BOOK

a softened Thau original: "thau raphatum," referring to the letter Tav without a dote, which in some traditions creates a "th" or "s" sound, that is, a lisping and hissing Thau. I say it like this: Shin with a Tsere vowel point for a long "e" sound makes "she." Join the hissing Thau and it becomes Sheth [שֵׁת]. I cannot express this hissing sound in our script unless I place a horizontal line over the letter.

Enosh [אֱנוֹשׁ] has two syllables. The first, Aleph with a Hatef Segol a composite vowel indicating a very short "e" sound, makes a slanted and short "e" because of the Hatef. That syllable produces a throaty, shortened sound, "En." The second is Nun with a Vav and a Holam the "o" vowel, which makes "no." Join the right-hand "foaming" Shin, and thus "nosh" arises. Combine the individual parts and it becomes Enosh.

Keinan [קֵינָן] has two syllables. The first, Qoph with a Tsere, makes "ke," to which a Yod is joined as a diphthong, which is fifth in number among the vowels, and it becomes "kei." The second, Nun with a Qamets, makes a slanted "na." By adding another Nun (the letter "n"), it becomes "nan." Combine the parts and it becomes Keinan. The final Nun has a different shape than the one before it because it is one of the five terminal consonants noted above.

Mahalaleel [מַהֲלַלְאֵל] has five syllables. The first, Mem with a Pathah the "a" vowel, makes a straight "ma." The second, He with a Hatef Pathah, makes a lightly shortened "ha" because of the Hatef. The third, Lamed with a Pathah, makes "la." The fourth, Lamed with a Sheva a vowel point representing a very brief, neutral vowel, whispers a sudden "e." It is pronounced and is not silent because when a vowel point follows, the Sheva is always pronounced, as was clear in the previous chapter. The fifth, Aleph with a Tsere, makes a straight "e." By joining a Lamed (the letter "l"), it will be "el." Combine the parts and it becomes Mahalaleel.

Jared [יֶרֶד] has two syllables. The first, Yod with a Qamets, makes a slanted "ya." In this case, Yod is a consonant. For although it is naturally a vowel letter, its use here is as a consonant. Regularly, Yod at the beginning of a syllable is always an active consonant. Remember this, student. The second, Resh with a Segol the "e" vowel, makes a broad or slanted "re." By joining a Daleth (the letter "d"), it will be "red." Combine the parts and it becomes Jared.

Enoch [חֲנוֹךְ] has two syllables. The first, Heth with a Hatef Pathah, makes a straight and short "ha." It is straight because of the Pathah and short because of the Hatef. It must be pronounced with a strong and panting breath because it is a rough breathing original: "dasia," a Greek term for the aspirated "h" sound and a strong aspiration. When this is translated into Latin, it should be written by us with an "h." For the other type, the smooth breathing original: "psile," the Greek term for an unaspirated vowel start, is not written among the Latins; instead, only the vowel that it breathes upon is written. The second, Nun with a Vav and a Holam, makes "no." By joining a Kaph with a Raphe a diacritic indicating a soft, fricative pronunciation like "ch" in "loch" (the "ch" sound), it will be "noch." Combine the parts and it becomes Hanoch. The elongated Kaph does not look like the form of the letter placed in the standard alphabet list because it is one of the five final letters.

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