1. Know that most of them have three vowels, such as kela, pele, geva, and tena. They follow the pattern of the regular (strong) roots; sometimes in the suffixed forms they take a ḥiriq, as in kelaʾo and peleʾo, and sometimes a pataḥ, as in tenaʾkha (“your basket,” Deut. 28:5).

2. Some are found in the pattern paʿal, such as tsama and tsava; and others in the pattern poʿal, such as goma and sova. One example occurs with a dagesh, namely kisse (“throne”). It does not change in the construct state, but with pronominal suffixes the tsere becomes sheva and the dagesh drops, as in kiso and kisakha. Likewise in the plural; and it appears in the feminine form in the verse: shamah yashvu kisʾot (“there thrones were set,” Ps. 122:5).

3. The word ḥeṭ (sin) also belongs to this pattern, though it properly should have been ḥeṭa; however it was shortened, just as forms of the pattern sheva are shortened from the pattern paʿal, as I explained earlier. The ḥet of ḥeṭ is therefore pointed with tsere, following the pattern of those with the five vowels; consequently in forms with pronominal suffixes the ḥet takes a segol, as in ḥeṭo and ḥeṭam, as explained in the Third Principle of the First Treatise, Sixth Section. In the plural it appears as ḥeṭaʾim. But in the phrase ve-derekh ḥaṭaʾim (“the way of sinners,” Ps. 1:1) it is an adjective belonging to the pattern of the geminated forms, which do not change; thus in the construct and with plural suffixes one says ḥaṭaʾei, as in ḥaṭaʾei ʿammi (“the sinners of my people,” Amos 9:10) and ʿammi ve-ḥaṭaʾeha yashmid (“he will destroy my people and its sinners,” Isa. 13:9).