חופשי

Hebrew[edit]

Root
ח־פ־שׁ (ḥ-p-š)

חופשי / חָפְשִׁי • (khofshí) (feminine חופשית / חָפְשִׁית, masculine plural חופשים / חָפְשִׁים or חופשיים / חָפְשִׁיִּים, feminine plural חופשיות / חָפְשִׁיּוֹת)

free (not imprisoned)
- Tanach, Exodus 21:2, with translation of the New International Version:
  כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי, שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד; וּבַשְּׁבִעִת – יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי, חִנָּם.
  If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
- Tanach, Exodus 21:2, with translation of NKJV:

The alternative feminine singular form חָפְשִׁיָּה (khofshiyá) is grammatical and also in use.^[1]
According to the Academy of the Hebrew language words with a Qamatz Qaṭan or Ḥaṭaf Qamatz should not be spelled with vav (ו) when writing unpointed Hebrew text, unless it alternates with a Ḥolam in another form of the word.^[2] In informal Hebrew this rule is sometimes ignored since it is hard for speakers to differentiate between words pronounced with /o/ because of a qamatz and the rest.

^ Academy of the Hebrew Language: »דתית או דתייה – סיומת ־ִית לעומת סיומת ־ִיָּה« (Hebrew source) [1]