They're different words, that's why. Simple as that.These words seem so similar (save for the final consonant). Why the difference in vocalization, i.e., why חֲל vs xחַלּ? Thanks.
Sadly, I sometimes have difficulty with the simple.They're different words, that's why. Simple as that.
Thank you. That was most helpful.I could add though that the root of חלום is חלם, while the root of חלון is חלל, and the ־ון is a suffix. Often in geminate roots (roots whose last two root letters are identical), the last two root letters often combine into one and receive a dagesh chazaq. That is the case in the word חלון.
If you're looking for a historical explanation of how that sound originated in this word, the chataf patach is equivalent to the shva, but is found here because of the guttural ח. This means חלום is in the same pattern of words as חמור, זרוע, דרור. The reason these words have a pretonic shva even in the non-construct forms is that they likely historically had a short "i" or "u" vowel in the first syllable, as opposed to a short "a" vowel which would have become a qamatz in non-construct forms, and a shva only in construct forms.Can you think of any grammatical reason for the חטף פתח in חֲלוֹם?