The First Principle: On explaining what is meant by the term “pattern” and how nouns are measured.

Behold, I have already written in Treatise One, Principle Three, that all grammarians agreed to measure all verbs according to the pattern paʿal.

1. And just as they did with verbs, so they did with nouns. For example, they measured ʾereṣ (“land”) according to the pattern paʿal, and ḥakham (“wise”) according to the pattern paʿal. Likewise, nouns that have an additional letter at the beginning or at the end, such as mishmar (“guard”), are measured according to the pattern mifʿal; zikaron (“remembrance”) according to the pattern paʿalon; and tifʾeret (“glory”) according to the pattern tifʿelet.

2. Likewise, for nouns that come from defective or quiescent root classes, they assigned them the pattern paʿal as well. That is to say: whenever a letter of the noun is missing or quiescent, they likewise remove or quiet a corresponding letter from the pattern paʿal. For example, maṭṭaʿ (“planting”) and massaʾ (“burden”): since the root nun is missing in them, and since they have an added mem at the beginning, they said that they belong to the pattern maʿal. Likewise maṭṭarah (“purpose”) and mattanah (“gift”), in which the first radical of the pattern paʿal drops when prefixed by one of the letters b-k-l-m, and which have an added mem at the beginning and the feminine he at the end. Thus mattanah is measured according to the pattern maʿalah.

3. Likewise, nouns from roots whose first radical is a quiescent yod, such as shanah (“year”), deʿah (“knowledge”), and ʿeṣah (“counsel”), in all of which the initial yod of the root drops, and which have the feminine he at the end, are measured according to the pattern ʿalah. Similarly, nouns from roots with a quiescent middle radical, such as ʾor (“light”) and yom (“day”), are measured according to the pattern pul; and sir (“pot”) and qir (“wall”) according to the pattern pil; and zar (“stranger”) and ṣar (“narrow / enemy”) according to the pattern pal.

4. Likewise, when these quiescent forms appear with an added letter, such as maqom (“place”) and malon (“lodging”), they are measured according to the pattern mepul. Similarly, tavnit (“form”) and tarmit (“deceit”) are measured according to the pattern tifʿit. So it is with all nouns from all root classes. But be very careful when assigning a pattern, to know which letter is a root letter and which is a functional (servile) letter, lest it become a snare to you, as it is written, “for it will be a snare to you” (Exod. 23:33). This is especially important with verbs. For example, in “And I find more bitter than death” (Eccl. 7:26), the word moṣeʾ is measured according to the pattern poʿel, for it is a participle of the qal stem from the root maṣaʾ (“to find”). But in “He brings forth the wind from His treasuries” (Ps. 135:7), the word moṣiʾ comes from the root yaṣaʾ (“to go out”), and it is a participle of the hifʿil stem, and its pattern is moʿal.

5. Likewise with nouns such as mapel in “making the ephah small” (Amos 8:6), which is measured according to the same pattern as makel (“staff”) in “a staff in the hand” (Ezek. 39:9). For mapel comes from a root defective in the first radical nun, with the mem added as a prefix, whereas makel comes from a complete root and the mem is a root letter. Similarly, maqom (“place”) is measured according to the pattern of shalom (“peace”): maqom belongs to the class of roots with a quiescent middle radical, while shalom comes from a complete root. Yet in the construct state and in the plural there is no distinction between them, and their vowel patterns change in the same way. I will explain each of these individually, according to its pattern and its principle.