Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jason Hare <jaihare AT gmail.com>]

Shalom Yitzhak,

> The blessing you quote is found already in the Mishneh Torah:
> http://mechon-mamre.org/i/2207n.htm#10 (ch 7 vs 10)
> Here, you see the vocalization as provided by the Baladi
> Yemenite community: http://www.mechon-mamre.org/about.htm

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "already." The prayer
structures were in place long before the Mishneh Torah was written
(late 12th Century). Since this was penned, however, you'll notice
that the Sephardi siddur has adopted a small addition, in which they
add to וְצֶאֱצָאֵינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי עַמְּךָ כָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל another
generation and make it longer (which I think sounds great when
reciting the blessing!): וְצֶאֱצָאֵינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי צֶאֱצָאֵינוּ
וְצֶאֱצָאֵי עַמְּךָ כָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל. The Rambam was Sephardi, and
this is reflected in his על דברי תורה instead of לעסוק בדברי תורה (as
is found in the Ashkenazi siddur).

> You can see they read the saw for $mk but differently for twrtk.
> $mk with a seghol is in a pausal position.

Definitely. I can see that it might be understood as pausal, since it
falls in the middle of the line. Have you noticed how many pausal
forms appear in the Sephardi siddur? I don't know what your background
is, but I sometimes attend a Sephardi synagogue where some of my
friends pray, and all of the לָךְ forms where I expect לְךָ are just
surprising.

> On the other hand, twrtk is interesting.  Rinat Yisrael has the
> schewa in this case.  What you might be seeing is an attempt
> to represent the vocal schewa.  In Ashkenazi (non Tiberian)
> pronunciation, the schewa following the long qamats under the
> resh was pronounced vocal and began a new syllable.  This
> qamats was usually pronounced as an [e] in Ashkenazic
> pronunciation and the interchange between vocal schewa and
> seghol appears even in early prayerbooks.  Ilan Eldar notes
> this for the beginning of a word in Edah veLashon 4, The
> Hebrew Language Tradition in Medieval Ashkenaz (ca 950 -
> 1350 CE), vol I. Phonology and Vocalization, p. 73, with
> examples.

It seems that sometimes a pausal form is thrown in just to create a
classical feel. Do you think the -ach (instead of -cha) endings have
something to do with Aramaic influence?

Regards,
Jason Hare