Transliteration of הָיְתָ֥ה in Gen 1:2

[Ingo]

Gen 1:2 הָיְתָ֥ה Transliteration

 

Accordance "Copy As Transliteration" produces: hāyṯâ = silent shewa under yod

 

But isn't the shewa under the yod a vocal shewa, after a long vowel? Transliteration would then be: hāyᵉṯâ

 

Incidentally, the Audio file with the native reader sounds like a silent shewa reading.

FWIW, biblehub.com has hā·yə·ṯāh, qbible.com has häy'täh 

 

Which one is correct? תודה

[Michel Gilbert]

It’s vocal. The ת without a dagesh shows that a vocal shewa precedes. The unaccented open syllable הָ is ה with a קָ֣מֶץ, (a-class, long; not a קָ֣מֶץ־חָ֣טוּף ), which also shows the following shewa is vocal.. Besides, its a 3FS qatal. But the debate is whether הָיְ is one syllable or two, that is, is consonant plus vocal shewa a syllable, half-syllable, or not a syllable? So, some pronounce הָיְ as one syllable, others don’t. There are also different transliteration systems: “An author may adopt one of two systems: (1) a fully reversible academic style that allows the reader to reproduce the Hebrew characters exactly (consonants and vowels); or (2) an essentially phonetic general-purpose style” (SBL Press, The SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd ed. (Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2014), 56.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Is there a bug I need to look at reporting here, or is everything OK?

[Ingo]

@Nathan: Not well-versed enough in Hebrew or Accordance to make that call. Depends on whether Accordance follows SBL transliteration philosophy 1) fully reversible, which would require indication of vocal shewa, or 2) phonetic - the two options as indicated by Michel G above. Minor detail.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Great. Thanks!