Prefixes in Hebrew Prefixes in Hebrew There are several prefixes in the Hebrew language which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. In Hebrew, the letters that form those prefixes are called "formative letters" (Hebrew: אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, "Otiyot HaShimush"). Eleven of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are considered "Otiyot HaShimush". These letters are Aleph (א), Bet (ב), He (ה), Vav (ו), Yud (י), Kaf (כ), Lamed (ל), Mem (מ), Nun (נ), Shin (ש), and Tav (ת). A mnemonic to remember these letters is איתן משה וכלב ("Eitan, Moshe, v'Kalev"), which translates to "Ethan, Moses, and Caleb." Prefixes in
Letters of the Living Abjad numerals system the letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values. The Arabic letters h ح and y ي, which compose the Arabic singular adjective meaning "living" in the phrase Letters of the Living, add up to 18, and therefore the phrase "Letters of the Living" refers to the number 18. There is a similar symbolism about the numerical value of the corresponding Hebrew word in Judaism. The Báb referred to the 18 Letters of the Living, along with himself, as the first "Váḥid" of the Bayán Dispensation. In the Abjad numerical value of the word Wáḥid (واحد)