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The payload of the whole track. You will not always know a word, but you can almost always decode one. This lesson is the reflex itself: meet an unfamiliar word, strip it to its root, name the mould, combine the two, and arrive at a confident guess plus its whole family. The words below are deliberately ones a beginner has probably not memorized. You will read most of them anyway.
The 4-step protocol
- 1. Strip the outer layer, prefixes (בְּ, הַ, מְ, מִתְ, נִ, וְ, ל, ש) and suffixes (-ה, -ות, -ים, -ן).
- 2. Find the root, the three consonants left standing. Undo a hitpa'el swap if the front hisses (st / sht / zd / tzt).
- 3. Name the mould, which binyan (M2-M5) or mishkal (M7)? That gives the type: action, passive, causative, reflexive, person, place, tool, idea.
- 4. Combine, root meaning + mould meaning → a guess. Then recover the family.
Worked example 1: מִדְרָכָה
מִדְרָכָה
- strip drop the מִ prefix and the -ה suffix.
- root ד-ר-ך, "way / to tread".
- mould מִ_ְ_ָָה, the place mishkal (M7).
- combine a place for treading → a sidewalk. Family: דֶּרֶךְ (a way), הִדְרִיךְ (guided), מַדְרִיךְ (a guide).
Worked example 2: הִצְטַיְּנוּת
הִצְטַיְּנוּת
- strip הִתְ prefix + -וּת suffix → and the front hisses (tzt).
- root undo the צ↔ט swap → root צ-י-ן ("to mark / distinguish").
- mould הִתְ…וּת, a hitpa'el process-noun (M5/M6).
- combine the process of distinguishing oneself → excellence / distinction. Family: הִצְטַיֵּן (excelled), מְצֻיָּן (excellent), צִיּוּן (a grade / mark).
Worked example 3: הַמְלָצָה
הַמְלָצָה
- strip the הַ…ָה frame.
- root מ-ל-ץ ("to recommend / advocate").
- mould הַ_ָ_ָה, the hif'il action-noun (M4), same as הַצְלָחָה.
- combine the act of recommending → a recommendation. Family: הִמְלִיץ (recommended), מַמְלִיץ (recommends), מוּמְלָץ (recommended / advised).
Decode these: root, mould, meaning
Run the protocol on each before tapping. The answer field shows the decode, not just the gloss.
Capstone: decode on the fly
Each is a word you likely have not studied. Decode it with the protocol, then choose.