On the Rudiments of Hebrew

BOOK ONE

prophet. Thus, it must be observed in groups of three connected letters, if any are found, for only the third will be vocalized with the sound it imitates. Each of the two preceding letters has the sheva A vowel point ( ְ ) that can either be silent or sound like a very short "e." point placed beneath it, which remains silent and rests. This is seen in the clusters stran and strepan. These appear in the words ahastran and ahastrepan in Esther 8 and Ezra 3 and 8. However, in other cases that are not connected, whether in the first or middle syllables, the sheva is not silent but makes a soft sound. Examples include [Hebrew: יָמִין] original: "יָמִין" yamin, meaning right hand; [Hebrew: דְּבָרִים] original: "דְּבָרִים" debarim, meaning words; and [Hebrew: לְשׁוֹנוֹת] original: "לְשׁוֹנוֹת" leshonoth, meaning languages. Similarly, in the word [Hebrew: יְלַמְּדוּ] original: "יְלַמְּדוּ" yelammedu, meaning they will teach, the letters mem The letter מ. and daleth The letter ד. are not connected.

At the end of syllables and words, the sheva is always silent, whether there are several consonants or only one. An example is [Hebrew: בֵּלְטְשַׁצַּר] original: "בֵּלְטְשַׁצַּר", which is Baltschazer in Daniel 4. This is the name of Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. It has three syllables. The first ends in two consonants, "l" and "t." Each of these is written with a sheva. However, no vowel sound is read. Instead, the power of both consonants serves the patah A short "a" vowel point ( ַ ). point marked under the letter beth The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet: ב.. Therefore, it is read as balt.

Another example of the rule at the end of a word where the sheva points are silent is the name of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7. It is written [Hebrew: אַרְתַּחְשַׂשְׂתָּא] original: "אַרְתַּחְשַׂשְׂתָּא" and read as Arthahschasst. You should judge a single consonant that ends a syllable or a word in the same way. The sheva point marked beneath it is not pronounced but remains silent. Examples include [Hebrew: לִבְנֶה] original: "לִבְנֶה", the name of a tree Likely the storax or white poplar. which is pronounced libne. Also [Hebrew: כַּפְתּוֹר] original: "כַּפְתּוֹר" Kaphtor, meaning a bowl or knob. Also [Hebrew: יִשָּׂשכָר] original: "יִשָּׂשכָר" Issaschar, which we read as Issachar.

This rule regarding the middle of a word has two very important exceptions. It is best not to be ignorant of them. The first exception occurs when two consonants are placed sequentially in the middle of a word, and the first contains a dagesh A dot ( ּ ) placed in a letter to indicate it is doubled or has a harder sound. point and has a sheva written beneath it. In that case, the consonant is pronounced strongly as if it were doubled because of the dagesh, as shown above. The sheva is then pronounced in its usual way, very briefly. An example is [Hebrew: סִיסְרָא] original: "סִיסְרָא", which is read as the three-syllable word Sissera in Judges 4. However, this is not the case in [Hebrew: עֶזְרָא] original: "עֶזְרָא" that is...