[HANASHIR:9706] Re: HANASHIR digest 1324

[Adam Schaffer <aschaffer73...>]

While I like all of the mystical/midrashic explanations that people
have put forth, I have learned there's also a petty little grammatical
reason that the pronounciation changes from line one to line two.  It
has something to do with the rules of the "dagesh" (that dot that makes
a vet turn into a bet, a kaf turn into a chaf, etc.)

There are many quirky rules that determine whether a "beged kefet"
letter (bet, gimel, daled, kaf, pay, and tav), gets a dagesh.  Most of
them are pretty wacky, but the one most of us recognize is that if one
of those letters (like a kaf/chaf) appears at the beginning of a word,
it gets the dagesh (99% of the time).

Now look closely at the mi chamocha text (be sure to use a text that
has vowels).  You'll notice that in the first line, the word is
written:

mi-chamocha (there's a dash connecting the two words)

while in the second it's:

mi kamocha (no dash)

In Hebrew, when words are connected by a dash, they're treated as just
one word.  Therefore, the kaf/chaf in the first example is considered
to be the third letter of the word "mi-chamocha," so it doesn't get the
dagesh.

In the second line, the words "mi" and "kamocha" aren't connected by
the dash, so they are treated as two separate words.  Therefore, the
kaf/chaf is treated as the *FIRST* letter of the word "kamocha" and it
gets the dagesh.


Now how things got to be that way, that I have no idea about.  That's
where the great midrash comes in :-).

Hope this was helpful to you.  If I've confused anyone (or everyone)
just drop me a line at aschaffer (at) iname(dot)com(dot)

Happy singing everyone, and shana tova.

B'shalom,
Adam Schaffer
aschaffer (at) iname(dot)com


> A choir I am working with asked me to clarify the reasons why we sing
> Mi Chamocha ba-elim A----, and then Mi Kamocha.  I have been told it
> is a fine point of Hebrew grammar but they would like a clear
> explanation.  Can anyone help?
> 
> Rachelle


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