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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 hireq yod pronominal suffix, like in Gen 23 where the Hittites and then Efron address Avraham. Or, if it is 'adonai' as a type 2 pronominal suffix, it would be a pathach yod, and not the qamets yod we see in the text like in Gen 15:2 where Avram addresses God. What have I missed?

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chirik - adoni - "my [human] master"

patach - adonai - "my [human] masters"

komotz - adonoi - "my Lord-of-all-things" = God . Its own special grammatical construction specifically used for the name of God.

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    How are #2 and #3 different (in grammar)?
    – ertert3terte
    Nov 1, 2012 at 3:14
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    @ShmuelBrin I don't think a kamatz-yud suffix is a thing anywhere else.
    – Double AA ♦
    Nov 1, 2012 at 15:10
  • @DoubleAA "I don't think a kamatz-yud suffix is a thing anywhere else"? Does it mean, it does not exist anywhere else? What is the answer to the question, "How are #2 and #3 different (in grammar)?"
    – ninamag
    Jul 17, 2018 at 10:42
  • @DoubleAA, would this still hold true in a pausal form ?
    – Noach MiFrankfurt
    Sep 18, 2018 at 15:15
  • @noach I've thought of that and agree that would be an ambiguous case. I feel like I saw an example once but don't recall where
    – Double AA ♦
    Sep 18, 2018 at 20:35

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