[Mesorah] (Mesorah) Vowels under YKVK

[David and Esther Bannett via Mesorah]

R' Seth commented as below on "Vowels under YKVK":
> What is strange about it?
> The sh'va under the lamed is silent.
> the sh;va under the aleph has its usual meaning, that the first letter 
> of Adnus is pronounced with a chataf patach and is not silent.
I think a bit of explanation is required.  As there is no lamed in YHVH, 
R' Seth is not speaking about all YHVHs.  He is speaking about Halashem 
tigm'lu zot in Ha'azinu and is saying that the first syllable is Hal 
where the sh'va is nach or silent.  The first letter of the Shem is 
pronounced with a sh'va na' which, as in most cases, has a slight "a" 
sound and therefore the patach next to the sh'va.

I think that R' Seth's ending, that the alef  "is not silent" is a slip 
of the mind.  How can an alef be silent at the beginning of a word?


GCh"T,

David