Segolate
Segolates are words in the Hebrew language whose end is of the form CVCVC, where the penultimate vowel receives syllable stress. Such words are called "segolates" because the final unstressed vowel is typically (but not always) segol. These words evolved from older Semitic words that ended with two consonants; indeed, when a suffix (other than an absolute plural) is added to a segolate, the original form (or something similar) reappears (cf. kéleḇ "dog" vs. kalbī "my dog").
Examples:
| *Ancient | Tiberian | Stem | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ʼarṥ | אֶרֶץ/אָרֶץ | ʼéreṣ/ʼāreṣ | אַרְצ- | ʼarṣ- | earth; land |
| *ʼurn | אֹרֶן | ʼōren | אָרְנ- | ʼorn- | pine tree |
| *baʻl | בַּעַל/בָּעַל | báʻal/bāʻal | בַּעֲל- | baʻăl- | husband |
| *zarʻ | זֶרַע/זָרַע | zéraʻ/zāraʻ | זַרְע- | zarʻ- | seed |
| *yayn | יַיִן/יָיִן | yáyin/yāyin | יֵינ- | yên- | wine |
| *milḥ | מֶלַח | mélaḥ | מַלְח- | malḥ- | salt |
| *milk | מֶלֶך | méleḵ | מַלְכּ- | malk- | king |
| *kalb | כֶּלֶב/כָּלֶב | kéleḇ/kāleḇ | כַּלְבּ- | kalb- | dog |
| *laḥy | לֶחִי/לְחִי | ləḥî/léḥî | לֶחֱי- | leḥĕy- | cheek; tool jaw |
| *ʻibr | עֵבֶר | ʻĒḇer | עִבְר- | ʻiḇr- | Eber |
| *ʻayn | עַיִן/עָיִן | ʻáyin/ʻāyin | עֵינ- | ʻên- | eye |
| *ṣidq | צֶדֶק | ṣéḏeq | צִדְק- | ṣiḏq- | righteousness |
The ancient forms like *CawC (such as šawr "bull") almost universally evolved to non-segolate CôC (שׁוֹר šôr), though there are exceptions, such as מָוֶת māweṯ "death".
Some segolate words' final syllable ends with a patach rather than a segol, due to the influence of gutteral consonants (ה, ע, א, ח) around the final syllable.
Classical Arabic still preserves forms similar to the reconstructed Ancient Hebrew forms, e.g. ʼarḍ "earth", kalb "dog", ʻayn "eye", ṣidq "sincerity". (Some modern dialects insert an epenthetic vowel between the final two consonants, similar to what happened in Hebrew.)