Meteg

Stress mark or accent unicode block Hebrew
character	ֽ
Unicode	05A2
Meteg	מֶתֶג
Gaʿja	גַּעְיָה
Maʾarich	מַאֲרִיךְ

Meteg ( Hebrew מֶתֶג) ֽ is a trope in the Jewish liturgy and is one of the biblical sentence, accent and cantillation symbols Teamim , which appear in the Tanach . Meteg is a second accent to designate the secondary tone or vowel elongation, which is next to the first accent on the same word or phrase.

symbol

Meteg

מֶתֶג

ֽ

הָֽאָדָ֫ם

Biblical stress marks

ֽ ׃

׀

֑

֒

֓

֔

֕

֖

֗

֘

֙

֚

֛

֜

֝

֞

֟

֠

֡

֢

֣

֤

֥

֦

֧

֨

֩

֪

֫ ֥

֬

֭

֮

֗

֜ ֗

֗

֤ ׀

֨ ׀

֨ ֜

-

ֽ

The symbol for Meteg consists of a short vertical line under the less pronounced syllable and is identical to the symbol of Silluq. Silluq is only used in combination with Sof pasuq at the end of a sentence. Due to this position, Meteg should not be confused with Silluq, it always appears in addition to another accent. If Silluq and Meteg appear together on a word, the first character is always Meteg, the second character Silluq. The position can be left or right at the bottom next to an associated vowel, or below it.

grammar

Meteg is called Maʾarich when the secondary note should be kept longer. Meteg is also called Gaʿja when the secondary note is to be sung with a raised, loud voice. Upper Gaʿja is called when Gaʿja is used with long vowels, otherwise it is called Lower Gaʿja with short vowels. There is also the euphonic Gaʿja, a Meteg which, in contrast to the regular Meteg, does not display a second accent, but is intended to ensure that a weak vowel is pronounced clearly enough.

Meteg is used for particularly long words or for a group of words formed with Maqqef to indicate a second emphasis of the word or within the group of words. As a rule, Meteg indicates the opposite tone. Usually it is the second (open) syllable before the main tone, e.g. E.g. הָֽאָדָ֫ם (or מֶֽלֶךְ-צֹר) if the second syllable is closed before the main tone, for example הָֽאַרְבָּעִ֫ים (or עֶֽבֶד-הַמֶּלֶךְ). Meteg can also be in the fourth syllable before the main tone, e.g. B. שָֽׁבֻעֹ֥תֵיכֶ֫ם.

No melody of its own is associated with Meteg, the accent sign only indicates that the syllable concerned is sung a little louder or slower.

literature

Wilhelm Gesenius , Hebrew Grammar , 28th edition (revised by Emil Kautzsch), Vogel, Leipzig 1909. Digitized
Solomon Rosowsky: The Cantillation of the Bible . The Five Books of Moses. The Reconstructionist Press, New York 1957.
James D. Price: Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible . (Vol. I). Concordance of the Hebrew Accents used in the Pentateuch. Edwin Mellon Press, Lewiston (New York) 1996, ISBN 0-7734-2395-8 . P. 272f. (Statistics on special forms of Meteg)
Joshua R. Jacobson: Chanting the Hebrew Bible . The art of cantillation. 1st edition. Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2002, ISBN 0-8276-0693-1 .
Joshua R. Jacobson: Chanting the Hebrew Bible . Student Edition. The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 978-0-8276-0816-0 ( online ).

Individual evidence

^ "An accent that is used to indicate secondary stress and vowel lengthening" Jacobson (2002), p. 931.
↑ ^a ^b Jacobson (2005), p. 42.
↑ Jacobson illustrates this using the example of לְעֵֽינֵיהֶֽם, Jacobson (2005) p. 42.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Wilhelm Gesenius , Hebräische Grammatik , p. 67 Digitized in the Internet Archive .

[1] "An accent that is used to indicate secondary stress and vowel lengthening" Jacobson (2002), p. 931.

[Jacobson_42-2] Jacobson (2005), p. 42.

[3] Jacobson illustrates this using the example of לְעֵֽינֵיהֶֽם, Jacobson (2005) p. 42.

[Gesenius-4] Wilhelm Gesenius , Hebräische Grammatik , p. 67 Digitized in the Internet Archive .