# Suffix ‏-ון



## munz123

Shalom everyone

Some Hebrew words have -ān at the end. What does this mean?

Here are some examples of it:

רְעָבוֹן
פְּרָזוֹן
גִּבְעוֹן
שִׁמְשׁוֹן


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## Drink

Firstly, it's -ōn, not -ān (though it does originate from an older -ān if you go into prehistory).

I can't say it has any particular meaning. It's just a suffix that is part of a derivational pattern that forms nouns (and sometimes adjectives).


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## JAN SHAR

This -on suffix is used a lot in Modern Hebrew to make neologisms like גִּזָּרוֹן (etymology), from the Biblical root g-z-r (to cut).


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## Ali Smith

I think it is used to derive abstract nouns from verbs, e.g. זִכָּרוֹן 'memory' from זכר 'to remember; to mention', שַׁבָּת֔וֹן '(particularly important) Sabbath' from שׁבת 'to cease; to rest'.

דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
(ויקרא כג כד)


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## JAN SHAR

The verse you quoted does not have זִכָּרוֹן. It has a similar word but it's not the same word.


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## Drink

JAN SHAR said:


> The verse you quoted does not have זִכָּרוֹן. It has a similar word but it's not the same word.


It's the construct form.


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> It's the construct form.


Thanks, I didn't notice that, but where did the דגש חזק go?


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## Drink

It's dropped due to the shva, a pretty common phenomenon.


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> It's dropped due to the shva, a pretty common phenomenon.


But that rule only applies to non-begedkepet letters, right?

And even among the non-begedkepet letters it never applies to צ, ט, or ז. I have no idea why though.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> But that rule only applies to non-begedkepet letters, right?
> 
> And even among the non-begedkepet letters it never applies to צ, ט, or ז. I have no idea why though.


It's not a rule, it's a tendency. As such, the exceptions are also tendencies and not rules.

That said, it seems with nouns like this, it's pretty set in stone. This always happens with this noun pattern.


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## JAN SHAR

I've never heard of a non-bgdkpt letter losing its dagesh. That's really weird!


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## Drink

Really? It happens a lot.


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## Abaye

Ali Smith said:


> And even among the non-begedkepet letters it never applies to צ, ט, or ז. I have no idea why though.


Isn't it:
נִ*צָּ*חוֹן (nominative)
נִ*צְ*חוֹן (construct state)


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## Ali Smith

Ali Smith said:


> I think it is used to derive abstract nouns from verbs, e.g. זִכָּרוֹן 'memory' from זכר 'to remember; to mention', שַׁבָּת֔וֹן '(particularly important) Sabbath' from שׁבת 'to cease; to rest'.
> 
> דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
> (ויקרא כג כד)


On second thought, I don't think it's _always_ used to form abstract nouns. For example,

וְהָיָה֮ כִּֽי־יֶחֱטָ֣א וְאָשֵׁם֒ וְהֵשִׁ֨יב אֶת־הַגְּזֵלָ֜ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר גָּזָ֗ל א֤וֹ אֶת־הָעֹ֙שֶׁק֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׁ֔ק א֚וֹ אֶת־הַפִּקָּד֔וֹן אֲשֶׁ֥ר הׇפְקַ֖ד אִתּ֑וֹ א֥וֹ אֶת־הָאֲבֵדָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מָצָֽא׃
(ויקרא ה כג)

...the deposit that was deposited with him...


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## Drink

I'm not sure there is any contradiction. Most abstract nouns can be concretized.


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> Really? It happens a lot.


Yeah, it's extremely common with non-bgdkpt letters (with the exception of צ, ט, and ז). But in פִּתְרוֹן 'interpretation, explanation' it happened even though ת is a bgdkpt letter! Weird.


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## zj73

Does it often make a thing small? I mean represents a small version of the original word? Like שִׁמְשׁוֹן means "little son"?


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## Abaye

Is שמשון = little sun? We don't know, the origin of this name is not fully clear, and specifically the suffix.
Interesting comments (Hebrew) here: מקור השם "שמשון"


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## zj73

Sorry, I meant "little sun" not "little son"


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