Hebrew Consonants -

Common Grammatical Functions of the Hebrew Letters

Four grammatical categories of letters can be made of the twenty two consonants of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet:

1. Root letter only
2. Prefix letter (or root letter)
3. Suffix letter (or prefix letter or root letter)
4. Infix letter (or suffix letter, prefix letter, or root letter)

Though all letters of the Hebrew alphabet can be used to form the shoresh or root of a word, 12 letters (indicated in the table below as shaded items) can ONLY be used as root letters:

Root Letters

Example:

The four highlighted letters can serve two functions: they may be either a root letter (see above) or they may be a prefix before the first letter of a root letter:

Prefix Letters

Prefix Meanings:

The five green-highlighted letters can serve two functions: they may be either a root letter (see above) or they may be either prefix before the first letter of a root letter or a suffix:

Prefix or Suffix Letters

Prefix/Suffix Meanings:

Vav and Yod are undoubtedly the most flexible letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, functioning as root letters, prefixes, suffixes, and infixes.

Vav and Yod

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