Tagged Questions
12
votes
4answers
226 views
Zeraim Moed Nashim Nezikim Kodshim Taharos - why not Moadim?
The names of the Shisha Sidrei Mishna (Six Orders of Mishnah) are: Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikim, Kodshim, Taharos. All of them besides Moed are in plural form. However Moed is in singular form. Why ...
2
votes
3answers
137 views
Root of word צְלוֹתְהוֹן?
Looking at the Kaddish Shalem focusing on the words תִּתְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתְהוֹן, what is the etymology of the word tzelot-hon? Is this construct even hebrew? I found the root צְלָא meaning "pray" with ...
8
votes
0answers
63 views
הוא is he? Or is it?
The third-person feminine pronoun in Hebrew is היא, "hee." But in most instances in the Torah, the word is spelled הוא, with a vav rather than a yud as the middle letter. How does this make sense ...
0
votes
0answers
38 views
Shem Ha'Poel for 4-letter-root verbs [closed]
For normal verbs with 3-letter roots, each root is addressed by Peh, Ayin, and Lamed (respectively). In the rare verbs with 4 roots, how are each of the root letters indexed?
Hope the question is ...
2
votes
1answer
40 views
Singular and plural language in Vaikra 10:1
In parashat shemini, chapter 10, verse 1 it is written:
וַיִּקְחוּ בְנֵי אַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא אִישׁ מַחְתָּתוֹ וַיִּתְּנוּ בָהֵן אֵשׁ וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלֶיהָ קְטֹרֶת וַיַּקְרִיבוּ לִפְנֵי ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views
Why “מִי וָמִי” instead of “מִי וּמִי”?
I have always thought that as a general rule, the vav conjunctive prefix is usually a "וְ". But, when the word being "prefixed" either starts with a shva or starts with a "lip-letter" (בומ"פ), the vav ...
3
votes
0answers
53 views
Difference between 'rafa' and 'ripa'
The root רפא, "heal", is used in various places in Tanach, sometimes in binyan paal and sometimes in binyan piel. I wonder what the difference is between these. Does any Tanach commentator, or the ...
5
votes
1answer
188 views
What is the difference between adonai and adoni?
I'm sure I've missed something quite obvious here, but I've always been told that adonai is "my Lord", and so I always assumed that it was adon with 'my' stuck to it. But, that would be adoni, with a ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views
The vowel making the “i” sound and the vowel making the “ee” sound [closed]
While I have no unicode to show my predicament, I'd like to describe it. I know the vowel for i, such as in the English word "bit", is represented by a dot under the consonant. I know the vowel for ...
6
votes
1answer
104 views
גמר חתימה טובה gender
During the nine and a half days ending with Yom Kipur, we wish each other "גמר חתימה טובה" (an end to the good signing). This seems very strange. Shouldn't it be "גמר חתימה טוב" (a good end to the ...
3
votes
1answer
100 views
Importance of learning grammar
What are the traditional Jewish opinions about the importance of learning and speaking Hebrew with proper grammar (dikduk)?
2
votes
0answers
93 views
Two-letter shorashim and phonetic shorashim?
I have heard many times in the name of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch that every Hebrew shoresh (usually defined with three letters) has a more basic root of two letters. I also heard in his name that ...
4
votes
5answers
429 views
Chassidic Rebbes don't use Hebrew Grammar?
I have not witnessed enough test cases to statistically verify anything, but I have heard various Chassidic Rebbes make b'rachos and daven out loud, and without fail, they mispronounce a majority of ...
12
votes
2answers
928 views
Proper recitation of Hamakom Yenachem
Is the proper phrase to console a mourner always the plural המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים or should it be changed depending on whom it is said to (singluar, feminine, etc.)?
-1
votes
1answer
84 views
Why is there a Vuv with a Patach in וַיִּקְרָא? [closed]
What is the reason for the patach under the vuv in וַיִּקְרָא ?
I would expect a schva.
2
votes
0answers
87 views
Intonation of questions in ancient Hebrew [closed]
That is, when someone asks a question in English, their pitch goes up at the end. When someone makes a statement in English, their pitch goes down. This is not universal: In German, only some ...
1
vote
0answers
200 views
Grammatical quirk in Yoda-esque sentences
Usually when the word אתה appears in Tanach and tfilah, we pronounce it מלרע (a-TAH or a-TOH. whichever you like, that's not really my point. The emphasis is on the end of the word).
Why in ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What's the significance of the dot in “bqr” in Danial vs the omission of the same in Genesis
In researching the phrase "evening and morning" I noticed a very small difference in the Hebrew text between Genesis 1 (e.g. 1:4) and Daniel 8:14, where the latter has a tiny dot in the first letter ...
10
votes
2answers
139 views
“־הם” versus “־מו”
Usually, the suffix "־הם" is used to mean "them" as an object, as is "להם" or "אליהם". Or it is used to mean "their" in possessive form, as in "כליהם" or "אבותיהם".
But sometimes, the very same usage ...
19
votes
3answers
260 views
Female praying in masculine language
When women daven (pray), even by ourselves, it is convention to daven with male-gendered words ("modeh" vs "moda" as one of many examples). Why is this; are there sources that say we should be doing ...
8
votes
2answers
180 views
הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך — or אותו?
There is a popular song some of whose lyrics are "הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך". Does anyone have a source — besides some recent lyricist — for these words precisely, or a source for any instance ...
5
votes
2answers
134 views
יִבָּנֶה הַמִּקְדָּשׁ עִיר צִיּוֹן תְּמַלֵּא — why not תִּמָּלֵא?
The Shabas table song "Tzur mishelo achalnu" contains the following line:
יִבָּנֶה הַמִּקְדָּשׁ עִיר צִיּוֹן תְּמַלֵּא
yibane hamikdash ir Tziyon t'male
the Temple should be built; you ...
7
votes
3answers
629 views
Two words for “redeem”: what's the difference?
When we talk about "redeeming" a first-born son or a captive, we use "pidyon" (root פדה). When we talk about what God does for us we use "goel" (גאל). My dictionary translates both of these roots as ...
9
votes
1answer
107 views
When do we read a vav prefix as “or” rather than “and”?
This answer cites the Ralbag as interpreting a (critical-to-the-question) vav prefix on a verb as "or". I've heard before that a vav prefix is not always "and" and can be "or" or even "but". Is ...
3
votes
1answer
124 views
Meaning of Mappik in יה
One more question about mappik
(I don't know what happened to me, but this topic somewhat disturbs me lately :))
What is the meaning of the mappik in the following Hebrew words:
יָהּ
הַלְלוּיָהּ
...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
BinyOn or binyAn adai-ad in one of the sheva brochos?
At a chupah today, in the brocho of “asher yotzar es ho’odom betzalmo” a learned Rabbi said the word “binyOn” before “adai-ad” rather than the more usual “binyAn”. “binyOn” is the text in the Baer ...
8
votes
2answers
190 views
Ashkenazic vs. Sefardic grammar tendencies
I notice that when referring to God in the second person in a possessive form, Sefardim often use the female form where Ashkenazim use the male form.
For example, where Ashkenazim say in kedusha, ...
8
votes
2answers
189 views
Meaning of ח-ל-צ
Words of the root חלצ seem to have contradictory meanings. On the one hand it is used in the sense of "removing," as in בית חלוץ הנעל and כי חלצת נפשי ממות. On the other hand, warriors are called ...
2
votes
1answer
80 views
How does the word “Talmud” derive from root LMD? Is the word Aramaic?
I know what "Talmud" means and that it derives from the root Lamed Mem Dalet. But I cannot figure out how the word derives. Is it Aramaic (i.e. not Hebrew) and/or are there any other words that follow ...
8
votes
3answers
159 views
Why is there a ה in “מוהל”?
The Hebrew word for the act performed at a circumcision is "לימול". The root appears to be נ.מ.ל. Following the exceptional rules for roots whose first letter is נ, the causative participle and ...
7
votes
4answers
395 views
Does “ki” have four meanings or one?
There is a well-known statement by Resh Lakish in Gitin (90) that
כי" משמש בד' לשונות: אי, דלמא, אלא, דהא"
"ki" expresses four meanings...
There has been discussion over the ages as to what ...
2
votes
0answers
129 views
Hebrew Grammar: How did Nif'al end up as the passive/reflexive of pa'al? [closed]
I have been trying to figure this out by comparing Hebrew binyanim to Arabic and Akkadian conjuations. But I cannot figure it out.
Is Nif'al a natural part of the G-stem (like pa'al) or has it ...
10
votes
2answers
228 views
Meaning and pronunciation of יישר כחך
What is the exact meaning of the phrase "יישר כחך", and what is the gramatically-correct way to pronounce it?
10
votes
3answers
368 views
Disparity between male and female pronunciation of Cholam
In many Yeshivish communities in the US, the male segment of the population vocalizes the cholam as "oi," while their female counterparts vocalize it as a long "o". How did this come about? Does the ...
4
votes
2answers
138 views
Copula insertion in “Jewish American vernacular English”
What explains the unnecessary insertion of copulas before Hebrew and Yiddish participles used in English contexts?
For example, why the common formulation "he is yotze" rather than simply "he yotze"?
...
3
votes
3answers
127 views
Is there a single syntactic class “פעיל” in Biblical Hebrew?
Is there a unique class of Biblical Hebrew words of the form "פעיל"?Is the putative class of Biblical Hebrew words strictly a class of nouns or adjectives?If not, is it strictly divisible into two ...
6
votes
1answer
296 views
מֶה, מָה, מַה - Meh, Mah, Ma - What's the difference?
What causes the difference in vowelization of the Hebrew word for "what"? In some contexts it is מֶה, in others - מָה, and in yet others - מַה. The hypothesis that an acquaintance and I converged on ...
1
vote
2answers
89 views
What information do Hebrew pronouns carry/express?
(inspired by this question)
Does the nominal pronoun in a Hebrew sentence with a conjugated verb
i) add information or ii) deserve to be translated?
Conversely, exactly how muchi) information does ...
4
votes
1answer
234 views
Why are some Hebrew prepositions always conjugated in plural form?
(inspired by this question)
Certain Hebrew prepositions, such as אל, על, and לפני, are always conjugated in the plural form even with a singular object: thus אליו, עליך, etc.
Others don't: the ...
5
votes
2answers
389 views
Pronunciation of משנה הלכות
Are R' Menashe Klein's volumes of responsa pronounced "Mishna Halachos" or "Mishaneh Halachos"? Can someone provide the grammatical explanation please?
8
votes
2answers
172 views
Is there a difference between “p” and “f” when transliterating from English to Hebrew?
When transliterating an English name to Hebrew (e.g. for a Ketubah or Get), is there a way to distinguish between a "p" and "f" sound? E.g. Fine, NY vs Pine, CO. Would both just be spelled (assuming ...
12
votes
8answers
373 views
Why is “Shalom Aleichem” always plural?
Why do we say Shalom Alaichem to one person if Alaichem is plural?
Is it saying you and all of the Jews? Is that why it's plural?
