Tiberian vocalization
Encyclopedia
The Tiberian vocalization (or Tiberian pointing, Tiberian niqqud; ) is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes
to add to the consonantal Masoretic text
of the Hebrew Bible
; this system soon became used to vocalize other texts as well. The Tiberian vocalization marks vowels, stress, and makes finer distinctions of consonant quality and length, and also serves as punctuation. While the Tiberian system was devised for Tiberian Hebrew
, it has become the dominant system for vocalizing all Jewish varieties of Hebrew, having long since eclipsed the Babylonian
and Palestinian
systems.
indicates spirantization. The mappiq indicates that ה is consonantal rather than silent in syllable-coda position.
qualities of Tiberian Hebrew are indicated straightforwardly by distinct diacritics:
The diacritics qubutz and shuruq both represent /u/, but shuruq is used when the text uses full spelling (with waw
as a mater lectionis
). Each of these vowel phonemes could be allophonically lengthened; occasionally this length is marked with metheg. (In this function metheg also can indirectly indicate when a following shva
is vocal.)
The ultrashort vowels are slightly more complicated. There were two graphemes corresponding to the vowel /ă/, attested by alternations in manuscripts like .. In addition, one of these graphemes could also be silent:
Shva was used both to indicate lack of a vowel (quiescent šwa, shva nah) and as another symbol to represent the phoneme /ă/ (mobile šwa, shva na), the latter also represented by hataf patah. The phoneme /ă/ had a number of allophones; /ă/ had to be written with shva rather than hataf patah when not pronounced as [ă]. Before a laryngeal-pharyngeal, mobile šwa was pronounced as a ultrashort copy of the following vowel, e.g. [uvɔqɔ̆ʕɔ], and as [ĭ] preceding /j/, e.g. /θăðammĭjuni/. Use of ḥataf vowels was considered mandatory under gutturals but optional under other letters, and varies considerably among manuscripts. This is referenced specifically by medieval grammarians:
The names of the vowel diacritics are iconic and show some variation:
serves both to mark stress and as punctuation. Metheg may mark secondary stress. Maqqaf conjoins words into one stress unit, which normally takes only one cantillation mark on the final word in the unit.
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
to add to the consonantal Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
; this system soon became used to vocalize other texts as well. The Tiberian vocalization marks vowels, stress, and makes finer distinctions of consonant quality and length, and also serves as punctuation. While the Tiberian system was devised for Tiberian Hebrew
Tiberian Hebrew
Tiberian Hebrew is the extinct canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh and related documents in the Roman Empire. This traditional medieval pronunciation was committed to writing by Masoretic scholars based in the Jewish community of Tiberias , in the form of the Tiberian vocalization...
, it has become the dominant system for vocalizing all Jewish varieties of Hebrew, having long since eclipsed the Babylonian
Babylonian vocalization
The Babylonian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Babylon...
and Palestinian
Palestinian vocalization
The Palestinian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Palestine...
systems.
Consonant diacritics
The sin dot distinguishes between the two values of ש. A dagesh indicates a consonant is geminate or unspirantized, while a rapheRaphe
Raphe has several different meanings in science. Pronounced .In botany and planktology it is commonly used when describing a seam or ridge on diatoms or seeds....
indicates spirantization. The mappiq indicates that ה is consonantal rather than silent in syllable-coda position.
Vowel diacritics
The seven cardinal vowelCardinal vowel
Cardinal vowels are a set of reference vowels used by phoneticians in describing the sounds of languages. For instance, the vowel of the English word "feet" can be described with reference to cardinal vowel 1, , which is the cardinal vowel closest to it....
qualities of Tiberian Hebrew are indicated straightforwardly by distinct diacritics:
| niqqud with א | ||||||||
| name | patah | segol | tzere | hiriq | qamatz | holam | qubutz | shuruq |
| value | /a/ | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /i/ | /ɔ/ | /o/ | /u/ | |
The diacritics qubutz and shuruq both represent /u/, but shuruq is used when the text uses full spelling (with waw
Waw (letter)
Waw is the sixth letter of the Northwest Semitic family of scripts, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic ....
as a mater lectionis
Mater lectionis
In the spelling of Hebrew and some other Semitic languages, matres lectionis , refers to the use of certain consonants to indicate a vowel. The letters that do this in Hebrew are aleph, he, waw and yod...
). Each of these vowel phonemes could be allophonically lengthened; occasionally this length is marked with metheg. (In this function metheg also can indirectly indicate when a following shva
Shva
Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, Sh'wa is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots "ְ" underneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme or the complete absence of a vowel , whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, four grammatical entities are differentiated:...
is vocal.)
The ultrashort vowels are slightly more complicated. There were two graphemes corresponding to the vowel /ă/, attested by alternations in manuscripts like .. In addition, one of these graphemes could also be silent:
| niqqud with א | ||||
| name | shva Shva Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, Sh'wa is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots "ְ" underneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme or the complete absence of a vowel , whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, four grammatical entities are differentiated:... |
hataf patah | hataf segol | hataf qamatz |
| value | /ă/, ⌀ | /ă/ | /ɛ̆/ | /ɔ̆/ |
Shva was used both to indicate lack of a vowel (quiescent šwa, shva nah) and as another symbol to represent the phoneme /ă/ (mobile šwa, shva na), the latter also represented by hataf patah. The phoneme /ă/ had a number of allophones; /ă/ had to be written with shva rather than hataf patah when not pronounced as [ă]. Before a laryngeal-pharyngeal, mobile šwa was pronounced as a ultrashort copy of the following vowel, e.g. [uvɔqɔ̆ʕɔ], and as [ĭ] preceding /j/, e.g. /θăðammĭjuni/. Use of ḥataf vowels was considered mandatory under gutturals but optional under other letters, and varies considerably among manuscripts. This is referenced specifically by medieval grammarians:
The names of the vowel diacritics are iconic and show some variation:
Cantillation
CantillationCantillation
Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to complement the letters and vowel points...
serves both to mark stress and as punctuation. Metheg may mark secondary stress. Maqqaf conjoins words into one stress unit, which normally takes only one cantillation mark on the final word in the unit.