Hebrew
Modern Hebrew shows a limited set of mutation alternations, involving spirantization only. The consonants affected may be stem-initial, stem-medial, or stem-final.
| Radical | Spirantized |
|---|---|
| p | f |
| k | x |
| b | v |
For example, some verbs show mutation between tenses and conjugation classes:
- "he wrote", "he will write"
- "he sank" (transitive), "he sank" (intransitive)
Some nouns show mutation between masculine and feminine, between singular and plural, or after prepositions:
- "a king", "a queen", "kings", (spoken Hebrew, )
- "a bear" (masc.), "a bear" (fem.), "bears" (masc.), "bears" (fem.)
- "a house", "in a house" (in spoken Modern Hebrew:
But some words do not have alternations:
- "he hacked", "he will hack"
- "good", ~ "goods"
- "a kibbutz", "in a kibbutz"
In some limited cases, initial mutation can signal adverbial status in spoken Modern Hebrew:
- "a request", "please" (spoken or written, "בבקשה"), "please" (spoken, informal).
Read more about this topic: Consonant Mutation
Famous quotes containing the word hebrew:
“Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of
drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the
Lord,”
—Bible: Hebrew Judges (l. V, 10–11)
“Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”
—Bible: Hebrew Ecclesiastes 10:20.
“Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise; why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?”
—Bible: Hebrew Ecclesiastes, 7:16-17.