Suffixes in Hebrew
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There are several suffixes in Hebrew that are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning.
Hebrew
: אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, 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 |
---|---|---|
ָ ה (Kamatz and He) | feminine singular |
|
ִ ים (Chirik, Yud and Final Mem) | masculine plural |
|
וֹת (Cholam and Tav) | feminine plural |
|
ַ יִם (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Final Mem) | masculine and feminine noun dual form |
|
Construct state
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
ַ ת (Patach and Tav) | Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form. of | תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה Torat Moshe (Torah of Moses) |
ֵ י (Tzere and Yud) | Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form. of | סִפְרֵי קְדֻשָּׁה Sifre q'dusha (Books of holiness) |
Pronominal suffixes
Singular nouns
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
ִ י (Chirik and Yud) | First person, singular possessive. My |
|
ְ ךָ (Shva and Final Khaf with Kamatz) | Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your |
|
ֵ ךְ (Tzere and Final Khaf with Shva) | Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your |
|
וֹ ( Cholam male) | Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His |
|
ָ הּ (Kamatz and He with Mappiq) | Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her |
|
ֵ נוּ ( Shuruk )
|
First person, plural possessive. Our |
|
ְ כֶם (Shva, Khaf with Segol and Final Mem) | Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your |
|
ְ כֶן (Shva, Khaf with Segol and Final Nun) | Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your |
|
ָ ם (Kamatz and Final Mem) | Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their |
|
ָ ן (Kamatz and Final Nun) | Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their |
|
Plural nouns
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
ַ י (Patach and Yud) | First person, singular possessive. My |
|
ֶ יךָ (Segol, Yud and Final Khaf with Kamatz) | Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your |
|
ַ יִךְ (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Final Khaf with Shva) | Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your |
|
ָ יו (Kamatz, Yud and Vav) | Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His |
|
ֶ יהָ (Segol, Yud and He with Kamatz) | Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her |
|
ֵ ינוּ ( Shuruk )
|
First person, plural possessive. Our |
|
ֵ יכֶם (Tzere, Yud, Khaf with Segol and Final Mem) | Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your |
|
ֵ יכֶן (Tzere, Yud, Khaf with Segol and Final Nun) | Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your |
|
ֵ יהֶם (Tzere, Yud, He with Segol) and Final Mem) | Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their |
|
ֵ יהֶן (Tzere, Yud, He with Segol) and Final Nun) | Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their |
|
Conjugation of verbs
Qal Perfect
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
תִּי (Tav with Hiriq male) | 1st person sg. I did | שָׁמַרְתִּי shamarti (I kept) |
תָּ (Tav with Kamatz) | 2nd person, masc. sg. You did | שָׁמַרְתָּ shamarta (you kept) |
תְּ ( Sh'va )
|
2nd person, fem. sg. You did | שָׁמַרְתְּ shamart (you kept) |
- (None, Base form) | Qal perfect Did 3rd person, masc. sg. He did |
שָׁמַר shamar (kept/he kept) |
ָ ה (Kamatz and He) | 3rd person, fem. sg. She did | שָׁמְרָה shamra (she kept) |
נוּ ( Shuruk )
|
1st person pl. We did | שָׁמַרְנוּ shamarnu (we kept) |
תֶּם (Tav with Segol and Final Mem) | 2nd person, masc. pl. You did | שְׁמַרְתֶּם shmartem (you kept) |
תֶּן (Tav with Segol and Final Nun) | 2nd person, fem. pl. You did | שְׁמַרְתֶּן shmarten (you kept) |
וּ ( Shuruk )
|
3rd person pl. They did | שָׁמְרוּ shamru (they kept) |
Imperfect
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
ִי (Chirik male) | Second person, feminine singular. You will do |
|
וּ ( Shuruk )
|
Third and Second person, masculine plural. They will do, You will do |
|
נָה (Nun with Kamatz and He) | Third and Second person, feminine plural. They will do, You will do |
|
Imperative
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
ִ י (Chirik male) | Feminine singular. do! | שִׁמְרִי shimri (keep!) |
וּ ( Shuruk )
|
Masculine plural. do! | שִׁמְרוּ shimru (keep!) |
נָה (Nun with Kamatz and He) | Feminine plural. do! | שְׁמֹרְנָה shmorna (keep!) |
Derivative
Diminutive
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
וֹן (Cholam male and Final Nun) | Diminutive, sometimes masculine |
|
ֹנֶת (Cholam chaser and Nun and Tav) | Diminutive, a feminine version of וֹן |
|
ִ ית (Chirik male and Tav) | Diminutive, sometimes feminine |
|
Abstract nouns
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
וּת ( Qubbutz and Tav )
|
Abstractive, feminine |
|
Collective nouns
Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|
וֹן (Cholam male and Final Nun) | Collective, masculine |
|
Loanwords
These suffixes (
, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms.Suffix | Origin | Hebrew | Meaning | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
-graphy | Ladino | גְרַפְיָה- -grafya | field of study; writing |
|
-ic/-ical | Biblical Hebrew/ English | ִי- i | of or pertaining to |
|
-ian/-an/-ish | Biblical Hebrew/ English | ִי- i | belonging to |
|
-ism | English | יזְם- -izm | movement; discriminatory belief |
|
-kinesis | Greek | קִינֶזִיס- -qinezis | movement, motion |
|
-logy (and -ology) | Ladino | לוֹגְיָה- -logya | branch of learning |
|
-mania | Greek | מַנְיָה- -manya | obsession |
|
-maniac | English | מָן- -man | person with obsession |
|
-oid | English | וֹאִיד- -oid | similar, but not the same |
|
-onym | English | וֹנִים- -onim | name |
|
-scope | English | סְקוֹפּ- -sqop | instrument for viewing |
|
-esque | French | ֶסְקָה- -esqa | resembling |
|
-y | Ladino | יָה- -ya | having the quality of |
|
-meter | English | מֶטֶר- -meter | measuring device; units of measure |
|
-nik | Yiddish/Russian | נִיק- nik | one connected with |
|
See also
- Affix
- Hebrew grammar
- Hebrew verb conjugation
- Prefixes in Hebrew
- Preposition
- Suffix
- Dual (grammatical number)
References
- ^ Sharpe, Samuel. A Short Hebrew Grammar Without Points. Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1877. 7.