Psalm 3/Phonology
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Phonology
Vowels
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a-vowels | v.2a; v.4a; v.6a; v.9 | clusters at beginning of sections 1, 2, and 3; end of psalm | aperture (v.2a; v.4a; v.6a); inclusio (v.2a, v.9) | ||
| o-vowels | second section: vv.4b-5b(4x) | first and last words of v.5 are phonologically parallel: קוֹלִי//קָדְשׁוֹ | strengthens parallelism (v.5ab); gives cohesion to second section | ||
| stressed hireq yod | first section: vv.2b-3b (6x); second section: 4a-5a (5x) | gives cohesion to the first and second sections (vv.2-3) |
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Consonants
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gutturals (א, ע, ה, ח) | v.8bc(8x) | ||||
| sibilants (שׁ, שׂ, ס, ז, צ) | v.6(4x); v.7b(3x); v.8d(3x) | gives cohesion to third section (vv.6-7) | |||
| velars (ק, כּ, גּ) | rare in first section; clusters in vv.4-6 (9x) and v.8(4x) | gives cohesion to vv.4-6; highlights parallel between 8a and 8c | |||
| nasals (מ, נ) | vv.2-3 (10x) | gives cohesion to the first section | |||
| sonorants (מ, נ, ל, ר, י, ו) | אֹמְרִ֪ים לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י (v.3b), וּמֵרִ֥ים רֹאשִֽׁי׃ (v.4b) | clusters at boundary: end of first section (v.3b) and beginning of second section (v.4a) | The alliteration of sonorants, as well as rhyme and syntactic similarity, clearly indicates a connection between these phrases in v.3b and v.4b. "Both the rhyme and the syntactical similarity (participle with noun complement referring to the poet) contrast effectively with the dissimilarity in content of v. 3a (referring to the hostile activity of the psalmist's foes) and 4b (speaking of Yahweh's defensive activity on behalf of the psalmist)."[1] | anadiplosis? |
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Sound combinations
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ō + stressed hireq yod | אֹמְרִים (v.3a), בֵאלֹהִים (v.3b), כְּבוֹדִי (v.4b), רֹאשִׁי (v.4b), קוֹלִי (v.5a) | vv.4b-5a | Gives cohesion to the second section | ||
| תָּ | יְשׁוּעָתָה (v.3b), וְאַתָּה (v.4a), הִכִּיתָ (v.8c), שִׁבַּרְתָּ (v.8d) | vv.3b-4a; v.8cd | cluster on either side of first major sectional division | reinforces connection between lines 8c and 8d | anadiplosis (vv.3b-4a) |
| liquid + /ay/ diphthong | צָרָי (v.2a), עָלָי (v.2b), עָלָֽי (v.7b) | v.2ab | reinforces connection between lines 2ab; the situation described in v.7 recalls that of v.2; the phonological repetition reinforces this connection | forms bicolon (v.2) | |
| ים ending | רַ֜בִּ֗ים (v.2b), קָמִ֥ים (v.2b), רַבִּים֘ (v.3a), אֹמְרִ֪ים (v.3a), בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים (v.3b), רְשָׁעִ֣ים (v.8d), | vv.2-3(5x) | gives cohesion to the first section (vv.2-3) | ||
| sonorant + labial | רַבּ֣וּ (v.2a), רַ֜בִּ֗ים (v.2b), רַבִּים֘ (v.3a), לְנַפְשִׁי (v.3a), לּ֬וֹ בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים (v.3b), מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי (v.4a), מֵרִבְב֥וֹת (v.7a), שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ (v.8d), בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ (v.9b) | vv.2-3(5x) | the beginning of the psalm (vv.2-3) has ב + ר, and the end of the psalm (v.8d, 9b) as the reverse (ר + ב) | gives cohesion to the first section (vv.2-3) |
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Infrequent letters or sounds
- ג - one time
- ז - none (only in superscription)
- ח - one time (additional occurrence in superscription)
- ט - none
- פ - one time
- שׂ - none
,
Patterns in beginnings
- רַבּ (v.2ab, 3a)
- שׁ (v.8c)
- a-vowels clustered at beginning of sections 1 (v.2a), 2 (v.4a), 3 (v.6a), and end of psalm (v.9),
Patterns in endings
- lines ending in liquid + ay diphthong (v.2ab, 7b)
- lines ending in hireq yod (vv.3ab-4ab, 6b, 8c)
- words ending in ים- (vv.2b-3ab, 4b, 8d)
- last word of 4a and first word of 4b end in דִי-,
Similar sounds in adjacent lines
vv.2-3
- alliteration: r + b
- rhyme: ē + m ending
vv.2ab.
- end rhyme: liquid + /ay/ diphthong (צָרָ֑י // עָלָֽי׃)
vv.3-4.
- מֵרִים רֹאשִׁי (v. 4b) sounds very much like אֹמרִים לְנַפְשִׁי (v. 3b): nasal (מ) + liquid (ר) + ē + nasal (מ) + liquid (ר/ל) + sibilant (שׁ) + ē.
vv.3b-4
- מָגֵ֣ן (v.4a), rhymes with אֵ֤ין (v.3b)
v.4ab.
- גֵ֣ן בַּעֲדִ֑י (v.4a) sounds like כְּ֜בוֹדִ֗י (v.4b) (guttural + dental + ē ending)
v.4b-5a.
- repetition of ō + ē (כְּ֜בוֹדִ֗י / ק֭וֹלִי)
v.5ab
- ק + /o/ vowel (ק֭וֹלִי // קָדְשׁ֣וֹ)
vv.5b-6a.
- rhyme: נִי
v.6ab.
- rhyme: נִי
v.8abcd.
- alternating alliteration: velars (ק/כּ) in lines a and c (ק֨וּמָ֤ה // כִּֽי־הִכִּ֣יתָ אֶת־כָּל); sibilant (שׁ) in lines b and d (הוֹשִׁ֨יעֵ֤נִי // שִׁנֵּ֖י רְשָׁעִ֣ים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ)
vv.8d-9a.
- alliteration: guttural + sibilant (רְשָׁעִ֣ים / הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה),
Other observations
Overview
This text manifest much sonic correspondence, including semantic symbolism (e.g., “rise up”— enemies, 1b, versus Yahweh, 7a), frequent rhyme patterns (e.g., formed by the pronominal suffix "me/my", e.g., v. 2) and an irregular but audible lineal rhythmic flow.
Miscellaneous Notes
- v.8c. alliteration of dentals + plosive velars creates a sound of striking which reflects the semantic content
Rhythm and Line Length
The following table shows the length of each line in terms of syllables, words, and stress units. Syllable counts are from Fokkelman (and are thus based on his slightly emended text [see below]),[2] and stress-unit counts are from Craigie.[3] If any particular line stands out according to two or more of these measurements, that line is considered marked. Lines 8a, 8b, 8c, and 9b are marked in this respect.
| Ref | Syllables | Words | Stress Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 2b | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 3a | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 3b | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| 4a | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| 4b | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 5a | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 5b | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 6a | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| 6b | 11 | 4 | 3 |
| 7a | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 7b | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| 8a | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 8b | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| 8c | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| 8d | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| 9a | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| 9b | 9 | 3 | 2 |
- Poetic “terseness” is clearly audible throughout the psalm, for example: (a) verbless cola in vv. 2, 4; (b) all other clausal (cola) units are relatively short (in comparison with prose); (c) there are few inter-clausal connectives (conjunctions)—thus, the ones that do occur are significant (e.g., כִּי in vv. 6b and 8c).
- ↑ John Kselman, “Psalm 3: A Structural and Literary Study,” in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 (1987): 572–80.
- ↑ J.P. Fokkelman, Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible: At the Interface of Prosody and Structural Analysis, Vol. 2 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000), 388.
- ↑ Peter Craigie, Psalms. 1-50.' Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word Books, 1983), 70.