Names and shapes of the te.27amim Cantillation

1 names , shapes of te amim

1.1 names in different traditions
1.2 zarqa tables

1.2.1 ashkenazic
1.2.2 sephardic


1.3 meanings of names

names , shapes of te amim
names in different traditions

the following table shows names of te amim in ashkenazi, sephardi, , italian traditions unicode symbols. following points should noted.

cantillation marks supported in many default hebrew fonts. should display on windows 1 of fonts installed:

times new roman, arial, gisha, microsoft sans serif, code2000, courier new, ezra sil, sbl hebrew


the following default hebrew fonts not display these marks :

david, miriam, rod, frankruehl (as serif, sans-serif, monospaced unless configured manually)


the mark u+05aa (yerach ben yomo or galgal) should not drawn bottom vertical tick used in mark drawn u+05a2 (atnach hafukh), fonts draw these marks identically.

the following additional symbols found in 3 poetical books: names not differ among various traditions.

zarqa tables

for learning purposes, t amim arranged in traditional order of recitation called zarqa table , showing both names , symbols themselves. these tables printed @ end of chumash (hebrew pentateuch).

the order of recitation bears relation groups in signs occur in typical biblical verse, differs in detail between different communities. below traditional ashkenazi , sephardi orders, though variations found in both communities.

ashkenazic





sephardic





meanings of names

azla
going away , because end of phrase qadma ve azla .
darga
trill sound, or step shape.
etnachta/atnach
pause, rest because pause in middle of verse.
geresh
expulsion, driving out . called because partnered qadma (as azla) here appears on own, separated.
gershayim
double geresh, appearance.
mahpach
turning round . in old manuscripts, written u on side, hence doing u turn. in printed books, has v shape, possibly because easier printers make. in eastern communities called shofar mehuppach, reversed horn , because faces other way shofar holech (munach)
mercha
lengthener , because prolongs melody of word follows. in modern usage means comma , usage taken cantillation sign.
mercha-kefulah
kefulah means double , because looks 2 merchas together. there 5 in whole torah: gen. 27:25, ex. 5:15, lev. 10:1, num. 14:3, num. 32:42.
munach
resting , because shape horn lying on side. (in eastern communities called shofar holech, horn going forward.) munach legarmeh (munach on own) disjunctive, used before revia, before pazer. may distinguished ordinary munach dividing line (pesiq) following word.
pashta
stretching out , because shape leaning forward (or in reference hand signal).
pazer
lavish or strew , because has many notes.
qadma
progress, advance. occurs @ beginning of phrase (often before other conjunctives) , shape leaning forward. in particular first member of qadma ve-azla pair.
revia
quarter or fourth , because splits half verse start etnachta (or etnachta end) quarters (as ranks below zaqef, main division within half verse). other possibilities came fourth in zarqa table (in current ashkenazi table comes fifth) or regarded occupying fourth level in hierarchy.
its apparent appropriateness square or diamond shape of symbol coincidence: in manuscripts, point.
segol
bunch of grapes (from shape, looks bunch of grapes).
shalshelet
chain , either appearance or because long chain of notes. there 4 in whole torah: gen. 19:16, 24:12, 39:8; lev. 8:23.
sof pasuq
end of verse : last note of every verse. called silluq (taking leave).
telisha qetannah/gedolah
detached because never linked following note 1 musical phrase; qetannah = small (short); gedolah = big (long).
tevir
broken , because represents break in reading (in traditions there big jump down in pitch between first , second notes).
tifcha
diagonal , or hand-breadth . in old manuscripts, written straight diagonal line. in printed books, curved, apparently make mirror image of mercha, paired (the 2 regarded forming slur). name tifcha may allusion hand signal.
yetiv
resting or sitting , because may followed short pause, or more because shape horn sitting up. (in italian tradition, called shofar yetiv, sitting horn.)
zaqef qaton/gadol
upright (from shape, or in allusion hand signal); qaton = small (short); gadol = big (long).
zarqa
scatterer , because scattering of notes.

numbers 35:5 (in parshat mas ei) has 2 notes found else in torah:

qarne farah
horns of cow (from shape), called pazer gadol.
yerach ben yomo
moon 1 day old (because looks crescent moon), called galgal (circle).




^ zarqa/tsinnor , tsinnorit marks wrongly named in unicode. encode zarqa/tsinnor, use unicode hebrew accent zinor (u+05ae), , encode tsinnorit use hebrew accent zarqa (u+0598). see unicode technical note #27: known anomalies in unicode character names , , specially appendix inside it.
^ called azla before gerish , qadma meḥabber in other positions.
^ in normal grammatical account third-level disjunctive. become fourth level if 1 regarded etnachta occupying separate level sof pasuq, or segol/shalshelet on level of own intermediate between etnachta , zaqef qaton.
^ in sephardic tradition, both equally referred talsha , melodies confused. when desired refer unambiguously telisha qetannah (the conjunctive), terms such talsa or tilsa used, on analogy distinction between letters shin , sin (the sin has dot on left , telisha qetannah appears on left of word); term used both accents tirtzah. term used accent varies among communities , among individuals.
^ in sephardic , oriental communities called tarḥa, meaning dragging or effort . hence proverbial phrase after tarḥa, atnaḥ , after effort comes rest: see series of puns in poem on pp. 99-100, shir u-shbaḥah hallel ve-zimrah.