[Mesorah] Nikud on YKVK

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:

> The part that I find confusing is this: In the Shen Adnus, the aleph gets a Chataf Patach. But when the YKVK has vowels, the first one is a sheva. Why the change? Why not use the chataf patach?
> 
> Perhaps some printer felt that the yod was too narrow for a chataf patach. Couldn't he at least have used a regular patach, to maintain proper (at close-to-proper) pronunciation? I skim through my Chumash and I see *plenty* of words which start with yod-patach or vav-patach.
> 
> So why did they choose to use a plain sheva?

A chataf is really just a jumped-up sheva; it's what a sheva na becomes
when it appears on a guttural letter (alef, hei, chet, ayin, resh).
So in the Shem Adnus, the sheva becomes a chataf-patach, because an
alef can't have a sheva na; but transpose the same vowel to a yud and
it remains a sheva.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                      	                          - Clarence Thomas