Meteg after the stress

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A meteg almost always comes before the stressed syllable of its word, but it can also come after the stress. MAM has 232 cases of meteg after the stress (MAS). For example:

In this document, by “word” we mean either a simple word (having just one atom) or a compound word (having two or more atoms connected by maqaf marks). By “atom” we mean a sequence of pointed letters uninterrupted by space, maqaf, or any other punctuation.

MAS census by cantillation system

So, among words with at least one meteg mark, there are 232 words where one of the meteg marks is after the stress and 14,629 words where none of the meteg marks is after the stress. (There is never more than one meteg mark after the stress.) See the Methods page for more details.

Facts about MAS

• In every MAS case, the stressed syllable has a conjunctive accent (φ1).
• In every MAS case, the MAS syllable comes right after the stressed syllable.
• In every MAS case except four (φ2), the MAS syllable is final.
• In every MAS case but one (φ3), the next word has initial stress.
• In 93.5% of MAS cases (φ4), the next word has a disjunctive accent.

The three types of MAS

All but 7 cases of MAS can be sorted into one of the three following types: (φ5)

1. The MAS syllable is open and final.
2. The MAS word is closed by a guttural.
3. The MAS syllable is closed, final, and tsere-voweled. (φ6)

The 232 individual cases are listed separately and can be filtered by (sub)type. The 7 misc cases appear in that large list, but are also further discussed on a page of their own.

The four subtypes of MAS type 1

Based on properties of the next word, all cases of MAS type 1 can be sorted into one of the four following subtypes:

• 1A: The next word has initial stress and an initial vocal shewa. (φ7)
• 1B: The next word has a pashta stress helper on its first letter. (φ8)
• 1C: Like 1B, but with some accent other than pashta.
• 1D: The next word does not have initial stress.

The three subtypes of MAS type 2

Based on properties of the next word, all cases of MAS type 2 can be sorted into one of the three following subtypes:

• 2A: The next word begins with ל (lamed).
• 2B: The next word begins with a guttural.
• 2C: The next word begins with neither ל nor a guttural.

Fit for MAS

How often does MAS appear in a syllable that seems fit for MAS? According to our definition of “fit for MAS”, it appears 53.1% of the time, but the “yield” varies widely among (sub)types. Notably, the type 3 “yield” is 100%.

The idea of a syllable “fit for MAS” is part of the broader idea of a syllable fit for a meteg. We deem a syllable fit for MAS when:

1. Its word has penultimate stress from a conjunctive accent.
2. The next word has initial stress from a disjunctive accent.
3. The next word conforms to (sub)type 1A, 1B, 2Af, 2Bf, or 3 (φ9).

The table below records how often MAS does and does not appear in syllables fit for it.

The 177 cases fit for MAS that lack MAS are listed separately and can be filtered by subtype.

The final-row “Has MAS” count is 200, rather than the total of 232 MAS cases, because 32 cases, though they do have MAS, are deemed not fit for MAS by our criteria. The 32 MAS cases not fit for MAS are listed separately, with the criteria each one fails.

A good way to think about the “fit for MAS” criteria is as a predictor. Like most predictors, this one has both false positives and false negatives. Its false positives are cases fit for MAS that lack MAS; its false negatives are cases not fit for MAS that nonetheless have MAS.

Footnotes

φ1 — Meteg after silluq

As noted on the Methods page, at 1 Kgs. 7:37, in MAM, there is a meteg after silluq in לְכֻלָּֽהְנָֽה׃. We ignore it for the purposes of this research. “Ignore” means treat this word as a meteg-then-silluq word, i.e. deliberately misinterpret the marks. How we treat this mark has little effect on our census and no effect on the bulk of the results of this research, since they concern meteg immediately after a conjunctive on the primary stress of the word.

φ2 — The four nonfinal MAS syllables

The four exceptions are all of subtype 2C; indeed, subtype 2C has only one other case. Each of the four exceptions has an open penultimate tsere MAS syllable before a final furtive-pataḥ syllable.

φ3 — Next word lacking initial stress

At Jer. 46:14, the word after the MAS lacks initial stress: וְהַשְׁמִ֣יעֽוּ בְמִגְדּ֔וֹל.

At 2 Chr. 8:11, in the Leningrad Codex, the word after a MAS lacks initial stress. See the ambiguous marks in 2 Chr. 8:11.

φ4 — Next words with a conjunctive accent

The 15 cases of MAS whose next word has a conjunctive accent are listed separately.

φ5 — Sources for types 1–3

The three types of MAS are described in both ITM and CoS. Exactly what words are included in and excluded from these three types varies among ITM, CoS, and our document here, but they broadly agree.

For those using the Wengrov translation of CoS, below is a table of the page numbers corresponding to the section identifiers in the table above:

φ6 — Do types 2 and 3 overlap?

Types 2 and 3 could in principle overlap. However, 56 of the 60 type-2 MAS syllables have pataḥ, and while the other four have tsere, those syllables are not only open but also nonfinal. Thus no type-2 MAS meets the type-3 condition. Indeed, words with a final tsere syllable closed by a guttural are quite rare even without a meteg. Only 154 words have a final tsere syllable closed by a guttural. All 154 occur in Aramaic and end in a mappiq he: 136 are in Daniel and 18 are in Ezra. For example:

φ7 — Vocal shewa and initial stress

We do not consider vocal shewa to be a syllable, so a word with an initial vocal shewa can still have initial stress.

φ8 — A pashta stress helper on the first letter

In subtype 1B, the next word has a pashta stress helper on its first letter, which tells us that it does not have an initial vocal shewa.

φ9 — Fit for MAS types 2Af and 2Bf

For “fit for MAS”, 2Af and 2Bf are subtypes 2A and 2B with one added condition: the next word does not begin with vocal shewa. (The f stands for “fit for MAS”.) Every type-2 MAS case already has a next word without vocal shewa, so the condition removes no type-2 MAS case, and narrows only the set of syllables deemed fit for MAS.