Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Herman Meester" <crazymulgogi AT gmail.com>]

2006/4/4, Steve Miller <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>:
> John J. Owens' Analytical Key to the OT says the suffix of פֵאֲרָֽךְ in Isa.
> 55:5 is 2ms pausal. Could someone explain to me, what does "pausal" mean?
> Thanks!
> -Steve Miller
> Detroit

A syllable is called "pausal" when it is in a position just preceding
a short pause in recitation. Normally, this would go unnoticed if we
don't look at the accents, which I admit don't do much either.
Occasionally, accents are meaningful to the text. The pausal version
of "....kha" is "...akh". Accents will point to this.
This "accentology" (my word) is quite a league of its own. If you'd
like to know more about it, maybe you have the BHS? The introduction
will mention something, such as their names to begin with. If you want
to use the accents for singing, best is to go to a chazzan, not to a
book ;)

regards,
Herman Meester, R.dam,
Netherlands