|
|
|
This gesture (reconstructed by me) corresponds to the sign atnah ("rest"). In Letteris and Ginsburg it
appears as a bracket; in manuscripts and most other printed editions, as an upside-down "v". Either way,
it appears to be an upside-down galgal:
in a sense closed to the surrounding musical
context, as galgal is open to that context.
Atnah
(representing the 4th degree of the modal scale) is the ta`am of choice to indicate the melodic-verbal half cadence. In psalmody, however, galgal (and/or silluq in its role as "ga`ya",
or sometimes other sublinear signs) followed by `oleh weyored and merkha may supersede
even atnah
in marking the strongest point of division within a verse (in verses where there are three phrases rather than
the usual two). In effect, a suspensive
cadence supplants the half cadence in
that function in such verses. |
|
|
|
Updated December 27, 2011 |
|
|
