# זהר



## dukaine

The guy said this after introducing himself to someone.  He said it again when he told the person to whom he introduced himself that he could call him by his first name.  What does it mean?


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## mkeys

Hi, 

And his name was not Zohar?


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## dukaine

No.  It was Mezorki Cutler.


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## arbelyoni

dukaine said:


> No.  It was Mezorki Cutler.


Are you sure it's Mezorki? I've never heard it...
Zorki may be a nickname of Zohar (see for example Zohar Wagner's documentary film "Zorki").

With a lack of additional context, I'd say that Zohar has got to be the guy's first name.


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## dukaine

You know what, Zorki makes sense.  I think I confused the "m" with the pronoun again.


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## Ali Smith

Is זֹהַר accented on the first syllable? In other words, is it a segholate noun? I know segholate nouns are defined as those nouns that have three letters and are accented on the first one, e.g. סֵפֶר and מֶלֶךְ.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Is זֹהַר accented on the first syllable? In other words, is it a segholate noun?



Yes.



Ali Smith said:


> I know segholate nouns are defined as those nouns that have three letters and are accented on the first one, e.g. סֵפֶר and מֶלֶךְ.



Some longer nouns also have segolate endings (most often with a feminine -et suffix). Like כתובת and רכבת for example.


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## Ali Smith

Drink: כתובת would be the construct form, wouldn't it? The absolute ( = neither construct nor pronominal) form would כתובה, right?


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## Drink

No, you're thinking of the wrong word.

I meant k'tóvet, meaning "address". It's the same in the absolute state and the construct state.


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## Ali Smith

Drink: Is the reason why זהר _zohar_, despite being a segholate noun, has a פתח on the second letter that the second letter is a guttural? I think the same thing happened in שֵׁמַע _shema_, another segholate noun. It means "audio" or "renown".


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## Drink

Yes. That is one of the fundamental rules of segolates.


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## Ali Smith

But then why is יער ya’ar (forest) accented on the first syllable? Is it segholate too?


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## Drink

Yes, it's a segolate.


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## Ali Smith

Thanks, but how can you be so sure?


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## Drink

Does that seriously need to be asked?

The concept of a "segolate" was conceived of precisely for the purpose of describing this category of words. I don't know what else you want me to say.

It fits the exact pattern for a segolate with a guttural in this position. For more examples, compare צער, יחד, פחד, סהר, כעס, מחט, זעם, פעם, שער, לחץ, נחל, and that's just quickly off the top of my head.


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## Ali Smith

Thanks! So, it seems that whatever the two vowels may be, they can never be long vowels. I mean in segolates.


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## Drink

That is not correct. In זוהר you have a long vowel. In שמע you have a long vowel. In מוות you have a long vowel. And in pausal position, the stressed segol (usually) or patach (always) becomes a qamatz.

The last vowel can be long only in the special case of the last root letter being י or ו, such as in חולי and תוהו.


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## Ali Smith

Thanks, Drink! But why do the words לֶחֶם 'bread, food' and רֶחֶם 'uterus' not have two פתחs like נַעַר 'boy, young man'? After all, the second letter is a guttural in all three.


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## bazq

They are exceptional, you are right. In pausal form you do find them with a kamatz - Lahem (for example, Genesis 43:25, also verse 31).


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## Drink

They are exceptions and the explanation is not clear.


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