[HANASHIR:10196] Re: L'cha Dodi pronunciation

[HG <tsayeret...>]

A disagreement broke out last night at my choir rehearsal regarding 
pronunciation of two words in L'cha Dodi.  They wanted to know why, in the 
chorus (L'cha dodi likrat kala), bride is spelled with a kaph and is pronounced 
"kala" whereas it is spelled with a chaph in the Bo-i V'Shalom verse when we 
sing "bo-i chala".  

There are some differences between Modern and Biblical Hebrew grammar. In 
Biblical Hebrew (i.e. also liturgical Hebrew) the "Khala" after "bo'i" is not a 
beginning of a word, thus does not get a Dagesh kal. 
The same issue you can find in the prayer "emet ve'emuna" which comes directly 
after the "Shema". There there is a verse "mi khamokha ba'Elim...". In Modern 
Hebrew it would be "mi kamokha", but the same rule aplies here too - "mi 
khamokha" is in Biblical Hebrew like one word and not two.

The second issue was on the pronunciation of the word "balah" (husband) in the 
Bo-i V'Shalom verse.
Again - it is a matter of Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew grammar. In modern 
Hebrew, an "ayin" cannot have only a "shva" under it, but in Biblical Hebrew it 
can. Thus the "ayin" is not spoken out as in modern Hebrew "ba-ala" but also 
not completely silent, thus it is something like "ba-la".

Hope this helps
Hadass