       
About the Hebrew Vocabulary
The Hebrew language uses a root system for its vocabulary. The root system is like a tree where the leaves (words) come from the branches (Child Root). The Branches come from the trunk (Parent Root) and the trunk comes out of the roots (letters).
Parent Roots
When two letters/pictographs are put together, a Parent Root word is formed. When the  (bet, a house) is combined with the  (nun, a seed which continues the next generation) the Parent Root (pronounced ben) is formed. The two letters of this root have the combined meaning of "the house of seeds" or "the seeds that continue the house/family" and are usually translated simply as "son".
Another example is the Parent Root   (shaph). The is a picture of the two front teeth meaning "sharp". The is a mouth. This Parent Root means "a sharp mouth" or simply "a serpent" whose sharp fangs are in the mouth.
Hebrew word structure, as will be seen later, often requires a three consonant root; therefore the second consonant in the Parent Root is duplicated to turn the two consonant Parent Root into a three consonant root. The meaning of this derivative from the Parent Root is usually identical in meaning to the original Parent Root. As in our example above, the second letter is doubled, forming the root (shaphaph), also meaning "serpent".
Child Roots
Of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, 4 double as consonants and vowels, the  (a),  (e),  (o and u) and  (i).
A Child Root is formed by adding one of the consonant/vowels as a prefix (in front), a suffix (at the end) or an infix (in the middle) to the Parent Root. While the Parent Root represents a concrete subject with a wide range of mnemonic meanings, the purpose of the Child Root is to separate out the various mnemonic meanings of the Parent Root. Therefore, all the Child Roots formed from the Parent Root are directly related in meaning to the Parent Root. Below are the Child Roots, as found in the Biblical text, formed from the Parent Root  (bal), which has the generic meaning of "flow", demonstrating the close relationship to each other and the Parent Root.
| | a.b.l | | wilt: a flowing away of life |
| | h.b.l | | empty: flowing out of contents |
| | b.h.l | | panic: a flowing of the insides |
| | b.l.h | | aged: a flowing away of youth |
| | b.w.l | | flood: a heavy flowing of water |
| | y.b.l | | stream: a flowing of water |
By placing the consonant letter (nun) within the Parent Root, a new type of Child Root is formed. This Child Root is very closely related to the parent. For example, the Par ent Root (aph) means nose or the flaring of the nostrils as when angry. The Child Root (anaph) also means angry.
Adopted Roots
There are two forms of adopted roots that were probably derived at a later time through the evolution of the language or adopted from another Semitic language. The first is formed by adding a third consonant to a Parent Root forming a new root more specific in meaning than the parent, such as the examples below;
 | | p.r | | Parent Root meaning break |
 | | p.r.c | | break forth |
 | | p.r.k | | break apart |
 | | p.r.s | | break in pieces |
 | | p.r.q | | break off |
 | | p.r.ts | | break open |
The second type of adopted root appears to be a three consonant root that evolved from the Parent Root into a new word with a similar sound. As a language evolves, words exchange letters for similar sounding letters and additional letters are added. For example the word  (derek) meaning "road" probably evolved out of (rach) meaning "path".
Words
The most common words are those derived directly from the parent, Child Root or adopted root. For example the word (kohen), meaning "priest", comes directly from the Child Root .
Adding specific letters in specific places within the root word forms other words. Some of the most common additions to the original root found are:
- a
 (m) or  (t) added to the front or back of the root word.
- a (h), (wt) or (wn) added to the back of the root word.
- a (w) or (ee) added in front of the last letter of the root word.
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