i think most (all?) 4- and 5-letter “roots” consist of doubled syllables

My husband thought it was מה doubled. Thanks for the verses; more to look up!

Steinberg, however, in his Milon HaTanach (which preceded Klein and Kaddari by many years) disagrees with the linguists who according to him “invented” the root מהה. He says no such root exists in Hebrew. He says the root of התמהמה is מה, as in the Hebrew word “ma” – “what?”. The connection is that as a person “turns here and there, asking ‘what’” – he is delayed. He brings a number of verses as proof of this (Tehilim 119:60, Yeshayahu 29:9, Shoftim 3:26).

I don’t know if his theory is more accurate than the others, but it probably makes it easier to remember…

LOZ, thanks for helping me learn…I changed it to 12th. Still not sure where to look up more on the 13 principles, but will try Habakuk next.

This is an example of how one can learn mis-information on the internet (like from me, my post was already in Google with incorrect info).

“af al pi” is there. but it’s the 12th, not the 13th, principle.

(the rambam himself did not write the ani maamins, although they are based on his hakdamah to perek helek. and there he does use the יתמהמה phrase, with an alliteration to habakuk)

it is the 12th principle. the “af al pi” part is in that ani maamin. (incidentally, the exact formulation of the ani maamins is not by the rambam, although it is based on the 13 principles he established in his hakdamah to perek helek. there he does use the יתמהמה, which is a citation from habakuk 2:3).

btw, thanks for making this my favorite word:
http://agmk.blogspot.com/2008/05/most-difficult-hebrew-word-to-pronounce.html#links

i think you would face some serious competition from me