# אשת חיל (eshet chayil)



## Codinome Shlomo

Hello!

I wonder: if "a woman of worth" is אשת חיל (eshet chayil, cf. Mishlei 31), how would you translate "a man of worth"? אשי חיל, is that right? How is the vocalization?
And why is that "eshet" and not "ishet", if "isha" starts with an "i" sound ?

Thank you!


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## arielipi

איש חיל
ish chayil
eshet is the nismach form if isha


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## origumi

Codinome Shlomo said:


> And why is that "eshet" and not "ishet", if "isha" starts with an "i" sound ?


The Academia explains:
כמה שמות שאינם סגוליים אך נטייתם על דרך הסגוליים – צורת הנסמך שלהם  מנוקדת בצירי ובסגול והם נוטים על דרך משקל פֵּעֶל: (חֲמִשָּׁה) *חֲמֵשֶׁת**-* חֲמִשְׁתָּם, (שִׁשָּׁה) *שֵׁשֶׁת**-* שִׁשְׁתָּם, וכן (אִשָּׁה) *אֵשֶׁת**-*אִשְׁתְּךָ.
 That is: אישה is conjugated as if it was segolite although it's not.


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## Codinome Shlomo

So, to set a masculine noun at the construct form, there is no need to add any letters?


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## bazq

Codinome Shlomo said:


> So, to set a masculine noun at the construct form, there is no need to add any letters?



Some (most?) masculine nouns do not change in the construct form in the singular (in the plural they take an "e" vowel).
But there are some that change: חדר [kheder] (room) is חדר [khadar] in the construct state
בית (house) [bayit] ==> בית [bet/beyt]
in adjectives:
גדול (big) [gadol] ==> גדול [gdol]
קטן (small) [katan] ==> קטן [ktan]

There are more of course.


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## ystab

In masculine nouns and feminine nouns that don't end with ה, You do not need to add letters, but the vowels might change. This is because the stress in a construct state is always on the last word.

Examples:
קָטָן (qatan; small, little) vs. קְטַן-קוֹמָה (qtan-qoma, of short stature)
זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron; memory) vs. זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב (Zikhron Ya'aqov, a town south of Haifa, lit. the memory of Ya'aqov)
עַיִן ('Ayin; eye) vs. עֵין-הַסְּעָרָה ('Ein hasse'ara; the eye of the storm)

In feminine nouns that end with ה, the ה turns to ת, and the vowels too might change.


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## Codinome Shlomo

And is there a rule for the vowel changes?
It seems to me that monosyllabic words that start with a patach (bayit, ayin) change its initial vowel to a tsere (or segol, perhaps?) in the construct form...


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## ystab

Words that belong to the same Mishqal (Mishqal is a template from which different words are created using different roots) will probably act the same, but there are many Mishqalim and they too have irregulars, so it's quite hard to specify all possible changes.

Indeed, words that belong to the Mishqal םַיִם (and there are two syllables here - xayix), change in the same manner to םֵים in the construct form. Other examples: שַׁיִט, צַיִד, חַיִל, and in constructs: שֵׁיט-תענוגות, צֵיד-ארנבות, חֵיל-השריון


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## Codinome Shlomo

Thank you all!


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