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How does one extend the sound of the daleth in the echod of the shema as prescribed in OC 61 (6)?. The letter as we say it does not seem to allow extension. See Dalet (Wikipedia) which defines it as a "a voiced alveolar plosive" and Voiced dental and alveolar stops (Wikipedia) which defines the last term.

Ken Graham
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Avrohom Yitzchok
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  • Note how I edited your question (and the code I used): the use of square brackets around the linking text and then round parentheses around the URL (address) of the link, with no space between the close-square-bracket and the open-round-paren, makes the text "OC 61 (6)" form the link to the MB. You can read more at http://judaism.stackexchange.com/editing-help. – msh210 Sep 25 '11 at 16:10
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    In the dialectal of Hebrew I speak (Habbani Teimani hebrew) , a Daleth with out a digesh is called a Dhaleth and it pronounced like the "Th" in "they" or "them" so its really easy to prolong the sound. – Qoheleth Aug 15 '12 at 01:58
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    @AvrohomYitzchok, I don't see why you accepted my answer. While I propose one possibility (and am not now disclaiming it), I explicitly specify that I don't know that that pronunciation is what halacha is referring to. – msh210 Aug 15 '12 at 07:06
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    @msh210 Good point! I accepted it on Nov 23 '11; it's a long time ago. Could it be I accepted the very point that we "don't know that that pronunciation is what halacha is referring to"! Anyway, I am sticking with the decision. – Avrohom Yitzchok Aug 15 '12 at 16:36
  • https://maharitz.co.il/?CategoryID=174&ArticleID=776&Page=284 – Double AA Apr 19 '21 at 13:53
  • Emek Halacha (Goldstein) 1:3:5 – Double AA Oct 25 '21 at 15:20

9 Answers9

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Chanoch and Ariel K are correct in their answer, but one can answer at greater length and detail.

The letters beged kefet, בגד כפת are distinguished from other Hebrew letters in taking a dagesh kal, a 'weak' dagesh, at the start of words or after a shva nach. The function of this dagesh kal is to distinguish between the plosive and fricative versions of the letters:

  • b/v (actually, in Mishnaic Hebrew, bh, the voiced bilabial fricative, rather than the labiodental)
  • p/f (actually, ph, again unvoiced bilabial rather than unvoiced labiodental)
  • g/gh
  • d/dh
  • t/th

(There is also beged kaperet, where there is a distinction between a resh in front or the back.)

Over the years, different groups have dropped certain of these distinctions, or mapped them to the closest phoneme in the language in their vicinity.

The daled in echad appears at the end of a word, and does not have a dagesh kal. Thus, it should be the fricative -- like the /dh/ in 'either', just as we see the Yemenites have it. The gemara speaks of elongating it, which strongly suggests that they made this distinction.

What about us? Well, we could either adopt the /dh/ for the word, for the duration of Shema; or we can ignore the Talmudic instruction, since it is no longer relevant for us.

Similarly, I would not worry about putting a pause between Eisev | BeSadcha and Hakanaf | Petil or Tizkeru | VaAsitem (the last according to the Rif's girsa) in Shema, despite Rava's instruction in Berachot 15b, because Rava was operating with different phonology, as I discuss here: http://parsha.blogspot.com/2005/03/daf-yomi-brachot-15b-feh_16.html

See also my post on this matter, when we reached it in Daf Yomi, where I also discuss the surrounding gemara.

josh waxman
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    Hazaq Great post! – Qoheleth Aug 15 '12 at 02:00
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    "Well, we could either adopt the /dh/ for the word, for the duration of Shema; or we can ignore the Talmudic instruction, since it is no longer relevant for us." Was that phrased to imply a preference for the latter suggestion? (It's hard to tell without hearing your intonation...) – Double AA Jul 08 '16 at 05:39
  • not really. though I do think it is a perfectly valid way to go. – josh waxman Jul 15 '16 at 01:21
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    What about us? Well, we could either adopt the /dh/ for the word, for the duration of Shema; or we can ignore the Talmudic instruction, since it is no longer relevant for us.

    @joshwaxman how is pronouncing hebrew properly no longer relevant to us?

     – MoriDowidhYa3aqov Oct 26 '16 at 01:14
  • @MoriDowidhYa3aqov Since we (for separately arguable reasons, quite possibly valid, reasons) do not pronounce Hebrew 'properly' (as in, the particular way they pronounced it at the time of the Mishnah and Gemara), the particular Talmudic instruction about extending the rafe daled is not something relevant, since it is not something that applies to, or is relevant to, our daled. – josh waxman Oct 26 '16 at 13:13
  • @joshwaxman who is we? i pronounce hebrew properly. and this is not how judaism works. just because "we" dont pronounce hebrew properly doesnt mean the rulings dont apply to us. it is a miswo to go and learn hebrew properly. as seen here: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/13284/is-there-a-mitzva-to-speak-loshon-kodesh/75792#75792 . not to mention the actual gamaroth that talk about pronouncing alaf like ayin and ayin like alaf, which doesnt only go on those 2 letters but on all letters. all letters must be said properly – MoriDowidhYa3aqov Oct 26 '16 at 19:58
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    coming from a guy like you with an extensive blog pertaining to various topics and trying to get to the bottom of things, you are quick to brush off a biblical command of learning the holy tongue – MoriDowidhYa3aqov Oct 26 '16 at 19:59
  • So you distinguish between the two Ayins? And you don't pronounce any gimel as Jimel? – josh waxman Oct 27 '16 at 00:56
  • @joshwaxman is by 2 ayins you mean ghimal and ayin yes i do. and i do pronounce jeem – MoriDowidhYa3aqov Oct 27 '16 at 03:37
  • I just watched a video that answered the very question of how to pronounce the dalet at the end of the Shema in such a way as to prolong it. It is pronounced as a vocal th: https://youtu.be/17tEn5wsw8U?t=939 – Michael Goldshteyn Jun 23 '17 at 03:30
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We pronounce it like the "th" in the word "the".

Chanoch
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  • Who is "we"? Yemenites? – Dave Sep 25 '11 at 20:00
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    I'm sephardic, and I've seen sephardim who always pronounce their dalet as a /d/ pronounce it as a /dh/ for keriat shema specifically, so that they can elongate the dalet. – Chanoch Sep 25 '11 at 21:08
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    Not just in temani , but many dielcts of hebrew in Sephardi, Mizrahhi and Chabashi comunites still maintined this. My Rav told me that some ashkinazim did it up untill 300 years ago ( ill get the sources) – Qoheleth Aug 15 '12 at 01:54
  • @Qoheleth have you got them yet? – barlop Mar 12 '16 at 14:18
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It is possible to prolong a plosive (stop). You will hear some who are very careful with reading the prayers or the Tora pronounce a dagesh chazak (dagesh forte) as a geminate consonant; this is a longer consonant, and can be done even with a stop. (If you ever hear someone speaking Arabic or Italian (tutto), you can hear geminate stops also. Many other languages have them, too.) Essentially, the voice box keeps trying to operate (in the case of a voiced stop like dalet), but whatever is stopping the airflow (the tongue in the case of dalet) stops it for longer. A book on phonetics will explain it better; I recommend Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics.

However, I don't know that that's what the halacha is referring to when discussing the dalet of "echad". As always, CYLOR with practical questions.

msh210
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    I think this is what I was trying to say :) – Dave Sep 25 '11 at 20:01
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    Under normal circumstances, a dagesh chazak always ends with a voiced vowel sound, doesn't it? So, if a letter with a dagesh chazak has a shva under it, the shva is always voiced and not silent. Wouldn't putting a dagesh chazak on the final letter of a word force the speaker to add an extra vowel sound at the end? When I try to pronounce "echad" like that, that's what happens to me. – Isaac Moses Oct 06 '11 at 13:47
  • @IsaacMoses, it's possible to lengthen the stop without releasing it (again, see Ladefoged or the like). (Even if it's released, I'm not sure whether the release of a stop counts as a sh'va na or whether perhaps OTOH a sh'va na is more than the mere release of a stop.) But I stated in the answer, I don't know what halacha is referring to. – msh210 Oct 06 '11 at 15:23
  • My favorite example to explain gemination to Americans is the common exclamation "Ammmmmmazing!" – Double AA Aug 17 '12 at 14:24
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    This is not strictly true, and an incorrect answer. It is impossible to extend a plosive, and gemination is not a counter example, and impossible to do at the end of the word anyway. Gemenation is not extending the duration of the sound, it is about pronouncing twice: as the end of one syllable and the beginning of the next. For example, shabbath. The beith has a dagesh, so the syllables break in to shab-bath. Geminating the dhaledh would result in echad-de, not the extended d described in gemara. The correct answer is that a daledh without a dagesh is properly a fricative. Consider editing. – Yoel Fievel Ben Avram Jan 19 '16 at 01:04
  • @ShamanSTK, see the pages linked to in the answer and see my comment above. – msh210 Jan 19 '16 at 01:33
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    @msh210 Gemination occurs only across syllables. There are no "CvCC" syllables in Hebrew. The release is a new syllable. A 'C' syllable is impossible, so the new syllable is a 'Cv', with nothing but silence between them. The gemara speaks of lengthening pronunciation, not delaying the pronunciation of a new syllable. – Yoel Fievel Ben Avram Jan 19 '16 at 03:28
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During the time of the Gemara, they pronounced it like 'Th' in the. Nowadays, ashkenazim pronounce it differently, so we can no longer extend its sound.

Ariel K
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  • Have you a source for this please? I am able to do what Dave advises above if that would be necessary. – Avrohom Yitzchok Sep 26 '11 at 14:12
  • see here. http://books.google.com/books?id=CZcAdo75wqEC&lpg=PA11&dq=daled%20mishnaic%20hebrew&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q&f=false – josh waxman Oct 06 '11 at 14:17
  • I heard that the Bach (on the side of the Tur) writes that saying it as a D-sound creates a breath, which he apparently says is very important (warning: I have not seen this inside). – Adam Mosheh Apr 23 '12 at 03:38
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    Yes but Really you should realize that Th in English can be pronounced like baTH or THe and they are different sounds in english aren't they. So you should specify that for daleth without a dot you mean THe. – barlop Mar 12 '16 at 14:17
4

Here what I learn from a Rav on the same question : It is written that we should extend the dalet of the word e'had so we not confuse it with a reish (that would give a'her and not e'had). Strange assertion as the nekudot are differents anyway and the sounds are asunder. In fact it could be that this law is part of il'hot sofrim. So it is about writing not pronouncing. The top of the dalet must be extended so we can not confuse it with a reish ! So it is nothing about extending the sound of the dalet.

Frank
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2

It's kind of hard to describe this in print, but it can be done if you allow the gap between the tongue and the palate to slowly fill with air as you pronounce the letter.

Dave
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2

The source of this halakhah seems to come from Berakhot 13b.

It is well known that according to Tiberian and Babylonian pronunciation systems, דֿ was pronounced as a voiced dental fricative [ð]. The rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud would have read in (a form of) the Babylonian system. Since [ð] is a fricative, it can be easily lengthened.

It is of note that the Jews of modern Baghdad pronounced דּ and דֿ identically (as a plosive) except in two words: אחד from the Shema and אדוני. On this, see "Baghdad, Pronunciation Tradition" by Nimrod Shatil in the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics.

Argon
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1

Rav Dovid Grossman, in his Daf-Yomi shiur on daf 13a says that according to the Shulchan Aruch, the sound of the Dalet is not supposed to be audibly extended, since it would result in either a d-d-d, or dah sound, and this would ruin the word echad by making it sound like a different word. Rather, one should extend their kavanah beyond pronouncing the letter Dalet, by keeping in mind that hashem is one in all the four directions. This extra kavana is considered elongated, but the sound of the Dalet is still short.

Also, one should extend the sound of the Chet to make sure they don't rush the Dalet. This is done by having in mind that hashem is one above and below (in the heavens and earth [7 heavens+ 1 earth = 8]). This is hinted at by the little point above the letter Chet.

א - Hashem is one

ח - in Shamayim and Aretz

ד - in all four directions

zaq
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  • Please see the source which I have now corrected thanks to msh210. Do you see an indication of thoughts there or do you have another source please? – Avrohom Yitzchok Sep 25 '11 at 16:08
  • The source is buchos 13b - "It has been taught: Symmachus says: Whoever prolongs the word ehad [one]. has his days and years prolonged. R. Aha b. Jacob said: [He must dwell] on the daleth. R. Ashi said: Provided he does not slur over the heth. R. Jeremiah was once sitting before R. Hiyya b. Abba, and the latter saw that he was prolonging [the word ehad] very much. He said to him: Once you have declared Him king over [all that is] above and below and over the four quarters of the ‘heaven, no more is required." – zaq Sep 25 '11 at 16:32
  • In light of Chanoch's answer, do you have a source for your interpretation? – YDK Sep 25 '11 at 17:29
  • It's how Rav Grossman teaches it in his daf yomi shiur. I think I also remember learning it that way in the shulchan aruch. – zaq Sep 25 '11 at 17:44
  • This is unlikely, since the Amoraim treated the Chet as a guttural, not as a fricative kaf. The gutturals are unique in Hebrew in not taking a dagesh chazak because one cannot elongate it. This is reinterpretation to conform to modern Ashkenazic Hebrew phonology, but does not reflect the intent of the gemara or R' Yosef Karo. – josh waxman Oct 06 '11 at 14:45
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    @josh, "cannot" elongate it? I'm familiar with how to pronounce a real Sephardic het, and I can rattle it around for a good few seconds. If I get around to it, I'll put up a recording online. – Alex Oct 06 '11 at 18:24
  • ok, i grant that one can (i can as well). and fricative is different from gemination, which i conflated. it is at the least difficult. i still don't think this is peshat in the gemara; especially given r' ashi's statement, as quoted by zaq. the straightforward interp is clear to those who know the phonology of fricative daleds. – josh waxman Oct 07 '11 at 00:15
  • @zaq, I've listened to this Shi'ur. He makes this point because, as he says, it is not possible to actually extend a "D" sound. Some other answers assert that the "D" sound itself is not the correct sound to make. Listening to the Shi'ur, it's clear from the recording that someone mentions something about others pronouncing it differently, as he responds to someone saying something along the lines of "OK, maybe for them, but we don't do that. For us we say "D", so just extend the Kavanah." I'm just pointing out that his opinion is strictly for those who pronounce "D". – Seth J Aug 17 '12 at 14:27
  • @zaq, also, regarding "I think I also remember learning it that way in the shulchan aruch" - I believe R' Grossman's point that the ShU"'A "doesn't make sense" (and neither does the Gemara) because we pronounce the letter "D". Hence the other answers stating that this is not how a Daleth is meant to be pronounced. We Ashkenazim have done a number of things to Hebrew that require rethinking of Halachah. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but the Gemara is giving us the ideal way of reciting Shema', and our current pronunciation doesn't allow us to follow that, so we have to work around it. :( – Seth J Aug 17 '12 at 14:30
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It says יאריך בד'‏ but I always thought that it doesn't necessarily mean at the end. You can have the kavonah for aleph before starting to say the word, the kavonah for ches during the eh and the kavonah for daled during the uh. It even makes more sense that you should have the kavonah in your head before you start saying the letter. Imagine saying baruch atah hashem and then thinking about what it meant.

msh210
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zukebutt
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