The thirteenth principle. An elucidation of nouns consisting of four or five letters.

1. Know that there are doubled nouns of four letters—meaning that between the two doubled final radicals, the first radical of the root appears again. Thus, from barar comes barburim; from baqaq comes baqbuq; from tsalal comes tsaltsel; from qadad comes qodqod, and similar forms.

2. There are also doubled nouns of four letters in which the lamed (the third radical) is doubled, such as ra‘anan, sha’anan, ḥakhlil, and similar forms. Some of these also appear with a feminine he, for example sha‘arurah, and with an added yod, as in sha‘aruriyah.

3. There are also doubled nouns of five letters, that is, forms in which both the ‘ayin and the lamed of the root are doubled. Examples are: from yaraq comes yeraqraq; from adom comes adamdām; and from asaf comes asafsuf, and similar forms.

4. There are also some words of five letters in which no letter resembles another, such as shaʿatnez and tsefarʿdeaʿ, and the like. Some say that they are compounds: for example shaʿatnez from shuaʿ, tavui, and nuz (Sifra, Kedoshim, ch. 4; Yevamot 5b), and tsefar-deaʿ, meaning “that which knows the morning.” Likewise there are words of four letters such as pilegesh, explained as peleg ishah (“half-wife”). However, it is more correct to say that these are words from the Egyptian, Babylonian, or Persian languages. As a general rule I tell you that every word consisting of four or five letters is not from the Holy Tongue. Thus also patshagen (Esther 3:14), adrakhmonim, aḥashteranim (Esther 8:10), aḥashdarpanim (Esther 9), and the like, as I will explain in the introduction to the book Ha-Harkavah.

4. There are also nouns that contain an alef at the beginning or a nun at the end, concerning which there is disagreement as to whether these letters are root letters or merely added. Examples include avnet and chashman, and likewise argaman. There are many such cases. Some say that the alef and the nun in these words are added letters, the alef as in ezroaʿ, and the nun as in zikaron.

5. And those nouns that consist of four distinct letters (i.e., without any letter being doubled) are very numerous, such as kaftor, sefarad, garzen, barzel, gizbar, serafad, tifsar, and the like. You already know that final qamats and tsere vowels undergo change, and you will observe—by studying the regular roots and learning from those nouns of three letters—that for the most part they all follow the same pattern.

6. Some quadriliteral nouns are also found that take a dagesh in the plural, namely those whose final vowel is pataḥ, such as ḥashmal, whose plural is ḥashmalim. Likewise ke-ʿein ha-ḥashmalah (Ezek. 8:2), where the lamed is geminated. Similarly from ganaz, as in ve-ganazav (1 Chron. 28:11), one says genazakh and genazakhim. Also from sarʿaf, as in sarʿapei sarʿaf (Ps. 94:19), all with pataḥ. Likewise from ḥashman, as in yeʾatiu ḥashmanim (Ps. 68:32), one says ḥashman. These matters I explained in the work that I composed in Rome in the year corresponding to the letters אגידיאו יר״ה, as stated in the introduction.

(The book HaBachur is completed:)