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:
“If church prelates, past or present, had even an inkling of physiology they’d realise that what they term this inner ugliness creates and nourishes the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the active mind, and energetic body of man and woman, in the same way that dirt and dung at the roots give the plant its delicate leaves and the full-blown rose.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)