Mercha
| Mercha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| cantillation | |||||||
| Sof passuk | ׃ | Paseq | ׀ | ||||
| Etnakhta/atnakh | ֑ | Segol | ֒ | ||||
| Shalshelet | ֓ | Zakef katan | ֔ | ||||
| Zakef gadol | ֕ | Tifcha/tarkha | ֖ | ||||
| Rivia | ֗ | Zarka | ֘ | ||||
| Pashta | ֙ | Yetiv | ֚ | ||||
| Tevir | ֛ | Geresh | ֜ | ||||
| Geresh muqdam | ֝ | Gershayim | ֞ | ||||
| Karne parah | ֟ | Telisha gedola/talsha | ֠ | ||||
| Pazer | ֡ | Atnah hafukh | ֢ | ||||
| Munakh/shofar holekh | ֣ | Mahpach | ֤ | ||||
| Merkha/ma’arikh | ֥ | Mercha kefula | ֦ | ||||
| Darga | ֧ | Qadma | ֨ | ||||
| Telisha qetana/tarsa | ֩ | Yerah ben yomo | ֪ | ||||
| Ole | ֫ | Illuy | ֬ | ||||
| Dehi | ֭ | Tsinnorit | ֮ | ||||
Mercha (Hebrew: מֵרְכָא, also called מַאֲרִיךְ Maarich or מַאַרְכָא Maarcha) is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted.
Mercha is a conjunctive (mesharet) who precedes the following disjunctives (mafsikim):
- Tifcha
- Sof passuk
- Munach Legarmeh
- Pashta: Only when the mercha and the pashta are followed, without any syllable between them, as in הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ [1]
- Zarka: Same rule as the Pashta[2]
- Tevir: Only if there is one syllable or less between the mercha and the tevir, as in מַעְיָ֥ן וּב֛וֹר [3].
In some codex, when the tevir is not preceded by a darga or a mercha, and has a meteg because of a hateph-vowel, the meteg is then replaced by a mercha, as in וְנָ֥תְנ֛ו [4]
Mercha appears in the Torah 9117 times—the second most of any trope sounds. Only Tipcha occurs more often.[5]
The Aramaic word מֵרְכָא translates into English as elongation.
Total occurrences
[edit]| Book | Number of appearances |
|---|---|
| Torah | 9117[5] |
| Genesis | 2415[5] |
| Exodus | 1879[5] |
| Leviticus | 1371[5] |
| Numbers | 1859[5] |
| Deuteronomy | 1595[5] |
| Nevi'im | 7672[6] |
| Ketuvim | 5235[6] |
Melody
[edit]In Etnachta group
[edit]
In Sof Passuk group
[edit]First appearance (before Tipcha)
Second appearance (after Tipcha)
References
[edit]- ^ Genesis 1:2
- ^ When there is a paseq before the zarqa, the conjunctive also turn into a mercha, but it is more likely to be an other cantillation (similar as Munach legarmeh) See Genesis 3:14
- ^ Leviticus 11:36
- ^ Numbers 15:38
- ^ a b c d e f g Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6
- ^ a b Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5
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