Appendix:Hebrew patterns/קֶטֶל

From *qatl-. Hebrew doesn't allow consonant clusters at the end of words, which came to be as a result of the decline of the case system. For this reason words of the form *qatl-, *qitl- and *qutl- were broken up and usually became segolates (bisyllabic words with stress on the first syllable and a segol in the second one), thus regularly yielding "qetel" or "qotel".

קֶטֶל • (kétel) m (plural indefinite קְטָלִים, plural construct קַטְלֵי־ or קִטְלֵי־, Biblical Hebrew pausal form קָטֶל)

Used for forming substantives, especially but not exclusively concrete nouns.

The vowel /a/ frequently becomes an /i/ when in an open syllable not adjacent to the stress or in a closed syllable, thus explaining the occasional vowel change in the plural construct and with pronominal suffixes, even though the word originates from *qatl-.

1. When used with a root that has a guttural as the first letter, it will have a hataf patah in the plural, plural possessed, and plural construct forms.
2. When used with a root that has a guttural as the second letter, the word takes the form CáCaC, and the second letter takes a hataf patah instead of a shva in the possessed forms.
3. When used with a root that has a guttural as the third letter, the word takes the form CéCaC.
4. When used with a root that has the same second and third letter, the word generally takes the form CaC.
5. When used with a root with yud as the second letter, the word takes the form CáyiC, with construct forms, plural forms, and possessed forms starting with CeC-.
6. When used with a root with yud as the third letter, the word takes the form CeCí, with construct and possessed forms starting with CiCy-.
7. Same second and third radical: These two radicals merge into one and receive a dagesh forte (=gemination), which however is only visible in forms such as the plural or with pronominal suffixes, since a dagesh forte cannot stand at the end of a word. As a compensation for this lack of dagesh the vowel is lengthened (unless it's /a/). Examples: נֵס < *niss-, plural נִסִּים, and עַם < *ʕamm-, plural: עַמִּים.
   1. Nun as the second radical: The same process happens with a nun, which undergoes fusion with the preceding radical. See אַף < *anp-, but אַפִּי "my nose", and עִזִּים < *ʕinz-, plural: עִזִּים.
8. Second radical waw: In roots with waw as the second radical, the waw and the preceding /a/ often contract to /oː/, a sound change frequently observed in many languages. *qawl- > *qōl-. Examples: שׁוֹר and דּוֹד. Counterexamples: מָוֶת and תָּוֶךְ.
   1. Second radical yodh: Likewise, the /j/ and the preceding /a/ sometimes contract to /eː/, albeit much less so. Example: חֵיק and רֵיחַ. Counterexamples: עַיִן and חַיִל.

• קֵטֶל
• קֹטֶל
• קְטִי

Gesenius, Wilhelm (1910) Hebrew Grammar, pages 227-229, §84a-d