how to say “a copy” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /]עוֹתֶק, הֶעְתֵּק
To copy in Hebrew is להעתיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /], a הפעיל verb of the root ע.ת.ק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /]אסור להעתיק תשובות במבחן!
You’re (it’s) not allowed to copy answers on the exam!
What about a copy? There are two words for this: עותק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /] and העתק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /]. They are very similar in meaning, but there is a subtle difference.
עותק is one of many other copies of something, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /]כמה עותקים של המסמך אתם צריכים?
How many copies of the document do you guys need?
העתק, in contrast, is a copy of something else, distinguishing it from the original, often to express its inferiority to the original.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /]זה לא הציור המקורי, זה העתק.
This isn’t the original painting, it’s a copy.
להעתיק also has the meaning of moving from one place to another or moving forward. One could guess that making a copy is an act of moving something along (often multiple times), but I’m not convinced that the two meanings come from the same root, even though it appears that way with the single word להעתיק. That’s because the letter ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/עותק-#.m4a” /] in Biblical times represented two different sounds, so that what looks like a single root today was actually two distinct roots and therefore two distinct meanings.