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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt">As I have commented many times, the Masorah is not a matter of "grammar," i.e. what is the correct grammatical form.  Such an idea, that there are some rules that dictate what the proper form of a word will be, did not exist

 until a couple of centuries ago; grammar historically was descriptive, not prescriptive.  The origin of the idea of "prescriptive grammar," that one form is right and one form is wrong, was a product not of linguistics, but of sociology; see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription" id="LPlnk772362" previewremoved="true">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription</a>

 for a discussion of how it arose.</span></p>

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<a id="LPImageAnchor_14935657614610.6525687916559589" style="display: table-cell; text-align: center;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline-block; max-width: 250px; max-height: 250px; height: 213px; width: 160px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" id="LPThumbnailImageID_14935657614610.7345632124442881" width="160" height="213" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola%2C_Madrid_-_view_2.JPG/160px-Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola%2C_Madrid_-_view_2.JPG"></a></div>

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<a id="LPUrlAnchor_14935657614690.3448954741433222" style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription" target="_blank">Linguistic prescription - Wikipedia</a></div>

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Linguistic prescription (or prescriptivism) is the practice of elevating one variety or manner of language use over another. It may imply that some forms are ...</div>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">Linguistically, grammar is attempt to show how a language works, and the forms are what are attested by native speakers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>In the case of texts, the forms are what are written in the text, and they are not governed by some person's idea of what the "proper/correct" form should be.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>They are the basic data which grammar only can attempt to systematize.</span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">In trying to analyze forms in the T'NaKh, the first step is to describe what the forms attested are.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>In almost every case, you will discover that there are various forms attested.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>This should be very familiar to anyone who learns Torah, that there are "wheels within wheels," rules, subrules, and exceptions</span><span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">. [Note that the Rambam holds that "learning Hebrew" is a

 mitzva from the Torah, and he did not mean learning the prescriptive rules. So it only stands to reason that it has wheels within wheels, like all mitzvoth do.]</span><span style="font-size:

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All this is a general rule, but it is worth remembering concerning a question that was sent to me by R. Sholom Simon regarding "pausal forms."<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>Most grammars just say that many nouns and verbs have different forms that occur in a pausal position, which is normally marked by the trop silluq/sof pasuq or etnahta.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>So Sholom inquired about the verse in Bamidbar 9:2</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:

10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:"Goudy Old Style";

mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>,</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"></span>

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<b><span style="font-family:

"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE">ט:ב</span></b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"> וְיַעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-הַפָּסַח בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">the form "posach" appears with a tip’ha trop which is a mafsiq, but not considered "pausal</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";

mso-ascii-font-family:"Goudy Old Style";mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>."</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:

David"></span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"> </span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">To understand the issue, you really have to look at all the data.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>Once you do, you see "pausal" forms appearing quite often in places that are not considered a "pause</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:

"Goudy Old Style";mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>."</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"></span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">Let me just list some "pausal" forms that appeared in other portions that we read on Pesach</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:

"Goudy Old Style";mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>:</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"></span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">D'varim 16:11</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";

mso-ascii-font-family:"Goudy Old Style";mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>:</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"></span></p>

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<a name="11"></a><a name="2"></a><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""></p>

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<b><span style="font-family:

"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE">טז:יא</span></b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"> וְשָׂמַחְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְיָ אֱלֹקֶיךָ, אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ וְהַגֵּר

 וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבֶּךָ, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְיָ אֱלֹקֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">“uvittekha” with a zarqa, “va’amatekha” with a segol. Only “b’qirbekha” seems to be consistent with the rule, appearing with a etnahta.</span></p>

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<a name="14"></a><b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE">טז:יד</span></b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"> וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְּחַגֶּךָ, אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם

 וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span></p>

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<a name="16"></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">“b’haggekha” with an etnahta, but “uvittekha” with a pashta, “va’amatekha” with a zaqef.</span></p>

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<b><span style="font-family:

"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"></span></b><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""></p>

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<b><span style="font-family:

"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE">טז:טז</span></b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"> שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה יֵרָאֶה כָל-זְכוּרְךָ אֶת-פְּנֵי יְיָ אֱלֹקֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחָר, בְּחַג הַמַּצּוֹת

 וּבְחַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת וּבְחַג הַסֻּכּוֹת, וְלֹא יֵרָאֶה אֶת-פְּנֵי יְהוָה רֵיקָם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""><span dir="LTR"></span>.</span><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"></span></p>

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<span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">“yivhar,” a "pausal" form,

<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>with a zaqef.</span>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">Once one becomes sensitized to the phenomenon, one sees that these forms are all over, like cherries in fruitcake.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>In</span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">Vayyiqra 11:3t, which we read 2 weeks ago</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif";

mso-ascii-font-family:"Goudy Old Style";mso-hansi-font-family:"Goudy Old Style"" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span>:</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David"></span></p>

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<span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""> </span></p>

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<b><span style="font-family:

"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE">יא:לה</span></b><span style="font-family:"David","sans-serif"" lang="HE"> וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר-יִפֹּל מִנִּבְלָתָם עָלָיו יִטְמָא, תַּנּוּר וְכִירַיִם יֻתָּץ טְמֵאִים הֵם, וּטְמֵאִים יִהְיוּ לָכֶם.</span><span dir="LTR" style="font-family:"David","sans-serif""></span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">“yuttatz” again with a tipha.</span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">So perhaps a more accurate way of describing the situation is that some nouns and verbs appear in two forms.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>One form is almost always used at the end of a pasuq and in the middle with an etnahta, but is also used in other places where the traditional reading (the Masorah) indicates the end of a clause, or in many cases of parallelismus membrorum.</span></p>

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<span style="font-size:

10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:David">For those enquiring minds who like to know more than they perhaps should, the latter phenomenon is also attested in L’shon Chazal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>In the good vocalized texts of the Mishna from the early Medieval period, such as the Kaufman Manuscript, words at the end of a clause/sentence do not normally have a “pausal” form, but forms in parallelismus membrorum usually do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 

</span>This is unknown to most people, because they are not familiar with the old vocalized Mishnayot.</span></p>

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<div class="PlainText"><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel<br>

Rabbinic Coordinator<br>

The Orthodox Union<br>

</font><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br>

Voice (212) 613-8330     Fax (212) 613-0718     e-mail mandels@ou.org</font></div>

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