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`!Segolates`! are words in the `F33f`_`[Hebrew language`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Hebrew_languages]`_`f whose end is of the form CVCVC, where the `F33f`_`[penultimate`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Penult]`_`f vowel receives `F33f`_`[syllable stress`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Syllable_stress]`_`f. Such words are called "segolates" because the final unstressed vowel is typically (but not always) `*`F33f`_`[segol`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Segol]`_`f`*.

These words evolved from older `F33f`_`[Semitic`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Semitic_languages]`_`f words that ended in a complex `F33f`_`[coda`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Syllable]`_`f; indeed, when a suffix (other than an absolute plural) is added to a segolate, the original form (or something similar) reappears (cf. `*kéleḇ`* "dog" vs. `*kalbī`* "my dog").

Examples:

The ancient forms like `**CawC`* (such as `*šawr`* "bull") almost universally evolved to non-segolate `*CôC`* (שׁוֹר‎ šôr), though there are exceptions, such as מָוֶת‎ `*mā́weṯ`* "death".

Some segolate words' final syllable ends with a `F33f`_`[patach`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Patach]`_`f rather than a segol, due to the influence of guttural consonants (ה‎, ע‎, א‎, ח‎) in the final syllable.

`F33f`_`[Classical Arabic`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Classical_Arabic]`_`f still preserves forms similar to the reconstructed Ancient Hebrew forms, although significantly simplified.`:cite-ref-muraoka-1-0[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-muraoka-1]`_`f] Examples include `*ʼarḍ`* "earth", `*kalb`* "dog", `*ʻayn`* "eye", `*ṣidq`* "sincerity".

Some modern dialects insert an `F33f`_`[epenthetic`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Epenthetic]`_`f vowel between the final two consonants, similar to what happened in Hebrew.

>>References

`:cite-note-muraoka-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-muraoka-1-0]`_`f `:citerefmuraoka1976`aMuraoka, Takamitsu (1976). "Segolate Nouns in Biblical and Other Aramaic Dialects". `*Journal of the American Oriental Society`*. `!96`! (2): 226–235. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.2307/599825. `F33f`_`[ISSN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISSN_(identifier)]`_`f 0003-0279. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

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