Darga () is a
cantillation
Cantillation is the ritual chanting of prayers and responses. It often specifically refers to Jewish Hebrew cantillation. Cantillation sometimes refers to diacritics used in texts that are to be chanted in liturgy.
Cantillation includes:
* Chant ...
mark commonly found in the
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
,
Haftarah
The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pr ...
, and other books. The symbol for the darga resembles a backwards Z.
The darga is usually followed by a
Tevir. It is most often found in places where a Tevir clause has two words which are closely related. The Hebrew word translates into English as ''step''. With the Hebrew word ''tevir'' meaning "broken," the combination of darga tevir means ''"broken step."''
Darga can also be followed by a
Munach
The Munach (, also spelled ''Munah'' or ''Munakh''), translating to English as ''"to rest,"'' is a common Hebrew cantillation, cantillation sound. In Sephardi and Oriental traditions it is often called Shofar holekh. It is marked with a right angle ...
Rivia
Revia (, []) is a Hebrew cantillation, cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other biblical texts.
It is commonly explained as being the Aramaic language, Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew Revi'i, meaning 'fourth' or 'quarter' ...
, and can (rarely) be followed by a
Mercha Kefula, an altogether rare trope.
Total occurrences
Melody
The Ashkenazic darga is recited in a fast, downward slope, as follows:
The Sefardic darga is ascending, and the Moroccan darga is descending with a waver in the middle.
References
Cantillation marks
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