1. SYLLABLES A syllable is a group of letters that are pronounced together in a word. –“rot” has one syllable –“rotten” has two syllables (rot / ten) –“rottenness” has three syllables (rot / ten / ness) Aramaic has certain syllable rules: –A syllable may not begin with a vowel. –There are two kinds of syllables. “open” syllable: consonant + vowel: בָּ (ba ̄ ) “closed” syllable: consonant + vowel + consonant: בַּת (bat)

2. SHEWAS (shevas) In the vowel video, you learned three short vowels that were superscripted in transliteration. These each had a shewa – two vertical dots : next to the vowel mark: בֱּ בֲּ בֳּ shewas FREQUENTLY appear alone and are either silent of vocalized (like an “in between” vowel sound – like the first “e” in “severe” – “suh-vere”)

3. HOW TO TELL if shewa is silent or vocalized This is why you need to know the vowel chart in the previous video and the syllable categories in this video. Other examples ….

4. APPLYING the shewa rule: