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Cantillations - טעמי המקרא Traditions of Aleppo - כמנהג ארם צובא
Traditions of Torah Reading - קריאת התורה »
Cantillation, or ta'amim (טעמים) is the ritual chanting of readings from the Tanakh. Ta'am means "taste", meaning that the musical intonation brings out the "taste" of the passage. The ta'amim also provide information on the syntactical structure of the text. They often serve as an important aid in the interpretation of a passage. |
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Brief HistoryOld Babylonian manuscripts contain no cantillation marks in the current sense, but small Hebrew letters are used to mark significant divisions within a verse. The current system of ta'amim has its historical roots in the Tiberian masorah. The Tiberian system spread quickly and was accepted in all communities by the 13th century. By the time of the Tiberian Masoretes the system had become more complex, in that the realization of a phrase ending with a given type of break varied according to the number of words and syllables in the phrase. It was therefore necessary to invent conjunctive accents to show how to introduce and elaborate the main motif in longer phrases. A treatise called Dikduke ha-teamim (precise rules of the accents) by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher survives, though both the names and the classification of the accents differ somewhat from those of the present day. Meanings of the names Zarqa: "Scatterer", because it is like a scattering of notes. Maqqaf: “Binder”, hyphen. (No musical rendition.) Shofar Holech: “Horn going”: the opening faces forward in the word. Segolta: "Bunch of grapes" (from its shape, which looks like a bunch of grapes). Pazer Gadol: "Lavish" or "scatter", because it has so many notes. Talsha, Tilsha: "Detached" because they are never linked to previous or following notes as one musical phrase. Azla: "Going away" Gereesh: "Expulsion", maybe because it is a series of notes requiring a long breath. Pasek: “Division”: line between two words Revia: "A quarter", either because it has four short notes as well as the main one, or because it splits the half verse from the start to atnach into quarters (as it ranks below zaqef, the main division within the half verse). The square or diamond shape of the symbol is coincidence: in most manuscripts, it is simply a point. Shene Gerishin: Double Gereesh, from its appearance. Darga: "Trill" from its sound, or "step" from its shape. Tevir: "Broken", because there is a big jump down in pitch between the first and second notes, or because it represents a break in reading. Ma'arich: “Lengthener”, because it prolongs the motif of the following word Tarcha: “Dragging” or “effort”, the last break before the pause. Atnach: "Rest" because it is the pause in the middle of a verse. Shofar Mehuppach: "reversed horn", because it faces the other way from Shofar Holech. Qadma: "To progress, advance." It occurs before zakef and its shape is leaning forward. Tere Qadmin: 2 'qadma' signs Zaqef Qaton/Gadol: "Upright" (from their shape, or in allusion to a hand signal); Qaton = small (short); Gadol = large (long). Shalshelet: "A chain." Either from its appearance or because it is a long chain of notes. There are only four in the whole Torah: Gen. 19:16, 24:12, 39:8; Lev. 8:23. Tere Ta'ame: 2 signs Yetiv: "Resting" or "sitting", because it may be followed by a short pause, or maybe because the shape is of a horn sitting up. Sof Pasuq: "End of verse": it is the last note of every verse. · Numbers 35:5 (in Parshat Mas'ei) has two notes found nowhere else in the Torah: Qarne Farah: "Horns of a cow" (from its shape). Yerach ben Yomo: "Moon one day old" (because it looks like a crescent moon). |
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Shemot: Paleo-
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Vayiqra:
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Bemidbar:
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Debarim:
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