Darga

Darga (Hebrew: דַּרְגָּא) is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books. The symbol for the darga resembles a backwards Z.^[1]

The darga is a conjunctive (mesharet) wich precedes disjunctives (mafsikim) Tevir, Mercha kefula and Revia, but the cases in which it appears differ dependig on the disjunctive:

Before a Tevir, the conjunctive is a darga only when there is at least four syllables between the conjunctive and the disjunctive (both included) as in וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים (Genesis 1:4). Otherwise it is a Mercha
When there is two conjunctives before a Revia, the first one is a darga (the second one is a Munach as usual)
The conjunctive which precedes a mercha kefulah is always a darga

The Aramaic word דַּרְגָּא translates into English as step.

Total occurrences

Book	Number of appearances
Torah	1091^[2]
Genesis	253^[2]
Exodus	221^[2]
Leviticus	171^[2]
Numbers	237^[2]
Deuteronomy	209^[2]
Nevi'im	710^[3]
Ketuvim	637^[3]

Melody

The Ashkenazic darga is recited in a fast, downward slope, as follows:

The Sefardic darga is ascending, and the Moroccan darga is descending with a waver in the middle.^[4]

References

^ Chanting the Hebrew Bible By Joshua R. Jacobson, page 45
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6
^ ^a ^b Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5
^ "טעמי מקרא".

[1] Chanting the Hebrew Bible By Joshua R. Jacobson, page 45

[Price6-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6

[Price5-3] Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5

[4] "טעמי מקרא".

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