This particular issue presents itself twice on שמחת תורה. First, in וזאת הברכה ל"ג:י"ט and then in בראשית. On days 3, 4 and 5 we find the word
ימים. But there is, of course, a very important difference. In וזאת הברכה and on days, 3 and 5, the word is
יַמִּים with a
פתח, meaning seas. On day 4, the word is
יָמִים with a
קמץ. This is easily overlooked and a very important distinction. En garde!
(I know someone is going to point out the דגש in יַמִּים but, as I have mentioned before, since for the most part, most בעלי קריאה do not precisely differentiate, I don't include that as a significant difference. Nevertheless, for those who lain in הברה ספרדית with little or no differentiation between קמץ and פתח, it might be a good idea to use the דגש to differentiate.)
In Jouon-Muraoka's Hebrew Grammar it says that ים "has a remarkable peculiarity."
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