13. The Thirteenth Principle. On the explanation of the vowel patterns of nouns that contain an added nun, tav, or yod, whether at the beginning or at the end.

1. Know that the letter nun is not added at the beginning of nouns, except in a few cases that are proper names, such as Naftali, Nimrod, and the like.

2. Know that the letter nun is indeed often added at the end. Most commonly the first radical is pointed with a ḥiriq, as in zikaron (“remembrance”) and shilton (“rule”), and sometimes with a qamats before the final nun, as in pishtan (“flax”) and ḥartzan (“grape-stone”). There are also a few in which the first syllable has a ḥaṭaf-qamats or a qubbuts, such as qorban (“offering”) and shulḥan (“table”); these form their feminine plural as qorbanot and shulḥanot. Many nouns, however, have the nun as part of the root itself, and these belong to the class of four-letter nouns, such as hašman and darban, which I will discuss in the following treatise under the Thirteenth Principle. Many of them also appear with a dagesh, such as zikaron and shibaron, and likewise some in which the middle radical has a sheva, for example kalshon and qamshon, though such forms are few.

3. The letter tav is added at the beginning of nouns. In most cases it is pointed with a pataḥ, even without the presence of a guttural, and it is followed by a sheva naḥ. The final vowel is most often shuruq, as in tamrud, tamruq, and taʿanug. A few forms are found with ḥiriq or tsere, such as talmid, tavrik, tarshish, and tashbits. There are also cases in which the tav is pointed with a ḥiriq, as in tidhar. In addition, there are nouns that have tav both at the beginning and at the end, such as talbushet and tifʾeret. All of these forms are accented on the penultimate syllable (milʿel).

4. There are also nouns in which a tav is added at the end but not at the beginning. In these, the letter immediately before the tav is pointed with a shuruq, and the first radical has pataḥ, as in malkhut, gevahut, mardut, and shaḥrut. There are also cases in which the first radical has a ḥiriq, such as refuʾut, shiflut, and ʿiqshut. Others have a sheva on the first radical followed by a ḥiriq, as in yedidut and meridut. The proper plural of all these forms should be made with a mobile yod, that is, with the masculine-style plural ending. Thus, just as from malkhut we find the plural malkhuyot, so too one should say kilyot, ʿiqshuyot, and gevahuyot.

5. There are also nouns in which a tav is added at the end and the vowel before it is a ḥiriq, such as gofrit, sheʾerit, reʾshit, ḥamishit, and the like. These too form their plural with a mobile yod, following the pattern found in the Talmud, such as ḥamishiyyot, and accordingly one should say reʾshiyyot. This is especially the case for those whose third radical is he, as I will explain in the Fourth Treatise, Principle Seven.

6. The letter yod is most often found added at the beginning of proper nouns, such as Yitsḥaq, Yaʿaqov, Yitshar, and the like. It is also found in words such as yalqut and yanshuf, and sometimes with a ḥolam, as in yanshuf and ʿorev, following the pattern of sappir and yahalom. At the end of proper nouns it is found only rarely, as in nahari and naʿari and a few similar cases. However, in words such as yehudi, mitsri, and ʿivri, the final yod is not an added letter, but rather a marker of relation or attribution, as will be explained in the chapter on categories.

The third discourse is completed.