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Root ש־ל־ח: sending

Roots Atlas 30 · שֹׁרֶשׁ ש ל ח · the sending root
ש ל ח
sh · l · ch
everything to do with sending and dispatching
9 words · 1 root · 4 verb-voices

One idea runs through every word here: sending something out. Send a person and you get the shaliach, the emissary. Send a parcel and you get the mishloach, the shipment. Send out an arm and you get something stretched out; send out a team and you get a delegation. The root reaches outward in every form. Every word here is verified against pealim, niqqud included.

The verb across the binyanim (voices)

The same root runs through the verb system. Each binyan is a voice: it bends the one idea into active, passive, causative or reciprocal. Tap to hear.

Pa'al
לִשְׁלֹחַlishloach
simple active, the plain action
to send, to dispatch
Nif'al
לְהִשָּׁלֵחַlehishalach
passive / middle, it happens to the subject
to be sent, to be dispatched
Pi'el
לְשַׁלֵּחַleshaleach
intensive / specialized active
to release, to dismiss, to send away
Hitpa'el
לְהִשְׁתַּלֵּחַlehishtaleach
reflexive / reciprocal, to / on oneself
to lash out (at someone)

Notice the drift: pa'al simply sends, pi'el sends away with force (release, dismiss), and hitpa'el turns that force loose on a person (to lash out). The hif'il and pu'al are not lexicalized for this root.

Words born from the root

Same root letters, different noun moulds (mishkalim). The mould tells you the function: who does it, the act of doing it, or the thing produced.

① The person sent: the emissary

שָׁלִיחַ
shaliach
emissary, envoy; delivery person
קָטִיל

② The thing sent: shipments

מִשְׁלוֹחַ
mishloach
delivery, shipment
מִקְטוֹל
מִשְׁלַחַת
mishlachat
expedition, delegation
מִקְטַלַת

③ The stretched-out: what reaches outward

שָׁלוּחַ
shaluach
sent; stretched out, outstretched (adjective)
קָטוּל
שְׁלוּחָה
shlucha
extension, branch; subsidiary (business)
קְטוּלָה

Decode it yourself

Strip the prefixes, suffixes and vowels. Three consonants remain, and the meaning lives there.