Classification of Roots
A root is classified according to the letters that appear in it. Roots that contain certain letters are conjugated differently.
Roots that contain a ו vav or a י yod as the 2nd letters are called hollow roots. The ו vav or the י yod rarely appear in any conjugation though are usually written as part of the root. Examples of hollow roots: שר /ˈʃaʁ/ (sang), גר /ˈɡaʁ/ (lived), דן /ˈdan/ (discussed), דג /ˈdaɡ/ (fished).
Roots that contain at least one of the weak letters, י yod, נ nun, ח het, ע ayin, א alef, and ה hei, are called weak roots. Each weak letter/position pairing results in a slightly different conjugation pattern. The largest group of these are those that end with ה hey. Examples of weak roots: שתה /ʃaˈta/ (drank), עלה /ʕaˈla/(went up), ירד /jaˈʁad/ (went down), נפל /naˈfal/ (fell).
Roots that do not fit into the other two categories are called strong or complete roots.
Read more about this topic: Modern Hebrew Verb Conjugation
Famous quotes containing the word roots:
“To the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. By and by, it finds how to join two things, and see in them one nature; then three, then three thousand; and so, tyrannized over by its own unifying instinct, it goes on tying things together, diminishing anomalies, discovering roots running underground, whereby contrary and remote things cohere, and flower out from one stem.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)