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A notable feature of Hebrew is the three-consonant root, such as ldg, meaning “to be or become great.” Reading from right to left, the g Gimel holds the initial position, the d Daleth the medial position and the l Lamed the final position. The root ldg is the basis for a variety of words formed by adding a vowel or vowel and consonant combinations, and all share the basic meaning of the root. For example:
ldeG: | ga-del, “(he) is great” |
lD'gÒTi | tig-dal, “you shall be great” |
hl;WdGÒ | ged-ulah, “greatness” |
lDeGI | gid-del, “he made (object) great” |
lDeG:t]hi | hith-gad-del, “boast” |
lD;gÒmi | mig-dal, “watchtower” |
This triradical root system, as it is called, is the basis for most Hebrew words (the exceptions are some pronouns, the definite article, the conjunction and most prepositions).
ldg is called a strong root because its three root letters appear in all derived forms, but roots with the consonants y, w, h, a, and n are called weak roots because those consonants may not appear in some derived forms. Weak root letters may occur in any of the three positions. Sometimes a weak letter will be written but not pronounced. Note the following roots and derived forms:
