Mapik Hei in Shmei (as in Y'hei Shmei)

Why do people pronounce Shmei (as in Y'hei Shmei Rabba) with a Mapik Hei? Is this also Minhag Ashkenaz?

MPerlman

The Aramaic suffix for "him" is a tsere with a mapik hei. Shmeih means "His name", or "name of Him"- referring to the name of Hashem, and therefore carries a tsere with a mapik hei. (Similarly we have in the Targum of kedusha desidra many mapik hei's which mean "his") This form appears throughout the Targum and Shas as well, and as far as I know is found this way in every vocalized manuscript. Furthermore, omitting the mapik hei arguably borders on chiruf v'giduf, because "shmei" without one means "heavens" (as in "shmei hashomayim"), and we don't want to bless the heavens "L'olam ul'olmey olmayo". So I can't believe that there would be a minhag ashkenaz to omit the mapik.

Melech

This form appears throughout the Targum and Shas as well, and as far as I know is found this way in every vocalized manuscript.

In many, possibly even the majority of, ashkenazi machzorim from the times of the Rishonim you do not find a special marking to indicate the מפיק ה"א in the places we would expect, such as Kaddish.

BAvis

BAvis wrote: In many, possibly even the majority of, ashkenazi machzorim from the times of the Rishonim you do not find a special marking to indicate the מפיק ה"א in the places we would expect, such as Kaddish.

Presumably they omitted the mapik because it was obvious that the ה is to be pronounced. While Hebrew often uses a silent ה at the end of an open syllable as a vowel marker, Aramaic uses an א to serve the same function. As such, there really is no need to mark the ה as a mapik, since (outside of some proper nouns which are mostly borrowed) the final ה is always mapik in any event.

Melech

Melech wrote: Presumably they omitted the mapik because it was obvious that the ה is to be pronounced. While Hebrew often uses a silent ה at the end of an open syllable as a vowel marker, Aramaic uses an א to serve the same function. As such, there really is no need to mark the ה as a mapik, since (outside of some proper nouns which are mostly borrowed) the final ה is always mapik in any event.

This may well be correct, the only problem is that we find the manuscripts omiting the mapik hei in hebrew words as well. From what I've read the general pattern seems to be that the majority of manuscripts of מקרא utilize some fashion of indicating a mapik hei, while a significant number of machzorim/sifrei piyutim do not mark the mapik hei. From which those who have heavily researched these topics have concluded that there was probably no קפידה on the pronunciation of the mapik hei in davening, and it may not have been practiced at all.

Also I happened upon this: אלו דברי בעל האגודה ממסכת ברכות ג:א וז"ל 'יהא שמו הגדול מבורך מכאן משמע שיש לומר יהא שמיה ולא מפיק ה' שמיה דהוי משמע שם יה'

BAvis

At the time when I originally asked the question, I did not realize that there is a simple way to decide whether a Mapik Hei is in order or not.
This question hinges on a different question. Is there a Yud in Shmei or not? If there is a Yud, there is no Mapik, as can be plainly seen in the verses of Daniel and Ezra. If there is no Yud, there is a Mapik.
I am aware that the Mishna Brura (56:2) brings different opinions as to whether Shmei is spelled with a Yud or not. It therefore, would be necessary, not to peruse old Siddurim in search of a Mapik, but rather to investigate if there is a Yud in Shmei.
Although our Mesorah does not rest only on the Siddur of the Rokeach, but rather on the accumulated and linked chain of tradition through the ages, it is interesting that the Rokeach insists that there be 29 letters in Y'hei Sh'mei etc. In order to obtain 29 letters, there must be a Yud in Shmei. Mind you, the Avodas Yisrael, who says that there is no Yud in Sh'mei, sides with the Siddur of Rabbeinu Shlomo who says that the sentence has only 28 letters. Interestingly enough, the author of the notes in Rabbeinu Shlomo's Siddur did not suggest that the Yud of Shmei be removed to arrive at 28 letters. And Rav Ovadia Yosef in Yabia Omer concurs with that author.
I would like to know what the Poskei Ashkenaz have to say, if anything, about the Yud in Sh'mei.

MPerlman