The Third Principle: On the elucidation of nouns that are vocalized with a segol.

1. Know that you will not find a noun whose first vowel is a segol unless the second vowel is also segol, such as beged (“garment”), qever (“grave”), ḥesed (“kindness”), ʿeved (“servant”), and the like. These constitute the greater part of nouns and are called “nouns of six vowel-points.” They are always accented on the penultimate syllable and do not change at all in the singular construct state, as in beged pishtim (“a linen garment,” Lev. 13:47) and ḥesed ʾEl (“the kindness of God,” Ps. 52:3). With a singular pronominal suffix, the first segol changes to a ḥiriq and the second to a sheva, as in bigdo (“his garment”) and qivro (“his grave”). But ḥasdo (“his kindness”) and ʿavdo (“his servant”) take a pataḥ, because of the gutturals ḥet and ʿayin.

2. Many are also found with a pataḥ even without the presence of a guttural, such as from regel (“foot”) → raglo (“his foot”), and from gefen (“vine”) → gafno (“his vine”), and the like. However, in all the other types of change, they all follow the pattern of nouns with two qamats vowels. That is, just as you say from davar: dvarim, dvare, dvarav, so you say from beged: bgadim, bgade, bgadav; and from ḥesed: ḥasadim, ḥasde, ḥasdav.

3. Know that there are some of these “six-vowel” nouns that at times appear with only five vowel-points. For example, neder (“vow”): five of its forms occur with five vowel-points, and the rest with six. Likewise sekhel (“understanding”): five of its forms occur with six vowel-points, and the remaining forms with five. Many others of this kind exist, and they are known on the basis of the tradition. I will present all of these in my larger work, which I have not yet begun, though thirty years ago—before it was even born— I already called it by name: Sefer ha-Zikhronot (“The Book of Remembrances”).

4. There are also nouns that always appear with five vowel-points, such as sefer (“book”), ʿegel (“calf”), ʿesev (“grass”), ḥelev (“fat”), and ḥeleq (“portion”). Most of these contain ḥet or ʿayin. But a noun whose first vowel is segol and whose second vowel is tsere is never found at all, as I hinted at the beginning of this principle.

5. Know that nouns with six vowel-points differ from those that sometimes or always have five vowel-points in two respects. The first is this: when those with six vowel-points occur at a pause— that is, at etnaḥta or at the end of a verse— the first segol changes to qamats, as in af lekha ʾareṣ (“to you also belongs the land,” Ps. 89:12), and ʿarum yekhasseh ke-veged (“he covers the naked with a garment,” Ezek. 18:7). Some even change at zaqef, as in yihyeh li ʿeved (“he shall be my servant,” Gen. 44:17), and likewise mitḥareh ba-ʾerez (“competing with the cedar,” Jer. 22:15). Yet there are some that do not change at all, even at etnaḥta or at the end of a verse, such as melekh (“king”), teven (“straw”), and the like. Thus ʾareṣ is found unchanged in four places, and so on, in Proverbs and Psalms; and likewise kesef (“silver”) always changes, except in naḥpah ba-kesef (Ps. 68:14), where it remains with segol at etnaḥta. The general rule is that the accents of Job, Proverbs, and Psalms have different laws, as you will see in the book Tov Taʿam. But those nouns with five vowel-points never change to a qamats at a pause.

6. The second difference is this: those nouns with six vowel-points sometimes take a ḥiriq and sometimes a pataḥ with a singular pronominal suffix, as I wrote above. But those with five vowel-points always take a ḥiriq, and even with guttural letters the ḥiriq usually does not change, as in: from ʿesev (“grass”) → ʿisvot harim (“the grass of the mountains,” Prov. 27:25), and from ʿeqev (“heel”) → ʿiqvot meshikhekha (“the footsteps of Your anointed,” Ps. 89:52). Some, however, change to a segol, as in ḥelqo, ʿeglo, ḥelvo; and in the plural construct: ḥelqe, ʿegle, ḥelve, and the like. By this method you can distinguish these from those.

7. Know that for all of these nouns with six vowel-points, when the third radical is ḥet or ʿayin, the second segol changes to a pataḥ, as in ṣemaḥ (“plant”), peraḥ (“flower”), shevaḥ (“praise”), shevaʿ (“seven”), revaʿ (“quarter”). But if the second radical is ḥet or ʿayin, then both segol vowels change to pataḥ, as in shaḥal (“lion”), naʿar (“youth”), baʿar (“brutish”), naḥal (“stream”), shaḥar (“dawn”), and the like. However, paḥam (“coal”), gaḥal (“ember”), and kaḥash (“deceit”) belong to the class of doubled patterns. That is to say, if the ḥet were not present, they would follow the pattern of ganav (“thief”) or shabbat (“Sabbath”). The proof is that they do not change in the plural, for we say geḥalim, banim, keḥashim, since doubled nouns do not undergo change, as I showed in Principle Five.

8. Furthermore, all of these are accented on the final syllable (milraʿ), whereas all the forms with pataḥ are always accented on the penultimate (milʿel), like those with six and five vowel-points. By this as well they are distinguished from those with two qamats vowels, for those are always accented milraʿ, such as zahav (“gold”), davar (“word”), and ʿashan (“smoke”), though there are a few exceptional cases.