תַּחְלִיף To replace or exchange something is לְהַחְלִיף (leh-hahkh-LEEF) – for instance, when I bought a shirt and a pair of pants at Renuar last week, I asked, ?אֶפְשַׁר לְהַחְלִיף אֹתָם אִם אֲנִי רוֹצֶה (ef-SHAHR leh-hahkh-LEEF oh-TAHM eem ah-NEE roh-TSEH) – might I exchange them if I want?
להחליף is an active-causative הִפְעִיל verb. So it follows that the act of replacing or exchanging isהַחְלָפָה (hahkh-lah-FAH).But a replacement – the item or person in a role that comes in place of something else – is a תַּחְלִיף (tahkh-LEEF).
The teachers at Ulpan La-Inyan מַחְלִיפִים אֶחָד אֶת הַשֵּׁנִי לִפְעָמִים – they replace one another sometimes (mahkh-lee-FEEM eh-KHAH et hah-sheh-NEE leef-ah-MEEM). And although teachers come and go, and their roles get transferred from one person to the next, בְּאֶמֶת, אֵין לָהֶם תַּחְלִיף – really, there’s no replacement for them (beh-eh-MET EH-een lah-HEM tahkh-LEEF) – since each teacher brings his or her own unique set of gifts and talents to the classroom with which they engage their students.
Visit Ktzat Ivrit.
