פח

Hebrew

Root
פ־ח־ח (p-kh-kh)

Etymology

The “trap” sense is parallelled by Aramaic פחא / ܦܚܐ (paḥḥā), apparently from senses of “lying resupine” after an onomotopoeic formation meaning “to snore” or similar as found in Arabic فَخَّ (faḵḵa).

The sheet-metal sense is from Egyptian pḫ, pḫꜣ.

Pronunciation

(Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /paχ/
Plural: (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /paˈχim/

Noun

פַּח • (pakh) m (plural indefinite פַּחִים, singular construct פַּח־) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

Usage notes

Like other words that start with ב,‎ ג,‎ ד,‎ כ,‎ פ,‎ or ת, this term's initial letter takes a dagesh lene. In older texts, that dagesh is usually dropped when the word is preceded, in the same phrase, by a word ending in a mater lectionis; in modern texts, the dagesh is usually preserved even in such a case. Likewise, in older texts, the dagesh is always dropped when the word is prefixed by an indefinite ב־‏,‎ כ־‏,‎ or ל־‏, or by ו־‏; in modern speech, the dagesh is often preserved in such a case. (After the definite ב־‏,‎ כ־‏,‎ and ל־‏, and after the prefixes ה־‏,‎ מ־‏,‎ and ש־‏, there is a dagesh forte, as described in the usage notes for those prefixes.)
Not to be confused with the noun פַּךְ (pákh) of similar sound and sense.

Synonyms

(garbage can): פַּח־אַשְׁפָּה (pakh-ashpá)

References

“פח” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
Hoffmeier, James K. (2023) “Further Reflections on Egyptian Influences on the Early Hebrews—Priestly Matters”, in Linguistic and Philological Studies of the Hebrew Bible and its Manuscripts in Honor of Gary A. Rendsburg (Studia Semitica Neerlandica; 75)‎^[1], Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 188