Metheg In Aramaic

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Metheg, pronounced me-teg in Modern Hebrew, is a small vertical stroke below and to one side of the vowel sign associated with the Aramaic letter in some words.

Metheg is one of the Hebrew accents or teamim of the Tanakh. It is not used in Modern Hebrew. If a word in the Tanakh has a Metheg, that syllable is stressed, just like the presence of any other Hebrew accent.

Metheg is generally used in the following circumstances:
  • It is used to indicate that a vowel which could be mistaken for Kamets Hatuf (pronounced o) is actually the normal Kamets (pronounced a). This is a very important use of Metheg and it is essential to be aware of the Metheg in this case, otherwise you will pronounce the Aramaic word incorrectly.
  • Like other Hebrew accents, words with Metheg mean that the emphasis in the word lies with the syllable containing the Metheg. As such, the accompanying vowel is a full vowel, even in situations where the vowel would be expected to be a short vowel or a Shva. Metheg is often found under the guttural letters for this reason.
  • Metheg can be used to mark a ‘long’ vowel which occurs two or more syllables before the main emphasis of the word.
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