nikkud (the Hebrew dot puctuation thing)

[roga]

(This is like, entirely new levels of procrastination. But at least I wasn't officially planning to work today.)

If you've ever looked at Hebrew script and seen stuff like this scattered around the alphabet --

Comments

[npkedit]

Huh. In yeshiva, we call them Nikkudot (pretty much every frum person I know here in NY uses that term), not Nikkud (my chumash rabbi was amused at my high school reunion because to this day I write Hebrew using nikkudot--my version of an editorial compulsion--and he still remembers my doing it).

[roga]

It's probably a Yiddish/Modern Hebrew thing, like Shabbat/Shabbos? Nikkudot sounds wrong to me -- my ear wants to hear either Nikkud or Nekkudot.

And wow, you write using it? You actually know the rules? That is insane. I mean, you're an editor, I shouldn't be surprised, but wow.

[npkedit]

Could be a Yiddish thing. And editing has zip to do with it.

12 years of dikduk in a Yeshiva did the trick (though I still suck at several tenses). Knowing the Nekkudot (you're probably right about the spelling) can affect translation in Tanach classes, so they start drilling it into you quickly.

The funny part: Rutgers had a language requirement when I did my undergrad work there, but they didn't give a test for Hebrew. I called the Hebrew department head to get an exemption and he said he would file the paperwork, but never did. When I went to see the academic dean to see what I could do, she looked at my transcript, saw 12 years of yeshiva in my file and exempted me out of the language requirement right then and there.

[roga]

Hahaha, that would probably do the trick.

And yeah, knowing the nikkud (sorry, can't bring myself to say it differently!) can affect translations; I'm still amazed that you actually know how. For me, the Tanach is half-foreign language as it is, so I require notations and explanations for the smallest things, both for unfamiliar vocabulary (which is a lot) and for words that can be interpreted in different ways.

[naatz]

It should be 'nikkud' {or 'nikud'? Is there a dagesh in ניקוד?}, though. "Nekkudot" means 'dots', and 'nikkud' means 'the act of dotting'. It doesn't have a plural, just like Hebrew's 'sleep' שינה. Both 'nikkudot' and 'nekkudot' for the vowels sounds really wrong to me. :\

|Meduza|