There are several suffixes in Hebrew that 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.Sharpe, Samuel. A Short Hebrew Grammar Without Points. Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1877. 7. The letters which form these suffixes (excluding plurals) are called "formative letters" (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. SuffixMeaningExamples (Kamatz and he) feminine singular susa (mare) susa tova (good mare) (Chirik, yud and final mem) masculine plural susim (horses) susim tovim (good horses) (Cholam and tav) feminine plural susot (mares) susot tovot (good mares) (Patach, yud with chirik and final mem) masculine and feminine noun dual form yadayim (two hands)
Construct state SuffixMeaningExamples (Patach and tav) Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form. of Torat Moshe (Torah of Moses) (Tzere and yud) Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form. of Sifre q'dusha (Books of holiness)
Pronominal suffixes Singular nouns SuffixMeaningExamples (Chirik and yud) First person, singular possessive. My susi (my horse) torati (my law) (Shva and final khaf with kamatz) Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your suskha (your horse) toratkha (your law) (Tzere and final khaf with shva) Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your susekh (your horse) toratekh (your law) ( Cholam male) Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His suso (his horse) torato (his law) (Kamatz and he with mappiq) Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her susah (her horse) toratah (her law) (Tzere and nun with shuruk) First person, plural possessive. Our susenu (our horse) toratenu (our law) (Shva, khaf with segol, and final mem) Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your suskhem (your horse) toratkhem (your law) (Shva, khaf with segol and final nun) Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your suskhen (your horse) toratkhen (your law) (Kamatz and final mem) Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their susam (their horse) toratam (their law) (Kamatz and final nun) Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their susan (their horse) toratan (their law)
Plural nouns SuffixMeaningExamples (Patach and yud) First person, singular possessive. My susai (my horses) torotai (my laws) (Segol, yud and final khaf with kamatz) Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your susekha (your horses) torotekha (your laws) (Patach, yud with chirik, and final khaf with shva) Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your susayikh (your horses) torotayikh (your laws) (Kamatz, yud, and vav) Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His susav (his horses) torotav (his laws) (Segol, yud, and he with kamatz) Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her suseha (her horses) toroteha (her laws) (Tzere, yud, and nun with shuruk) First person, plural possessive. Our suseinu (our horses) toroteinu (our laws) (Tzere, yud, khaf with segol, and final mem) Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your suseikhem (your horses) toroteikhem (your laws) (Tzere, yud, khaf with segol, and final nun) Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your suseikhen (your horses) torateikhen (your laws) (Tzere, yud, he with segol and final mem) Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their suseihem (their horses) torateihem (their laws) (Tzere, yud, he with segol, and final nun) Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their suseihen (their horses) torateihen (their laws)
Conjugation of verbs Qal Perfect SuffixMeaningExamples (Tav with hiriq male) 1st person sg. I did shamarti (I kept) (Tav with kamatz) 2nd person, masc. sg. You did shamarta (you kept) (Tav with shva) 2nd person, fem. sg. You did shamart (you kept) (None, base form) Qal perfect Did3rd person, masc. sg. He did shamar (kept/he kept) (Kamatz and he) 3rd person, fem. sg. She did shamra (she kept) (Nun with shuruk) 1st person pl. We did shamarnu (we kept) (Tav with segol and final mem) 2nd person, masc. pl. You did shmartem (you kept) (Tav with segol and final nun) 2nd person, fem. pl. You did shmarten (you kept) (Shuruk) 3rd person pl. They did shamru (they kept)
Imperfect SuffixMeaningExamples (Chirik male) Second person, feminine singular. You will do tishm'ri (you will keep) (Shuruk) Third and Second person, masculine plural. They will do, You will do yishm'ru (they will keep) tishm'ru (you will keep) (Nun with kamatz and he) Third and Second person, feminine plural. They will do, You will do tishmorna (they will keep) tishmorna (you will keep)
Imperative SuffixMeaningExamples (Chirik male) Feminine singular. do! shimri (keep!) (Shuruk) Masculine plural. do! shimru (keep!) (Nun with Kamatz and He) Feminine plural. do! shmorna (keep!)
Derivative Diminutive SuffixMeaningExamples (Cholam male and final nun) Diminutive, sometimes masculine sefer (book) → sifron (booklet) machshev (computer) → machshevon (calculator) mitbach (kitchen) → mitbachon (kitchenette) (Cholam chaser, nun with segol, and tav) Diminutive, a feminine version of yeled (child, boy) → yaldon (boy (diminutive)) → yaldonet (girl (diminutive)) tippa (drop) → tipponet (drop (diminutive)) chamud (cute) → chamudon (cutie (male)) → chamudonet (cutie (feminine)) (Chirik male and tav) Diminutive, sometimes feminine saq (sack) → saqqit (bag) kaf (spoon) → kappit (teaspoon) Abstract nouns SuffixMeaningExamples (Qubbutz and tav) Abstractive, feminine nagar (carpenter) → nagarut (carpentry) chaver (friend) → chaverut (friendship)
Collective nouns SuffixMeaningExamples (Cholam male and final nun) Collective, masculine zchut (right) → zchuton (a collection of rights) mila (word) → milon (dictionary (a collection of words))
Loanwords
These suffixes (Hebrew: sofit) often come from loanwords from English (Latin, Greek, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms. SuffixOriginHebrewMeaningExamples -graphy Ladino - -grafya field of study; writing geografya (hard g) geography qaligrafya calligraphy -ic/-ical Biblical Hebrew/ English ִ- i of or pertaining to nostalgi nostalgic politi political miti mythic(al) molequlari molecular qavi (means: line-pertaining to) linear -ian/-an/-ish Biblical Hebrew/ English ִ- ibelonging to rusi Russian utopi utopian germani (hard g) German briti British politiqai politician qomiqai comedian -ism English - -izm movement; discriminatory belief liberalizm liberalism seqsizm sexism -kinesis Greek - -qinezis movement, motion teleqinezis telekinesis psikhoqinezis psychokinesis -logy (and -ology) Ladino - -logya branch of learning biyologya (hard g) biology trilogya trilogy -mania Greek - -manya obsession piromanya (means: pyro-mania) pyromania qleptomanya (means: klepto-mania) kleptomania -maniac English - -man person with obsession piroman (means: pyro-maniac) pyromaniac qleptoman (means: klepto-maniac) kleptomaniac -oid English - -oid similar, but not the same android android humanoid humanoid -onym English - -onim name eponim eponym hetronim heteronym -scope English - -sqop instrument for viewing telesqop telescope miqrosqop microscope -esque French - -esqa resembling burlesqa burlesque humoresqa humoresque grotesqi grotesque -y Ladino - -ya having the quality of qomedya comedy historya history filosofya philosophy -meter English - -meter measuring device;units of measure barometer barometer qilometer kilometer -nik Yiddish/Russian - nik one connected with moshavniq moshav member/resident nudniq bothersome person
See also Affix Hebrew grammar Hebrew verb conjugation Prefixes in Hebrew Preposition Suffix Dual (grammatical number)
References
External links Hebrew Language: Root Words