# לְחִיץ / לחיצה, בלחיצה



## airelibre

A couple of questions:
Can לחיצה mean button (noun) or just pressing/pushing. If so, what is the difference between a femenine and masculine button?! Also, how would you say בלחיצה? Bilchitza? B'l'chitza? Or something else?

Many thanks


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## arbelyoni

> Can לחיצה mean button (noun) or just pressing/pushing. If so, what is the difference between a femenine and masculine button?!


לחיצה means pressing/pushing (gerund), as you wrote. 
Button is לחיץ, כפתור or לחצן, all are masculine nouns.


> Also, how would you say בלחיצה? Bilchitza? B'l'chitza? Or something else?


בִּלְחִיצָה [bilchitza] is the proper pronunciation.
You may also hear [belechitza]


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## anipo

I agree with arbelyoni, except for the fact that לחיצה is a *noun* meaning (the act of) pressing or pushing, and not a gerund. 

Another word for pushbutton is לחצן (lachtzan), as in לחצן מצוקה (emergency button).


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## arielipi

also l-kh-tz root is for shaking hands.
ללחוץ ידים


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## airelibre

Many thanks. Just to clarify, in ללחוץ ידים,  
ידים is ידיים - yadayim, or is it supposed to be yadim?


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## airelibre

Never mind, I've just remembered that the plural of יד is ידות when not talking about two hands, so it must be yadayim


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## arielipi

theres no yadot - maybe yadiyot, in singular yadit, and yes, yadayim is right.
lilhotz yadayim shake hands.
yadit is handle(door)


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## arbelyoni

> לחיצה is a *noun* meaning (the act of) pressing or pushing, and not a gerund.


That's the meaning of gerund in English: a verb's action noun (not the same like Spanish gerundio). In Hebrew it's called שם פעולה.


> Just to clarify, in ללחוץ ידים,
> ידים is ידיים - yadayim, or is it supposed to be yadim?


ידים is an alternate spelling of ידיים [yadaim]: hands.


> the plural of יד is ידות when not talking about two hands


That's true in Biblical Hebrew (see Exodus 26:17; 1 Kings 7:32; 2 Chronicles 9:18). In Modern Hebrew the dual form is also used as plural.


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## arielipi

i must correct you, as yadot is again for yadiyot/mot ahiza, hangers to carry something(looked at exodus)


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## origumi

arielipi said:


> i must correct you, as yadot is again for yadiyot/mot ahiza, hangers to carry something(looked at exodus)


There's a timeline issue with your comment. "Yadit" is a modern word (see http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=21615), thus Biblical "yadot" cannot be its plural. Seems to me that the singular of "yadot" is "yad", with a meaning like modern "yadit".


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## anipo

> arbelyoni: That's the meaning of gerund in English: a verb's action noun (not the same like Spanish gerundio). In Hebrew it's called שם פעולה.



I stand corrected about the meaning of "gerund" in English. It is indeed a verbal noun. The same word is used as gerund and as present participle (as in "I am pushing"), while in Spanish gerundio is the equivalent of the present participle in English, but by no means a noun.


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## arielipi

you are correct origumi,though in this meaning it only shows in plural form in the bible.


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## amikama

*The discussion about gerundio in Spanish is moved here.*


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