Book of Formation - Sefer Yetzirah

Chapter II

Mishnah 1, part 4

Mishnah * II.1.4. (continuing)  And all of them are engraved in the voice, drilled into the spirit, attached to the mouth in five locations –

[the Hebrew consonant letters] alef, het, heh, ayin use the back of the tongue and the throat;

beit, vav, mem, peh by use the lips and the top of the tongue;

gimmel, yod, kaf, koof contact the back third part of the tongue;

dalet, tet, lammed, nun, tav use the tip of the tongue with vibrations through the throat;

[and] zayin, samekh, tsadik, reish, shin are located between the teeth with the tongue lowered and spread out.

Companion

Mishnah II.1.2.  [II.3]  all of them - all of the twenty-two Hebrew letters.

engraved in the voice - by constriction and relaxation of the throat behind the glottis and by vibrations or silence of the vocal cords.  This phrase corresponds to the possibility of producing actual speech – potential which might be expressed at a future time.  This is represented by the Hebrew word nefesh (NEF fesh).

Only humans have the anatomical structure to speak.  This speaking life-force of humans is called the ultimate, most perfect nefesh.  This is the unique state of consciousness and self awareness, a potential which only humans possess.

Nefesh can also refer to Divine consciousness.  Scripture uses a verb which is derived from nefesh to describe G-d's resting on the seventh day, the Sabbath (Genesis 31:17).  G-d created the universe in the first six days by speaking.  However, He ceased from speaking on the seventh day.  His "rest" on the Sabbath is maintaining a state dedicated to consciousness and awareness of His creation:

And the children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, by making the Sabbath throughout their generations as an eternal covenant.  It is a sign between Me and and the children of Israel forever because the L-rd made the heavens and the earth during six days.  But He ceased [from action] and restored himself on the seventh day (Genesis 31:16-17).

G-d's "restoring himself" is obviously not recovering from His efforts of creation.  Exhaustion is a human condition only.  Instead, this "restoration" is a kind of return to pure consciousness, a state of potentiality rather than action.

drilled into the spirit - respiration deep in the lungs;  also inspiration to speak which derives from the mind and heart;  Note the common root spir- which is from spīrāre in Latin meaning 'to breathe' and the Latin derived word spīritus meaning 'inspiration'.  This phrase in the Book of Formation corresponds to the sequence of producing active speech.  We develop a desire and sense in the mind and heart that activates the organs of the body to speak.  This is represented by the Hebrew word shanah (shah NAH) – sequential activity during a period of time.

attached to the mouth - All the letters of the alphabet are pronounced by attachment to the inside of the mouth and to the lips.  This phrase corresponds to place and location – olam (oh LAHM) in Hebrew, as well as 'result' and 'accomplishment'.  Then, once words leave our mouths they are located in the world, and we cannot actually withdraw these words.  We can only address whatever we said with further speech to modify or retract what we had previously said.

Again we find unity – consilience – between corresponding triplets of the Book of Formation.

• engraved in the voice - potential / nefesh
• drilled into the spirit - active speech in word order / shana
• attached to the mouth and delivered to our neighbors - place and location / outcome / olam

We see unity in the Creation.

attached to the mouth - to the five organs of speech:  the larynx (throat), the palate, the tongue (touching the palate or hitting behind the teeth), the teeth, and lips.

in five locations - in the throat, against the palate, behind the teeth, through the teeth, and with the lips.

1)  alef, het, heh, ayin - in the throat

א   ח   ה   ע   [right to left; This version of the Book of Formation presents each group in alphabetical order except for this group.]

2)  gimmel, yod, kaf, koof - against the palate

ג   י   כ   ק   [right to left]

3)  dalet, tet, lamed, nun, tav - behind the teeth

ד   ט   ל   נ   ת   [right to left]

4)  zayin, samekh, tsadik, reish, shin - through the teeth

ז   ס   צ   ר   ש   [right to left]

5)  beit, vav, mem, peh - with the lips

ב   ו   מ   פ   [right to left]

Although language dialects differ primarily in their vowel sounds but not especially frequently in their consonant sounds, we know that some dialects of English (and other languages) do differ in the pronunciation of consonants.  The sentence in this mishnah addresses these consonant shifts within the five families of Hebrew consonants.  Mishnah 1 in Chapter I (part 2) teaches us how the ten Hebrew vowels undergo coloration because they are b'limah – in families without precise roles.

Dalet represents the /d/ sound.  When the Hebrew alphabet is used to transcribe languages with a richer set of consonants, the Hebrew letter Dalet is also used to represent the 'th' in the English words 'this' and 'them'.  Linguists represent this sound with a letter that appeared in the spelling of Old English – ð, called "eth."  For some reason, this letter was eliminated before the time of the printing press.

In some American English dialects, this ð sound shifts within the same family to the ordinary pronunciation of the letter Dalet, /d/.  In Chicago, some speakers call their sports teams "da Bears" and "da Bulls," for example.

The Hebrew language is rich is sibilants – these are the set of letters which are pronounced through the teeth.  For European Jews, the letter Tav is sometimes pronounced as /s/ even though this consonant sound already exists when spelling with the letter Samekh.  However, in transcribing some other languages, Tav is used to represent the sound of 'th' in the English words 'thin' and 'with'.  Again, a letter that appeared in the spelling of Old English represented this sound – þ, called "thorn."  This letter also fell out of use.  At an earlier time, the pronunciation of written Old English was not ambiguous because two different letters represented the two sounds that now can only be represented by the combination of two letters, 'th'.

Using Dalet and Tav to represent sounds which seem to be foreign to the Hebrew language is not without foundation.  As I wrote before, Yemenite Hebrew, being richer in speech sounds than the European Hebrew dialect, does include both of these sounds which are spelled in English by 'th'.  'Thorn' (þ) is spelled by Yemenite Jews with a Tav (called thau / þau), and 'eth' (ð) is spelled with a Dalet (called thaleth / ðaleþ). Both letters, Tav and Dalet are Doublets. They support two sounds potentially.

* Definitions and Pronunciation