Suffixes in Hebrew

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mksword (talk | contribs) at 01:21, 1 November 2016 (→‎See also: Added link to "Dual (grammatical number)"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Further information on Hebrew grammar: Hebrew grammar and Hebrew verb conjugation

There are several suffixes in Hebrew which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. Suffixes are used in the Hebrew language to form plurals of nouns and adjectives, in verb conjugation of grammatical tense, and to indicate possession and direct objects. They are also used for the construct noun form. The letters which form these suffixes (excluding plurals) are called "formative letters" (Hebrew: Template:Hebrew, Otiyot HaShimush).

Gender and number

Due to noun-adjective agreement rules, these apply to nouns and to adjectival modifiers. In some cases, a masculine plural noun will have a feminine plural suffix and vice versa, but the adjectival modifiers are always the same.

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and He) feminine singular
Template:Hebrew   (Chirik, Yud and Mem) masculine plural
Template:Hebrew (Cholam and Tav) feminine plural
Template:Hebrew   (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Mem) masculine and feminine noun dual form

Construct State

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Patach and Tav) Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form. of Template:Hebrew Torat Moshe (Torah of Moses)
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere and Yud) Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form. of Template:Hebrew Sifre k'dushah (Books of holiness)

Pronominal Suffixes

Singular nouns

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Chirik and Yud) First person, singular possessive. My
Template:Hebrew   (Shva and Final Chaf with Kamatz) Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere and Final Chaf with Shva) Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew ( Cholam male) Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and He with Mappiq) Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere and Nun with Shuruk) First person, plural possessive. Our
Template:Hebrew   (Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Mem) Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Nun) Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and Final Mem) Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and Final Nun) Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their

Plural nouns

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Patach and Yud) First person, singular possessive. My
Template:Hebrew   (Segol, Yud and Final Chaf with Kamatz) Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Final Chaf with Shva) Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz, Yud and Vav) Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His
Template:Hebrew   (Segol, Yud and He with Kamatz) Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere, Yud and Nun with Shuruk) First person, plural possessive. Our
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere, Yud, Chaf with Segol and Final Mem) Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere, Yud, Chaf with Segol and Final Nun) Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your
Template:Hebrew   (Tzere, Yud, He with Segol) and Final Mem) Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and Final Nun) Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their

Conjugation of verbs

Qal Perfect

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Kamatz and He) Third person, feminine singular. She did Template:Hebrew shamra (she kept)
Template:Hebrew (Tav with Kamatz) Second person, masculine singular. You did Template:Hebrew shamarta (you kept)
Template:Hebrew (Tav with Sh'va) Second person, feminine singular. You did Template:Hebrew shamart (you kept)
Template:Hebrew (Tav with Hiriq male) First person singular. I did Template:Hebrew shamarti (I kept)
Template:Hebrew (Shuruk) Third person plural. They did Template:Hebrew shamru (they kept)
Template:Hebrew (Tav with Segol and Final Mem) Second person, masculine plural. You did Template:Hebrew shamartem (you kept)
Template:Hebrew (Tav with Segol and Final Nun) Second person, feminine plural. You did Template:Hebrew shamarten (you kept)
Template:Hebrew (Nun with Shuruk) First person plural. We did Template:Hebrew shamarnu (we kept)

Imperfect

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Chirik male) Second person, feminine singular. You will do
Template:Hebrew (Cholam male) Third and Second person, masculine plural. They will do, You will do
Template:Hebrew (Nun with Kamatz and He) Third and Second person, feminine plural. They will do, You will do

Imperative

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew   (Chirik male) Feminine singular. do! Template:Hebrew shimri (keep!)
Template:Hebrew (Cholam male) Masculine plural. do! Template:Hebrew shimru (keep!)
Template:Hebrew (Nun with Kamatz and He) Feminine plural. do! Template:Hebrew shmorna (keep!)

Diminutive

Suffix Meaning Examples
Template:Hebrew (Cholam male and Nun) Diminutive, sometimes masculine
Template:Hebrew   (Chirik male and Tav) Diminutive, sometimes feminine

Loanwords

These sufixes (Hebrew: Template:Hebrew sofit) often come from loanwords from English (Latin, Greek, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms.

Suffix Origin Hebrew Meaning Examples
-graphy Ladino Template:Hebrew- -grafya field of study; writing
-ic/-ical Biblical Hebrew/ English ִTemplate:Hebrew- i of or pertaining to
-ian/-an/-ish Biblical Hebrew/ English ִTemplate:Hebrew- i belonging to
-ar English ָTemplate:Hebrew- ari pertaining to
-ism English Template:Hebrew- -izm movement; discriminatory belief
-kinesis Greek Template:Hebrew- -kinezis movement, motion
-logy (and -ology) Ladino Template:Hebrew- -logya branch of learning
-mania Greek Template:Hebrew- -manya obsession
-maniac English Template:Hebrew- -man person with obsession
-oid English Template:Hebrew- -oid similar, but not the same
-onym English Template:Hebrew- -onim name
-scope English Template:Hebrew- -skop instrument for viewing
-esque French Template:Hebrew- -eska resembling
-y Ladino Template:Hebrew- -ya having the quality of
-meter English Template:Hebrew- -meter measuring device;
units of measure
-nik Yiddish/Russian Template:Hebrew- nik one connected with

See also

References

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suffixes_in_Hebrew&oldid=747204043"