Mercha
| Mercha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| cantillation | |||||||
| Sof passuk | ׃ | Paseq | ׀ | ||||
| Etnakhta/atnakh | ֑ | Segol | ֒ | ||||
| Shalshelet | ֓ | Zakef katan | ֔ | ||||
| Zakef gadol | ֕ | Tifcha/tarkha | ֖ | ||||
| Rivia | ֗ | Zarka | ֘ | ||||
| Pashta | ֙ | Yetiv | ֚ | ||||
| Tevir | ֛ | Geresh | ֜ | ||||
| Geresh muqdam | ֝ | Gershayim | ֞ | ||||
| Karne parah | ֟ | Telisha gedola/talsha | ֠ | ||||
| Pazer | ֡ | Atnah hafukh | ֢ | ||||
| Munakh/shofar holekh | ֣ | Mahpach | ֤ | ||||
| Merkha/ma’arikh | ֥ | Mercha kefula | ֦ | ||||
| Darga | ֧ | Qadma | ֨ | ||||
| Telisha qetana/tarsa | ֩ | Yerah ben yomo | ֪ | ||||
| Ole | ֫ | Illuy | ֬ | ||||
| Dehi | ֭ | Tsinnorit | ֮ | ||||
Mercha (Hebrew: מֵרְכָא, also called מַאֲרִיךְ Maarich or מַאַרְכָא Maarcha) is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted.
Mercha is a conjunctive (mesharet) who precedes the following disjunctives (mafsikim):
- Tifcha
- Sof passuk
- Munach Legarmeh
- Pashta: Only when the mercha and the pashta are followed, without any syllable between them, as in הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙
- Zarka: Same rule as the Pashta
- Tevir: Only if there is one syllable or less between the mercha and the tevir, as in מַעְיָ֥ן וּב֛וֹר .
In some codex, when the tevir is not preceded by a darga or a mercha, and has a meteg because of a hateph-vowel, the meteg is then replaced by a mercha, as in וְנָ֥תְנ֛ו
Mercha appears in the Torah 9117 times—the second most of any trope sounds. Only Tipcha occurs more often.
The Aramaic word מֵרְכָא translates into English as elongation.