<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div>I had two dikduk questions on the recent parshiyos that we just lained,
and I was hoping someone could explain these odd dikduk cases to me.<br><br>1. As most of us know, if a word that ends with two segols (kesef,
degel, eretz) is placed at the end of a word (or by an esnachta), the
first segol is changed to a kamatz (kasef, dagel, aretz). Yet, in Parshas
Shmos, there is a word at the end of the parsha, teven (5:7, 10, 12,
13) which is not changed even at the end of the parsha. Is there some
special reason that this word is not changed?<br><br>2. As a general rule, whenever a letter is preceded by a heh hayediah
(a heh that defines a definite article), the first letter of the word
received a dagesh (unless, of course, the letter is one of the five that
don't take a dagesh). However, in Va'era, there is a word,
hatzefardi'im (7:29, 8:1, 3, 4 5, 7, 8, 9), where the dagesh is missing from the
tzadi. Interestingly, it is present in the singular form of the word
(hatz'fardeah - 8:2), but not in the plural. Does anyone know why this
is?<br><br>Zev Steinhardt</div></div></body></html>