Grammatical Functions of Hebrew Letters

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	Hebrew Consonants -


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	Common Grammatical Functions of the Hebrew Letters

Four grammatical categories of letters can be made of the twenty two consonants of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet:

Root letter only
Prefix letter (or root letter)
Suffix letter (or prefix letter or root letter)
Infix letter (or suffix letter, prefix letter, or root letter)


	Category One: Root Letter Only


	Though all letters of the Hebrew alphabet can be used to form the shoresh or root of a word, 12 letters (indicated in the table below as shaded items) can ONLY be used as root letters:


	Root Letters


	Example:


	Fey, Sin, and Tet are the root letters (the Lamed at the beginning is a prefix letter).


	Category Two: Root Letter OR Prefix


	The four highlighted letters can serve two functions: they may be either a root letter (see above) or they may be a prefix before the first letter of a root letter:




	Prefix Letters


	Prefix Meanings:


	Hebrew letters functioning as prefixes are called Otiyot HaShimush (אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּש).


	Category Three: Prefix OR Suffix


	The five green-highlighted letters can serve two functions: they may be either a root letter (see above) or they may be either prefix before the first letter of a root letter or a suffix:




	Prefix or Suffix Letters


	Prefix/Suffix Meanings:


	Category Four: Prefix OR Suffix OR Infix


	Vav and Yod are undoubtedly the most flexible letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, functioning as root letters, prefixes, suffixes, and infixes.




	Vav and Yod



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