correspond roughly to the disjunctives of the Tiberian system. For example, in some manuscripts the letter tav, for tevir (break), does duty for both Tiberian tevir and zaqef. [1] In general there are no symbols for the conjunctives, though some late manuscripts use the Tiberian symbols for these. There is also no equivalent for low-grade disjunctives such as telisha gedolah: these are generally replaced by the equivalent of zaqef or revia.

Nothing is known of the musical realization of these marks, but it seems likely that they represent breaks or variations in a set melody applied to each verse. (A somewhat similar system is used in manuscripts of the Qur'an to guide the reader in fitting the chant to the verse: see Qur'an reading .)

This system is reflected in the cantillation practices of the Yemenite Jews, who now use the Tiberian symbols, but tend to have musical motifs only for the disjunctives and render the conjunctives in a monotone. It is notable that the Yemenite Jews have only eight disjunctive motifs, thus clearly reflecting the Babylonian notation. The same is true of the Karaite mode for the haftarah; while in the Sephardi haftarah modes different disjunctives often have the same or closely similar motifs, reducing the total number of effective motifs to something like the same number.

Jerusalem system

The Babylonian system, as mentioned above, is mainly concerned with showing breaks in the verse. Early manuscripts, by contrast, are mainly concerned with showing phrases: for example the tifcha-etnachta, zarqa-segolta and pashta-zaqef sequences, with or without intervening unaccented words. These sequences are generally linked by a series of dots, beginning or ending with a dash or a dot in a different place to show which sequence is meant. Unaccented words (which in the Tiberian system carry conjunctives) are generally shown by a dot following the word, as if to link it to the following word. There are separate symbols for more elaborate tropes like pazer and telisha gedolah.

The manuscripts are extremely fragmentary, no two of them following quite the same conventions, and these marks may represent the individual reader's aide-memoire rather than a formal system of punctuation (for example, vowel signs are often used only where the word would otherwise be ambiguous). In one manuscript, presumably of somewhat later date than the others, there are separate marks for different conjunctives, actually outnumbering those in the Tiberian system (for example, munach before etnachta has a different sign from munach before zaqef), and the overall system approaches the Tiberian in comprehensiveness. In some other manuscripts, in particular those containing Targumim rather than original text, the Tiberian symbols have been added by a later hand. In general, it may be observed that the Jerusalem and Tiberian systems are far more closely related to each other than either is to the Babylonian.

This system of phrasing is reflected in the Sephardic cantillation modes, in which the conjunctives (and to some extent the "near companions" such as tifcha, pashta and zarqa) are rendered as flourishes leading into the motif of the following disjunctive rather than as motifs in their own right.

The somewhat inconsistent use of dots above and below the words as disjunctives is closely similar to that found in Syriac texts. [2] Kahle [3] also notes some similarity with the punctuation of Samaritan Hebrew.

Tiberian system

By the tenth century CE, the symbols in use in medieval Palestine had clearly become more complex, both because of the existence of pazer, geresh and telisha motifs in longer verses and because the realization of a phrase ending with a given type of break varied according to the number of words and syllables in the phrase. The Tiberian Masoretes therefore developed a comprehensive notation with a symbol on each word, to replace the fragmentary systems previously in use. In particular, it was necessary to invent a range of different conjunctive accents to show how to introduce and elaborate the main motif in longer phrases. (For example, tevir is preceded by mercha, a short flourish, in shorter phrases but by darga, a more elaborate run of notes, in longer phrases.) The system they devised is the one in use today, and is found in Biblical manuscripts such as the Aleppo Codex. A Masoretic treatise called Diqduqe ha-teʿamim (precise rules of the accents) by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher survives, though both the names and the classification of the accents differ somewhat from those of the present day.

As the accents were (and are) not shown on a Torah scroll, it was found necessary to have a person making hand signals to the reader to show the tune, as in the Byzantine system of neumes. This system of cheironomy survives in some communities to the present day, notably in Italy. It is speculated that both the shapes and the names of some of the accents (e.g. tifcha, literally "hand-breadth") may refer to the hand signals rather than to the syntactical functions or melodies denoted by them. Today in most communities there is no system of hand signals and the reader learns the melody of each reading in advance.

The Tiberian system spread quickly and was accepted in all communities by the 13th century. Each community re-interpreted its reading tradition so as to allocate one short musical motif to each symbol: this process has gone furthest in the Western Ashkenazi and Ottoman (Jerusalem-Sephardi, Syrian etc.) traditions. Learning the accents and their musical rendition is now an important part of the preparations for a bar mitzvah, as this is the first occasion on which a person reads from the Torah in public.

In the early period of the Reform movement there was a move to abandon the system of cantillation and give Scriptural readings in normal speech (in Hebrew or in the vernacular). In recent decades, however, traditional cantillation has been restored in many communities.

Different systems for different sets of books

There are two systems of cantillation marks in the Tanakh. One is used in the twenty-one prose books, while the other appears in the three poetical books of Psalms, Proverbs and Job. Except where otherwise stated, this article describes the "prose" system.

Traditional roots

The current system of cantillation notes has its historical roots in the Tiberian masorah. The cantillation signs are included in Unicode as characters U+0591 through U+05AF in the Hebrew block.

Different naming according to rites

The names of some of the cantillation signs differ in the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Italian and Yemenite traditions; for example Sephardim use qadma to mean what Ashkenazim call pashta, and azla to mean what Ashkenazim call qadma. [4] In this article, as in almost all Hebrew grammars, the Ashkenazi terminology is used. The names in other traditions are shown in the table below.

Purpose

Synagogue use

A primary purpose of the cantillation signs is to guide the chanting of the sacred texts during public worship. Very roughly speaking, each word of text has a cantillation mark at its primary accent and associated with that mark is a musical phrase that tells how to sing that word. The reality is more complex, with some words having two or no marks and the musical meaning of some marks dependent upon context. There are different sets of musical phrases associated with different sections of the Bible. The music varies with different Jewish traditions and individual cantorial styles.

Explanation to text

The cantillation signs also provide information on the syntactical structure of the text and some say they are a commentary on the text itself, highlighting important ideas musically. The tropes are not random strings but follow a set and describable grammar. The very word ta'am, used in Hebrew to refer to the cantillation marks, literally means "taste" or "sense", the point being that the pauses and intonation denoted by the accents (with or without formal musical rendition) bring out the sense of the passage.[ citation needed ]

Functions of cantillation signs in explanation of text

The cantillation signs serve three functions:

Functions
FunctionDescription
SyntaxThey divide biblical verses into smaller units of meaning, a function which also gives them a limited but sometimes important role as a source for exegesis. This function is accomplished through the use of various conjunctive signs (which indicate that words should be connected in a single phrase) and especially a hierarchy of dividing signs of various strength which divide each verse into smaller phrases. The function of the disjunctive cantillation signs may be roughly compared to modern punctuation signs such as periods, commas, semicolons, etc.
PhoneticsMost of the cantillation signs indicate the specific syllable where the stress (accent) falls in the pronunciation of a word.
MusicThe cantillation signs have musical value: reading the Hebrew Bible with cantillation becomes a musical chant, where the music itself serves as a tool to emphasise the proper accentuation and syntax (as mentioned previously).

Syntax

In general, each word in the Tanakh has one cantillation sign. This may be either a disjunctive, showing a division between that and the following word, or a conjunctive, joining the two words (like a slur in music). Thus, disjunctives divide a verse into phrases, and within each phrase all the words except the last carry conjunctives. (There are two types of exception to the rule about words having only one sign. A group of words joined by hyphens is regarded as one word so they only have one accent between them. Conversely, a long word may have two—e.g., a disjunctive on the stressed syllable and the related conjunctive two syllables before in place of meteg.)

The disjunctives are traditionally divided into four levels, with lower level disjunctives marking less important breaks.

  1. The first level, known as "Emperors", includes sof pasuk / siluk, marking the end of the verse, and atnach / etnachta , marking the middle.
  2. The second level is known as "Kings". The usual second level disjunctive is zakef qatan (when on its own, this becomes zakef gadol ). This is replaced by tifcha when in the immediate neighborhood of sof pasuk or atnach. A stronger second level disjunctive, used in very long verses, is segol : when it occurs on its own, this may be replaced by shalshelet .
  3. The third level is known as "Dukes". The usual third level disjunctive is revia . For musical reasons, this is replaced by zarka when in the vicinity of segol, by pashta or yetiv when in the vicinity of zakef, and by tevir when in the vicinity of tifcha.
  4. The fourth level is known as "Counts". These are found mainly in longer verses, and tend to cluster near the beginning of a half-verse: for this reason their musical realisation is usually more elaborate than that of higher level disjunctives. They are pazer , geresh , gershayim , telisha gedola , munach legarmeh and qarne farah.

The general conjunctive is munach . Depending on which disjunctive follows, this may be replaced by mercha , mahpach , darga , qadma , telisha qetannah or yerach ben yomo .

One other symbol is mercha kefulah , double mercha. There is some argument about whether this is another conjunctive or an occasional replacement for tevir.

Disjunctives have a function somewhat similar to punctuation in Western languages. Sof pasuk could be thought of as a full stop, atnach as a semi-colon, second level disjunctives as commas and third level disjunctives as commas or unmarked. Where two words are written in the construct state (for example, pene ha-mayim, "the face of the waters"), the first noun (nomen regens) invariably carries a conjunctive.

The cantillation signs are often an important aid in the interpretation of a passage. For example, the words qol qore bamidbar panu derekh YHWH (Isaiah 40:3) is translated in the Authorised Version as "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD". As the word qore takes the high-level disjunctive zakef katon this meaning is discouraged by the cantillation marks.[ citation needed ] Accordingly, the New Revised Standard Version translates "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, ...'" while the New Jewish Publication Society Version has "A voice rings out: 'Clear in the desert a road for the LORD'."

Phonetics

Most cantillation signs are written on the consonant of the stressed syllable of a word. This also shows where the most important note of the musical motif should go.

A few signs always go on the first or last consonant of a word. This may have been for musical reasons, or it may be to distinguish them from other accents of similar shape. For example, pashta, which goes on the last consonant, otherwise looks like kadma, which goes on the stressed syllable.

Some signs are written (and sung) differently when the word is not stressed on its last syllable. Pashta on a word of this kind is doubled, one going on the stressed syllable and the other on the last consonant. Geresh is doubled unless it occurs on a non-finally-stressed word or follows kadma (to form the kadma ve-azla phrase).

Music

Cantillation signs guide the reader in applying a chant to Biblical readings. This chant is technically regarded as a ritualized form of speech intonation rather than as a musical exercise like the singing of metrical hymns: for this reason Jews always speak of saying or reading a passage rather than of singing it. (In Yiddish the word is leynen 'read', derived from Latin legere, giving rise to the Jewish English verb "to leyn".)

The musical value of the cantillation signs serves the same function for Jews worldwide, but the specific tunes vary between different communities. The most common tunes today are as follows.

Reconstructed melody

There has been an attempted reconstruction of the original melody by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, on the basis of the shapes and positions of the marks and without any reference to existing melodies, as described in her book La musique de la Bible révélée and her records. That reconstruction assumes the signs represent the degrees of various musical scales, that is individual notes, which puts it at odds with all existing traditions where the signs invariably represent melodic motives. Some musicologists have rejected her results as dubious and her methodology as flawed. [9] A similar reconstructive proposal was developed by American composer and pianist Jeffrey Burns  [ de ] and posthumously published in 2011. [10]

Traditional melodies

Ashkenazic melodies

In the Ashkenazic musical tradition for Te'raim, each of the local geographical customs includes a total of six major and numerous minor separate melodies for Tera'im:

The Ashkenazic tradition preserves no melody for the special cantillation notes of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, which were not publicly read in the synagogue by European Jews. However, the Ashkenazic yeshiva known as Aderet Eliyahu, or (more informally) Zilberman's, in the Old City of Jerusalem, uses an adaptation of the Syrian cantillation-melody for these books, and this is becoming more popular among other Ashkenazim as well.[ citation needed ]

Sephardic and Eastern melodies

At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a single Ottoman-Sephardic tradition (no doubt with local variations) covering Turkey, Syria, Israel and Egypt. [11] Today the Jerusalem-Sephardic, Syrian, Egyptian and Baghdadi melodies recognisably belong to a single family. For example, in these traditions the Torah reading is always or almost always in Maqam Sigah. There are some variations, among individual readers as well as among communities: for example the Egyptian melody is related to the more elaborate and cantorial form of the Syrian melody and was transitioning toward Maqam Huzzam before the mass expulsion in 1950. The Karaite tradition, being based on the Egyptian, also forms part of this group. [12]

Another recognisable family consists of the Iraqi (Mosul and Iraqi diaspora), Spanish-Moroccan and Spanish and Portuguese melodies. The probable reason for the occurrence of similar melodies at opposite ends of the Arab world is that they represent the remains of an old Arab-Jewish tradition not overlaid by the later Ottoman-Sephardic tradition that spread to the countries in between. There may also have been some convergence between the London Spanish and Portuguese and Iraqi melodies during British rule in India and the British Mandate of Mesopotamia.

The Jews of North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Yemen all had local musical traditions for cantillation. When these Jewish communities emigrated (mostly to Israel) during the twentieth century, they brought their musical traditions with them. But as the immigrants themselves grew older, many particular national melodies began to be forgotten, or to become assimilated into the "Jerusalem Sephardic" melting-pot.

As with the Ashkenazim, there is one tune for Torah readings and a different tune for haftarot. Spanish and Portuguese Jews have a special tune for the Ten Commandments when read according to the ta'am elyon, known as "High Na'um", which is also used for some other words and passages which it is desired to emphasize. [13] Other communities, such as the Syrian Jews, observe the differences between the two sets of cantillation marks for the Ten Commandments but have no special melody for ta'am 'elyon. [14] There is no special tune for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in any Sephardic tradition. As with Ashkenazim, the normal musical value of cantillation signs is replaced by a "coda" motif at the end of each Torah reading and of each haftarah verse (though there is no special coda for the end of the haftarah), suggesting a common origin for the Sephardi and Ashkenazi chants.

Eastern Jewish communities have no liturgical tradition of reading Ecclesiastes, and there is no public liturgical reading of Song of Songs on Passover, though brief extracts may be read after the morning service during the first half of Nisan. (Individuals may read it after the Passover Seder, and many communities recite it every Friday night.) There are specialized tunes for Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther and Lamentations. The prose passages at the beginning and end of the book of Job may be read either to the tune of Song of Songs or to that of Ruth, depending on the community. The Ruth tune is generally the "default" tune for any book of the Ketuvim (Hagiographa) that does not have a tune of its own.

Unlike the Ashkenazic tradition, the eastern traditions, in particular that of the Syrian Jews, include melodies for the special cantillation of Psalms, Proverbs and the poetic parts of Job. In many eastern communities, Proverbs is read on the six Sabbaths between Passover and Shavuot, Job on the Ninth of Av, and Psalms are read on a great many occasions. The cantillation melody for Psalms can also vary depending on the occasion. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews have no tradition for the rendering of the Psalms according to the cantillation marks, but the melody used for several psalms in the evening service is noticeably similar to that of Syrian psalm cantillation, and may represent the remnants of such a tradition.

Yemenite melodies

Yemenite cantillation has a total of eight distinctive motifs, falling within four main patterns:

This is true equally of the system used for the Torah and the systems used for the other books. It appears to be a relic of the Babylonian system, which also recognised only eight types of disjunctive and no conjunctives.

Learning melodies

Some communities had a simplified melody for the Torah, used in teaching it to children, as distinct from the mode used in synagogue. (This should not be confused with the lernen steiger used for studying the Mishnah and Talmud.) For example, the Yemenite community teaches a simplified melody for children, to be used both in school and when they are called to read the sixth aliyah. [15] The simplified melody is also used for the reading of the Targum, which is generally performed by a young boy.

Conversely, the Syrian community knows two types of Torah cantillation, a simpler one for general use and a more elaborate one used by professional hazzanim. [16] It is probable that the simpler melody was originally a teaching mode. Today however it is the mode in general use, and is also an ancestor of the "Jerusalem-Sephardic" melody.

Some communities, such as the Portuguese community of Amsterdam, [17] have a simplified melody for the Prophets for study purposes, distinct from that used in reading the Haftarah: the distinction is mentioned in one medieval Sephardic source. [18]

Names and shapes of the te'amim

Names in different traditions

The following table shows the names of the te'amim in the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Italian traditions together with their Unicode symbols.

NameSymbolUnicodeAshkenaziSephardiItalian
Sof passuk ב ׃‎U+05C3סוֹף פָּסֽוּק‎
Sof pasuq		סוֹף פָּסֽוּק‎
Sof pasuq		סוֹף פָּסֽוּק‎
Sof pasuq
Etnachta ב֑‎U+0591אֶתְנַחְתָּ֑א‎
Etnachta		אַתְנָ֑ח‎
Atnach		אַתְנָ֑ח‎
Atnach
Segol ב֒‎U+0592סֶגּוֹל֒‎
Segol		סְגוֹלְתָּא֒‎
Segolta		שְׁרֵי֒‎
Shere
Shalshelet ב֓‎U+0593שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת‎
Shalshelet		שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת‎
Shalshelet		שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת‎
Shalshelet
Zakef katan ב֔‎U+0594זָקֵף קָטָ֔ן‎
Zaqef Qatan		זָקֵף קָט֔וֹן‎
Zaqef Qaton		זָקֵף קָט֔וֹן‎
Zaqef Qaton
Zakef gadol ב֕‎U+0595זָקֵף גָּד֕וֹל‎
Zaqef Gadol		זָקֵף גָּד֕וֹל‎
Zaqef Gadol		זָקֵף גָּד֕וֹל‎
Zaqef Gadol
Tifcha ב֖‎U+0596טִפְחָ֖א‎
Tifcha		טַרְחָ֖א‎
Tarcha		טַרְחָ֖א‎
Tarcha
Revia ב֗‎U+0597רְבִ֗יעַ‎
Revia		רָבִ֗יעַ‎
Ravia		רְבִ֗יעַ‎
Revia
Zarka ב֮‎U+05AE [26] זַרְקָא֮‎
Zarqa		זַרְקָא֮‎
Zarqa		זַרְקָא֮‎
Zarqa
Pashta ב֙‎U+0599פַּשְׁטָא֙‎
Pashta		קַדְמָא֙‎
Qadma		פַּשְׁטָא֙‎
Pashta
Shene pashtinב֨‎ב֙‎U+0599, U+05A8שְׁנֵ֨י פַּשְׁטִין֙‎
Shene pashtin		תְּרֵ֨י קַדְמִין֙‎
Tere qadmin		(שְׁנֵי) פַּ֨שְׁטִין֙‎
(Shene) pashtin
Yetiv ב֚‎U+059Aיְ֚תִיב‎
Yetiv		(שׁוֹפָר) יְ֚תִיב‎
(Shofar) yetiv		שׁ֚וֹפָר יְתִיב‎
Shofar yetiv
Tevir ב֛‎U+059Bתְּבִ֛יר‎
Tevir		תְּבִ֛יר‎
Tevir		תְּבִ֛יר‎
Tevir
Pazer ב֡‎U+05A1פָּזֵ֡ר‎
Pazer		פָּזֶר גָּד֡וֹל‎
Pazer gadol		פָּזֶר גָּד֡וֹל‎
Pazer gadol
Qarne farah ב֟‎U+059Fקַרְנֵי פָרָ֟ה‎
Qarne farah		קַרְנֵי פָרָ֟ה‎
Qarne farah		קַרְנֵי פָרָ֟ה‎
Qarne farah
Telisha gedola ב֠‎U+05A0תְּ֠לִישָא גְדוֹלָה‎
Telisha gedolah		תַּ֠לְשָׁא‎
Talsha		תִּ֠רְצָה‎
Tirtzah
Geresh ב֜‎U+059Cאַזְלָא-גֵּ֜רֵשׁ‎‎
Azla Geresh		גְּרִ֜ישׁ‎
Gerish		גֵּ֜רֵשׁ‎
Geresh
Gershayim ב֞‎U+059Eגֵּרְשַׁ֞יִם‎
Gershayim		שְׁנֵי גְרִישִׁ֞ין‎
Shene gerishin		שְׁנֵי גְרֵישִׁ֞ין‎
Shene ghereshin
Paseq ב׀‎U+05C0מֻנַּח לְגַרְמֵ֣הּ׀‎
Munach legarmeh		פָּסֵ֣ק׀‎
Paseq		לְגַרְמֵ֣הּ׀‎
Legarmeh
Mercha ב֥‎U+05A5מֵרְכָ֥א‎
Merkha		מַאֲרִ֥יךְ‎
Maarikh		מַאֲרִ֥יךְ‎
Maarikh
Munach ב֣‎U+05A3מֻנַּ֣ח‎
Munach		שׁוֹפָר הוֹלֵ֣ךְ‎
Shofar holekh		שׁוֹפָר עִלּ֣וּי‎
Shofar 'illui
Mahpach ב֤‎U+05A4מַהְפַּ֤ך‎
Mahpakh		‏(שׁוֹפָר) מְהֻפָּ֤ךְ‎
(Shofar) mehuppakh		שׁוֹפָר הָפ֤וּךְ‎
Shofar hafukh
Darga ב֧‎U+05A7דַּרְגָּ֧א‎
Darga		דַּרְגָּ֧א‎
Darga		דַּרְגָּ֧א‎
Darga
Kadma ב֨‎U+05A8קַדְמָ֨א‎
Qadma		אַזְלָ֨א‎
Azla [27] 		קַדְמָ֨א‎
Qadma
Telisha ketana ב֩‎U+05A9תְּלִישָא קְטַנָּה֩ ‎
Telisha qetannah		תַּלְשָׁא֩‎
Talsha		תַּרְסָא֩‎
Tarsa
Mercha kefula ב֦‎U+05A6מֵרְכָא כְּפוּלָ֦ה‎
Merekha kefula		תְּרֵי טַעֲמֵ֦י‎
Tere taame		תְּרֵין חוּטְרִ֦ין‎
Teren chutrin
Yerach ben yomo ב֪‎U+05AAיֶרַח בֶּן יוֹמ֪וֹ‎
Yerach ben yomo		יָרֵחַ בֶּן יוֹמ֪וֹ‎
Yareach ben yomo		יֶרַח בֶּן יוֹמ֪וֹ‎
Yerach ben yomo

The following additional symbols are found in the three poetical books; their names do not differ among the various traditions.

NameSymbolUnicodeHebrew name in Unicode
Geresh muqdamב֝‎U+059Dגֵּרֵשׁ מֻקְדָּם֝‎
Atnach hafukhב֢‎U+05A2אֶתְנָח הָפוּךְ֢‎
Ole ב֫‎U+05ABעוֹלֶה֫‎
Illuy ב֬‎U+05ACעִלּוּי֬‎
Dechiב֭‎U+05ADדֶּחִי֭‎
Tsinnorit ב֘‎U+0598 [26] צִנּוֹרִת֘‎

Zarqa tables

For learning purposes, the t'amim are arranged in a traditional order of recitation called a "zarqa table", showing both the names and the symbols themselves. These tables are often printed at the end of a Chumash (Hebrew Pentateuch).

The order of recitation bears some relation to the groups in which the signs are likely to occur in a typical Biblical verse, but differs in detail between different communities. Below are traditional Ashkenazi and Sephardi orders, though variations are found in both communities.

Ashkenazic

TAMI MIKRA ASHKENAZ.svg

Sephardic

TAMI MIKRA MIZRAH.png

Meanings of the names

Azla
"Going away", because it is often the end of the phrase 'Qadma ve'Azla' (lit. "go forward and depart", "start and leave", perhaps for its sound).
Darga
"stairstep" from its shape or sound.
Etnaḥta/Atnaḥ
"Pause", "rest", because it is the primary break in a verse, marked by a short pause. Because etnaḥta marks the halfway point in a verse, citing biblical verses, particularly in the poetic sections, some scholars will refer to everything up to the etnaḥta as "a", and everything after as "b" (example: Genesis 1:1a).
Azla Geresh/Geresh
"Azla divorced" (if called "azla geresh") or "Expulsion, divorce" (if called just "geresh"). So called because it is often "partnered" with the Qadma (as an Azla) but here appears on its own, "separated."
Gershayim
Double Geresh, from its appearance and tune.
Mahpakh
"Turning round". Originally written like a sideways U, like a U turn. In printed books, it has a V shape, possibly because that was easier for the early printers to make. In Sephardi communities it is called shofar mehuppach, "reversed horn", either because of the above reason, or because it faces the other way from shofar holekh (munakh).
Merkha/Ma'arikh
"Lengthener", because it prolongs the word that follows. In modern usage it is sometimes translated as "comma", but this usage is taken from the cantillation's appearance, and is misleading because merkha is conjunctive, whereas a comma marks a break.
Merkha-kefulah/Tere Ta`ameh
"Kefulah" means "doubled", because it looks like two adjacent merkhas; alternatively, "Tere" means "two", because it looks like two adjacent Ma`arikhs. There are only five occurrences in the whole Torah: Gen. 27:25, Ex. 5:15, Lev. 10:1, Num. 14:3, and Num. 32:42.
Munakh/Shophar Holekh
"Resting", because it is shaped like a horn lying on its side.:In Sephardi communities it is called shofar holekh, "going-horn", because it appears as a horn, and makes the word it appears under "go" into the following word (i.e., it has the grammatical function of making the word secondary to the following one).:Munakh legarmeh "munakh by itself" is a disjunctive, used mainly before revia, but occasionally before a pazer. It may be distinguished from ordinary munakh by the dividing line (pesiq) following the word.
Pashta
"Stretching out", because its shape is an abstraction of a hand stretched forward.
Pazer
"Lavish" or "strewn", because it has a complex tune with many notes.:In Sephardi communities, its called Pazer Gadol, meaning "great Pazer", for the same reason.
Qadma
"precede", "before", "prior [one]", "going forward", "starting"; Always occurs at the beginning of a phrase (often before other conjunctives) with a shape like a hand leaning forward, identical to Pashta (see above). In particular it is the first member of the Qadma ve-Azla pair (see Azla, above).
Rebhiya`/Rabhiya`
Usually Aramaic for "fourth [in a sequence]", for obscure reasons. Likely due to its four-note tune.: Some Ashkenazi Jews call it "revi'i" by a process of folk etymology. Since in many printings it appears as a diamond-shape above the word, folk etymology associates "revi'a" with "ravua", meaning "square". In some printings it appears as a solid circle. A more likely explanation is that it is from the Aramaic for "crouching", referring to its position vertically above the word and its descending tone. [28]
Segol
"grape-bunch" (from its shape, which looks like a bunch of grapes), not to be confused with the vowel of the same name, which appears beneath a letter, whereas this appears above. The cantillation mark is an inversion of the vowel.
Shalshelet
"Chain", either from its appearance or because it is a long chain of notes. There are only four occurrences in the whole Torah: Gen. 19:16, 24:12, 39:8, and Lev. 8:23.
Sof Pasuk
"End [of] verse": The last note of every verse, sometimes called silluq (taking leave).
Telisha Gedolah/Qetannah
"Detached" because they are never linked to the following note as one musical phrase. Gedolah = great (long); Qetannah = small (short); [29] : Sephardim have different names for each of the two: Telisha Qetannah is called Tarsa; Telisha Gedolah is called Talshah, also meaning "Detached".:
Tevir
"broken", "downward tumble", because of its tune. Frequently paired with darga.
Tifqha/Tarqha
"Diagonal", or "hand-breadth". Originally drawn as a straight diagonal line. In printed books, it is curved, apparently to make it a mirror image of Mercha, with which it is usually paired (the two together could be regarded as forming a slur). The name "tifcha" may be an allusion to a hand signal. [30] :Sephardim call it Tarqha, meaning "dragging", due to its tune, and possibly its grammatical function.:
Yetibh
Short for Shofar yetibh, "Resting horn" or "sitting horn", probably because of its shape of a horn sitting upright.:
Zaqef Qaton/Gadol
"Upright/erect", from their vertical shape, or from their grammatical function to separate a phrase whatever follows.:Zaqef Gadol = great Zaqef, named so for its longer tune and because it more strongly separates the word as its own phrase.:Zaqef Qatton = small Zaqef, named so for its relatively shorter tune and weaker grammatical function as compared to Zaqef Gadol.:
Zarqa
"Scatterer", because of its complex tune of a scattering of notes.

Verse 90 of Parashat Mas`ei (Numbers 35 verse 5) contains the following two notes, found nowhere else in the Torah:

Qarne Farah
"Horns of a cow" named so because it resembles the horns of a cow.:
Yerach ben Yomo
"Moon of its day" [i.e. day-old moon] because it looks like a crescent moon; sometimes called galgal (circle).

Sequences

The rules governing the sequence of cantillation marks are as follows.

  1. A verse is divided into two half verses, the first ending with, and governed by, etnachta, and the second ending with, and governed by, sof pasuk. A very short verse may have no etnachta and be governed by sof pasuk alone.
  2. A half verse may be divided into two or more phrases marked off by second-level disjunctives.
  3. A second-level phrase may be divided into two or more sub-phrases marked off by third-level disjunctives.
  4. A third-level phrase may be divided into two or more sub-phrases marked off by fourth-level disjunctives.
  5. The last subdivision within a phrase must always be constituted by a disjunctive one level down, chosen to fit the disjunctive governing the phrase and called (in the Table below) its "near companion". Thus, a disjunctive may be preceded by a disjunctive of its own or a higher level, or by its near companion, but not by any other disjunctive of a lower level than its own.
  6. The other subdivisions within a phrase are constituted by the "default" disjunctive for the next lower level (the "remote companion").
  7. Any disjunctive may or may not be preceded by one or more conjunctives, varying with the disjunctive in question.
  8. A disjunctive constituting a phrase on its own (i.e. not preceded by either a near companion or a conjunctive) may be substituted by a stronger disjunctive of the same level, called in the Table the "equivalent isolated disjunctive".
Main disjunctivePreceding
conjunctive(s)		Nearest preceding lower level
disjunctive ("near companion")		Other lower level disjunctives
("remote companion")		Equivalent isolated
disjunctive
First level disjunctives
Sof pasukMerchaTifchaZaqef qaton
EtnachtaMunachTifchaZaqef qaton
Second level disjunctives
SegolMunachZarqaReviaShalshelet
Zaqef qatonMunachPashtaReviaZaqef gadol
TifchaMercha;
Darga Mercha-kefulah		TevirRevia
Third level disjunctives
ReviaMunach;
Darga Munach		Munach legarmehGeresh, Telisha gedolah, Pazer
ZarqaMunach or Mercha;
Qadma Munach or Qadma Mercha		Geresh/Azla/GershayimTelisha gedolah, Pazer
PashtaMahpach;
Qadma Mahpach
(occasionally Mercha or Qadma Mercha)		Geresh/Azla/GershayimTelisha gedolah, PazerYetiv
TevirMercha or Darga;
Qadma Mercha or
Qadma Darga		Geresh/Azla/GershayimTelisha gedolah, Pazer
Fourth level disjunctives
Geresh/AzlaQadma;
Telisha qetannah Qadma

Gershayim
Telisha gedolahMunach
PazerMunach
Qarne farahYerach ben yomo

Groups

The following sequences are commonly found:

First-level phrases

(Mercha) Tifcha (Mercha) Sof-Pasuk [Sephardic: Ma׳ariqh Tarqha Ma׳ariqh Sof-Pasuq]
The group that occurs at the end of each pasuk (verse), and always includes the Sof-Pasuk at the very minimum. Either or both of the merchas may be omitted.
(Mercha) Tifcha (Munach) Etnachta [Sephardic: Ma'ariqh Tarqha Shofar-holekh Atnaqh]
One of the most common groups, but can only appear once in each pasuk. Tifcha can appear without a Mercha, but Mercha cannot appear without a Tifcha (or other following disjunctive). Etnachta can appear without a Munach, but Munach cannot appear without an Etnachta (or other following disjunctive). Munach-Etnachta can appear without a Mercha-Tifcha, but a Mercha-Tifcha cannot appear without a Munach-Etnachta (or Etnachta on its own).:

Second-level phrases

(Mahpach) Pashta (Munach) Zaqef-qaton [Sephardic: Mehuppakh Qadma Shofar-holekh Zaqef-qaton]
One of the most common groups. Pashta can appear without a Mahpach, but a Mahpach cannot appear without a Pashta. Alternatively, Yetiv can appear on its own in place of Pashta. Zaqef Qaton can appear without a Munach, but a Munach cannot appear without a Qaton (or other following disjunctive).
Zakef-gadol
Not a part of a group; replaces a Zaqef-qaton sequence.
[Munach] Zarqa [Munach] Segol [Sephardic: Shofar-holekh Zarqa Shofar-holekh Segolta]
Zarqa only occurs before Segol.
Shalshelet
Not a part of a group; replaces a Segol sequence. Occurs only four times in the Torah, and always at the beginning of a verse. [31] :

Third-level phrases

Munach Paseq Munach Rebhia [Sephardic: Shofar-holekh Paseq Shofar-holekh Rabhia`]
The following combinations occur: Revia on its own; Munach Revia; Darga Munach Revia; Munach-with-Pesiq Revia; Munach-with-Pesiq Munach Revia. (Munach with Pesiq is a disjunctive, separate from Munach proper, and also known as Munach legarmeh, munach on its own.)
Darga Tebhir
Tevir is found either alone or preceded by Darga or Mercha. Darga occasionally precedes other combinations (e.g. Darga Munach Rebhia).
Mercha-Kefula (Sephardic Tere ta'ame)
Occasionally preceded by Darga, but usually on its own. Occurs only five times in the Torah, and once in Haftarah. Its function appears to be similar to Tebhir.:

Fourth-level phrases

Kadma v'Azla [Sephardic: Azla Geirish]
This pair is known as such when found together, and may precede a Mahpach, a Revi'a group or a Tevir group. A Kadma can also be found without an Azla before a Mahpach, and an Azla without a Kadma is known as Azla-Geresh or simply Geresh. Gershayim on its own fulfils the same function as Kadma v'Azla, in that it can precede either a Mahpach, a Revia group or a Tevir group.
Pazer
Not considered part of a group, but usually followed by a Telisha Ketannah or a Telisha Gedolah. It may be preceded by one or more Munach's.
Telisha-Ketannah/Gedolah [Sephardic: Talsha/Tirsa]
Not considered a part of a group, usually appears individually, sometimes after a Pazer. It often precedes Kadma.
Yerach-ben-yomo Karnei-farah [Sephardic: Yareyach-ben-yomo Karneh-phara]
Occurs only once in the whole Torah, in the parashah Masei, on the words alpayim b'amah (two thousand cubits). It is somewhat equivalent to Munach Pazer.

Psalms, Proverbs and Job

The system of cantillation signs used throughout the Tanakh is replaced by a very different system for these three poetic books. Many of the signs may appear the same or similar at first glance, but most of them serve entirely different functions in these three books. (Only a few signs have functions similar to what they do in the rest of the Tanakh.) The short narratives at the beginning and end of Job use the "regular" system, but the bulk of the book (the poetry) uses the special system. For this reason, these three books are referred to as sifrei emet (Books of Truth), the word emet meaning "truth", but also being an acronym (אמ״ת) for the first letters of the three books (Iyov, Mishle, Tehillim).

A verse may be divided into one, two or three stichs. In a two-stich verse, the first stich ends with atnach. In a three-stich verse, the first stich ends with oleh ve-yored, which looks like mahpach (above the word) followed by tifcha, on either the same word or two consecutive words, and the second stich ends with atnach.

Major disjunctives within a stich are revia qaton (immediately before oleh ve-yored), revia gadol (elsewhere) and tzinnor (which looks like zarqa). The first (or only) stich in a verse may be divided by dechi, which looks like tifcha but goes under the first letter of the word to the right of the vowel sign. The last stich in a two- or three-stich verse may be divided by revia megurash, which looks like geresh combined with revia.

Minor disjunctives are pazer gadol, shalshelet gedolah, azla legarmeh (looking like qadma) and mehuppach legarmeh (looking like mahpach): all of these except pazer are followed by a pesiq. Mehuppach without a pesiq sometimes occurs at the beginning of a stich.

All other accents are conjunctives.

Mishnah and Talmud

Some manuscripts of early Rabbinic literature contain marks for partial or systematic cantillation. This is true of the Sifra, and especially of Genizah fragments of the Mishnah. [32]

Today, many communities have a special tune for the Mishnaic passage "Bammeh madliqin" in the Friday night service. Otherwise, there is often a customary intonation used in the study of Mishnah or Talmud, somewhat similar to an Arabic mawwal, but this is not reduced to a precise system like that for the Biblical books. Recordings have been made for Israeli national archives, and Frank Alvarez-Pereyre has published a book-length study of the Syrian tradition of Mishnah reading on the basis of these recordings.

On the relationship between the cantillation marks found in some manuscripts and the intonation used in Ashkenazi Talmud study, see Zelda Kahan Newman, The Jewish Sound of Speech: Talmudic Chant, Yiddish Intonation and the Origins of Early Ashkenaz. [33]

In Christian missionary uses

The Jewish-born Christian convert Ezekiel Margoliouth translated the New Testament to Hebrew in 1865 with cantillation marks added. It is the only completely cantillated translation of the New Testament. The translation was published by the London Jews' Society. [34]

Notes

  1. ↑ In more than one tradition, the melodic outline of darga tevir is similar to that of (mahpach) pashta zaqef qaton, though their syntactical functions are not quite the same.
  2. ↑ Segal, J. B., The Diacritical Point and the Accents in Syriac: Oxford 1953, repr. 2003 ISBN   1-59333-032-4, ISBN   978-1-59333-032-3.
  3. ↑ Masoreten des Westens.
  4. ↑ Technically, qadma/azla before gerish is a different sign from qadma before other disjunctives, even though they look identical. Sephardim reserve azla for the first of these: the second is qadma meḥabber.
  5. ↑ See the recording on the website of the National Library of Israel; Torah reading begins at about 9:15, and it is followed by Haftarah.
  6. ↑ Specimens of both may be found here. It is possible that the Mosul melody represents the older Iraqi tradition and that the Baghdad melody was imported from Syria following the appointment of Chief Rabbi Sadka Bekhor Hussein in 1743.
  7. ↑ Ross, M. S., Europäisches Zentrum für Jüdische Musik, CD-Projekt: "Synagogale Musik der romaniotischen Juden Griechenlands" -ongoing/2016-
  8. ↑ Yemenite Synagogues in America
  9. ↑ Dalia Cohen and Daniel Weill. "Progress in Deductive Research on the Original Performance of Tiberian Accents (Te'amim)." Proceedings of the Ninth World Conference of Jewish Studies, Division D, Vol. II (Jerusalem, 1986): 265–80; cf. also, e.g., the review by P.T. Daniels, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 112, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep., 1992), p. 499.
  10. ↑ Jeffrey Burns, The Music of Psalms, Proverbs and Job in the Hebrew Bible (Jüdische Musik 9), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2011, ISBN   344706191X.
  11. ↑ The tables in the 1905 Jewish Encyclopedia article on cantillation sets out a single melody for "Syria and Egypt".
  12. ↑ http://www.orahsaddiqim.org/Liturgy/Cantillation.shtml Archived March 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine and recordings by Moshe Dabbah on http://pizmonim.org/.
  13. ↑ These are listed in Rodrigues Pereira, 'Hochmat Shelomo.
  14. ↑ Syrian Jews have a tradition of prolonging tarcha (tifcha) in certain verses, largely coinciding with those which Spanish and Portuguese Jews recite in High Na'um. For details, see the http://www.pizmonim.org website, under the tab "Torah readings".
  15. ↑ "ששי לפי סדר הפרשיות טקסט+שמע". Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
  16. ↑ Compare the distinction between the murattal and mujawwad modes of Quran recitation.
  17. ↑ https://chazzanut-esnoga.org/Miscellaneous/Neginoth/parasha_and_haftarah.htm, seventh bullet point and links there shown.
  18. ↑ The article on "Cantillation" in the Jewish Encyclopedia shows tunes for "Prophets (other readings)" for both the Western Sephardi and the Baghdadi traditions.
  19. ↑ The Culmus Project - Taamey Culmus
  20. ↑ Cardo - Google Fonts
  21. ↑ Ezra SIL - SIL Language Technology
  22. ↑ Society of Biblical Literature - Biblical Fonts - SBL BibLit Font
  23. ↑ Society of Biblical Literature - Biblical Fonts - SBL Hebrew Font
  24. ↑ Taamey D font
  25. ↑ "Download Code2000".
  26. 1 2 Zarqa/tsinnor and tsinnorit marks are wrongly named in Unicode. To encode a zarqa/tsinnor, use Unicode "HEBREW ACCENT ZINOR" (U+05AE), and to encode a tsinnorit use "HEBREW ACCENT ZARQA" (U+0598). See Unicode Technical Note #27: "Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names", and specially Appendix A inside it.
  27. ↑ It is called azla before gerish and qadma meḥabber in all other positions.
  28. ↑ Lier, Gudrun, "The Revia in the Context of Decoding Masoretic Accents", Journal of Semitics, 2011, Vol 21/1, pp. 28-51.
  29. ↑ In the Sephardic tradition, both are equally referred to as talsha and the melodies are frequently confused. When it is desired to refer unambiguously to telisha qetannah (the conjunctive), terms such as talsa or tilsa are used, on the analogy with the distinction between the letters shin and sin (the sin has a dot on the left and telisha qetannah appears on the left of the word); another term used for both accents is tirtzah. Which term is used for which accent varies among communities and even among individuals.
  30. ↑ In Sephardic and Oriental communities it is called tarḥa, meaning "dragging" or "effort". Hence the proverbial phrase "after tarḥa, atnaḥ", after effort comes rest: see the series of puns in the poem on pp. 99-100, Shir u-Shbaḥah Hallel ve-Zimrah Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine .
  31. ↑ http://www.divreinavon.com/pdf/Shalshelet1.pdf Symbolic Interpretation of the Shalshelet
  32. ↑ For a full study see Israel Yeivin, Cantillation of the Oral Law. Leshonenu 24 (1960), pp. 47-231 (Hebrew).
  33. ↑ Newman, Zelda Kahan (2000). "The Jewish Sound of Speech: Talmudic Chant, Yiddish Intonation and the Origins of Early Ashkenaz". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 90 (3/4): 293–336. doi:10.2307/1454758. ISSN   0021-6682.
  34. ↑ Scanned versions of this translation can be found here , here and here "Vine of David | Remnant Repository : Ezekiel Margoliouth". Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2011.

Related Research Articles

The Munach, translating to English as "to rest," is a common cantillation sound. In Sephardi and Oriental traditions it is often called Shofar holekh. It is marked with a right angle below the corresponding word.

The sof passuk is the cantillation mark that occurs on the last word of every verse, or passuk, in the Tanakh. Some short verses contain only members of the sof passuk group.

Etnachta is one of the most common cantillation marks in the Torah and Haftarah. It is the anchor for the Etnachta group, which in full consists of four different trope sounds, not all of which are always present. These are Mercha, Tipcha, Munach, and its namesake Etnachta.

Mercha is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted.

Tipcha is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted. In Sephardic and Oriental traditions, it is called Tarcha, meaning "dragging" or "effort".

Yerach ben yomo, is a cantillation mark that appears only one time in the entire Torah, and once in the Book of Esther. In these occurrences, it is followed immediately by a Karne parah, another mark that is found only once in the entire Torah. The symbol for this trope is an upside-down Etnachta.

Karne parah is a cantillation mark found only once in the entire Torah, and once in the Book of Esther, immediately following the identically unique Yerach ben yomo.

Zakef Gadol is a cantillation mark that is commonly found in the Torah and Haftarah. It is represented by a vertical line on the left and two dots one on top of the other on the right.

Revia is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other biblical texts.

Zakef Katan, often referred to simply as katan, is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. The note is the anchor and final one of the Katon group, which also can include the Mapach, Pashta, Munach, or Yetiv. It is one of the most common cantillation marks. There is no limit to the number of times the Katan group can appear in a verse, and often, multiple Katan groups appear in succession. The most times in succession the group occurs is four.

Tevir is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other Hebrew biblical books. It can be found independently or it can follow any number of other cantillation marks, very commonly a Mercha or Darga.

Mahpach is a common cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. It is part of the Katan group, and it frequently begins the group. The symbol for the Mahpach is <.

Pashta is a common cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. It is part of the Katan group. Its mark symbol is identical to that of the Kadma.

Kadma is a common cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. It can be found by itself preceding certain trope groups, or together with a Geresh, in which case, the pair is known as "Kadma-V'Azla."

Pazer is a cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. The pazer is generally followed by a Telisha ketana or gedola; on rare occasions when it is followed by another Pazer.

Telisha is a cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. There are two versions of the Telisha: Telisha ketana and Telisha gedola, the latter of which has a longer melody. The Telisha trope can occur independently or can follow a Pazer or one of several other trope sounds. The Telisha ketana must be followed by a Kadma.

Zarka or zarqa is a cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. It is usually found together with the Segol, with a Munach preceding either or both. The symbol for a Zarka is a 90 degrees rotated, inverted S. The Hebrew word זַרְקָא translates as "throwing" and the melody is ascending in Moroccan and Sefardic tradition and descending in the Ashkenazic.

Segol, is a cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. The Segol occurs together with a preceding Zarka, sometimes with a Munach preceding one or both.

Geresh is a cantillation mark found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books of the Hebrew Bible. It is most often found together with the Kadma, in which case the pair is known as Kadma-V'Azla, but it can also be found independently, in which case it is referred to as Azla Geresh or simply as Geresh.

Moroccan cantillation (also referred to as Moroccan Te'amim, refers primarily to the style and tune used by Jews of Moroccan descent when reading the Torah. It may also refer to the tune used when reading the other books of the Tanach, and to a lesser degree, the Mishna. The Moroccan rite is distinct from other Sephardic, Yemenite and Ashkenazic cantillations and is considered to be a category unto itself.

References

Bibliography

Grammar and masorah

  • Wikisource-logo.svg  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §15
  • Dotan, Aaron, ed. (1979) [1963], Sefer diqduqe ha-te'amim le-rabbi Aharon Ben-Moshe Ben-Asher, Jerusalem: Hebrew University, earlier edition Leipzig, Hebrew books.org.
  • ha-Naqdan, Moshe (1822) [1847], Darche ha-Niqqud ve-ha-neginot, Hanover: Hebrew books.org, earlier edition Vilna .
  • bar Kalonymus, Yosef (1886) [1485], Berliner, A (ed.), Ta'ame eme"t baḥaruzim (in Hebrew and German), Berlin: Hebrew books.org, a medieval poem setting out the rules for the three poetical books; original in Maḥzor of Casal Maggiore.
  • ben Bil'am, Judah (1859) [1556], Sha'ar ta'ame sheloshah sifre eme"t, Amsterdam: Hebrew books.org, original from Paris.
  • Breuer, Mordechai (1981), Ta'amei hammiqra be-21 sefarim uvesifrei emet (in Hebrew), Jerusalem{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Heidenheim, Wolf (1808), Sefer Mishpete ha-Ta'amim (in Hebrew), Rödelheim: Hebrew books.org.
  • Wickes, William (1887), A Treatise on the Accentuation of the Twenty-One so-called Prose Books of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, hdl: 2027/mdp.39015012205574 , ISBN   9780790527574 .
  • Ginsburg, Christian David (1897), Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible, Trinitarian Bible Society.
  • Kahle, Paul E (1966) [1913], Masoreten des Ostens: Die Altesten Punktierten Handschriften des Alten Testaments und der Targume.
  • ———————— (2005) [1927], Masoreten des Westens.
  • Park, Sung Jin (2020), The Fundamentals of Hebrew Accents: Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Park, Sung Jin (2014). ""Pointing to the Accents": The Functional Development of the Masoretic Accents in the Hebrew Bible". Hebrew Studies. 55: 73–88. doi:10.1353/hbr.2014.0022. S2CID   170240065.
  • Park, Sung Jin (2013). "Application of the Tiberian Accentuation System for Colometry of Biblical Hebrew Poetry". Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages. 39 (2): 113–127.
  • Price, James (1990), The Syntax of Masoretic Accents in the Hebrew Bible, E. Mellen Press.
  • Trompelt, Kevin (2022). "Die exegetische Bedeutung der masoretischen Akzenten". Trumah: Zeitschrift der Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg. 25: 115–137.Trompelt, Kevin (2022), "Winter Verlag", Trumah, 25 (25): 115–137.
  • Yeivin, Israel (1980), Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah, trans. EJ Revell, Scholars Press, ISBN   0-89130-373-1 ., 1985
  • Yeivin, Israel (1985), The Hebrew Language Tradition as Reflected in the Babylonian Vocalization.

Music (general and comparative)

Khazdan E. (2021) From Masoretic Signs to Cantillation Marks: Initial Steps (On the Virtual Dialogue between Alfonso de Zamora and Johannes Reuchlin). Lietuvos muzikologija. T. 22.

Polish/Lithuanian melody

  • Neeman, JL (1955), The Tunes of the Bible – Musical Principles of the Biblical Accentuation (in Hebrew), Tel Aviv{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Binder, AW (1959), Biblical Chant, New York{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Jacobson, Joshua (2002), Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation.
  • Portnoy, Marshall; Wolff, Josée (2008) [2000], The Art of Torah Cantillation – A Step-by-step Guide to Chanting Torah (2nd ed.), URJ, ISBN   978-0-8074-0734-9, archived from the original on June 5, 2012, with CD.
  • ————————————————; Wolff, Josée (2002), The Art of Cantillation – A Step-by-step Guide to Chanting Haftarot and M'gillot, vol. 2, URJ, ISBN   978-0-8074-0756-1 .
  • Kohn, S, Learn to Lein: A Step-by-Step Tutorial Program for Developing Requisite Torah-Reading Skills, ISBN   1-58330-913-6 .

Other melodies

  • Ridler, Vivian, ed. (1965) [5725], Book of Prayer of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation, London, vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press (since reprinted): the parashah and haftarah melodies are set out at the end of the volume.
  • Sharvit, Uri (1982), The Musical Realization of Biblical Cantillation Symbols in the Jewish Yemenite Tradition (Yuval: Studies of the Jewish Music Research Centre), pp. 179–210.
  • Alvarez-Pereyre, Frank (1990), La Transmission Orale de la Mishnah. Une méthode d'analyse appliquée à la tradition d'Alep (in French), Jerusalem{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Rodrigues Pereira, Martin (1994), Hochmat Shelomoh (Wisdom of Solomon): Torah Cantillations according to the Spanish and Portuguese Custom, New York, ISBN   0-933676-37-9 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Tunkel, Victor (2004), The Music of the Hebrew Bible – The Western Ashkenazi Tradition, Tymsder Publ., ISBN   978-0-9531104-8-3 .
  • Smith, Chani (2004), Learn to Leyn, The Cantillation of the Hebrew Bible, London{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (with CD: western Ashkenazic melody).
  • The Western Ashkenazi melody is also set out in the Hertz, Chumash .

See also

Textual resources

Wikimedia cantillation projects (recordings)

The recordings held at the Commons are organized by the Vayavinu Bamikra Project at Wikisource in the following languages:

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