תְּה֑וֹם is an example of a Hebrew word accented on its last syllable. It has two syllables (using the perspective of pronunciation - see below). The first is not accented, the second is accented. You read this word "te-hom", saying the "hom" syllable with more emphasis than the "te-" syllable.

Notice in the word תְּה֑וֹם that the ETNACHTA is found under the second syllable -- the accented syllable.

- The first note of a Trope is called the upbeat note.

- The rest of the notes are the melody (or "melodic motif") of the Trope.

The upbeat note is sung on all syllables before the accented syllable.

In this case, the תְּ is the only syllable before the accented syllable. The upbeat note is chanted on the תְּ syllable.

The melody of the Trope is chanted on the accented syllable, the syllable with the Trope:ה֑וֹם

Double-click on the word תְּה֑וֹם in the panel to the right. You will hear the ETNACHTA sung on this word.

Let's look at a three-syllable word: לְמִינָ֑הּ. This word has three syllables l'-mi-nahh: לְ-מִי-נָ֑הּ

The same upbeat note is chanted on both the לְ and the מִי syllable.

The melody of the trope is chanted on the accented syllable נָ֑הּ which has the ETNACHTA.

The same rule is extended to words with more syllables, such as the four-syllable mi-b'-sa-ri:מִבְּשָֹרִּי and the five-syllable al-tish-l'-chu-vo:אַל-תִֹּשְלְחוּ-ב֑וֹ

What happens when a word has only one syllable? Just leave out the upbeat note. The whole melody (without the upbeat note) is sung on the one and only syllable. Here's an example or:א֑וֹר

Double-click the word א֑וֹר on the right panel to hear this.

Note the sh'va () under theשְ and theלְin אַל-תִֹּשְלְחוּ-ב֑וֹIn the Biblical texts shown by the TropeTrainer software (and in some printed texts), sh'va is shown in two ways, as a large ("sounded") and a small ("silent") version. These are pronounced two different ways:

- When the sh'va () is large / sounded it is pronounced as a short eh (or ih or uh) sound. The consonant above this sh'va is considered as if it were a separate syllable for the purposes of pronunciation (even though a strict grammarian might disagree with this concept).

- When the sh'va () is small / silent it is not pronounced. The function of this sh'va is simply to mark the end of a given syllable, so it has no sound.

Since אַל-תִֹּשְלְחוּ-ב֑וֹ has both a small and a large sh'va, we pronounce this word al-tish-l'-chu-vo. (The l' is a short le) We pronounce תִֹּשְ as "teesh" not "teesh-e", and we pronounceלְחוּ as "l'-choo".

In the word מִבְּשָֹרִּ֑י the בְּ has a large sh'va -- you now know to pronounce the sh'va in that word as well, saying "mee-b'-sa-ree", not "meeb-sa-ree".

This concept of two ways to interpret the sh'va is important to know, since the number of syllables changes depending whether or not you pronounce the sh'va (see above).

While we are on the topic of different versions of vowels, the qamats has two versions as well -- the large version () and the small ().

Sephardim pronounce the ( ) as "o" and the ( as "a".

Thus, the word בְּכָל-בָּשָֹ֑ר is pronounced b'-chol-ba-sar by Sephardim, notb'-chal-ba-sar. Ashkenazim say b'-chol-bo-sor.

Note that the word אַל-תִֹּשְלְחוּ-ב֑וֹ is really three words connected by a special line called a maqaf (-).

The maqaf acts like a hyphen, connecting small words to make one bigger word. Maqafs don't appear in the Torah (or other hand-written scrolls). They are seen in Chumashim and other printed versions of biblical texts. When you chanting words that are connected with a maqaf, you chanting them as though they are one word.

אַל-תִֹּשְלְחוּ-ב֑וֹ is chanted as though it were a five-syllable word, with its accent on the lastsyllable.