Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>]

It is related, I think, to distinct developments of the usage of
MAH מה and MIY מי
Namely, MAMLAKAH = MA-MLAK-HA = MAH-MLAK-HIY.
In Hebrew letters: ממלכה = מה-מלך-היא
Recall, the all encompassing, fundamental statement of Hebrew grammar:

A Hebrew word consists of a root plus personal pronouns (identity markers).

Isaac Fried, Boston University

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pere Porta" <pporta7 AT gmail.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 6:50 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Ma- / Me- / Mi-


> Dear list,
>
> in my struggle with Hebrew patterns I find a curious phenomenon or fact
> with feminine nouns that consist of three root letters to which M- has 
> been
> preffixed (put before) and suffix -H has been added at their end.
> And so,
>
> -MAMLFKFH, kingdom (2Ch 9:19) -- מַמְלָכָה
> -MEM$FLFH, rule, government (Mic 4:8) -- מֶמְשָׁלָה
>
> -MILXFMFH, battle, war (Gn 14:2) -- מִלְחָמָה
>
> I'm inquiring for the reason for this difference in the vowel of the
> prefix: why A (patah) in the first, E (segol) in the second and I (hiriq)
> in the third, the rest of the structure being exactly the same for all
> three?
> Is it a *custom* matter? Is there some good reason for this different
> vowels? Does this different vowel imply some important differences in the
> inner structure of the pattern and thus in the meaning of the resulting
> word?
>
> Kind regards from
> --
> Pere Porta
> (Barcelona, Catalonia, Northeastern Spain)
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