The Seventh Principle: On the elucidation of the class of roots quiescent in the middle letter vav.

Know that every root whose middle letter is a vav is quiescent in all patterns, as from qum one says qam, qamta, and so on. Except when the final root letter is he, in which case the vav is mobile in all patterns, as from avah: otah nafshi (Micah 7:1); from qavah: qiviti Hashem (Psalms 130:5); from ravah: harveh et ha-aretz (Isaiah 55:10); from tsavah: tsiviti otkha (Exodus 29:35); and from ‘avah: ‘ivvatah veshti (Esther 1:16). In these, the vav never becomes quiescent. And there are five roots whose final letter is not he in which the vav never becomes quiescent, and they are: gava‘, shava‘, ‘avat, ‘aval, ‘avar. However, gava‘ appears only in the pattern Qal, as in ki gava‘ Aharon (Numbers 20:29), and va-yigva‘ va-yamot (Genesis 25:17). And shava‘ is found only in the pattern Paʿal with a dagesh: shava‘, shava‘ta, shava‘ti. And ‘avat is found in Paʿal, Nif‘al, and Hitpa‘el, as in le-‘avvet adam (Lamentations 3:36), ben na‘avot ha-mardut (1 Samuel 20:30), and ve-hit‘u oto anshei ha-ḥayil (Ecclesiastes 12:3). And ‘aval and ‘avar are found only in Paʿal, as in mi-kaf me‘avel ve-ḥometz (Psalms 71:4), ha-shoḥad ye‘aver ‘einei ḥakhamim (Exodus 23:8). All the rest are quiescent vav roots.

1. The Pattern Qal In the past tense, the first root letter has a qamats, as in qam, to indicate the quiescent vav, even though it is not the usual function of qamats to indicate a vav (that role properly belongs to a ḥolam). Here it was changed to a qamats in order to make this Qal form conform to the other Qal past tenses, in all of which the first root letter has a qamats, except for doubled roots, as will be explained in the Twelfth Principle of this treatise. And an aleph is found written after the qamats in the word ve-qa’am sha’on (Hosea 10:14), where it is quiescent. And it appears as mobile in the word ve-ra’amah ve-yashvah (Zechariah 14:10), and these two alephs stand in place of a vav. Likewise in the third-person plural and feminine, the first root letter has a qamats and the stress is penultimate, to indicate the quiescent vav, as in qamu, qamah. But in the other persons, the first root letter has a pataḥ, as in qamta, qamti, and so on. This is because of the quiescent sheva that belongs to every Qal past tense: if the first root letter were with a qamats, the sheva would not be quiescent but mobile, as will be explained in the chapter on poetry, in the eighth poem. And the past tense also comes with a tsere according to the pattern Paʿal, as in ka’asher met Aharon (Deuteronomy 32:50), ki metu kol ha-anashim (Exodus 4:19), and likewise kenim anakhnu (Genesis 42:11), madua‘ atem lanim neged ha-ḥomah (Nehemiah 13:21). And according to the pattern Pu‘al: ha-boker or (Genesis 44:3), ki oru ‘einai (1 Samuel 14:29), and similar cases are few.

2. The Participle Throughout, the first root letter has a qamats, and there is no difference between the participle and the past tense in the masculine singular, as in ba aḥikha be-mirmah (Genesis 27:35), which is past tense, and anokhi ba elekha be-‘av he-‘anan (Exodus 19:9), which is a participle. But in the feminine there is a difference: the past tense has penultimate stress, as in ve-Raḥel ba’ah (Genesis 29:9), whereas the participle has final stress, as in ve-hinneh Raḥel bito ba’ah (ibid., v. 6). And it also comes with a tsere according to the pattern Paʿal, as in met atah; and according to the pattern Pu‘al, as in tov tovim.

3. The Passive And the infinitive and the imperative: for the most part the middle root letter has a shuruq.

The Infinitive As in lo ukhal qum (Lamentations 1:14).

The Imperative qum, qera; and likewise the passive. But we cannot form it from qum, for it is an intransitive verb; rather, we form it from sum, which is a transitive verb, and we say sum, sumim, as in ‘al pi Avshalom haytah shumah, shumah, shumot. And thus the infinitive and the imperative are found with a ḥolam following the manner of doubled roots, as in qum yaqumu devarai, por hitporerah erets, mot hitmotetah erets. And the imperative likewise, as in ve-shuv elai ne’um Hashem, mol et benei Yisra’el.

4. The Future The e-i-t-n letters take a qamats to indicate the vav of the middle root letter, as in aqum, yaqum, and so on. And the vav with a shuruq is not the middle root letter, but rather a connective vav, as in efqod, yifqod, and so on. And there are those who say that it is a root letter, and their proof is from yaqumu, taqumu; for if the vav were not a root letter, we would say yaqmu, taqmu, following the pattern of yifqedu, tifqedu, which have no vav.

5. There are also cases that come with a ḥolam, as in ve-al taqots. And likewise in the Masoretic tradition: bal yaḥus, taḥum with ḥolam, except for one case with a shuruq, lo taḥus ‘einam; and every aḥus like it is with a shuruq. And in pause, the future tense always comes with a ḥolam, as in yeḥi Re’uven ve-al yamut, and u-sheloshim shanah va-yamot. But when they are not in pause, the ḥolam returns to a ḥataf-qamats, especially with the conversive vav, as in va-yaqam Avraham va-yishtaḥu le-‘am ha-aretz, and va-yiqots Mo’av. And likewise without the conversive vav, when joined to a short word, as in yeshev na appekha ve-ḥamatkha, teshev na nefesh ha-yeled. And the second qamats in all these cases is called a ḥataf-qamats; this will be explained to you in the chapter on poetry, in the eleventh poem.

6. The Pattern Nif‘al — The Past In the third-person forms, the nun has a qamats, in the three forms of the concealed persons, as in navon, navonu, navonah. But in the other persons, the qamats changes to a sheva, as is its rule, and the ḥolam changes to a shuruq, as in ki nivniti, nifuneti, nidkheti. This is in order that two ḥolam vowels should not occur together.

7. The Participle In the singular it is like the past tense; but in the other forms the qamats changes to a sheva, as in navon, nevonim, and so on.

The Infinitive and the imperative come with a he with a hiriq at the beginning and a dagesh following it, as with the strong roots, as in hakhon. And likewise akhon, yakhon, takhon, nakhon, and so on.