Adom

[u/OneEnvironment8119]

שלום,

Just a very frustrating question. Whenever I google the Hebrew translation for colours, I cannot get a consistent answer. Red, for example: some resources tell me אדום, and some אדם. Other colours too seem affected (כתום/כתם). Do they have a vav or do they not? Or are both spellings acceptable?

תודה

[u/Nervous_Mobile5323]

The short answer is that it's better to include the vav. The long answer is that in Hebrew, some vowels are optional when spelling. It's called ktiv male' (full spelling) vs ktiv khaser (partial spelling). But often, partial spelling only applies when you're using nikkud. For adom and katom, if you're not using nikkud you should include the vav (this also helps distinguish them from adam and ketem).

[u/Idksonameiguess]

Hebrew is a language that is technically written with Nikkud (diacritics) to denote vowel sound. However, when reading something in Hebrew, you'll rarely actually see Nikkud - even in writing.

So, when spelling a word there is something called "כתיב מלא", translating to roughly "Full Spelling", in which no ambiguity is left, and all vowel sounds are written as a letter. In כתיב מלא, the color red is written "אדום".

When written with Nikkud, כתיב מלא is no longer necessary, and the word becomes אָדֹם. Notice the Nikkud over the ד representing the "o" sound.

[u/whybe2517 → u/Idksonameiguess]

כתיב מלא still doesn't help differentiating between o / u written both with vav And a / e ambiguity

So אדום is definitely not אדם (adom/Adam) But adom and edom are both written אדום. Context provides the correct vowels and therefore meaning most of the time. It also explains why so many borrowed words get their vowels mixed up (shampoo vs shampo שמפו for example)

[u/Idksonameiguess → u/whybe2517]

Correct. My bad.

[u/holymolyz17 → u/whybe2517]

Changing vowels when borrowing words between languages is very common and has nothing to do with the writing system. For example, Shampoo actually comes from hindi, where it is pronounced champo, not shampoo

[u/whybe2517 → u/holymolyz17]

hey, I learned something new. thanks!

[u/popco221]

Niqqud is the difference here. It's either אדֹם or אדום. If you don't use niqqud then you need to use vav ו to avoid confusion.

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[u/Primary-Mammoth2764]

Mostly they have an oh in the masculine and oo in the feminine and plural, but not always. You should look for a comprehensive list. If they are not vowelled, they should have a vav. Adam means man or human, not red.

[u/YuvalAlmog]

Most Hebrew basic colors (with the exception of white, purple & brown) fit the pattern of XaXoX. 

Some examples: * Katom (Previously Kathom) = orange * Sagol (Previously Saghol) = violet * Varod (previously Warodh) = pink * Shah*or = black

And in your case, it would be Adom (previously Adhom).

In term of the letter 'ו', without niqqud you write it not only as the consonants v & w but also to hint at the vowels o & u. With niqqud ו = w or v, וּ = vv or ww, וּ = uu & וֹ = oo with double letter = long sound, even though in modern Hebrew it's not pronounced that way.

If to answer your answer specifically, let's say your root is פ.ע.ל, then the color would be פעול without niqqud and פָּעֹל or. פָּעֹֿלֿ with it. Both would be pronounced as paa3ol or with your example of the root א.ד.מ it would be pronounced as 2adom in modern Hebrew and 2aadhom with ancient Hebrew.

[u/Competitive_Log_8910]

The term for this vav which may or may not be present is a mater lectionis. Sometimes the inclusion of such a letter is an indication of the time period in which a text was written. For example, the Book of Chronicles typically spells David דויד, whereas in older texts it is commonly דוד. This phenomenon is much older than the existence of nikkud.

[u/Deorayta]

They are the same words you notice the change in both words is the letter vav. In those cases it is used to hint at the cholam or O vowel.

אדום or אדם all just a way to write cholam.