# תָּם



## Ali Smith

שלום

I know the last letter of תָּם 'finished, ended' originally had a דגש but it dropped out for some reason. My question is: the same strange thing happened to עַם 'people', yet the פתח did not lengthen to a קמץ. Is there a reason for this difference in behavior?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


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## Drink

The dagesh is always dropped at the end of a word (with a few exceptions). In general, the patach remains a patach, though sometimes it becomes a kamatz. In pausal position it will (almost?) always become a kamatz. I'm not sure if there is a predictable patter for when it is a kamatz in non-pausal positions.


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## Ali Smith

Thanks. The same strange thing happened with סָר, as in

אִישׁ הָיָה בְאֶרֶץ עוּץ אִיּוֹב שְׁמוֹ וְהָיָה הָאִישׁ הַהוּא תָּם וְיָשָׁר וִירֵא אֱלֹהִים וְסָר מֵרָע.


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## Drink

No, סר is a hollow root, not a geminate.


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## Ali Smith

You're right; silly me!

By the way, I just received the following reply from a friend:

"Most people explain the qameṣ forms as owing to the final /m/, for the phenomenon occurs also in yamm- and ʿamm-"


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## Drink

Could be. What's most interesting is that the kamatz remains in the construct forms as well, rather than becoming a patach. At least for ים and תם.


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## radagasty

Ali Smith said:


> "Most people explain the qameṣ forms as owing to the final /m/, for the phenomenon occurs also in yamm- and ʿamm-"



For יָם, yes, but isn't עַם spelt with a _patach_? With the definite article הָעָם, the _qamets_ returns, but I am not quite sure why that is.


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## Drink

radagasty said:


> For יָם, yes, but isn't עַם spelt with a _patach_? With the definite article הָעָם, the _qamets_ returns, but I am not quite sure why that is.



I've heard it cited as some kind of affect of the stressed guttural with the definite article. Compare also ההר and הארץ and החג. But it doesn't happen in most other such words, so I'm not sure how good of an explanation that is.


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## JAN SHAR

The basic notion is one of completion or maturation, right? I've heard it translated "perfect" in איש היה בארץ עוץ איוב שמו והיה האיש ההוא תם וישר וירא אלהים וסר מרע


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## Drink

In איוב, as in other places where it is used similarly, it seems to mean "simple/honest".


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