• Source: Simanim 5.1

  The shuruq at the start of a word that comes before a sheva or before the letters bet, mem, pe it is called a melofum-genuvah because it is read as if there was an alef before it.

• Rule: vav with dagesh at start of word of word is shuruq

If a letter doesn't have a vowel on it, but the next letter is a vav with a dagesh (and no vowels of its own), then this letter's vowel is shuruq.

• Source: Simanim 2.1

  A vav as part of a melofum or holam.

• Source: HaMillon 1.3

  vav - an indication of the vowel /u/ or /o/

• Source: Gesenius 12.1.note

  dagesh in vav is easily distinguished from shuruq, which never admits a vowel or sheva under the vav, or the letter next preceding it.

• Rule: vav with dagesh NOT after vowel is shuruq

If a letter doesn't have a vowel on it, but the next letter is a vav with a holam (and no dagesh), then this letter's vowel is holam-male-vav.

• Source: Simanim 2.1

  A vav as part of a melofum or holam.

• Source: HaMillon 1.3

  vav - an indication of the vowel /u/ or /o/

• Rule: vav with holam NOT after vowel is holam-male-vav

• Source: Simanim 1.1

  • hiriq with a yod is hiriq-gadol and is a long vowel;
  • hiriq without a yod is hiriq-qatan and is a short vowel

• Rule: hiriq before bare yod is hiriq-male

• Source: HaMillon 1.3

  alef - essentially an indication of the vowel /a/ as in [examples with qamats, patah] and sometimes also for other vowels as in [examples with segol, tsere, holam, shuruq].

• Rule: bare alef after qamats|patah|segol|tsere|holam|shuruq is eim-qria-alef

• Source: HaMillon 1.3

  he - an indication of the vowel /a/ or /e/ at the ends of words as in [examples with patah, qamats, segol] and sometimes a semi-vowel /ei/ or the vowel /o/ as in [examples with tsere and holam]

• Rule: bare he after qamats|patah|segol|tsere|holam is eim-qria-he

• Source: HaMillon 1.3

  yod - an indication of the vowel /i/ or the semi-vowel /ei/ as in [examples with hiriq, tsere] and sometimes also the vowel /e/ as in [example with segol]

• Rule: bare yod after hiriq|tsere|segol is eim-qria-yod

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  There is a difference in the pronunciation of these letters when they have a dagesh and when they do not.

• Rule: BGDKFT letter without dagesh has a different name

This includes the start of a word which has no vowel preceding it and a dagesh after a sheva (see sheva-nah-before-bgdkft-dagesh).

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  Every dagesh at the start of a word is dagesh-qal. And every dagesh in the middle of a word after a sheva-nah is dagesh-qal because it is like the start of a word after there is a little break with the sheva-nah.

• Source: Gesenius 13.2.note

  The learner will perceive that dagesh-hazaq must always be immediately preceded by a vowel, which is never the case with dagesh-qal.

• See also: dagesh-hazaq-bgdkft, sheva-nah-before-bgdkft-dagesh

• Rule: dagesh in BGDKFT NOT after vowel is dagesh-qal

dagesh after a sheva-na is also a dagesh-hazaq, however this cannot occur in a BGDKFT letter because a sheva followed by BGDKFT with dagesh is sheva-nah (see sheva-nah-before-bgdkft-dagesh).

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  Every dagesh in the middle of a word after a vowel is called a dagesh-hazaq.

• Source: Gesenius 13.2.note

  The learner will perceive that dagesh-hazaq must always be immediately preceded by a vowel, which is never the case with dagesh-qal.

• See also: dagesh-qal-bgdkft, sheva-nah-before-bgdkft-dagesh

• Rule: dagesh in BGDKFT after vowel is dagesh-hazaq

This is a rare exception to the rule that guttural letters cannot receive a dagesh.

• Source: Wikipedia-Mapiq

• See also: dagesh-in-guttural

• Rule: dagesh in alef is mapiq-alef

This is a somewhat common exception to the rule against dagesh in a guttural in which a he at the end of a word is emphasized.

• Source: Simanim 2.2

  The he is sometimes also nireh after a qamats, tsere, or holam and then it received a dot within it called a mapiq and after a tsere and holam there is also a patah-genuvah under it.

• Source: HaMillon 1.6.3

  dagesh that comes in the letter he at the end of the word shows it is expressed and is not an eim-qria. This dagesh is called a mapiq (which means "removes" because it removes the he from the rule of eim-qria and expresses it like a captive).

• Source: Wikipedia-Mapiq

• See also: dagesh-in-guttural

• Rule: dagesh in last he is mapiq-he

We consider the previous syllable closed because we assume this was meant to indicate gemination, even when this doesn't make sense in principle.

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  dagesh-hazaq can be in any of the letters except for the letters alef, he, het, ayin, resh that are not able to accept a dagesh, but there are exceptions.

• Source: Khan I.3.1.1

  dagesh is not marked, however, on the laryngeals and pharyngeals (אהעח in the Standard Tiberian tradition), except in a few isolated cases to ensure correct reading [...]. In principle, therefore, these consonants are not geminated. [...] The letter resh, like the laryngeal and pharyngeal consonants, is generally not geminated by dagesh. Occasionally, however, the resh does have dagesh [...]. When it is marked in cases such as these, it should be identified as dagesh-hazaq, indicating the gemination of the consonant.

• See also: mapiq-alef, mapiq-he

• Rule: dagesh in a guttural is a non-standard dagesh-hazaq

Because dagesh-qal can only appear in BGDKFT letters, any other dagesh must be a dagesh-hazaq.

• Rule: default dagesh is dagesh-hazaq

Any holam that is not a holam-male is a holam-haser.

• Rule: default holam is holam-haser

• Source: Simanim 5.1

  If one of the letters he, het, ayin is at the end of the word and the vowel before it is a tsere, hiriq, holam, or shuruq then underneath it is a patah and it is called patah-genuvah because it is read as if an alef with a patah was written before the he, het, or ayin [...]

• Rule: patah on last het|ayin|mapiq-he is patah-genuvah

• Rule: bare yod after qamats before vav is yod-glide

• Rule: bare yod after qamats is yod-glide

• Rule: bare yod after patah is yod-glide

• Rule: yod+hiriq after patah is yod-glide

• Rule: bare yod after holam is yod-glide

• Rule: bare yod after shuruq is yod-glide

dagesh-hazaq emphasizes the letter, so it must be a qamats-gadol.

• Rule: qamats under dagesh-hazaq is qamats-gadol

yod-glide emphasizes the qamats, so it must be a qamats-gadol.

• Rule: qamats before yod-glide is qamats-gadol

• Source: HaMillon 1.6.3

  dagesh that comes in the letter he at the end of the word shows it is expressed and is not an eim-qria (matres lectionis).

• Rule: qamats before mapiq-he is qamats-gadol

eim-qria after a qamats indicates a qamats-gadol.

• Rule: qamats before eim-qria is qamats-gadol

The general rule is that a qamats in an open syllable or accented syllable is a qamats-gadol. A syllable is closed by a letter with no vowel or possibly a sheva. Therefore, a qamats on the last letter of a word or a qamats that is followed immediately by another vowel must be part of an open syllable.

• Rule: qamats before a vowel (or is final vowel) is qamats-gadol

• Requires: accent information

• Source: Simanim 1.5

  a meteg is a line located under a letter on the left side of a vowel [...] and it indicates to lengthen a little bit the syllable under which it is located

• Source: Simanim 7.2

  and in this a qamats-qatan is distinguished from qamats-gadol [...] and it [a qamats-qatan] does not have a meteg

• Rule: qamats with meteg is qamats-gadol

• Requires: accent information

• Source: Simanim 7.2

  and in this a qamats-qatan is distinguished from qamats-gadol [...] and it [a qamats-qatan] does not have an accent

• Rule: qamats with accent is qamats-gadol

This rule is essentially the same as qamats-gadol-accent, but it handles the case in which the syllable is closed by another letter which has the accent.

• Requires: accent information

• See also: qamats-gadol-accent

• Rule: qamats with first accent on next non-vowel letter is qamats-gadol

telisha-gedola appears only the first letter of a word (it is prepositive). In some texts (e.g., Simanim), the accent is helpfully indicated over the emphasized letter, but in most texts it is not. This rule captures those small number of cases where it matters.

• Source: Gesenius 15.3.A.IV.18

  Great Telisha is categorized under:

  • A. Distinctives (Domini.)
  • Class IV. Smallest Distinctives (Comites)
  • prepositive

• Source: Gesenius 15.3.remarks.I.2

  Most of the accents stand on the tone-syllable, and properly on its initial consonant. Some, however, stand only on the first letter of a word (prepositive), others only on the last letter (postpositive).

• Rule: qamats in word with telisha-gedola is qamats-gadol

This rule is applied after we resolve sheva and is an inverse of sheva-na-after-long-vowel.

• Rule: qamats before sheva-na without dagesh is qamats-gadol

The general rule is that a qamats in an unaccented closed syllable is a qamats-qatan. A word connected to another word with a maqaf is unaccented, so when there's no meteg on the qamats and the syllable is closed, this is our best guess that it is a qamats-qatan.

• Requires: accent information

• Source: Simanim 1.6

  a maqaf is a line placed in the middle of the line height between two words [...] the first word of the connected words is without accent rather the accent is always on the last word of the words connected with a maqaf

• Source: Gesenius 9.1

  In distinguishing qamets (/a/) and from qamats-qatan (/o/), a knowledge of grammatical forms is the only sure guide; but to the learner the following general rule may be of service; viz. The sign (qamats) is /o/ in a closed, unaccented syllable; for such a syllable cannot have a long vowel, section 26, 3.

• See also: qamats-gadol-meteg, qamats-gadol-accent

• Rule: qamats in closed syllable in non-last word with maqaf is qamats-qatan

• Source: Simanim 7.2

  and similarly qamats-qatan cannot receive accent [...] and in this a qamats-qatan is distinguished from qamats-gadol: every qamats in a closed syllable, that does not have an accent, and does not have a meteg, it is a qamats-qatan.

• Requires: accent information

• Rule: qamats in an unaccented, closed syllable is qamats-qatan

There is a chain of logic that establishes this qamats as a qamats-qatan:

• We don't yet know if the sheva is a sheva-na or sheva-nah.
• But the subsequent letter has a dagesh.
• This dagesh must be a dagesh-hazaq either because:
  • it is in a BGDKFT letter after a vowel, per dagesh-hazaq-bgdkft
  • or because it is some other letter which always gets a dagesh-hazaq, per dagesh-hazaq-default
• And every letter with a dagesh-hazaq is syntactically doubled, per Simanim 1.3
• And it is as if there was a sheva-nah and then a sheva-na, per Simanim 3.1
• Therefore, the previous syllable is closed (the one containing this qamats).
• So if it does not have any accents, it is a qamats-qatan.

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  because every letter written with a dagesh-hazaq is read as double: once with a with a sheva-nah and then again with the vowel

• Source: Simanim 3.1

  sheva on a letter that has a dagesh-hazaq is a sheva-na because the dagesh doubles the letter and makes it as though there is a double sheva; and a double sheva in the middle of a word is sheva-nah, sheva-na.

• Rule: qamats without accent or meteg before dagesh + sheva is qamats-qatan

This rule is applied after we resolve sheva and is an inverse of sheva-nah-after-short-vowel.

• Rule: qamats before sheva-nah is qamats-qatan

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Shva Ga'ya

  sheva-gaya designates a sheva marked under a letter that is also marked with the cantillation mark ga'ya, or meteg [...]. This "strict application" is found in Yemenite Hebrew.

• Rule: sheva with a meteg is a sheva-gaya

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Shva Meraḥef

  sheva-merahef is the grammatical designation of a sheva which does not comply with all criteria characterizing a sheva-na (specifically, one marked under a letter following a letter marked with a "short", not a "long", niqqud-variant), but which does, like a shva-na, supersede a vowel (or a shva-na) that exists in the basic form of a word but not after this word underwent inflection or declension.

  The classification of a sheva as sheva-merahef is relevant to the application of standard niqqud, e.g.: a בג״ד כפ״ת letter following a letter marked with a sheva-merahef should not be marked with a dagesh-qal, although the vowel preceding this letter could be represented by the "short" niqqud-variant for that vowel.

• Rule: sheva without dagesh between short vowel and BGDKFT without dagesh is sheva-merahef

This rule applies to modern Hebrew and would supercede sheva-double-end (ex: שָׁדַדְתְּ). However, we apply this rule much later to maintain the traditional categorization.

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Condition 1

  When under the first of two letters, both representing the same consonant or consonants with identical place and manner of articulation.

• Rule: sheva before a similar sounding letter is voiced

This rule applies to modern Hebrew.

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Condition 2

  When under the first letter of a word, if this letter is a sonorant in modern pronunciation: yod, lamed, mem, nun, resh.

• Rule: sheva at word start when it is on a sonorant letter is voiced

This rule applies to modern Hebrew.

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Condition 3

  When under the first letter of a word, if the second letter is a glottal consonant: alef, he, ayin.

• Rule: sheva at word start before glottal letter is voiced

This rule applies to Modern Hebrew.

NOTE: We do not know if this letter is part of the root or is a prefix.

• Source: Wikipedia-Sheva Condition 4

  When under the first letter of a word, if this letter represents one of the prefix-morphemes: bet, vav, khaf, lamed

• Rule: sheva at word start when it is a prefix-morpheme is voiced

This rule applies to Modern Hebrew.

• Rule: sheva at word start when no other condition applies is muted

• Source: Simanim 3.1.1

  every sheva at the start of a word is a sheva-na

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.1

  sheva at the start of a word is sheva-na

• Rule: sheva at word start is sheva-na

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.1

  sheva at the end of a word is sheva-nah

• Rule: sheva at word end is sheva-nah

This rule is an extension of sheva-nah-end; the alef is acting like an eim-qria-alef and doesn't add a sound.

• Rule: sheva before last bare alef is sheva-nah

This rule is a combination of sheva-double-middle and sheva-nah-end.

• Rule: two sheva at word end are sheva-nah, sheva-nah

• Source: Simanim 3.1.5

  Two of the same letter, and the first one has a sheva, it is a sheva-na because you cannot read them with a sheva-nah for then the first of the letters will be swallowed in the pronunciation.

• Rule: sheva before same letter is sheva-na

• Source: Simanim 3.1.2

  Two sheva in the middle of a word are sheva-nah, sheva-na.

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.2

  Two sheva in the middle of a word, the first is sheva-nah, the second is sheva-na.

• Rule: two sheva midword are sheva-nah, sheva-na

sheva under dagesh-qal is also usually a sheva-na except at the end of a word where it is a sheva-nah.

• Source: Simanim 3.1.4

  sheva on a letter that has a dagesh-hazaq is a sheva-na because the dagesh doubles the letter and makes it as though there is a double sheva and a double sheva in the middle of a word is sheva-nah, sheva-na

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.4

  sheva under a letter with a dagesh-hazaq is always a sheva-na.

• Rule: sheva under dagesh-hazaq is sheva-na

This rule follows the Minchat Shai who does NOT classify a sheva preceded by a meteg as a sheva-na.

• Source: Simanim 3.7

  A vav that is a shuruq at the start of a word, and after it a sheva, like in [...] the sheva is a sheva-nah.

• Rule: sheva after shuruq at word start in non-dagesh letter is sheva-nah

• Source: Simanim 3.5

  According to the opinion of the Minchat Shai, after a short vowel it is a sheva-nah even when there is a meteg near the short vowel.

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.3

  sheva after a short vowel is sheva-nah [...].

• Rule: sheva after short vowel is sheva-nah

• Requires: accent information

• Source: Simanim 3.1.3

  If there is an accent before the sheva, whether or not it is a long vowel or short vowel, it is a sheva-nah.

• Rule: sheva after accent is sheva-nah

While the actual rule requires a dagesh-qal, we can actually infer that any dagesh in BGDKFT after a sheva must be a dagesh-qal and the sheva is a sheva-nah based on the description in HaMillon 2.17.

NOTE: The converse of this rule--sheva before BGDKFT without dagesh is sheva-na--is not reliable.

• Source: Simanim 1.3

  Every dagesh in the middle of a word after a sheva-nah is dagesh-qal because it is like the start of a word after there is a little break with the sheva-nah.

• Source: HaMillon 2.17

  Our sages of pointing instituted a clear rule: "The letters BGDKFT receive a dagesh-qal when they come at the start of a word and when they come in the middle of a word if and only if they come after a sheva-nah.

  This rule is called "The Principle of BGDKFT" and its great importance is that it can establish the type of sheva that occurs before these letters, for it is clear that: If we pronounce them hard, and before them is a sheva, there is no doubt that we have in our hands a sheva-nah!

• Rule: sheva before BGDKFT with dagesh is sheva-nah

• Source: Simanim 3.1.3

  sheva after a long vowel without an accent is a sheva-na.

• Source: HaMillon 2.16.3

  sheva after a long vowel is sheva-na.

• Rule: sheva after long vowel is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Example: פָשְׂתָה ([Leviticus 13:28])

• Rule: sheva before sav+qamats, he is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

The purpose of this rule is to capture the exceptions to the sheva-nah-ending-ah rule.

• See also: sheva-nah-ending-ah

• Examples:

  • /ga-lah/: גָדְלָה ([Genesis 19:13])
  • /ya-lah/: יָכְלָה ([Exodus 2:3])
  • /ya-fah: יָסְפָה ([Genesis 8:12])
  • /ma-ah/: מָלְאָה ([Genesis 6:13])
  • /ma-khah: מָשְׁכָה ([Deuteronomy 21:3])

• Rule: sheva after gimel|yod|mem before alef|khaf|lamed|fe + qamats, he is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before shuruq at end of word is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Examples:

  • /lkha/: יִשְׁאָלְךָ ([Deuteronomy 6:20])
  • /shkha/: יִירָשְׁךָ ([Genesis 15:4])
  • /skha/: בְּכֹרָתְךָ ([Genesis 25:31])

• Rule: sheva on lamed|shin|sav before khaf-sofit+qamats-gadol is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva after non-guttural before tsere, mem-sofit is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before hiriq, yod+qamats, he is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• See also: sheva-na-ending-a|kh|l|f-ah

• Examples:

  • /ah/: וְהָרְאָה ([Leviticus 13:49])
  • /vah/: נָקְבָה
  • /kha/: קָרְחָה
  • /kha/: שָׁפְכָה
  • /la/: עָרְלָה
  • /ma/: בְעָרְמָה
  • /na/: אָמְנָה
  • /a/: וְצָרְעָה
  • /tsa/: לְרָחְצָה
  • /qa/: בְּדָפְקָה
  • /ra/: וְעָפְרָה

• Rule: sheva before qamats, he is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Example: אָזְנוֹ ([Exodus 21:6])

• Rule: sheva before holam-male is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Example: בְּמָתְנָיו ([Genesis 37:34])

• Rule: sheva before qamats, yod, vav is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• /asu/: None
• /aso/: חָכְמָתוֹ
• /anu/: וְשָׂכְלְתָנוּ
• /ano/: קָרְבָּנוֹ
• /eisu/: None
• /eiso/: None
• /einu/: עָנְיֵנוּ

• /eino/: None

• Rule: sheva before qamats|tsere, nun|sav, shuruq|holam-male is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• /iy/: עָנְיִי (Genesis 31:42)
• /eiy/: קָדְשֵׁי (Leviticus 22:15)
• /ay/: בְּאָזְנַי

• /ay/: בְּאָזְנָי

• Rule: sheva before hiriq|tsere|patah|qamats, yod is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before tsere, hiriq-male is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Example: עָנְיֵךְ ([Genesis 16:11])

• Rule: sheva before tsere, khaf-sofit is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before segol, khaf-sofit+qamats is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before segol, yod, khaf-sofit+qamats is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before qamats, segol, khaf-sofit+qamats is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva after hataf-, qamats and before khaf-sofit+qamats is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Examples:

  • /ah/: לְעָבְדָהּ (Genesis 2:15)
  • /am/: אָכְלָם (Genesis 14:11)
  • /an/: יָקְטָן (Genesis 10:25)
  • /eh/: None
  • /em/: חָקְכֶם
  • /en/: None

• Rule: sheva before qamats|segol, (mapiq-he|mem-sofit|nun-sofit) is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva after guttural before tsere, mem-sofit is sheva-na

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Examples:

  • /a-a/: בְּיָטְבָתָה ([Numbers 33:33])
  • /a-ah/: בְּחָכְמָתָהּ ([II Samuel 20:22])
  • /a-am/: מָשְׁחָתָם
  • /a-an/: כָרְסָוָן ([Daniel 7:9]) - unverified

• Rule: sheva before qamats, qamats, he|mem-sofit|nun-sofit is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before tsere, yod, segol, mem-sofit is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before qamats|patah, hiriq, khaf-sofit|mem-sofit is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Examples:

• /iym/: בָּטְנִים ([Genesis 43:11])

• /iys/: גָּפְרִית ([Deuteronomy 29:22])

• Rule: sheva before hiriq, yod, mem-sofit|sav is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Rule: sheva before letter, holam-male, sav is sheva-nah

This rule was emperically checked for the Pentateuch.

• Examples:

  • /ad/: הָפְקַד ([Leviticus 5:23])
  • /ad/: צְלָפְחָד ([Numbers 26:33])
  • /an/: בְּאָבְדַן ([Esther 8:6])
  • /an/: None
  • /a/: חָפְרַע ([Jeremiah 44:30])
  • /a/: None
  • /ar/: None
  • /ar/: מָשְׁזָר ([Exodus 26:1])
  • /as/: חָכְמַת ([Exodus 35:35])
  • /as/: גָּלְיָת ([I Samuel 17:4])

• Rule: sheva before patah|qamats, dalet|nun-sofit|ayin|resh|sav is sheva-nah