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Root ק־ל־ט: absorbing

Roots Atlas 43 · שֹׁרֶשׁ ק ל ט · the absorbing root
ק ל ט
k · l · t
everything to do with taking in: signals, ideas, newcomers
11 words · 1 root · 2 verb-voices

One verb does it all: to take in. Take in a radio signal, take in an idea ("did you get it?"), take in a sound on tape, take in an immigrant. That last sense is the famous one for you: klita is the absorption of new arrivals, and a miklat is the shelter that takes people in. From signal to refugee, it is the same root receiving. Every entry 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
לִקְלֹטliklot
simple active, the plain action
to absorb, to pick up (a signal); to grasp, to get it
Hif'il
לְהַקְלִיטlehaklit
causative, make someone do it
to record, to tape (causative: cause to be captured)

The two live verbs split the job: pa'al is the receiver taking something in, hif'il is making a recording, causing a sound to be captured onto something. The matching passive hikaltut ("being absorbed") survives as a noun rather than a common verb. Other binyanim 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 act: taking in, being taken in

קְלִיטָה
klita
absorption, reception; comprehension; integration of immigrants
קְטִילָה
הַקְלָטָה
haklata
recording (the act, on tape or disk)
הַקְטָלָה
הִקָּלְטוּת
hikaltut
being absorbed, assimilation
הִקָּטְלוּת

② The device: what does the receiving

מַקְלֵט
maklet
a receiver (radio, TV set)
מַקְטֵל

③ The place: where you are taken in

מִקְלָט
miklat
shelter, refuge, bomb shelter
מִקְטָל

④ The recorded object

קֶלֶט
kelet
input (computing)
קֶטֶל
קַלֶּטֶת
kaletet
a cassette
קַטֶּלֶת
תַּקְלִיט
taklit
a record, an album (music)
תַּקְטִיל

⑤ The quality: easy to take in

קָלִיט
kalit
catchy (a tune, a slogan)
קָטִיל

Decode it yourself

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