Prefixes in Hebrew

There are several prefixes in the Hebrew language which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. In Hebrew, the letters that form those prefixes are called "formative letters" (Hebrew: אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, Otiyot HaShimush). Eleven of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are considered Otiyot HaShimush. These letters are Aleph (א), Bet (ב), He (ה), Vav (ו), Yud (י), Kaf (כ), Lamed (ל), Mem (מ), Nun (נ), Shin (ש), and Tav (ת). A mnemonic to remember these letters is איתן משה וכלב (Eitan, Moshe, v'Kalev), which translates to "Ethan, Moses, and Caleb."

Otiyot haShimush

Prefixes in Hebrew serve multiple purposes. A prefix can serve as a conjunction, preposition, definite article, or interrogative. Prefixes are also used when conjugating verbs in the future tense and for various other purposes.

Conjunctions

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
ו (Vav)	and, but	Vav-conjunctive (cf. Vav-consecutive) can make the "v" sound (/v/) or the "u" sound (/u/). If it is used with other prefixes, this is always the first prefix.	וְהוּא v'hu[1] (and he) וּבַיוֹם uvayom[2] (and on the day)

Inseparable prepositions

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
ל (Lamed)	to, for	The Inseparable Prepositions are pointed: Normally with Sheva. Before a Sheva they take Chirik. Before יְ they take Chirik, but the Sheva under the י falls away. Before a T'nua Chatufa they assume the corresponding short vowel. Before אֶלֹהִים they take Tzere and the T'nua Chatufa under the א disappears.	לְמֶלֶךְ l'melech (to a king) לִמְלָכִים lim'lochim (to kings) לִיהוּדָה lihudah (to Judah) לַאֲרִי la'ari (to a lion) לֵאלֹהִים lelohim (to God)
ב (Bet)	in, with, by		בְּמֶלֶךְ b'melech (in a king) בִּמְלָכִים bim'lochim (in kings) בִּיהוּדָה bihudah (in Judah) בַּאֲרִי ba'ari (in a lion) בֵּאלֹהִים belohim (in God)
כ (Kaf)	as, like		כְּמֶלֶךְ k'melech (as a king) כִּמְלָכִים kim'lochim (as kings) כִּיהוּדָה kihudah (as Judah) כַּאֲרִי ka'ari (as a lion) כֵּאלֹהִים kelohim (as God)

Other prepositions

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
מ (Mem)	from	Before ordinary letters (excluding the gutturals and ר) it is מִ followed by a Dagesh Chazak. Before gutturals and ר it is מֵ. Before the definite article (ה) it is מֵ as in 2, and the article remains intact; or it becomes מִן plus ה.	מִמֶּלֶךְ mimelech (from a king) מֵאָדָם meadam (from a man) מֵהַמֶּלֶךְ or מִן הַמֶּלֶךְ mehamelech or min hamelech (from the king)

Definite article

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
ה (He)	the	Before ordinary letters (i.e. excluding gutturals and ר) it is הַ followed by a Dagesh Chazak.	הַמֶּלֶךְ hamelech (the king)
		Before the weaker gutturals עא and ר it is הָ.	הָאוֹר haor (the light) הָעַיִן haayin (the eye) הָרֹאשׁ harosh (the head)
		Before the harsh gutturals חה it is הַ.	הַהוֹד hahod (the glory) הַחֹשֶׁךְ hachoshech (the darkness)
		Before an unaccented הָ and עָ and always before חָ it is הֶ.	הֶהָרִים heharim (the mountains) הֶעָפָר heafar (the dust) הֶחָכָם hechacham (the wise)
		Before an accented הָ and עָ it is הָ.	הָהָר hahar (the mountain) הָעָז haaz (the strong)
		When used with the Bet, Kaf or Lamed prepositional prefix it is omitted; instead the vowel on the preposition is changed. If He is used with other prefixes, the He is always the last prefix before the root.	וּבַיוֹם uvayom[3] (and on the day: note that the ve (on) combines with the ha (the) to become va (on the)).

Interrogative

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
ה (He)	Used to indicate a question	Can usually be distinguished from the definite article because it is vowelized with a chataf patach	הֲבֵן יַקִּיר לִי? haven yakir li?[4] (Is he my most precious son?)

Conjugation of verbs

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
א (Alef)	When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, singular, future tense. I will.	אֹמַר omar (I will say)
י (Yud)	When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates third person, future tense. (Number and gender depend on suffixes.) He will or They will.	יֺאמַר yomar (he will say) יֺאמְרוּ yomru (they will say)
נ (Nun)	When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, plural, future tense. We will.	נֺאמַר nomar (we will say)
ת (Tav)	When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates one of the following: third person, singular, feminine, future tense. She will second person, future tense. (Number and gender depend on suffixes.) You will In biblical Hebrew, third person, plural, feminine, future tense. They will	תֹּאמַר tomar (she/you will say, ) תֹּאמְרוּ tomru (you (pl.) will say) תֹּאמַרְנָה שָׂרוֹת tomarna sarot[5] (the women of the nobility will say)

Other uses

Prefix	Meaning	Comments	Examples
שׁ (Shin)	that, which, who, whom		שֶׁקָּרָה shekara (which happened) שֶׁעָשׂוּ sheasu'[6] (who performed)
ו (Vav (letter))	changes past tense to future tense and vice versa	Used mostly in Biblical Hebrew as vav-consecutive (compare vav-conjunctive). Pronounced "va" when changing future tense to past tense. Usually pronounced "v'" or "u" when changing past tense to future tense.	וַיֹּאמֶר vayomer'[7]' (he said) (compare yomar[8]-he will say) וְאָהַבְתָּ veahavta[9] (you shall love) (compare ahavta[10]-you loved)

Non Otiyot HaShimush

These prefixes (Hebrew: תְּחִלִּית t'hilit) often come from loanwords from English (Latin, Greek, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms. Other prefixes are native to Hebrew (ex. rav). When the Hebrew prefix does not line up in similarity to the English, Greek, or Latin one that is because it is of Hebrew origin.

Prefix	Origin	Hebrew	Meaning	Examples
ex-	Latin	אֶקְס- eks	former	אֶקְסְפּוֹזִיצְיָה ekspozitzya exposition
un-/non-	English/ Latin	אִי- i/נוֹן- non	negation	אִי-אַלִּימוּת i-alimut non-violence נוֹנְקוֹנְפוֹרְמִיזְם nonkonformizm nonconformism
in-/il-/im-/ir-	Latin/ Biblical Hebrew[11]	אִי- i	not, opposite of	אִירַצְיוֹנָלִי iratzyonali irrational
a-	Greek	אָ- a	lacking in, lack of	אָפּוֹלִיטִי apoliti apolitical אָ-מִינִי a-mini (means: a-sexual) asexual
prae-	Latin	פְּרֵה- pre/טְרוֹם- trom/קְדַם- kedam	before	פְּרֵהִיסְטוֹרִי prehistori prehistoric טְרוֹם-לֵדָתִי terom-ledati (means: pre-birth/pre-delivery (of a baby)) prenatal קְדַם-סוֹקְרָטִית kedam-sokratit (means: Pre-Socratic) Pre-Socratic
pro-	Greek	פְּרוֹ- pro	for, on the side of	פְּרוֹגְנוֹזָה prognoza prognosis
inter-	Latin	אִינְטֶר- inter/בֵּין- ben	between, among	אִינְטֶרְנַצְיוֹנָל internatzyonal international בֵּינְלְאֻמִּי benleumi (means: international) international
intra-	Latin	אִינְטְרָה- intra/תּוֹךְ- tokh/פְּנִים- pnim	inside	אִינְטְרָנֶט intranet intranet
para-	Greek	פָּרָה- para	beside, beyond	פָּרַפְּלֶג parapaleg paraplegic
homo-	English (from Greek homos)	הוֹמוֹ- homo	same	הוֹמוֹסֶקְסוּאָלִיּוּת homoseksualiyut homosexuality
hetero-	English (from Greek heteros)	הֵטֵרוֹ- hetero, הֶטְרוֹ- hetro	different	הֵטֵרוֹסֶקְסוּאָלִיּוּת heteroseksualiyut heterosexuality
di-/bi-	Greek/English	דּוּ- du	two	דּוּ-תַּחְמֹצֶת du-tahmotzet (means: di-oxide) dioxide דּוּ-לְשׁוֹנִי du-leshoni (means: bi-lingual) bilingual
geo-	Greek	גֵּאוֹ- geo	relating to the earth or its surface	גֵּאוֹתֶרְמִי geotermi geothermal
retro-	Latin	רֶטְרוֹ- retro	backwards	רֶטְרוֹאַקְטִיבִי retroaktivi retroactive
semi-	Latin	סֶמִי- semi	half	סֶמִיטְרֵיְלֶר semitreiler semitrailer
hemi-	Greek	הֶמִי- hemi	half	הֶמִיסְפֶרָה hemisfera hemisphere
electro-	English	אֶלֶקְטְרוֹ- elektro	electric, electricity	אֶלֶקְטְרוֹאֶנְצֶפָלוֹגְרָף elektroentzfalograf electroencephalograph (EEG)
anti-	Greek	אַנְטִי- anti	opposite	אַנְטִיכְּרִיסְט antikrist Antichrist אַנְטִי-חֹמֶר anti-homer antimatter
infra-	Latin	אִינְפְרָה- infra	below, beneath	אִינְפְרָה-אָדֹם infra-adom infrared
mono-	English (from Greek monos)	מוֹנוֹ- mono/חַד- had	one, sole, only	מוֹנוֹלוֹג monolog monologue חַד-לְשׁוֹנִי had-leshoni monolingual
uni-	Latin	חַד- had	one	חַד-אוֹפַן had-ofan (lit. uni-wheel) unicycle
poly-	Greek	פּוֹלִי- poli	many	פּוֹלִיגַמְיָה poligamya polygamy
multi-	Latin	מוּלְטִי- multi/רַב- rav	many	מוּלְטִימֶדְיָה multimedya multimedia רַב-לְשׁוֹנִי rav-leshoni multilingual
tele-	Greek	טֶלֶ- tele	at a distance	טֶלֶסְקוֹפּ teleskop telescope
super-	Latin	סוּפֶּר- super/עַל- al/-עָל al	over, above, more than, better	סוּפֶּרְנוֹבָה supernova supernova עַל-טִבְעִי al-tivi supernatural מַחְשֵׁב-עָל makhshav-al supercomputer
hyper-	Greek	הִיפֶּר- hiper	extra specially, over, high	הִיפֶּרְאַקְטִיבִי hiperaktivi hyperactive
tri-	Greek	טְרִי- tri	three	טְרִיאַתְלוֹן triatlon triathlon
re-	Latin	רֶ- re	again, back	רֶאוֹרְגָּנִיזַצְיָה reorganizatzya reorganization רֶה-אִרְגּוּן re-irgun reorganization רֶבִיזְיָה revizya revision
sub-	Latin	תַּת- tat	under, lower than, less than	תַּת-מוּדָע tat-muda subconscious
extra-	Latin	אֶקְסְטְרָ- ekstra/חוּץ- hutz	outside	חוּץ-תָּאִי hutz-tai extracellular אֶקְסְטְרָטֶרִיטוֹרְיָאלִי ekstrateritoryali extraterritorial
neo-	Greek	נֵאוֹ- neo	new	נֵאוֹלוֹגִיזְם neologizm neologism
proto-	Greek	אָב- av	first, original, father	אַבְטִיפּוּס avtipus prototype
socio-	French	סוֹצְיוֹ- sotzyo	society, social, sociological	סוֹצְיוֹלִינְגְּוִיסְטִיקָה sotzyolingvistika sociolinguistics
hydro-	Greek	הִידְרוֹ- hidro	relating to water, or using water	הִידְרוֹאֶלֶקְטְרִי hidroelektri hydroelectric
hypo-	Greek	הִיפּוֹ- hipo	under or below something, low	הִיפּוֹגְלִיקֶמְיָה hipoglikemya hypoglycemia
iso-	English (from Greek isos)	אִיזוֹ- izo	equal	אִיזוֹטוֹפּ izotop isotope
meta-	Greek	מֶטָ- meta	after, along with, beyond, among	מֶטָבּוֹלִיזְם metabolizm metabolism
mega-	English (from Greek megas)	מֶגָה- mega	very large, million	מֶגָהֶרְץ megahertz megahertz
micro-	English (from Greek micros)	מִיקְרוֹ- mikro	minute size, 1/1,000,000	מִיקְרוֹסְקוֹפּ mikroskop microscope
trans-	Latin	טְרַנְס- trans	across	טְרַנְסְאַטְלַנְטִי transatlanti transatlantic
idio-	English (from Greek idios)	אִידְיוֹ- idyo	individual, personal, unique	אִידְיוֹמָטִי idyomati idiomatic
pyro-	Greek	פִּירוֹ- piro	fire	פִּירוֹמֶטֶר pirometer pyrometer פִּירוֹמָן piroman (means: pyro-maniac) pyromaniac
auto-	Greek	אוֹטוֹ- oto	self	אוֹטוֹמָטִי otomati automatic

See also

• Affix
• Hebrew grammar
• Hebrew verb conjugation
• Prefix
• Preposition
• Suffixes in Hebrew

References

1. Genesis 3:16.
2. Exodus 12:16.
3. Exodus 12:16.
4. Jeremiah 31:19.
5. Esther 1:18.
6. Ecclesiastes 2:11.
7. Genesis 1:6.
8. Genesis 31:8.
9. Leviticus 19:18.
10. Genesis 22:2.
11. 1 Samuel, 4:21

External links

• Hebrew Language: Root Words