Illuy (cantillation) explained

The Illuy or Iluy (Hebrew: עִלּוּי) is a Trope (from Yiddish Yiddish: rtl=yes|טראָפּ "trop") in the Judaic Liturgy. It is one of the cantillation marks used in the three poetic books: Job, the Book of Proverbs, and the Psalms. Accordingly, it is a special mark belonging to the Ta'amei Sifrei Emet (meaning, the accent signs of the books of truth).

Symbol

The symbol of Illuy is the same as that of Munach, except that the Illuy is positioned above the Hebrew letter, while the Munach is positioned below it.

In the Yemeni tradition the Illuy is also called the "Shofar illuy" . However, "Shofar illuy" means Munach in the Italian tradition.

Description

The Hebrew word Hebrew: rtl=yes|עִלּוּי is a derivative of the word Hebrew: rtl=yes|עִלִּי (meaning "upper" or "top"), hence its position above the letter.

Occurrences

The Trope Illuy occurs in only three books.

Part of the Tanach	Illuy
Book of Job	20
Proverbs	14
Psalms	146
Total	180

Literature

• William Wickes: A treatise on the accentuation of the three so-called poetical books on the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. 1881 .
• William Wickes: A treatise on the accentuation of the twenty-one so-called prose books of the Old Testament. 1887 .
• Arthur Davis: The Hebrew accents of the twenty-one Books of the Bible (K"A Sefarim) with a new introduction. 1900 .
• Encyclopedia: Francis L. Cohen . Isidore Singer . Cantillation . The Jewish Encyclopedia . III . KTAV Publishing House . New York . 1906 . 542–548.
• Book: Solomon Rosowsky . The Cantillation of the Bible. The Five Books of Moses . The Reconstructionist Press . New York . 1957.
• Book: James D. Price . Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible . I: Concordance of the Hebrew Accents used in the Pentateuch . Edwin Mellon Press . Lewiston, New York . 1996 . 0-7734-2395-8.
• Book: Joshua R. Jacobson . Chanting the Hebrew Bible. The art of cantillation . 1. . Jewish Publication Society . Philadelphia . 2002 . 0-8276-0693-1.
• Book: Joshua R. Jacobson . Chanting the Hebrew Bible. Student Edition . The Jewish Publication Society . Philadelphia . 2005 . 0-8276-0816-0 .