Classical · Biblical Hebrew
Handle the first families of 'weak' verbs, whose roots contain letters that assimilate, refuse doubling, or quiesce.
Ch. 21 — Weak Verbs: Pe Nun, Pe Guttural, Pe AlephCh. 22 — Ayin Guttural, Lamedh Guttural, Lamedh Aleph
Core concepts · 6
- Pe Nun (נ as 1st radical): the נ assimilates into the next letter with daghesh forte (יִגַּשׁ for *yingash); לָקַח behaves the same (יִקַּח).
- Pe Guttural: the guttural takes composite shewa and forces 'a'-colour vowels (יַעֲמֹד 'he will stand').
- Pe Aleph: five verbs (אָמַר, אָכַל …) where א quiesces to holem in the imperfect (יֹאמַר, יֹאכַל).
- Ayin Guttural: a middle guttural can't double, so Pi'el etc. compensate by lengthening the vowel (בֵּרֵךְ).
- Lamedh Guttural: a final guttural demands an 'a' vowel; patach furtive appears (הִשְׁלִיחַ).
- Lamedh Aleph: the final א quiesces, lengthening the preceding vowel (מָצָא, מָצָאתָ).
Vocabulary & signs · tap a word to hear, expand for how to say it
to draw near (Pe Nun)
say: nāgash
to take (acts as Pe Nun)
say: lāqaḥ
to stand (Pe Guttural)
say: ʿāmadh
to say (Pe Aleph)
say: ʾāmar
to bless (Ayin Guttural, Pi'el)
say: bērēkh
to find (Lamedh Aleph)
say: māṣāʾ
Exercises · answer in the app
Exercise 1 / 6
What does this mean?
Bridge to this week
These are the verbs that look 'irregular' in modern Hebrew too (לקחת, לעמוד, לאמר); Harrison shows they are regular once you know which radical is weak — exactly the root-mutation analysis sprint Weeks 9 and 11 ask you to run on live text.
Teach Yourself Hebrew — R. K. Harrison (E.U.P.)
Pass this quick check to complete the lesson.
Quick check · 1 / 4