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Word of the day: להתחיל - to begin

21 September 2016

לְהַתְחִיל lehatchil means "to start", "to begin":

בַּשָּׁנָה שֶעָבְרָה הִתְחַלְתִּי לְהִתְאַמֵּן.
Ba-shana she-avra hitchalti lehit'amen.
Last year I started working out.

It is a hif'il verb with the root תח״ל. It is derived from the word תְּחִלָּה ~ תחילה tchila "beginning", the action noun for the verb לְהָחֵל lehachel (also a hif'il verb, with a geminate root חל״ל), which also means "to start, to begin".

להתחיל also has its own action noun, הַתְחָלָה hatchala "a beginning".

Unlike להתחיל and התחלה, which are acceptable for both spoken and written language, להחל and תחילה are mostly used in formal or literary language, for example in news:

עֶשְׂרוֺת תַּלְמִידוֹת עֲדַיִן לֹא הֵחֵלּוּ אֶת שְׁנַת הַלִּמּוּדִים.
Esrot talmidot adayin lo hechelu et shnat ha-limudim.
Tens of schoolgirls have not yet started [their] school year.

In colloquial language, להתחיל עִם משהו lehatchil im mashehu means "to start going out with someone" (in a romantic sense):

דָּנִי רוֹצֶה לְהַתְחִיל עִם רוּת.
Dani rotze lehatchil im Rut.
Danny wants to start going out with Ruth.

There is also a word with a related "doubly derived" root אתח״ל‎: לְאַתְחֵל le'atchel "to start, to boot (a computer)":

הַמַּחְשֵׁב מְאַתְחֵל אֶת עֵצְמוֹ לֽלֹא סִבָּה.
Ha-machshev me'atchel et atzmo le-lo siba.
The computer reboots [itself] for no reason.

Below is the clip for שׁוּב נַתְחִיל מֵחָדָשׁ shuv natchil me-chadash "Let's start over again", a song by צְבִיקָה פִּיק Tsvika (Svika) Pick.

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See also

Word of the day: לבוא - to come

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