Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation

Chapter
3
Syllable and Conjugation
How does it work
Nature of Hebrew Word

3.1
A word in Hebrew, as with any other languages, consists of consonants
and vowels, forming into what is known as a syllable. Unlike most Indo-
European languages, a verb in the Hebrew language, in most cases, is
made up of three consonants (verbs in Modern Hebrew could have up
to four or five letters) with a set of two default vowels assigned to each
form, mood or tense, which originally were not displayed in the writing
system, at least not before the Messoretic epoch, forming a two-syllable
base of a verb, the lemma or ‫( שורש‬the root), to appear some what like
CVCVC (C = consonant; V =vowel).
Steffen Han 2011 January Revised.
3.2
A word may come in one syllable or two syllables at the root level; most
of them are in two syllables: nouns and verbs alike. There are some
Hebrew words that come in three syllables; words that are given one
syllable are known as monosyllable words (e.g. the Hollow Verbs).
‫ברוך השם‬
2 Hebrew Verbal System
Hebrew Vowels: ‫נִקוּדִים‬

3.3
Unlike Modern languages where alphabet would be used, interestingly,
the vowels in Hebrew are displayed by a system of diacritical dots, the
‫נקודים‬, placed atop or beneath or inside the consonants. This making
system, however, did not come about sometime in the early centuries of
the Christian era. Of course, the vowel sound had had been in used all
long in the language; just without the diatrical signs or a spelling system
for it in the word.
Formation of a syllable
3.4
A syllable (‫ )הֲבָרָב‬is a pairing of one consonant (C) and a vowel (V)
composed into a unit of sound, something like CV combination, which is
known as a simple syllable or ‫הֲבָרָב פְּשׁוּטָה‬, as shown by these sample
words: ‫ מִי‬who, ‫ בָּא‬he entered into. A syllable ending in a consonant is
known as mixed syllable. A lone vowel in Hebrew could not be used as
a syllable. The number of vowels in a word determines the number of
syllables.
3.5
One syllable alone, either simple or mixed, is sufficient to make up a
word in Hebrew, like ‫ סוּס‬horse, ‫ בּוֹא‬to enter; however, in order to
create effective meaning, words are usually made up of more than one
syllables.
a. A syllable always begins with a consonant, except when a word

begins with [‫ )וָו( ]ו‬or [‫)יוֹד( ]י‬, which served the role of a
conjunction in the case of [‫)וָו( ]ו‬. A syllable may end in either
a consonant or another vowel.
b. A syllable in Hebrew may begin with two consonants, but never

more than that.
c. The same consonant may close a syllable and, at the same time,
CHAPTER THREE: Syllable and Conjugation 3
open the next syllable. In such cases a dot known as ‫דָּגֶש חָזַק‬
is placed inside in the middle of the same consonant.
d. A consonant closing a syllable cannot have a vowel underneath it,

except for [ְ○] ‫( שְׁוָא נָח‬silent shewa) which marks a terminating
consonant. When a consonant at the end of a syllable is silent,
it loses the [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬. Syllables ending with two consonants
come under this category, a sample of this: ‫ כָּתַבְת‬you (f)
wrote; you (lady) wrote.
e. Not counted as a syllable would be a deuce of a consonant and

a [ְ○] ‫שווא‬: vocal shewa and composite shewa (‫)חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬
included, for the [ְ○] (‫ )שְׁוָא‬is not a full vowel. Hence the word
‫ אֲנִי‬I (first person singular) is counted to consist of one syllable.
By the same token, ‫( פַּ֫תַּח גְּנוּבָה‬pathach furtive) could not be
taken as a syllable: it belongs to the preceding vowel, as in the
sample word: ַ‫ ר֫וּח‬wind.
f. Only in words ending with the

consonant [‫ )כַּף סֹופִית( ]ך‬would Samples of syllables
it allow to carry a ‫שוא נח‬. ֹ‫ זו‬simple syllable
g. The terms “short” and “long” vowel ‫ אַל‬simple syllable

referred to vowel length when
‫ כֹּל‬mixed syllable
speaking.
‫ לֶחֶם‬two syllables
h. A sample of words showing how ‫ נוֹתֵו‬two syllables
syllables are counted in a word is ‫ אֱלֹהִים‬three syllables

given in the Table:
3.6
Closed Syllable
A syllable consists of two consonants embedding or sandwiching a vowel,
usually termed as the stem vowel or the key vowel or the theme vowel,
is a composite or mixed syllable, known in Hebrew as ‫הֲבָרָה מֻרְכֶּבֶת‬.
It makes the word to look something like CVC; for a sample of it: ‫גָן‬
garden, ‫ עֵץ‬tree, ‫ מִן‬from (a prepostion). Without vowel (nikkudim), the
syllable would look like: CC. This is known as a closed syllable.
a. A mixed, closed syllable (CVC) if unaccented, always requires

a short vowel. When the accent falls on the composite, closed
syllable, it requires a long vowel, and usually remained
unmarked, a sample of it: ‫ עָפָר‬dust, dirt. In short, the vowel in
accented closed syllable is always long.
b. Guttural consonants do not normally close a syllable, especially

when it is present in the middle of word.
c. A mixed, closed syllable usually ends in a consonant; but a

word that ends in either in ‫ )הֵא( ה‬or ‫ )אָלֶף( א‬is deemed an
open syllable, for example: ‫בָּנָה‬, he built. Syllables contained
the diphthong with (ִ‫○י‬
ַ֫ ) an accent mark are considered to be
closed syllable.
3.7
Open Syllable
A simple syllable ends in a vowel (CV), therefore is known as an open
syllable, and the following syllable must not be one that begins with a
doubled consonant (no ‫)דָּגֵש חֲזַק‬, in which case, it virtually closed the
same preceding syllable.
a. Unaccented open syllable always requires a long vowel: long

vowel will never to be closed by a consonant. In short, open
syllables are always long.
b. A syllable ending in a vowel, or any one of these consonants

‫ י‬,‫ ו‬,‫ ה‬,‫ )אהוי( א‬forming part of a long vowel, usually a CV
formation, is deemed an open syllable, as the sample word:
‫לְך‬.
c. A short vowel in an open syllable must be stressed; for example,

the first syllable of the noun ‫ מֶלֶך‬king must be stressed because
it is an open syllable and fastened with a short vowel thus the
word would be: ‫מֶ֫לֶך‬.
d. In situation where a word, for instance: ‫ עַם‬people, during

pluralization which is expected to receive the stress thus requires
the doubling of [‫ )מֵם( ]מ‬so that the ‫פתח‬, a short vowel,
would not be left in an unstressed, open syllable thus: ‫עַמִּים‬.
In a situation where the consonant cannot be doubled, such as
a weak or guttural (the laryngeals), then the head vowel would
be lengthened to a corresponding class of vowel, as shown in
the sample words: mountains ‫ הַר ← הָרִים‬mountain. In a few
cases where the lengthening of the vowel occurs in the singular
where the plural form would have the doubled consonant and a
short vowel, for an example: hearts ‫ לֵב ← לְבּוֹת‬heart.
Two-syllable word
3.8
Words in the Hebrew language are fundamentally very vocalic. In a two-
syllable word, usually headed by a simple, open syllable and followed
by a mixed, close syllable which rides at the pillion of the word, such as
the word ‫( דָּבָר‬CVCVC), when there is no vowels (nikkudim), the word
looks something like this: CCC, ‫דבר‬. This is what was originally used
in the written form of language and the Tanakh (‫)תַנַ”ך‬. The vowel points
(‫ )נִקוּדִים‬came much later in the long history of the Hebrew language,
sometime in the second half of the first millennium of the Christian era.
3.9
The consonantal roots of the Hebrew word are significant, so are the
respective default vowels, which could be shortened or lengthened, one
pair for each verbal form and one default pair for each binyan: fixed, not
mixed, not confused and no crossover.

3.10
Inspired or not, the default vowels (‫ )נִקוּדִים‬formed an essential part
of the Hebrew word and grammar. Each derived stem or binyan, each
form, mood and tense or aspect of the verb is determined by the nature
and specific deuce of the default vowels. The sets of default vowels
are clearly distinguishable one from the other, not easily giving rise to
confusion. In this way, Hebrew is very much a vocalic language.
3.11
The system of the Hebrew verbs, quite like the English, consists of two
Infinitives (‫)שֵׁם הַפֹּועֵל‬, two Participles (‫)פּוֹעֵל בֵּינֹונִים‬, one Past Tense
(‫)זְמַן עָבר‬, one Imperfect Tense (‫)זְמַן עָתִיד‬, and the Imperative (‫)צִיוּוּי‬,
the Jussive (‫)תיווי של‬, the Cohortative, the Wav Consecutives or Wav
Conversives, namely wayyiqtol (‫ )וַיִּקְטֹל‬and weyatal (‫)וְקָטַל‬.
a. With the exception of the infinitives, these forms are conjugated

to reflect number (singular or plural), person (first, second, or
third) and gender (masculine or feminine) of its subject. In
the case of the Participles, only number and gender would be
required.
b. In the case of two-consonant verbs, actually single syllable

word, it would be inflected without changes to the root or the
stem vowel, as far as possible. As a rule, default vowels are
immutable or unchangeable.
3.12
A two-syllable word has two parts:
(i) A head, which consists of a consonant and a vowel; and a
stem, also known as the pillion, which brackets a vowel by
two consonants. The head or the initial syllable is usually a
simple, open, unaccented syllable; the stem is a mixed, closed,
accented but unmarked syllable, as in the sample word: ‫דָבָר‬
word, saying.
‫כָּתַב‬
head syllable:
pillion syllable: CV
CVC
(ii) The two default vowels (the head vowel and pillion or head
and stem vowel) interplay with the rules of vowel reduction
or elongation under the influence ofshifting accent or stress as
and whenever a new syllable is added to the root by way of
personal pronoun affixes, together with the presence or absence
of the laryngeal or guttural consonants, to create meaning for
the verb.
Head vowels
3.13
The head vowel of each binyan together with the vowel and the consonant
in the prosthesis is given by default. It would be more appropriately to
take together as a unit the pair of two default vowels in each verbal stem
instead of two separate, unrelated vowels.
a. Taking the Qal binyan as a working example, the head vowel for
Qal Infinitive Absolute would always be [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬, pairing with
[ֹ‫)הולם מלא( ]ו‬, given by default. As a general observation, the
[ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬is closely linked with the Infinitive Absolute in
the verbs, which means that the vowel [ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬would
not be used as theme vowel in other verbal form.
b. The head vowel for Qal Perfect Tense would always be [ָ○]
(‫)קמץ‬, coupling with [ַ○] (‫)פתח‬, which is given by default.
c. The head vowel for Qal Passive Participle would always be [ָ○]
(‫)קמץ‬, collaborates with [ּ‫)שורוק( ]ו‬, also given by default.
d. Likewise the head vowel for Qal Active Participle would always
be [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬, escorted by a [ֵ○] (‫)צרי‬, which in turn is
given by default. In Modern Hebrew, the [ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬is
used in place of [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬.
e. The head vowel for Qal Infinitive Construct would always

be [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬, supported by [ֹֹ○] ‫ חולם חסר‬which, again, is
given by default, but making adjustment to ‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬would be
necessary in word which root is led by a weak or guttural (the
laryngeals) consonant.
f. Default vowels under the prosthesis of ‫—אית”ן‬the personal

pronoun prefixes for conjugation of the Imperfect Tense, also
known as preformative conjugation (PC) in some textbooks—
would always be [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬. When placed in contiguous
with another set of [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬, which comes under the first
consonant of the root inherited from Qal Infinitive Construct, or
‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬after making adjustment for weak consonant.
• The [ְ○] ‫ שווא נע‬under the ‫ אית”ן‬would be reduced to [ִ○]

‫ היריק‬in response to the presence of another [ְ○] ‫שווא‬
given in the verbal root for Qal PC.
• When an active, dynamic verb which has a guttural as the first
consonant of the root, the vowel under the ‫( אית”ן‬except
‫)א‬, would always be [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬after making adjustment to

the presence of ‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬during Qal PC.
• When a stative verb which has a guttural or laryngeal as the
first consonant of the root, the vowel under the ‫אית”ן‬,
would always be [ֶ○] (‫)סגול‬, after making adjustment to
the presence of ‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬while doing Qal PC.
• The vowel under [‫ )אלף( ]א‬of the ‫ אית“ן‬for the first person
common singular I in configuration for Qal Imperfect

Tense would always be [ֶַ○] ‫סגול‬, dynamic as well as
stative verbs.
g. The head vowel of the other binyanim is given in the nomenclature

of the respective prosthesis of each binyan.
3.14
Stem Vowel or Theme Vowel
In a two-syllable verb, the second vowel is commonly known as the stem
vowel, as in ‫ כָּתַב‬he wrote. Some grammar textbooks, however, would
give it names such as the theme vowel or the key vowel, or even the
pillion vowel. These words are different name of the same thing.
3.15
As the head vowel of a verb is determined by default, so is the pillion
vowel. These two vowels constitute a pair of default vowels for each
binyan and the other verbal forms. The rules for the stem vowel are,
generally, fairly consistent.
i. Only on non-Qal binyanim would the rules for stem vowel be

applicable insomuch as the Qal binyan has a separate set of
default stem vowel for all its verbal forms, as noted in the
above section.
ii. How to use the rules for the stem or pillion vowel would be
determined by the nature of the verbal stem: active voice or
passive voice, dynamic or stative, transitive or intransitive,

Qal or non-Qal and so on; and the pronominal, whether it is
headed by a consonant or a vowel, or zero vowel sufformative
conjugation—no personal pronoun is involved in the
conjugation. The personal pronoun is added to the root, which
may influence the configuration of the syllables of the verb, but
is not part of the root.
3.16
Only a few vowels are engaged in the formation of the pillion syllable
of a two-syllable verb. These vowels are: [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬, [ֹ‫הולם( ]ו‬
‫)מלא‬, [ַ○] (‫)פתח‬, [ֵ○] (‫)צרי‬, [ּ‫)שׁוּרוּק( ]ו‬, [‫)היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬, [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬.
The stem vowel or theme vowel for the monosyllable verbs or Hollow
verbs is given by default, either [ּ‫ )שׁוּרוּק( ]ו‬or [ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬or [‫]○ִי‬
(‫)מלא היריק‬.
a. For most of the sufformative (suffix) conjugation or Perfect

Tense conjugation, [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬would be the default stem vowel,
also known as key or theme vowel, in the strong, active voice
and dynamic verbs;
b. For stative verbs of the Qal Perfect Tense (there are three groups
of these), the stem would be either [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬or [ֹֹ○] (‫חולם‬
‫ ;)חסר‬but this is confined to the Qal conjugation of third person
masculine singular he, also known as zero vowel conjugation.
For the conjugation or inflection of other persons both gender,
the vowel [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬would be the stem vowel.
c. The Qal Imperfect Tense (Preformative or Prefixes Conjugation)

utilizes its own default stem vowel. The Niph’al Imperfect
Tense takes the vowel [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬as the stem vowel in zero
vowel sufformative conjugation. Often, verbs in the Niph’al
binyan are treated as an active verb in stem vowel
d. The stem vowel for the Qal Imperfect Tense (PC) would always
be [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬, which is actually carried over from the
Qal Infinitive Construct, for most verbs. The stem vowel for
stative verbs or weak verbs which have one or more guttural
consonant in the root, or Geminate verbs for Qal Imperfect
conjugation, it would be a [ַ○] (‫)פתח‬.
3.17
Apparently, the vowel [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬in the role as stem vowel is mostly used
in the active voice, transitive verbs of a binyan, whereas the vowel [ַ○]
(‫ )פתח‬works well with stative, intransitive verbs as well as the passive

voice of a binyan in the role as the pillion vowel; and the vowel [ָ○]
(‫ )קמץ‬is linked to the passive participles. As for the [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬,
it is almost intimately engaged to the active participle of the Qal binyan
and thus it is not used in other active participle in the same manner.
The Qal Passive Participle employs the vowel [ּ‫ )שׁוּרוּק( ]ו‬as the pillion
vowel.
3.18
In a similar move, verbs of non-Qal Perfect active voice as well as
Imperfect active voice, active participle of all binyanim and Niph’al
Imperfect would schlep the vowel [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬as stem vowel, with the
exception of the Hiphil binyan. Apparently the vowel [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬has a
closer link with the active voice binyanim. As a general rule, the vowel
[ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬is intimately engaged to the active voice of a verb while the
vowel [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬is closely linked with passive and stative verbs.
3.19
The Perfect Tense of all Passive binyanim (four members: Niph’al,
Pu’al, two in Hophal) as well as the Qal Perfect would load the [ַ○]
(‫ )פתח‬as the stem vowel by default even without inflection. The vowel
[ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬is also used in the Imperfect of all Passive binyanim (three
members: Pu’al, two in Hophal), except Niph’al Imperfect in zero vowel
sufformative conjugation, which takes [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬as stem vowel.
3.20
Word Formation in Verbs by Conjugations: The Background
Verbs in the Hebrew language are expressed across seven stems or
binyanim (‫ בִּנְיָנִים‬plural; ‫ בִּנְיָן‬singular), namely, the Pa’al (‫ )פָעַל‬or Qal
(‫)קַל‬, Niph’al ‫)נִפְעַל‬, Pi’el ‫ )פִּעֵל‬or ‫ פִּיעֵל‬in Modern Hebrew), Pu’al
(‫ פֻּעַל‬or ‫)פּוּעַל‬, Hithpa’el (‫)הִתְפַּעֵל‬, Hiphil ‫)הִפְעִיל‬, Hophal or Huphal
(‫ הָפְעַל‬also written as ‫ ;הוֹפְעַל‬and the second form ‫)הֻפְעַל‬, grouped
into three or major groupings: the Simple stem, the Intensive stem, the
Causative stem and the Reflexive stem. There are some minor stems and
rare stems as well.
a. Personal pronoun affixes are required to be annexed to the root

(‫ )שׁוֹרש‬to provide information related to person, gender and
number to a noun or a verb to enrich a word.
b. In the case of a verb, these affixes could be used as pronoun

subject of a verb by way of conjugation, and it could be taken
as the subject noun itself (the substantive) while being glued
to the root. For instance the root ‫כתב‬, which could have the
meaning “to write” or the act of “writing”, might be configured
to mean “you (man) wrote; you men wrote” by adding the
relevant personal pronoun affixes known as pronominal affixes,
resulting into ָּ‫ כָּתַבְת‬you man wrote.
c. The two Hebrew Infinitives are not involved in conjugation.
Conjugation and Pronominal Affixes

3.21
There are two major sets of these personal pronouns affixes for the
Hebrew verbs: (i) the Perfect Sufformative Conjugation (SC), and (ii)
the imperfect Preformative Conjugation (PC).
Sufformative Conjugation
Plural Singular
‫מי‬ ‫מי‬
1cp ּ‫אֲנַחְנו‬ ּ‫נו‬--- ‫תִּי‬--- ‫אֲנִי‬ 1cs

2mp ‫אַתֶּם‬ ‫תֶּם‬--- ָּ‫ת‬--- ‫אַתָּה‬ 2ms
2fp ‫אַתֵּן‬ ‫תֵּן‬--- ְּ‫ת‬--- ְּ‫אַת‬ 2fs
3mp ‫הֵם‬ ּ‫ו‬--- --- ‫הוּא‬ 3ms
3fp ‫הֵן‬ ּ‫ו‬--- ‫ָה‬--- ‫הִיא‬ 3fs

3.22
I Perfect Sufformatives Conjugation (SC)
a. In the case of the Perfect Tense, ‫עָבַר‬, pronominal sufformative
conjugation (SC) would provide information for person, gender
and number (singular or plural) to the subject to the verb.
b. Perfect sufformative inflexion (suffix conjugation) could be

understood as:
(i) Vocalic (vowel) sufformatives (3cp, 3fs), which begin with

a vowel (including ּ‫ו‬--- and ‫ָה‬--- for they both genders, and
she). There are two sets of vocalic (vowel) sufformatives
for the Perfect Tense in currency: one for singular verbs
and the other for plural verbs, and likewise two sets of
consonantal sufformatives for both genders.
(ii) Consonantal sufformatives which commence with a

consonant, including (ּ‫נו‬--- 1cp for we both genders, ‫תֶּם‬--
- 2mp for you men, ‫תֶּן‬--- 2fp for you women (you ladies),
‫תִּי‬--- 1cs for I both genders, ָּ‫ת‬--- 2ms for you man, ְּ‫ת‬---
2fs for you lady), and;
(iii) Zero vowel sufformative (3ms for he), which does not
require the addition of personal pronoun information
to the verbal root (involving only the third person
masculine singular, namely he). Therefore the formation
of the third person singular Perfect Tense does not
require sufformatives, termed as zero vowel sufformative

conjugation. Verbs in a dictionary are entered as in the
state of third person singular Perfect Tense thus it is also
known as the lexical form.
c. As Hebrew is a vocalic language, it works much better to organize

the sufformative conjugation (SC) into vocalic sufformatives,
consonantal sufformatives and zero vowel sufformatives.

Different Hebrew grammar textbooks may provide different
format for the suffix conjugation.
d. In order to configure the Perfect Tense, other than adding

pronominal sufformatives to the verbal root, pluralization of the
verb would induce propretonic reduction, which may invoke
the rules related to contiguous ‫ שוואים‬, the presence of two
[ְ○ְ○] (‫ )שוואים‬in a row, resulting the first [ְ○ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬must be
reduced to [ִ○] (‫ )חִירִיק‬replacing the head [ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬or to a
‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬if it is a guttural or weak consonant which sits atop
the [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬.
e. In the case of the presence of a guttural or weak consonant in

the leading position of the root, a vowel of the same class as
the ‫ חֲטָף שְׁוָא‬would be used. Details of vowel class and rules
of reduction should be carefully studied.
Preformative Conjugation
Plural Singular
‫מי‬ ‫מי‬
1cp ּ‫אֲנַחְנו‬ ---ְ‫נ‬ ---ֶ‫א‬ ‫אֲנִי‬ 1cs
2mp ‫אַתֶּם‬ ‫ ּו‬---ְּ‫ת‬ ---ְּ‫ת‬ ‫אַתָּה‬ 2ms
2fp ‫אַתֵּן‬ ‫נָָה‬---ְּ‫ת‬ ‫ִי‬---ְּ‫ת‬ ְּ‫אַת‬ 2fs
3mp ‫הֵם‬ ‫ ּו‬---ְּ‫ת‬ ---ְ‫י‬ ‫הוּא‬ 3ms
3fp ‫הֵן‬ ‫נָה‬---ְּ‫ת‬ ---ְּ‫ת‬ ‫הִיא‬ 3fs
3.23
II Imperfect Pronominal Affixes Conjugation (PC)

a. For the Imperfect Tense, ‫עָתִיד‬, similar information related
to person, number and gender would be provided by the
pronominal preformatives and suffixes allocated to be used
exclusively in the Imperfect Tense known in Jewish tradition
as ‫ יו”נה‬and ‫אית”ן‬, where each alphabet of the two sets, in
turn, would take up the role of a prosthesis and sufformative for

one of the three personal pronouns bearing singular or plural,
masculine or feminine. The Imperative Mood, the Jussive, the
Corhotative and the Vow Consecutive shared the same set

of personal pronoun prefixes as the Imperfect Tense (Prefix
Conjugation), which actually is derived from the Infinitive
Construct.
b. There are:
(i) Three vocalic (vowel) sufformatives (ּ‫ו‬---ְּ‫ ת‬2mp for you
men, ‫ִי‬---ְּ‫ ת‬2fs for you lady, and ּ‫ו‬---ְּ‫ ת‬3 mp for they men)
to be involved in the Imperfect Tense;
(ii) Two sets of consonantal sufformtives (‫נָה‬---ְּ‫ ת‬2fp for you

women, ‫נָה‬---ְּ‫ ת‬3fp for they women); the consonantal affixes
are rather consistent during inflection, and;
(iii) Five sets of zero vowel sufformative conjugations (---ְ‫נ‬

1p for we both genders, ---‫ א‬1cs for I both genders, ---ְּ‫ת‬
2ms for you man, ---ְ‫ י‬3ms for he and ---ְּ‫ ת‬3fs for she)
overlapping with consonantal preformatives), as shown in
the Table.
c. The vowels in the Infinitives of each verbal stem would be

utilized as the base form to install the Imperfect Tense of each
respective binyan. In the Qal Imperfect Tense, the default vowel
would be the combo of [ֹ○+ְ○] (‫הולם חסר‬+‫ ;)שווא נע‬whereas
stative verbs in the Qal Imperfect Tense would assume a vowel
[ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬as the stem vowel.
d. Since the head vowel of Qal Infinitive Construct would be a

vocal sheva [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬, the presence of a weak or guttural

consonant in the head of the root would demand care to setup
the Imperfect Tense for the weak and guttural root.
e. Unless propretonic reduction is necessary during pluralization,

the stem vowel for all other derived stems in the Imperfect
Tense would be similar and remain constant as the default

deuce in the Infinitive Construct of each stem.
f. After adding to the root the morphological elements to enrich

a word, such as personal pronoun prefixes or suffixes and the
like, a word may end up with more syllables. In such cases,
shift of accent may occur.
3.24
Consonantal Sufformative Conjugation
Similarly applicable to both the Perfect and Imperfect Tense, the rules
of consonantal sufformative conjugation would be employed in cases
which seek to provide information of person, gender and number to the
subject of the verb, covering the first person both genders singular as
well as plural (I, we), the second person masculine singular and plural
(you man and you men), the second person feminine singular (you lady)
and the second person feminine plural (you ladies), etc., as shown in
the Table, to install the Imperative, the Imperfect Tense and the Perfect
Tense of a binyan. The consonantal sufformative conjugation (SC) for
the Perfect Tense of all binyanim would team up with [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬as the
stem vowel: active and passive voice binyanim, both genders, singular as
well as plural; Qal stative or weak verb Imperative, and non-Qal Passive
Imperfect Tense. There is a split of choice for the stem vowel in Niph’al
binyan, where it is [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬for
Consonantal Sufformatives
the consonantal Suffix Conjugation,
but [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬is used in vocalic
Imperative 2fp you ladies ‫נָָה‬--- Suffix Conjugation. The consonantal
Imperfect 2fp you ladies ‫נָָה‬--- Sufformative Cconjugation for non-
3fp those women ‫נָָה‬--- Qal active Imperfect (three members:

Perfect 1cs I ‫תִּי‬--- Pi’el, Hithpa’el, Hiphil) and non-Qal
active Imperative (three members:
2ms you man ָּ‫ת‬---
Pi’el, Hithpa’el, Hiphil) would partner
2fs you lady ְּ‫ת‬--- with the [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬as stem vowel.
1cp we ּ‫נו‬--- The process may or may not trigger
2mp you men ‫תֶּם‬--- propretonic reduction of the head
2fp you women ‫תֵּן‬--- vowel, depending on the occurrence

of accent shift. It may overlap with
contiguous ‫שוואים‬. The Participles, Active as well as Passive Participles,

are not implicated in consonantal sufformative inflection.
3.25
Vocalic Sufformative Conjugation
The vocalic sufformative conjugation would be applicable on the second
person feminine (you lady) and third person plural (those men and
women). The vocalic sufformative conjugation for the Perfect Tense,
the Imperative and the Imperfect Tense of all binyanim: active and
passive voice, both gender, singular as well as plural, would go through
the process of abdication
of the hind consonant Vocalic (vowel) Sufformatives
and reduction of the stem Imperative 2fs you lady ‫ִי‬---
vowel to a [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬.
This process includes the
2mp you men ּ‫ו‬---
Active Participles of all Imperfect 2fs you lady ‫ִי‬---
active voice binyanim. 2mp you men ּ‫ו‬---
The conjugation process 3mp those men ּ‫ו‬---
may or may not trigger Perfect 3fs she ‫ָה‬---
propretonic reduction of they
the head vowel, depending Participle
3cp
men and women ּ‫ו‬---
on accent shift, if it occurs, Active fs lady ‫○ֶ○ֶת‬
or overlap with contiguous mp men ‫ִים‬---
‫שוואים‬. Exception to this fp women ‫וֹת‬---
rule would be the Hiphil Participle fs lady ‫ָה‬---
binyan, which loads the Passive
mp men ‫ִים‬---
vowel [‫)היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬,
which is immutable, in the fp women ‫וֹת‬---

singular as well as plural of
both genders.
Mechanics of Conjugation
Rule I:
Abdication of the Hind Consonant and Contraction of the Stem Vowel
(a) In the formation of a Hebrew word, adding vocalic (vowel)
sufformative to the
Vocalic (vowel) Inflection: verb induces abdication
of the hind consonant
ּ‫כָּתְבו‬ of the second, pillion

syllable, which is the
last syllable of a two-
(i) No propretonic reduction of head vowel is needed if there syllable word. In so
is no accent shift occurs in pluralization as the stress is still doing, as the vocalic
on the second syllable. Default head vowel in ‫ עָבַר‬Perfect
(vowel) sufformative
remains as [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬.
could not constitute a
(ii) Abdication of the hind consonant ‫ ב‬which is reused with
vocalic (vowel) sufformative [ּ‫ ]ו‬to form a new syllable. full and independent
Reduction of default stem vowel would be needed when syllable, it therefore
adding vocalic (vowel) sufformative to the root. has to adopt and reuse
the hind consonant
of the same pillion
syllable to form a new, open syllable tailing after the former
pillion syllable. Simultaneously it triggers accent shift and
shortening of the stem vowel, which de facto half closed the
former, first syllable when speaking very fast. The maneuver
could be termed as the rule for abdication of the hind consonant
and contraction of the stem vowel.
(b) This rule is applicable practically to all cases of affixing vocalic

(vowel) sufformatives to the root of a word, both verbs as well
as nouns, even in cases of verbal nouns or pluralization of
participles. In the verb, exemption to this rule would be in cases
which do not involve accent shift during inflection, such as the

case in the Hiphil Perfect Tense where the inflection of the
third person feminine singular (she) and third person common
plural (they: male and female; those ladies and gentlemen) do
not invoke a shift of the accent.
(c) What happens in the aforesaid sample is the hind consonant of

the verbal root will be dislodged to join up with the vowel of

the vocalic (vowel) sufformatives in conjugation of the Perfect
Tense (SC), and for that matter just in about any other word
formation cases, to form a new syllable which receives the
accent, as shown by the sample word: ּ‫ כָּתְבו‬they wrote from
the root ‫כתב‬. When the vocalic sufformative for third person
plural ּ‫ ו‬they joins up with ‫ב‬, the last consonant of ‫כתב‬, the
whole root is divided up into ‫בו‬-‫ת‬-‫ כ‬to become something
like CV-C-CV; and reduction of default stem would occur at
the same time. This maneuver is applicable to vocalic (vowel)
conjugtion of all binyanim and other similar situation of word
formation.
(d) Beware that during inflection, a two-syllable word, the pillion,

mixed syllable, which has two consonants, will be divided up
while the stem vowel will be shorten to [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬when
adding personal pronoun suffixes to the verb during conjugation
in all cases of vocalic conjugations, both genders, singular and
plural. In effect, the vowel [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬actually closed the
same former, open syllable when speaking fast enough.
(e) It is important to note that this mechanism is applicable to all

cases of vocalic conjugation.
(f) If the verbal root is a stative verb which vowels combination

belonged to the deuce of [ֹֹ○+ָ○] (‫חולם חסר‬+‫)קמץ‬, the stem
vowel [ֹֹ○] (‫)חולם חסר‬, as a general rule, would be shortened
to [ְְ○ָ○] (‫ )קָ֫מֶץ חָטּ֫וּף‬being the same vowel class as [ֹֹ○] (‫חולם‬
‫ )חסר‬in a closed and unstressed syllable of the root where
usually a shift of accent must have occurred, and read as

“oh”: it happens only in closed, unaccented syllable. This rules
applies only to stative verbs, as shown by the sample word:
‫( קְטָנְתֶּם‬sounded as ktontem; not as ktantem) you gentlemen
shrinked from the root: ‫קטן‬.
(g) Apparently, in cases where there is no shifting of accent when

adding pronominal affixes to the verb, the aforesaid rule would

not be applicable, such is the case with the Perfect Tense when
adding 1cs for I (‫תִּי‬---), 1cp for we (ּ‫נו‬---), and 2ms for you
man (ָּ‫ת‬---) to the verb; in the Imperfect Tense: 2fp for you
ladies and 3fp for they (those) women (‫נָה‬---); in the Imperative
2fp for you lady (‫נָה‬---). These are consonantal sufformatives.
In the Participle, the feminine singular woman, which behaves
like segholate noun where the accent falls on the first syllable
and the accent does not shift.
(h) In the Imperfect Tense, the Imperative, Cohortative and

Participles, shifting of accent occurs mostly in pluralisation of
second person masculine and feminine verbs where propretonic
reduction of the head vowel is also involved; and in cases of
vocalic (vowel) sufformatives, shortening of stem vowel takes
place simultaneously.
(i) Except Qal Passive Participle and Niphal Passive Participle, the
declension of feminine singular in all other participles, active
as well as passive, would go through a process resembles
feminine segholate noun ending as in sample dummy [‫]○ֶ○ֶת‬.
No shifting of Accent
Imperative 2fp (‫נָה‬---) you (lady)
Imperfect (PC) 2fp (‫נָה‬---) you (ladies)

3fp (‫נָה‬---) they (those women)
Perfect (SC) 1cs (‫תִּי‬---) I (man and woman)

1cp (ּ‫נו‬---) we (men and women)
2ms (ָּ‫ת‬---) you man
3.26
Mechanic of Dividing a Syllable for Vocalic Conjugation
Calling to mind that a closed, mixed syllable which received the accent,
as a general rule, rides at the pillion in a bisyllabic word with a simple,
open syllable in the lead which resembles CV-CVC. One of these, the
one at the hind (CVC), will be abdicated to merge with the vocalic
(vowel) sufformative to form another rear syllable tailing after the pillion
syllable while the stem vowel would be shortened to a [ְ○] (‫ ;)שווא נע‬and
the new syllable would receive the accent (the accent shifted to this new
syllable, but unmarked), as shown in the example:
they wrote ּ‫וּ ←כָּתְבו‬+‫ כתב ← כָּתַב‬he wrote ← read this direction
3.27
Except verbs in the Hiphil binyan and all forms of the Passive
Participles, the rule of abdication of the abaft consonant and shortening
of the stem vowel to [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬in a closed syllable shall be applied
to the formation of the Perfect Tense of all binyanim when attaching
vocalic (vowel) pronominal sufformatives to the root to form the third
person feminine singular ‫ָה‬--- she (3fs) and the third person common
plural ּ‫ו‬--- they (3cp); in the Qal and Niphal Imperfect Tense, the
second person feminine singular you lady (2fs) ‫ִי‬---ְּ‫ ;ת‬the second person
masculine plural ּ‫ו‬---ְּ‫ ת‬you men (2mp) and the
third person masculine plural ּ‫ו‬---ְ‫ י‬they men Working Sample of
(3mp); in the Imperative Mood of all stems vocalic SC
the second person feminine singular ‫ִי‬--- you 2fs (Impv) ‫קִטְלִי‬
lady (2fs) and the second person masculine 3mp (Impf) ּ‫יִקְטְלו‬
plural ּ‫ו‬--- you men (2mp); next comes the fs (Partc 1) ‫טֶלֶת‬֫ ֹ‫ק‬
Cohortative Mood ‫ָה‬---ֶ‫ א‬I (1cs), ‫ָה‬---ְ‫ נ‬we
fs (Partc 2) ‫קְטוּלָה‬
(1cp); in the Active Participle, the masculine
plural men, in which case the propretonic 3cp (Perf) ּ‫קָטְלו‬
reduction of the first vowel is to be applied
simultaneously.
3.28
Note that there might be some exceptional cases to this rule await
discovery.
3.29
Zero Vowel Sufformative Conjugation—no pronominal sufformatives

Zero vowel sufformative conjugation is a convenient term used
to describe the inflection of a verb Zero Vowel conjugation

which does not require the affixing of
Perfect 3ms he
pronominal sufformative—literally no
inflection—to indicate the person and Imperative 2ms you man
number of the verb, such as the Perfect Imperfect 3ms he
Tense third person masculine singular
3fs she
he, or the Imperative Mood second
person masculine you. The scope of zero 2ms you man
vowel sufformative conjugation covers 1cs I
the masculine third and second person
singular, feminine third person singular, Icp we
Participle
and first person singular and plural, as ms man
Active
shown in the Table. Participle
ms man
Passive
3.30
The zero vowel sufformative conjugation in the passive participle of all
non-Qal Passive binyanim (four members:
Niph’al, Pu’al, two in Hophal), both the
Sample of zero vowel SC
head vowel, which is actually the prosthesis
ms (partc) ‫קֹטֵל‬
and the stem vowel, which usually totes a
[ָ○] (‫קמץ‬, are immutable. The Qal Passive 3ms impef ‫יִקְטֹל‬
Participle has its own default vowels, 3ms perf ‫קָטַל‬
both head and stem vowel, the vowel [ּ‫]ו‬ 2ms impv ‫קְטֹל‬
(‫)שׁוּרוּק‬, which is immutable. Steffen Han 2011 January Revised.
3.31
Helping vowels
In the conjugations of certain weak verbs, a helping vowel, also known
as epenthetic vowel, would be required in consonantal sufformative
inflection which might involve the use of a [‫ )יוד( ]י‬in combination with
the already given theme or stem vowel thus virtually turning the vowel
combo into a full diphthong:
‫ברוך בשם‬
1) In ‫ ל”ה‬verbs:
i. To perform consonantal sufformative conjugation for the

Imperative in ‫ ל”ה‬verb, a helping vowel a combination of [‫]○ֵי‬
(‫ )צֵירֵי מָלֶא‬or also known as (‫ )צֵירֵי יוֹד‬is required in all im.
ii. To configure the Imperfect Tense of ‫ ל”ה‬verbs, apart from

affixing the preformatives, the ‫אית”ן‬, there is a requirement of
a helping vowel [‫ )סֶגוֹל מָלֶא( ]○ֶי‬in consonantal sufformative
conjugation in all binyanim, active as well as passive voice of
the verb.
iii. The conjugation for the Perfect Tense of ‫ ל”ה‬verbs, likewise,

requires a helping vowel [‫ )היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬in the affixing of
consonantal sufformatives in all active voice of the verb, while
the passive voice of the verb would embed [‫ )צירי מלא( ]○ֵי‬as
helping vowel in consonantal sufformative conjugation.
iv. As a general observation, the vowel [‫ )היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬is

exclusively used as the epenthesis for Hiphil binyan in all
vocalic sufformative conjugations in he Imperative, Imperfect
and Perfect, Active Participle, the Infinitive Construct, and
cases where no sufformative conjugation is involved.
2) In Geminate verbs or ‫ ע”ע‬verbs

i. In the conjugation of Geminate verbs, replicating the last two
consonants of the root, a helping vowel [ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬is called
to duty and assimilation of one of the replicated consonants in
consonantal conjugations in the Perfect Tense only in the Simple
binyanim and the Causative binyanim, active as well as passive

voice; singular as well as plural in both genders. This maneuver
would leave trace of a ‫ דגש‬in the surviving consonant after
assimilation of one of the two duplicating consonants of the
verbal root. In the Intensive binyan, the inflection of consonantal
sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs would not involve
the use of epenthesis but a ‫ דגש‬is present by default with no

assimilation of the root. The remant of a ‫ דגש‬is also visible
in vocalic sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs in Qal
Perfect weak or stative verbs and the Perfect Tense of non-Qal

binyanim. Paradoxically, the vocalic sufformative conjugation
of Germinate verbs of the Intensive and Reflexive binyanim do
not involve the habitual ‫—דגש‬otherwise there would appear
literally to have triple consonants.
ii. Similarly, to configure the Geminate Imperfect Tense of Simple

binyanim and Causative binyanim, the Impreatives of Germinate
Niph’al and Germinate Hiphil, the use of a helping vowel [‫]○ֶי‬
(‫ )סֶגֹול מָלֶא‬and assimilation of one of the replicated consonants
would take place in all consonantal sufformative conjugations
of these binyanim, active voice as well as passive; both genders
but only in the plural. Again, this maneuver would leave
trace of a ‫ דגש‬in the surviving consonant after assimilation
of one of the two duplicating
consonants of the verbal root.
NOTE
But not applicable is this rule
to the consonantal sufformative The guttural ‫ ע‬could not
conjugation in the Imperatives take vocal shewa when the
of Germinate Simple binyanim, [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬is supposed to be
the Germinate Intensive binyan reduced to [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬, thus
and Reflexive binyan. There is ‫ חֲטָף שְׁווָא‬is used.
not passive voice for these two
binyanim in the Germinate verbs.
iii. The vowel pattern in zero vowel sufformative conjugation of

Germinate verbs, in one way or other, reflects the vowel pattern
of one of the Infinitives of each binyan. In the Germinate

Perfect Tense, Imperfect, Imperative and Participle in the
zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬is used as
theme or stem vowel placed after the respective prosthesis of
each binyan; except in the Perfec Tense of Germinate Pi’el,
Germinate Hiphil and Germinate Hitpa’el where [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬plays
the role of theme vowel, likewise following after the relevant
head prosthesis. In Hiphil binyan of Geminate verbs, in zero

vowel sufformative conjugation and the vocalic sufformative
conjugation, unlike the strong verbs of Hiphil binyan where the

default epenthesis [‫ )היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬is very much visible, no
helping vowel is required, instead the [ֹ‫ )הולם מלא( ]ו‬would
replace the theme vowel [‫)היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬.
3.32
Pluraization in Conjugation
Rule I: (a)
Pluralization and Propretonic Reduction of the default head vowel
(a) Propretonic Reduction of the
Adjective
head or the first vowel of a word
Plural Singular
comes under the purview of
‫טוֹבִים‬ ‫טוֹב‬ Masculine
pluralization of Hebrew nouns
as well as verbs involving a ‫טוֹבוֹת‬ ‫טוֹבָה‬ Masculine
shift of accent whereby the head
vowel of a two-syllable word will be shorten to [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬from the
default vowel, usually applicable to [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬or [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬as the head
vowel of the word. In cases of pluralization where no shift of accent
occurs, it does not engage this rule.
Examples:
i. (in noun). words ‫ דָּבְר ← דְּבָרִים‬word ← read from here.
ii. (in plural noun) the gods or the God ‫אֱלֹהִים‬.
iii. (in noun with gutturals)

clouds ‫ עָנָן ← עֲנָנִים‬cloud ← read from here.
iv. (in feminine noun) courtyards ‫ חָצֵר ← חֲצֵרֹות‬courtyard ←read

from here.
v. (in verb). They wrote ‫ כָּתַב ← כְּתַבְתֶּם‬he wrote ← read from

here.
vi. (In the Active Participle where the first, head vowel is not [ָ○]
(‫)קמץ‬, therefore this rule is not applicable). They are writing

or the writings (gerund) ‫ כֹּתֵב ← כֹּתְבִים‬he writes ←read from
here.
3.32
Rule I: (b)
Pluralization of monosyllable word
(a) Pluralization of monosyllable words with unchangeable vowel would
be immune from propretonic reduction of vowel. In cases of Geminate
words, where a shift of accent occurs, a ‫ דגש‬signifying one of the two
identical assimilated consonants would be visible in the pillion syllable.
Examples:
i. (in noun) songs ‫ שִׁיר ← שִׁירִים‬song ← read from here.
ii. (in verb) they gentlemen rose. ‫ קָם ← קַמתֶּם‬He rose ← read
from here.
(b) Immune to this rule would be the vowels beneath the default
prosthesis.
3.33
What actually happened is the head vowel has been transformed from
the original, pretonic position to a propretonic position by the addition
of the plural suffix, usually the personal pronouns affixes: this action
virtually shifted the location of the accent (unmarked and therefore

invisible if it is on the last syllable) from the closed, pillion syllable
to the new syllable (the accent remains unmarked as it is still the last
syllable). To facilitate articulation, the vowel in the propretonic syllable
will be reduced to [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬, or to a short vowel of the same class
matching that of the ‫שְׁווא חֲטָף‬.
3.34
In the case of a verb, most likely in the formation of the Perfect Tense,
the vowel involves would be the head default vowel [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬whereas
the short, vowel [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬is the default stem vowel for the Perfect
Tense. In some textbooks the stem vowel is also known as the key vowel
or the theme vowel.
3.35
Rule II: Pluralization of Monosyllable Verbs
Monosyllable verbs are mostly hollow verbs distributed along three
vowel types: [ּ‫)שׁוּרוּק( ]ו‬, [‫)היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬. As these verbs are without
the second, pillion syllable, the default vowel [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬will not be
affected in pluralization to configure the Active Participle: just attach the
suitable plural suffixes after the basic unit of the word.
3.36
Propretonic reduction will take place during pluralization in the case of
plural for Hiphil (Active) Participle in Hollow verbs where the default
vowel [ֵ○] (‫ )צֵ֫רֵי‬as the head vowel will be reduced to [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬
while the stem vowel [‫ )היריק מלא( ]○ִי‬will remain unaffected in its
signatory position of Hiphil stem when adding pronominal sufformatives
to the root.
3.37
Except for the Hophal (Passive) Participle, the Passive Participles of
Hollow verb, are not really in currency. To configure the Hophal Passive
Participle, suitable pronoun suffixes are to be attached to the default
unit, as shown in the sample word: ‫מוּקָם‬, which will remain constant.
3.38
For Hollow verbs, in the building up of the Perfect and the Imperfect
in Qal and Hiphil the default vowel [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬as the sole vowel would
undergo propretonic reduction, abdication of the hind consonant and
reduction of the stem vowel will take place when adding sufformatives
to the root. Propretonic reduction for the Perfect Tense happens only in
the Qal stem, where the vowel [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬in the head will be reduced to
[ַ○] (‫ ;)פתח‬and to [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬in the case of the Imperfect Tense.
3.39
In the case of formation of Hiphil Perfect Tense of Hollow verbs, a
helping vowel [ֹ‫ )חוֹלָם מָלֵא( ]ו‬would be employed before affixing
consonantal sufformatives, singular as well as plural verbs for first
person common gender (I, we) and second person both gender (you,
lady and gentleman; you, ladies and gentlemen).
3.40
In the case of the Imperfect of Hollow verbs, as noted earlier, a helping
vowel [‫ )סֶגוֹל מָלֶא( ]○ֶי‬would be needed before adding consonantal
sufformatives for feminine plural second and third person (you ladies;
those ladies) to the root. The helping vowel is not accented, and it
does not always cause the removal of ‫ דָגֵשׁ קַל‬and the ‫( שווא נָח‬silent
shewa). The Intensive Stems of Hollow verbs will undergo a different
mechanism of vowel utilization.
3.41
Propretonic reduction of phonologically unstressed vowel occurs when
the plural suffix is added to a noun of which it has a head vowel either
in [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬or [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬in an open, unstressed syllable.
Examples:
i. (words or things masculine plural) ‫( רָבָּד ← דְּבָרִים‬word or thing,
masculine singular).
ii (old men, masculine plural) ‫( זָקֵן ← זְקֵנִים‬old man, masculine

singular).
iii. (places, feminine plural) ‫( מָקוֹם ← מְקוֹמוֹת‬place, feminine

singular).
Adjective
3.42 Plural Singular Genders
For example the root ‫ דבר‬becomes ‫טוֹבִים‬ ‫טוֹב‬ Masculine
‫ דָּבֺֽר‬when it takes on vowels to ‫טוֹבוֹת‬ ‫טוֹבָה‬ Feminine
configure it into a noun. It begins with the vowel [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬. Propretonic
reduction rule will render it into ‫ דְּבָרִים‬during pluralization when the
accent is shifted from the home position on the second, stem syllable
to the new, last syllable. Not all nouns, however, will go through such
reduction.
3.43
Not all cases of pluralization would involve the shifting of accent: in
some cases, the accent remained at the mixed, stem syllable, as shown in
the sample words: ּ‫ קָטַ֫לְנו‬,‫תְּעֲמֹ֫דְנָה‬.
3.44
Propretonic reduction of the first vowel is applicable to all words: nouns
and verbs alike, including the Participles and the Imperative, so long as
the vowel of the head, open syllable is either [ָ○] (‫ )קמץ‬or [ֵ○] (‫)צרי‬.
Some textbooks offer to name the propretonic vowel as the second
syllable before the accent and so on.
3.45
Verbs or words begin with [ֶַ○] (‫ )סֶ֫גוֹל‬adopt and adapt to different set of
vowel reduction rule during pluralization known as pretonic reduction of
vowel.
3.46
Propretonic reduction will take place in nouns as well as in verbs during
pluralization in both genders. There are some exceptional cases to this
rule.
3.47
II Pretonic Reduction
In words which has a mixed, closed and unstressed syllable in the head,
or the head vowel is unchangeable type, plural suffixes will be added

without changes to the head vowels. When the given vowel is [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬,
usually as the stem vowel, in which case, it is retained; if it is [ֵ○]

(‫)צרי‬, it is reduced to [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬. This is a situation similar to the rule
of abdication of the rear consonant, but without the reduction of the
stem vowel.
Examples:
i. (judgements, masuculine plural) ‫( מֵשְׁפָּט ← מִשְׁפָּטִים‬judgement,
ii. (messengers, masculine plural) ‫( מַלְאָך ← מַלְאָכִים‬messenger,

iii. (altars, feminine plural) ‫( מִזְבֵּחַ ← מִזְבְּחוֹת‬altar, feminine

singular).
iv. (priests, masculine plural) ‫( כֹּהֵן ← כֹּהֲנִים‬priest, masculine).
v. (enemies, masculine plural) ‫( אֹיֵב ← אֹיְבִים‬enemy, masculine

singular).
3.48
III. Dagesh (ׁ‫ )דָגֶש‬and Lengthening of Vowel
a. Compensatory lengthening
(i) Compensatory lengthening (cl) rules are applicable to the occurrence
of ‫ש‬ׁ ֶ‫ דָג‬in guttural or weak consonants. This rule is applicable to nouns
and verbs alike.
(ii) In the case of verb, it happens mostly in the Intensive stems, that
is, Pi’el and Pu’al stem as well as Hithpa’el stem involving [‫)עַיִן( ]ע‬,
[‫ )רֵישׁ( ]ר‬and [‫ )חֵית( ]ח‬in the’‫ ע‬position of the root as verbs in the
Intensive stems would load a ‫ דגש‬in this consonant of the root or, for
that matter, in any other occasion where a guttural or weak consonant
required doubling of itself.
(iii) There are three patterns and each pattern involves the lengthening
of a short vowel to a changeable long vowel of the same class:
• [ָ○] (‫)קמץ‬ ← (becomes) [ַ○] (‫( ← )פתח‬read from this

direction);
• [ֵ○] (‫; )חִירִיק( ]○ִ[ ← )צרי‬

• [ֹ○] (‫))קֻבּוּץ( ]וּ[( ← )חוֹלָם חָסֵר‬, example (ֹּ‫ ב‬,ֹ‫)ו‬.
• Compensatory Lengthening rules could be used on the
Article.
b. Virtual Doubling
• Virtual Doubling (vd) occurs in nouns as well as in verbs
where a weak consonant would refuse to load the ‫ דגש‬yet
not lengthening the preceding vowel. In the case of a verb, it
occurs mostly in Pi’el and Pu’al as well as Hithpa’el where
the weak consonant concerned would mostly involved [‫]ע‬
(‫)עַיִן‬, [‫ )רֵיש( ]ר‬and ‫ )תיֵח( ח‬in the [’‫ ]ע‬position of the root,
as the case in the the sample word: ּ‫ נִחֲמו‬for the word ‫נִחַם‬
he regretted, where ‫ דגש‬is rejected but not lengthening the
preceding vowel.
3.49
IV The shewa [ְ○] (‫ )שְׁוָא‬and the Hebrew Verbs
The word shewa (‫ )שְׁוָא‬used in Hebrew grammar refers to two small dots one
placed on top of the other appearing something similar to the punctuation mark
for the colon [:] but comes in beneath a consonant like this: [ְׁ‫]ש‬. In language
science, it is a half vowel [ə], named as upside down e, sounded in the way
as the first sound in the English word "above" (ə-bouv; not "ah"-bouv). In
some Hebrew grammar textbooks, the ‫ שְׁוָא‬is written as sheva, shewa, or
schwa which case follows the German tradition. They all meant ‫שְׁוָא‬. When
in contemporary Hebrew written without ‫ניקודים‬, the vowel dots or pointing,
it appeared as ‫ שווא‬where the form of double [‫ ]וו‬would signify that the
alphabet [‫ ]ו‬is used as a consonant like a single "v" in English and has the
same phonetic effect.
3.50
There cannot be two [ְ○ְ○] (‫ )שוואים‬coming together, known as contiguous
‫שוואים‬, at the beginning of a syllable. This occurs most commonly in the
inflection of the Imperfect Tense (PC) where the preformatives (‫)אית“ן‬
would schlep a [ְ○] (‫ )שווא נע‬underneath each one of them thereby

creating a situation where two [ְ○ְ○] (‫( )שוואים‬one is already given by
default via the Infinitive Construct in the case of Qal binyan) coming
together in a row.
1. When two [ְ○ְ○] (‫ )שוואים‬come together in a row (contiguous):
(i) The [ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬occurs at the beginning of the word or underneath the
first consonant in the prosthesis or otherwise:
(a) The first ‫ שווא‬is to be shortened to [ִ○] (‫ )היריק‬and the second

‫ שווא‬becomes ‫( שווא נָח‬silent shewa), as shown in the dummy
example given here: ‫;יְטְטֹט ← יִטְטֹט‬
(b) This rule may overlap with the rule for

Is there such a word? propretonic reduction of the first vowel during
A dummy word, pluralization.
example: ‫טטט‬, is
used in this section to (c) If the head [‫ )יְוֹד( ]י‬of a root, usually
project the movement of the ‫ ]פֵּא־יְוֹד[ פ“י‬verb, or when the head [‫]י‬
of the [ְ○] (‫)שְׁוָא‬ (‫ )יוד‬is forced into the second position by way
and the effect of its of conjugation with the ‫ שווא נע‬beneath the [‫]י‬
changes; it referred
(‫ )יוד‬hanging, which makes them appear virtually
to the make-up of a
word which would somewhat like [‫)הִירִיק מָלֵא( ]○ִי‬, as shown in
not be found in use in this dummy example:
the language.
‫תְיְטט ← תִיְטט ← תִיטט‬,
(In this case, the two: ‫שווא נע‬+‫ היריק‬should
logically be turned into [‫ )הִירִיק מָלֵא( ]○ִי‬by dropping the ‫נע‬
‫)שווא‬.
(d) One more example: ‫יְהוּדָה ←יִהוּדָה‬+ְ‫ו‬.
(ii) When the ‫ שוואים‬occur at the beginning of a word, and the [ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬is
followed by a laryngeal or guttural consonant therefore come schlepping with
compound, composite ‫ שווא‬or reduced vowel:
(a) Change the first [ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬to become a short vowel of the same class
that corresponds to the vowel in the compound or composite ‫שווא‬, as shown
in these dummy examples:

‫יְטֲטט ← יַטֲטט‬
‫תְטֱטט ← תֶטֱטט‬
(b) Except that for the word ‫אֱלֹהִים‬, the [ְ○] (‫ )שווא‬becomes [ֵ○] (‫ )צרי‬and
the [‫ )אָלֶף( ]א‬becomes quiescent or silent, as shown in this dummy example:
‫טְאֱלֹהִים ← טֵֵאלֹהִים‬.
(iii) If two ‫ שוואים‬occurred in the middle of word, dividing a syllable, most

likely during conjugation or inflection or as a result of it, the first ‫ שווא‬is ‫שווא‬
‫( נָח‬silent), which as a rule it actually closes the preceding syllable; while the
second is ‫( שווא נע‬vocal), as shown in the word: ּ‫ יִשְׁמְרו‬they (men) will keep
guard.
(iv) When the ‫ שוואים‬occurred at the end of a word, both ‫ שוואים‬would be

‫( שווא נָח‬silent), as shown in these examples: ‫ כָּתַבְת‬she wrote; ‫ יָלַדְת‬she gave
birth to a child (ְ‫)← טטְט‬.
(v) The derived stem of the verb may carry prosthesis where changes to the
contiguous ‫ שוואים‬have been completed by default, for instance, the prosthesis
in Niph’al: ‫נִפְקעַל‬.
3.51
The shewa rules are also applicable to the affixing of preposition ְ‫ל‬
(without the definite article) to a noun that already begins with a [ְ○]
(‫)שווא‬, such as the word sample:
‫אֱדוֹם ← לֶאֱדוֹם‬+ ְ‫ ←( ל‬to be read from this direction.)

3.52
In Modern Hebrew, as it is the nikkudim are not printed, the distinction
between vocal or silent shewa would be meaningless.
Rules for Quiescent Consonants

3.53
The rules of quiescent consonants shall apply to ‫ י‬,‫ ו‬,‫ ה‬,‫ )אהוי( א‬four
of the weak consonants. Under certain conditions these four consonants
become silent, i.e. no vowel would be assigned beneath them. This
would occur mostly when these consonants come at the end of a syllable,
occupying the hind position, and the vowel would be assimilated to the
preceding consonant. Take heed that when these consonants coming at
the end of a syllable, it could mean that simultaneously they are actually
at the beginning of the next syllable, like the word ‫ יהודה‬in the example
above.
A. The consonant [‫)אָלֶף( ]א‬:
1. When [‫ )אָלֶף( ]א‬is silent, it is still being retained in the root

(‫)שורש‬, as in these two examples: ‫ בָּרָא‬he created, ‫ מָצָא‬he
found.
2. When [‫ )אָלֶף( ]א‬is prefixed with a preposition, such as ְ‫לָמֶד( ל‬

as preposition), or another [‫ )אָלֶף( ]א‬as personal pronoun in the
Imperfect Tense, one of the ‫אית“ן‬, it may cause the losing of the
vowel underneath the [‫)אָלֶף( ]א‬, as in the following example:
(supposed to be like this) ‫אֱלֹהִים ← לְאֱלֹהִים‬+ְ‫ל‬.
(This is the result) ‫( ← לֶאֱלֹהִים ← לֵאלֹהִים‬apply ‫ שווא‬rule)
I. Adding ‫ אית”ן‬to the verb in the Imperfect Tense
3.54
To sum up, therefore, the magic of the Hebrew verbs is concealed
behind the rules that government how the default vowels play around
in response to various elements, such as: (i) breaking up of the pillion
syllable and the reuse of the hind consonant of the verbal root to form a
new syllable by way of adding personal pronoun affixes to be attached

after the former pillion syllable and the shortening of the stem vowel and
or closing of the pillion syllable; (ii) shifting of accent during conjugation
and pluralization triggers the shortening of the head vowel; (iii) the
presence of a weak and or guttural consonant invokes ‫ שווא‬changes and
or ‫ דגש‬or no ‫ דגש‬on the middle consonant.
3.55
V. Mechanic of Inflection for Hebrew Weak Verbs
Example One: ‫ע”פ‬ ‫שורש‬ Reasoning

1. This root/word: ‫עמד‬
The pair of vowel [ֹ○+ְ○]
Base form: (‫חולם חסר‬+‫ )שווא‬is the
2. Qal Infinitive ‫קְטֹל‬ default vowels for the Qal
Construct Infinitive Construct Strong
Verbs.
This word is supposed ‫ ע‬cannot carry [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬:

3. ‫עְמֹד‬ only [ֲ○] (‫ )חֲטַף פַּתָּח‬is
to be like this, but…
allowed, therefore…
Now, this assumed Qal Infinitive Construct for

4. ‫עֲמֹד‬
the role as base form this root/word.
The vowel [ֲ○] (‫ )חֲטַף פַּתָּח‬is

Next, add prefixes: treated as [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬: when
‫ אית”ן‬to form the two ‫ שוואים‬coming at the
5. ‫עֲמֹד‬+ְּ‫ת‬
Imperfect, Imperative, front of a word…can you
etc. explain what is supposed to
take place to the two [ְ○ְ○]?
Initial composite shewa ‫פַּתָּח‬
‫ חֲטַף‬must be matched with a
One more step is

6. ‫תִּעֲמֹד‬ vowel of the same class, thus
needed: why?
the vowel [ִ○] (‫ )היריק‬is to be
replaced by [ַ○] (‫)פתח‬.
Here it is, 3fs she or 2ms you
Finally, this is how
man Imperfect Tense (Future
7. the word is being ‫תַּעֲמֹד‬
Tense) for the root/word
used.
‫עמד‬.
3.55
Example Two: ‫פ”ח‬ ‫שורש‬ Reasoning

1. This root/word: ‫חזק‬
The pair of vowel [ֹ○+ְ○] (‫חסר‬
Base form:
‫חולם‬+‫ )שווא‬is the default vowels
2. Qal Infinitive ‫קְטֹל‬
for the Qal Infinitive Construct
Construct
Strong Verbs.
‫ ח‬cannot carry [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬: only

This word is
composite ‫)חֲטַף סֶגוֹל( ]○ֱ[ שווא‬
3. supposed to be like ‫חְזֹק‬
is allowed for ‫ ח‬in the Imperfect,
this, but…
therefore…
Qal Infinitive Construct for this
Now, this assumed
4 ‫חֱזֹק‬ root/word; but just one more
the role as base form
step…
The root/word ‫ חזק‬is a stative

verb; and in the Imperfect, most
Why the stem vowel stative verbs, if not all, load [ַ○]
5. ‫חֱזַק‬
is changed to ‫?פַ֫תַּח‬ (‫ )פתח‬as stem vowel. Most of
the ‫ פ”ח‬verbs come under this
category.
For ‫ פ”ח‬verbs, the head syllable

takes composite ‫סֶגוֹל( ]○ֱ[ שווא‬
Is it the base form or
6. ‫חֱזַק‬ ‫)חֲטַף‬, whereas the Imperative
the Imperative?
takes [ֲ○] (‫ )חֲטַף פַּתָּח‬as head
syllable vowel.
[ֱ○] (‫ )חֲטַף סֶגוֹל‬is treated as

Next, add prefixes: [ְ○] (‫)שווא‬: when two [ְ○ְ○]
‫ אית”ן‬to form (‫ )שוואים‬coming at the front of
7. ּ‫ו‬+‫חֱזַק‬+ְּ‫ת‬
the Imperfect, a word. Can you explain what is
Imperative, etc. supposed to take place to the first
[ְ○] (‫?… )שווא‬
Initial compound shewa must be
matched with a vowel of the same
8. First result… ּ‫ו‬+‫תִּחֱזַק‬ class, thus the compound shewa
[ֱ○] (‫ )חֲטַף סֶגוֹל‬is to be replaced
by [ֶ○](‫)סֶגֹול‬.
The 3mp sufformative they (those)
men [ּ‫ )שׁוּרוּק( ]ו‬is vocalic, that
is, it is a vowel, therefore it needs
to have a consonant placed in
One more step is front of it to form a syllable and
9 ּ‫ו‬+‫ק‬/ַ‫תֶּחֱז‬
needed: why? receives the accent. Where does
the consonant should come from?
The rule of abdication of the hind
consonant and shortening of the
stem vowel comes to play here.
Finally, this is how Here it is, 3mp they (those) men
10 the word is being ‫תֶּחֱזְק ּו‬ for Imperfect for the root/word
used. ‫חזק‬.

Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation

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Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation

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Chapter

Nature of Hebrew Word

Hebrew Vowels: ‫נִקוּדִים‬

a. A syllable always begins with a consonant, except when a word

b. A syllable in Hebrew may begin with two consonants, but never

more than that.

d. A consonant closing a syllable cannot have a vowel underneath it,

e. Not counted as a syllable would be a deuce of a consonant and

f. Only in words ending with the

g. The terms “short” and “long” vowel ‫ אַל‬simple syllable

syllables are counted in a word is ‫ אֱלֹהִים‬three syllables

a. A mixed, closed syllable (CVC) if unaccented, always requires

b. Guttural consonants do not normally close a syllable, especially

c. A mixed, closed syllable usually ends in a consonant; but a

a. Unaccented open syllable always requires a long vowel: long

b. A syllable ending in a vowel, or any one of these consonants

c. A short vowel in an open syllable must be stressed; for example,

d. In situation where a word, for instance: ‫ עַם‬people, during

mixed, not confused and no crossover.

a. With the exception of the infinitives, these forms are conjugated

b. In the case of two-consonant verbs, actually single syllable

e. The head vowel for Qal Infinitive Construct would always

f. Default vowels under the prosthesis of ‫—אית”ן‬the personal

• The [ְ○] ‫ שווא נע‬under the ‫ אית”ן‬would be reduced to [ִ○]

‫)א‬, would always be [ַ○] (‫ )פתח‬after making adjustment to

common singular I in configuration for Qal Imperfect

g. The head vowel of the other binyanim is given in the nomenclature

i. Only on non-Qal binyanim would the rules for stem vowel be

passive voice, dynamic or stative, transitive or intransitive,

a. For most of the sufformative (suffix) conjugation or Perfect

c. The Qal Imperfect Tense (Preformative or Prefixes Conjugation)

(‫ )פתח‬works well with stative, intransitive verbs as well as the passive

rare stems as well.

a. Personal pronoun affixes are required to be annexed to the root

b. In the case of a verb, these affixes could be used as pronoun

c. The two Hebrew Infinitives are not involved in conjugation.

Conjugation and Pronominal Affixes

1cp ּ‫אֲנַחְנו‬ ּ‫נו‬--- ‫תִּי‬--- ‫אֲנִי‬ 1cs

3fp ‫הֵן‬ ּ‫ו‬--- ‫ָה‬--- ‫הִיא‬ 3fs

b. Perfect sufformative inflexion (suffix conjugation) could be

(i) Vocalic (vowel) sufformatives (3cp, 3fs), which begin with

(ii) Consonantal sufformatives which commence with a

require sufformatives, termed as zero vowel sufformative

c. As Hebrew is a vocalic language, it works much better to organize

consonantal sufformatives and zero vowel sufformatives.

format for the suffix conjugation.

d. In order to configure the Perfect Tense, other than adding

e. In the case of the presence of a guttural or weak consonant in

II Imperfect Pronominal Affixes Conjugation (PC)

turn, would take up the role of a prosthesis and sufformative for

Corhotative and the Vow Consecutive shared the same set

(ii) Two sets of consonantal sufformtives (‫נָה‬---ְּ‫ ת‬2fp for you

(iii) Five sets of zero vowel sufformative conjugations (---ְ‫נ‬

c. The vowels in the Infinitives of each verbal stem would be

d. Since the head vowel of Qal Infinitive Construct would be a

vocal sheva [ְ○] (‫)שווא נע‬, the presence of a weak or guttural

e. Unless propretonic reduction is necessary during pluralization,

Tense would be similar and remain constant as the default

f. After adding to the root the morphological elements to enrich

3fp those women ‫נָָה‬--- Qal active Imperfect (three members:

2fp you women ‫תֵּן‬--- vowel, depending on the occurrence

contiguous ‫שוואים‬. The Participles, Active as well as Passive Participles,

which is immutable, in the fp women ‫וֹת‬---

ּ‫כָּתְבו‬ of the second, pillion