של

See also: של־

Hebrew

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -el

Etymology 1

The possessed forms of של were a common Canaanite construction seen also, for example, in Punic 𐤔𐤋𐤉 (šly /⁠sillī⁠/, “my”) and Phoenician 𐤀𐤔 𐤋𐤉 (ʾš ly /⁠ʔas lī⁠/, “my”). These were derived from the relative pronoun *ʔas or prefix *-ʔas in combination with the dative prefix *-l, hence the Hebrew is equivalent to ש־ (she, “which”) +‎ ל־ (l, “to”), thus “which [belongs] to”.

The first use of של as a possessive marker in Hebrew is attested in late parts of the Hebrew Bible, but then still preceded by, and in addition to, a possessive suffix (cf. Canticles 1:6; 3:7). In Mishnaic Hebrew, של־ (shel'-) becomes a true preposition by back-formation. The standalone spelling is a more recent innovation, but the pronoun-including forms are unchanged (which may be seen both in their gemination of the ל, and in the unusual forms of the second- and third-person masculine and feminine plural pronominal suffixes, otherwise found only in the inflections of ל־ (l'-) and ב־ (b'-)).

Preposition

שֶׁל • (shel)

1. Of, belonging to, owned by, pertaining to.

Usage notes

• Phrases headed by של are mostly analogous to English attributive noun phrases and noun phrases plus the clitic ’s. In particular, while של often means “of”, phrases headed by של can only modify noun phrases and similar syntactic entities; adverbial uses of English of must be translated with a different preposition, usually מ־ (mi-).
• Words identical to pronoun-including forms of של often result from the straightforward composition of ש־ (she-, “that, which”) and ל־ (l'-, “to”).
• In formal or archaic Hebrew, attributive uses of של are often replaced with noun compounds (in which one noun is in the construct state), and predicative uses are often replaced with simply ל־ (l'-).

Inflection

Inflection table

Base form	שֶׁל (shel)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	singular		plural
	m	f	m	f
1st person	שֶׁלִּי (shelí)		שֶׁלָּנוּ (shelánu)
2nd person	שֶׁלְּךָ (shel'khá)	שֶׁלָּךְ (shelákh)	שֶׁלָּכֶם (shelakhém)	שֶׁלָּכֶן (shelakhén)
3rd person	שֶׁלּוֹ (sheló)	שֶׁלָּהּ (sheláh)	שֶׁלָּהֶם (shelahém)	שֶׁלָּהֶן (shelahén)

Derived terms

• סוּג שֶׁל (súg shel)

Etymology 2

Verb

שַׁל • (shal)

1. masculine singular imperative of נָשַׁל (nashál)
   • Tanach, Exodus 3:5, with translation of the King James Version:

     שַׁל נְעָלֶיךָ מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ

     shal n'aléch meál raglécha

     put off thy shoes from off thy feet

References

• Respective commentaries of Rashi and Abraham ibn Ezra to Exodus 3:5.