[e] In the segholate forms in the singular and mostly in the dual the suffix is appended to the ground-form (מַלְכִּי my king, מַלְכֵּ֫נוּ, &c.); on the other hand, before the endings ־ִים, וֹת (sometimes also before ־ַ֫ יִם) a Qames regularly occurs,[1] before which the vowel of the first syllable then becomes vocal Šewâ (מְלָכִים, מְלָכוֹת). This Qameṣ (on which cf. § 84a a) remains even before the light suffixes, when attached to the plur. masc. (מְלָכַי, מְלָכֶ֫יךָ, &c.). On the other hand, the constr. st. plur. and dual, regularly, according to d, has the form מַלְכֵי, with grave suffix מַלְכֵיכֶם, &c., דַּלְתֵי from דְּלָתַ֫יִם folding-doors.
[f] (c) Before the Šewâ mobile which precedes the suffix ךָ when following a consonant, the a-sound, as a rule, is the only tone-lengthened vowel which remains in the final syllable (being now in an open syllable before the tone), e.g. דָּֽמְךָ֫, דְּבָֽרְךָ֫, &c. (on the forms with ē in the second syllable, see § 93 qq); but before the grave suffixes ־ְכֶם and ־ְכֶן in the same position it reverts to its original shortness, as דְּבַרְכֶם (debhărkhèm), &c. In the same way the tone-lengthened ā or ē of the second syllable in the constr. st. sing. also becomes short again, since the constr. st. resigns the principal tone to the fenowing word, e.g. דְּבַר אֱלֹהִים; חֲצַר הַבַּ֫יִת (from חָצֵר).
[g] Rem. The Masora (cf. Diqduqe ha-ṭeamim, p. 37) reckons thirteen words which retain Qameṣ in the constr. st., some of which had originally â and therefore need not be considered. On the other hand, אוּלָם or אֻלָם 1 K 76, Ez 4048, &c. (in spite of the constr. st. plur. אֻֽלַמֵּי); מִבְטָח ψ 656, Pr 2519; מַצָּב 1 S 1323 (so Baer, but ed. Mant., Ginsburg, &c. מַצַּב); מִשְׁקָל Ezr 830 and מַתָּן Pr 1816 are very peculiar.
[h] 3. The vowel changes in the inflexion of feminine nouns (§ 95) are not so considerable, since generally in the formation of the feminine either the original vowels have been retained, or they have already become Šewâ.
[i] Besides the vowel changes discussed above in a–g, which take place according to the general formative laws (§§ 25–28), certain further phenomena must also be considered in the inflexion of nouns, an accurate knowledge of which requires in each case an investigation of the original form of the words in question (see §§ 84–86). Such are, e.g., the rejection of the ה of ל״ה stems before all formative additions (cf. § 91 d), the sharpening of the final consonant of ע״ע stems in such cases as חֹק, חֻקִּי, &c.
[k] A striking difference between the vowel changes in the verb and noun is that in a verb when terminations are added it is mostly the second of two changeable vowels which becomes Šewâ (קָטַל, קָֽטְלָה, קָֽטְלוּ), but in a noun, the first (דָּבָר, דְּבָרִי, דְּבָרִים), cf. § 27. 3.
