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Hebrew Vowels change the word

What are the origins of the word Hebrew?Meaning of sufformative versus suffixIf the Arabic script is suited to Arabic grammar, how do speakers of non-Semitic languages cope with it?What is the etymology of the Hebrew word יָלַדWhy is “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” transliterated with a Chi in Matthew and Mark?Formants - beyond F2

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4

This may be a silly question though I am unsure of this is the case for Hebrew.

I know often the vowels are not shown in Hebrew in writing. Curious if it changes the words can be interpreted many ways or not.

In English for example "rd" could be road, read, rude, rad, rod, etc. Is this also the case in Hebrew? Or does everyone reading understand what the word is, even without context clues.

vowels hebrew

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edited 10 hours ago

klpkt

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4

This may be a silly question though I am unsure of this is the case for Hebrew.

I know often the vowels are not shown in Hebrew in writing. Curious if it changes the words can be interpreted many ways or not.

In English for example "rd" could be road, read, rude, rad, rod, etc. Is this also the case in Hebrew? Or does everyone reading understand what the word is, even without context clues.

vowels hebrew

share|improve this question

edited 10 hours ago

klpkt

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asked 11 hours ago

LainLain

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Lain is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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add a comment
 | 

This may be a silly question though I am unsure of this is the case for Hebrew.

I know often the vowels are not shown in Hebrew in writing. Curious if it changes the words can be interpreted many ways or not.

In English for example "rd" could be road, read, rude, rad, rod, etc. Is this also the case in Hebrew? Or does everyone reading understand what the word is, even without context clues.

vowels hebrew

share|improve this question

edited 10 hours ago

klpkt

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asked 11 hours ago

LainLain

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klpkt

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8

While there can always be some ambiguity, Hebrew and other Semitic languages have a system of triconsonantal roots, in which each sequence of three consonants suggests the meaning of the word. For example, the root k-t-b, meaning "to write", is used to derive words like kāṯaḇti כתבתי "I wrote", kāṯaḇ כתב "he wrote", kattāḇ כתב "reporter" (m), kəṯāḇ כתב "handwriting", kəṯōḇeṯ כתובת "address", and kəṯīḇ כתיב "spelling" (m).

As you can see, several of these have identical or very similar spelling, so there is some amount of guessing based on the context (the sentence "a reporter wrote about his handwriting": "כתב כתב על כתב ידו", has the word "כתב" repeated three times, but one can probably guess it's not saying "a handwriting reporter-ed about his wrote"), but as unlike in English, triconsonantal roots are an inherent part of Hebrew, some of the context is helped by recognizing the k-t-b root.

To use your example, the reason "rd" wouldn't be as understandable in English is that the history of English vocabulary includes vowels and has many words with the same consonants, if English had had the same morphological system as Hebrew it's likely we'd have the root r-d connected to, say, the general meaning of "road", and words with an r-d root might include things like "road", "pavement", "asphalt", "carriage tracks", etc., while words like "read" or "rude" could be folded in under other roots with generalized meanings like "to read" or "to insult".

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

answered 10 hours ago

klpktklpkt

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• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  sing,sang,sung; write,wrote,written. ride,road.
  
  – user6726
  10 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Keelan You're right, I wasn't meaning to imply the writing system caused the root system, I added that paragraph just to explain why the two languages are fundamentally different in vocabulary; if English had had a triconsonantal (or, in the case I invented of r-d being a root, biconsonantal?) root system then the word rd would likely not be able to mean both road, read, and rude, in the same way that k-t-b has only one type of meaning.
  
  – klpkt
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Is there any evidence that abjads were developed without vowels specifically because of the existence of the Semitic triconsonantal root system? I keep hearing it as a justification, but to me subjectively it seems like the many meanings that a triconsonantal root can assume can be enough cause for confusion for vowels to be desirable. So do we have a specific reason to believe this is the... reason, or is it just that some linguists thought it made sense as an explanation for the lack of vowels, and then it stuck as a classic justification?
  
  – LjL
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @LjL I have a book about that at my office, I'll see if it says something about it tomorrow. Please ping me if I forget :)
  
  – Keelan
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

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8

While there can always be some ambiguity, Hebrew and other Semitic languages have a system of triconsonantal roots, in which each sequence of three consonants suggests the meaning of the word. For example, the root k-t-b, meaning "to write", is used to derive words like kāṯaḇti כתבתי "I wrote", kāṯaḇ כתב "he wrote", kattāḇ כתב "reporter" (m), kəṯāḇ כתב "handwriting", kəṯōḇeṯ כתובת "address", and kəṯīḇ כתיב "spelling" (m).

As you can see, several of these have identical or very similar spelling, so there is some amount of guessing based on the context (the sentence "a reporter wrote about his handwriting": "כתב כתב על כתב ידו", has the word "כתב" repeated three times, but one can probably guess it's not saying "a handwriting reporter-ed about his wrote"), but as unlike in English, triconsonantal roots are an inherent part of Hebrew, some of the context is helped by recognizing the k-t-b root.

To use your example, the reason "rd" wouldn't be as understandable in English is that the history of English vocabulary includes vowels and has many words with the same consonants, if English had had the same morphological system as Hebrew it's likely we'd have the root r-d connected to, say, the general meaning of "road", and words with an r-d root might include things like "road", "pavement", "asphalt", "carriage tracks", etc., while words like "read" or "rude" could be folded in under other roots with generalized meanings like "to read" or "to insult".

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

answered 10 hours ago

klpktklpkt

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klpkt is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  sing,sang,sung; write,wrote,written. ride,road.
  
  – user6726
  10 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Keelan You're right, I wasn't meaning to imply the writing system caused the root system, I added that paragraph just to explain why the two languages are fundamentally different in vocabulary; if English had had a triconsonantal (or, in the case I invented of r-d being a root, biconsonantal?) root system then the word rd would likely not be able to mean both road, read, and rude, in the same way that k-t-b has only one type of meaning.
  
  – klpkt
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Is there any evidence that abjads were developed without vowels specifically because of the existence of the Semitic triconsonantal root system? I keep hearing it as a justification, but to me subjectively it seems like the many meanings that a triconsonantal root can assume can be enough cause for confusion for vowels to be desirable. So do we have a specific reason to believe this is the... reason, or is it just that some linguists thought it made sense as an explanation for the lack of vowels, and then it stuck as a classic justification?
  
  – LjL
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @LjL I have a book about that at my office, I'll see if it says something about it tomorrow. Please ping me if I forget :)
  
  – Keelan
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

8

While there can always be some ambiguity, Hebrew and other Semitic languages have a system of triconsonantal roots, in which each sequence of three consonants suggests the meaning of the word. For example, the root k-t-b, meaning "to write", is used to derive words like kāṯaḇti כתבתי "I wrote", kāṯaḇ כתב "he wrote", kattāḇ כתב "reporter" (m), kəṯāḇ כתב "handwriting", kəṯōḇeṯ כתובת "address", and kəṯīḇ כתיב "spelling" (m).

As you can see, several of these have identical or very similar spelling, so there is some amount of guessing based on the context (the sentence "a reporter wrote about his handwriting": "כתב כתב על כתב ידו", has the word "כתב" repeated three times, but one can probably guess it's not saying "a handwriting reporter-ed about his wrote"), but as unlike in English, triconsonantal roots are an inherent part of Hebrew, some of the context is helped by recognizing the k-t-b root.

To use your example, the reason "rd" wouldn't be as understandable in English is that the history of English vocabulary includes vowels and has many words with the same consonants, if English had had the same morphological system as Hebrew it's likely we'd have the root r-d connected to, say, the general meaning of "road", and words with an r-d root might include things like "road", "pavement", "asphalt", "carriage tracks", etc., while words like "read" or "rude" could be folded in under other roots with generalized meanings like "to read" or "to insult".

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

answered 10 hours ago

klpktklpkt

9833 bronze badges

New contributor

klpkt is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  sing,sang,sung; write,wrote,written. ride,road.
  
  – user6726
  10 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Keelan You're right, I wasn't meaning to imply the writing system caused the root system, I added that paragraph just to explain why the two languages are fundamentally different in vocabulary; if English had had a triconsonantal (or, in the case I invented of r-d being a root, biconsonantal?) root system then the word rd would likely not be able to mean both road, read, and rude, in the same way that k-t-b has only one type of meaning.
  
  – klpkt
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Is there any evidence that abjads were developed without vowels specifically because of the existence of the Semitic triconsonantal root system? I keep hearing it as a justification, but to me subjectively it seems like the many meanings that a triconsonantal root can assume can be enough cause for confusion for vowels to be desirable. So do we have a specific reason to believe this is the... reason, or is it just that some linguists thought it made sense as an explanation for the lack of vowels, and then it stuck as a classic justification?
  
  – LjL
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @LjL I have a book about that at my office, I'll see if it says something about it tomorrow. Please ping me if I forget :)
  
  – Keelan
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

While there can always be some ambiguity, Hebrew and other Semitic languages have a system of triconsonantal roots, in which each sequence of three consonants suggests the meaning of the word. For example, the root k-t-b, meaning "to write", is used to derive words like kāṯaḇti כתבתי "I wrote", kāṯaḇ כתב "he wrote", kattāḇ כתב "reporter" (m), kəṯāḇ כתב "handwriting", kəṯōḇeṯ כתובת "address", and kəṯīḇ כתיב "spelling" (m).

As you can see, several of these have identical or very similar spelling, so there is some amount of guessing based on the context (the sentence "a reporter wrote about his handwriting": "כתב כתב על כתב ידו", has the word "כתב" repeated three times, but one can probably guess it's not saying "a handwriting reporter-ed about his wrote"), but as unlike in English, triconsonantal roots are an inherent part of Hebrew, some of the context is helped by recognizing the k-t-b root.

To use your example, the reason "rd" wouldn't be as understandable in English is that the history of English vocabulary includes vowels and has many words with the same consonants, if English had had the same morphological system as Hebrew it's likely we'd have the root r-d connected to, say, the general meaning of "road", and words with an r-d root might include things like "road", "pavement", "asphalt", "carriage tracks", etc., while words like "read" or "rude" could be folded in under other roots with generalized meanings like "to read" or "to insult".

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

answered 10 hours ago

klpktklpkt

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answered 10 hours ago

klpktklpkt

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