[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/וילון-#.m4a” /]וִילוֹן The Hebrew word for curtain is וילון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/וילון-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/וילון-#.m4a” /]דויד, סגור את הווילון! David, close the curtain! וילון came to Hebrew in Mishnaic times via Greek and Latin (in Latin the word is velum). Even though וילון is a masculine noun, curtains are וילונות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/וילון-#.m4a” /], with the feminine…
מַדְהִים The Hebrew word for amazing is מַדְהִים ( ). This is an adjective deriving from the active-intensive הִפְעִיל verb, לְהַדְהִים ( ). For example: רָאִיתִי סֶרֶט מַדְהִים אֶתְמוֹל. I saw an amazing movie yesterday. and, in the feminine: אֵיזוֹ מוּזִיקָה מַדְהִימָה! What amazing music! The root is ד.ה.מ meaning amazement or being taken aback. Another usage (the one in…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /]תִּיבּוּל קינמון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /] – cinnammon, כורכום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /] – turmeric, כמון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /] – cumin: these are all תבלינים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /] – spices (a single spice is תבלין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /]). What do we do with תבלינים? We season food – מתבלים אוכל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /]. To season is the פיעל verb לתבל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/תיבול-#.m4a” /], and seasoned (in the literal sense,…
יְקוּם Can’t read Hebrew yet? Biblical Hebrew uses the word יְקוּם to mean substance or existence – coarsely, stuff. For example, in the story of the Flood, G-d says: …וּמָחִיתִי אֶת כָּל הַיְּקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה… …and I will wipe out all the substance that I made from the…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/עבמ-#.m4a” /]עַבָּ”מ UFO stands for unidentified flying object. Hebrew’s acronym is עב”מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/עבמ-#.m4a” /], standing for עצם בלתי מזוהה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/עבמ-#.m4a” /], or literally, unidentified object (the fact that the object is flying is understood). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/עבמ-#.m4a” /]הם חושבים שהם ראו עב”מ, אבל אנחנו יודעים שמדובר במטוס קרבי. They think they saw a UFO,…
I think it’s reasonable to assume that nearly everyone on the planet – if not everyone – has admirable as well as less-than-admirable character traits. The word תְּכוּנָה (te-khoo-NAH) can refer to such traits, as well as non-human traits or features. For example, לַגִּרְסָה הַחֲדָשָׁה שֶׁל “חֲלוֹנוֹת” יֵשׁ תְּכוּנוֹת חֲדָשׁוֹת (la-gheer-SAH hah-khah-dah-SHAH shel “khah-loh-NOHT” yesh te-khoo-NOHT…