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Root ת־ק־ן: fixing / standard / regulation

Roots Atlas 63 · שֹׁרֶשׁ ת ק ן · the fixing / standard root
ת ק ן
t · k · n
everything to do with setting things right
10 words · 1 root · 3 verb-voices

The core here is setting something into proper order. Fix a broken object and you repair it; set a thing in place and you install it; agree on the right order for everyone and you have a standard or a regulation. The same root gives tikkun, the deep idea of repair, and taknon, the dry word for a set of rules. Each word below is a different way of putting things right, 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.

Pi'el
לְתַקֵּןletaken
intensive / specialized active
to repair, to correct, to improve
Hif'il
לְהַתְקִיןlehatkin
causative, make someone do it
to install, to prepare, to arrange
Hitpa'el
לְהִתַּקֵּןlehitaken
reflexive / reciprocal, to / on oneself
to be corrected, to be restored

No pa'al is in use for this root; the work is shared between pi'el (correcting what is wrong) and hif'il (installing/arranging from scratch). The hitpa'el לְהִתַּקֵּן carries the reflexive-passive sense: a thing that gets put right. That is why so many nouns here come in pi'el and hif'il pairs.

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 norm and its rules

תֶּקֶן
teken
a standard, a norm; a staff schedule (positions)
תַּקָּנָה
takana
an ordinance, a regulation, a ruling

② The act: repairing and installing

תִּקּוּן
tikun
a correction, an amendment; a repair (also the mystical tikkun)
קִיטּוּל
הַתְקָנָה
hatkana
installation, setup
הַקְטָלָה

③ The doer and the device

מְתַקֵּן
metaken
a reformer (one who corrects)
מְקַטֵּל
מִתְקָן
mitkan
a device, a facility, an installation
מִקְטָל
הֶתְקֵן
hetken
a device, an apparatus, a mechanism

Decode it yourself

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