Etnachta (Hebrew: , with variant English spellings) is one of the most common
cantillation marks 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 () ...
and
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 ...
. It is the anchor for the Etnachta group, which in full consists of four different trope sounds, not all of which are always present. These are
Mercha,
Tipcha,
Munach, and its namesake Etnachta.
The Etnachta group marks the end of the first segment of a verse. Therefore, it never occurs more than once in a single verse.
An example is in the first verse of the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
according to the
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...
, the statement that God created is marked with an Etnachta, showing the completion of God’s creation.
The Hebrew word translates into English as ''pause''. This name is given because of its central location within a verse.
The Etnachta group
The following variations of the Etnachta group can occur:
#Mercha, Tipcha, Munach, Etnachta
#Mercha, Tipcha, Etnachta
#Tipcha, Munach, Etnachta
#Tipcha, Etnachta
#Munach, Etnachta
#Etnachta
In other words, the Tipcha can occur without a Mercha, but not vice versa. The Etnachta can occur without Munach, but not vice versa. And the Etnachta can occur without a Tipcha, but not vice versa.
The Munach is normally included when the word bearing the Munach is closely related to the word bearing the Etnachta.
[Chanting the Hebrew Bible By Joshua R. Jacobson, page 144]
Total occurrences
Melody
References
{{Torah reading
Cantillation marks