Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- im [2023/09/15 13:34] – ken
+++ im [2025/03/01 17:16] (current) – [Others] ken
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 ים
-Pronounced "im", this suffix is appended to a root word in order to make a phrase that references the name of a group of intelligent entities.
-Essentially, if "im" is added to the end of X, then the new word means "The X ones", where X describes some characteristic of the people.
+Although it should be noted that [[affixes]] in ancient Hebrew are not well understood, the ים suffix is one of the more consistent examples.
+Pronounced "im", this suffix is appended to a root word in order to pluralize the word.
+The suffix im always indicates a plural, and therefore a group. In a handful of cases the “grouping” itself is the salient feature and the word ending in 'im' is in fact a numerative device resulting in a multiplication of the root number, as discussed further [[numeric|here]].
-FIXME - pull in more discussion
+Aside from these distinctly [[numeric]] cases, the suffix is more generally applied to not merely a group of any random objects, but a group of living beings. The new word with the suffix included references the  a group of living entities. These beings are sometimes animals and most often humans. Essentially, if "im" is added to the end of <X>, then the new word ("<X>im") means "The <X> people", where X describes some characteristic of the people. The 'im suffix implies a plural personification.
+====Animals====
+As already mentioned, there are a few words ending in the im suffix which appear to refer to animals.
+|[[ailim]]|rams|
+|[[beqerim]]|cattle|
+|[[kebesim]]|sheep|
+|[[yezim]]|goats|
+|[[rehelim]]|ewes|
+|[[perim]]|bulls|
+|[[yeqerebim]]|scorpions|
+====Humans====
+In the case of humans, we see the root appearing on words indicating a certain profession or specific skill. It also appears in instances indicating what we might think of as “nationality”, normally indicating where this group of people are from and by extension what culture they are part of.
+Examples of occupations include:
+^Type^Hebrew Word^Meaning|
+|Occupation |[[alonim]] |Oak-craftsmen |
+|Occupation |[[azerim]] |Cedar-craftsmen |
+|Occupation |[[nehesim]] |Copper-craftsmen |
+|Occupation |[[serepim]] |Grill-masters |
+|Occupation |[[seyerim]] |Gatekeepers |
+|Occupation |[[reyim]] | Shepherds|
+|Occupation |[[peresim]] |Horsemen |
+|Occupation |[[hemerim]] |Donkey-men |
+|Occupation |[[seremim]] |Singers |
+|Occupation |[[serim]]/[[rashim]] |Chiefs |
+|Occupation |[[yebedim]] |Servants |
+|Occupation |[[melekim]] |Kings |
+|Occupation |[[pelim]]/[[herefemim]] |Wizards |
+|Occupation |[[konim]] |Priests |
+|Occupation |[[heqim]] |Scribes |
+Examples of nationality include:
+^Type^Hebrew Word^Meaning|
+|Nationality |[[mexerim]] |Egyptians |
+|Nationality |[[keneyenim]] |Canaanites |
+|Nationality |[[hetim]]|Hittites |
+|Nationality |[[kesedim]]|Chaldeans |
+|Nationality |[[kosim]]|Kushites |
+|Nationality |[[medenim]]|Midianites |
+|Nationality |[[pelesitim]]|Philistines/Palestinians |
+|Nationality |[[setim]]|Sethites |
+|Nationality |[[zerim]]|foreigners |
+|Nationality |[[yeberim]]|Hebrews |
+|Nationality |[[ihodim]]|The People of [[Ihoh]] |
+Clearly, the 'im' suffix brings with it an implication of a certain specific culture, skills, and origin.
+====Others====
+There are many words ending with im which seem to be neither human, nor animal, but some other type of living beings.
+Perhaps the most well known of these is [[alehim]] (aka Elohim) - a group of intelligent entities prevalent in the Hebrew texts from the very first verse, and never straying far from the narrative. However, it is not entirely clear if the alehim are human, superhuman, or something else entirely There are a number of other beings in this category, many of whom are entirely overlooked, and some of whom are quite misconstrued in traditional interpretations. These include the [[kerobim]] and [[serepim]], and many more.
+Interestingly, most of these words are simple etymological compounds. That is, they use a root word with a meaning that is well established and clear, then they add the //im// suffix, to create a plural personification based on the known attribute.
+  *In some cases, the root word is an adjective. These belay a very straightforward pattern, for example [[hemed]] "Desirable" + im -> [[hemedim]] "the Desirable Ones".
+  *In other cases, the root word is a verb, so when combined with //im//, the verb appears to take on an adjectival gerundive form. An example of this is [[aor]] "light" + //im// -> [[aorim]]/[[arim]] "the Shining Ones".
+  *Some are built on a noun root. An easy example is [[her]] "mountain" + //im// -> [[herim]] "the Mountain People". This example implies a group of people who live in the mountains. Some noun examples are somewhat less straightforward in their implications.
+^Word^Root|^Implied Meaning|
+|[[ademim]]	|[[adem]]||The Humans|
+|[[ahedim]]	|[[ahed]]||The Singular Ones|
+|[[aherim]]	|[[aher]]||The Next Ones|
+|[[alehim]]	|[[aleh]]||the Tree People|
+|[[alim]]	|[[al]]||The To Ones|
+|[[amexaim]]|[[amexa]]||the Found Ones|
+|[[anesim]]	|[[anes]]||humans|
+|[[aonim]]	|[[aon]]||Powerful Ones|
+|[[aorim]]	|[[aor]]||Light Ones|
+|[[arim]]	|[[ar]]||The Shining Ones|
+|[[arorim]]	|[[aror]]||Enchanted Ones|
+|[[baim]]	|[[ba]]||Arrived Ones|
+|[[befehim]]|[[befeh]]||Trusted Ones|
+|[[betim]]	|[[bet]]||householders|
+|[[beyelim]]|[[beyel]]||the Overlords|
+|[[celeyim]]|[[ceyel]]||Rock People|
+|[[deberim]]|[[deber]]||Speaking Ones|
+|[[degim]]	|[[deg]]||Fish People|
+|[[deletim]]|[[delet]]||Door People|
+|[[febim]]	|[[feb]]||The Fine Ones|
+|[[geborim]]|[[gebor]]||Mighty Ones|
+|[[gedolim]]|[[gedol]]||The Giants|
+|[[gerezim]]|[[gerez]]||the Cut Off|
+|[[gerim]]	|[[ger]]||The Visitors|
+|[[helim]]	|[[hel]]||the Flowing Ones|
+|[[hemedim]]|[[hemed]]||Desirable Ones|
+|[[herim]]	|[[her]]||Mountain People|
+|[[heselim]]|[[hesel]]||Shining Ones|
+|[[hiim]]|[[hi]]||Living Ones|
+|[[iomim]]	|[[iom]]||Cycling Ones|
+|[[iqerim]]	|[[iqer]]||the Precise Ones|
+|[[irim]]	|[[ir]]||The Shining Ones|
+|[[isenim]]	|[[isen]]||sleepers|
+|[[ixaim]]	|[[ixa]]||Those Who Came Out|
+|[[kebesim]]|[[kebes]]||Silent Ones|
+|[[kelebim]]|[[keleb]]||Dog-Men|
+|[[ketobim]]|[[ketob]]||Written Ones|
+|[[kinim]]	|[[kin]]||Prepared Ones|
+|[[kokebim]]|[[kokeb]]||Star People|
+|[[lekim]]	|[[lek]]||travelers|
+|[[megedelim]]|[[megedel]]||Tower People|
+|[[merim]]	|[[mer]]||the Bitter Ones|
+|[[meromim]]|[[merom]]||The High Ones|
+|[[meyefim]]|[[meyef]]||Little People|
+|[[miserim]]|[[miser]]||Righteous Ones|
+|[[peredim]]|[[pered]]||The Divided Ones|
+|[[peyemim]]|[[peyem]]||The Time People|
+|[[qeberim]]|[[qeber]]||Tomb People|
+|[[qedesim]]|[[qedes]]||Holy Ones|
+|[[qedim]]	|[[qed]]||Ancients|
+|[[qefenim]]|[[qefen]]||Young Ones|
+|[[qemim]]	|[[qem]]||Standing Ones|
+|[[rasenim]]|[[rasen]]||First Ones|
+|[[rebim]]	|[[reb]]||the many|
+|[[redim]]	|[[red]]||Descended Ones|
+|[[rekebim]]|[[rekeb]]||Riders|
+|[[repaim]]|[[repa]]||The Deformed Ones|
+|[[reseyim]]|[[resey]]||Wicked Ones|
+|[[reyim]]	|[[rey]]||Evil Ones|
+|[[sanenim]]|[[sanen]]||inert ones|
+|[[seberim]]|[[seber]]||Broken Ones|
+|[[sebim]]	|[[seb]]||Abiding Ones|
+|[[sedim]]	|[[sed]]||Breasted Ones|
+|[[sefim]]	|[[sef]]||Stray Ones|
+|[[seheqim]]|[[seheq]]||The Mocking Ones|
+|[[selemim]]|[[selem]]||Peaceful Ones|
+|[[semim]]|[[sem]]||The Legendary Ones|
+|[[senehim]]|[[seneh]]||The Ancient Ones|
+|[[sererim]]|[[serer]]||singers|
+|[[setehoim]]|[[seteho]]||Bowing Ones|
+|[[seyepim]]|[[seyep]]||Imaginary Ones|
+|[[sihim]]|[[sih]]||the Speaking Ones|
+|[[sim]]	|[[]]||Other Ones|
+|[[subim]]	|[[sub]]||the hurried ones?/the returned ones?|
+|[[temim]]	|[[tem]]||The Pure Ones|
+|[[terim]]	|[[ter]]||The Remaining Ones|
+|[[tesim]]	|[[tes]]||the Planted Ones|
+|[[xediqim]]|[[xediq]]||The Pure Ones|
+|[[xeperim]]|[[xeper]]||Bird-Men|
+|[[xorim]]	|[[xor]]||The Stone People|
+|[[yebetim]]|[[yebet]]||The Braided Ones|
+|[[yelegim]]|[[yeleg]]||The Stutterers|
+|[[yelim]]	|[[yel]]||The Ascendant Ones|
+|[[yemedim]]|[[yemed]]||Pillar Ones|
+|[[yemeqim]]|[[yemeq]]||Valley People|
+|[[yemim]]	|[[yem]]||people|
+|[[yeneqim]]|[[yeneq]]||Anakim?|
+|[[yepeyenim]]|[[yepeyen]]||Nightmare People|
+|[[yesim]]|[[yes]]||The Completed Ones|
+|[[yexim]]|[[yex]]||the Tree People|
+|[[yirim]]|[[yir]]||cities|
+|[[yolemim]]|[[yolem]]||The Beyond Ones|
+|[[zebehim]]|[[zebeh]]||Sacrificial Ones|
+----
+Later we will make a list of words using this suffix, but for now use the backlinks to this page for a dynamic list, each of which is discussed on their own page.
-See the backlinks to this page for a dynamic list, each of which is discussed on their own page.