מַלָּח
The Hebrew word for sailor, appearing already in Biblical Hebrew, is מַלָּח
For example:
הַמַּלָּחִים עוֹבְדִים עַל הַסְּפִינָה.
The sailors are working on the ship.
With an ah-AH vowel sequence and an emphasized second root letter, מַלָּח follows the sound pattern of the names of other professionals, such as טַבָּח
meaning butcher and נַגָּר
meaning carpenter.
Don’t confuse מלח with ְמַלְאָך
meaning angel, or in Biblical Hebrew, also messenger – though the two words sound alike in today’s pronunciation.
And don’t confuse מַלָּח with מֶלַח
meaning salt – though the words are spelled the same way.
A synonym for מַלָּח is יַמַּאי
, derived from the word for sea, יָם
.