Modern Hebrew

Modern Hebrew, also known as Israeli Hebrew, is the standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only remaining Canaanite language in the Semitic language family and one of the oldest languages still spoken as a first language. Modern Hebrew uses the Hebrew Alphabet, which is written from right-to-left.

Hebrew was spoken by ancient Israelites until around the 3rd century BCE, when it was replaced by Aramaic and other languages. Though it continued to be used in religious and literary contexts, it was no longer a everyday spoken language.

In the late 19th century, a movement led by Russian-Jewish linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda began to revive Hebrew as a daily language. This effort gained momentum especially after many speakers of other Jewish languages moved to Israel following events in the 20th century.

Today, over 10 million people speak Hebrew, with more than 6.5 million being native speakers, most of whom were born in Israel. The Academy of the Hebrew Language in Jerusalem is responsible for guiding the development of the language.

Name

The most common scholarly term for the language is "Modern Hebrew" (עברית חדשה). Most people simply call it "Hebrew" (עברית).

Some experts find the term "Modern Hebrew" tricky because it suggests a clear separation from Biblical Hebrew. One linguist suggested using "Israeli Hebrew" instead, as it better shows the language's mixed origins. Another expert in 1999 recommended the term "Israeli" to capture all the different sources of the language.

Background

Main article: Hebrew language

The Hebrew language has a long history with four main periods. First was Biblical Hebrew, used until around the 3rd century BCE and spoken in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Later came Mishnaic Hebrew, used in the Mishnah and Talmud. Then there was Medieval Hebrew from the 6th to the 18th century. Finally, Modern Hebrew began in the 19th century and is now the main language of the modern State of Israel.

Revival

Main article: Revival of the Hebrew language

Hebrew was used in many ways by Jewish people living far from their homeland. Over time, it became a common language among Jewish families in Palestinian Jews. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a man named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda helped bring Hebrew back as a everyday language that families could speak at home.

Modern Hebrew mixes words and rules from old Hebrew books, with sounds from a group of Jews called Sephardic Jews. Many early Jewish families moving to Ottoman Palestine helped make Hebrew popular, especially with support from rich people like Edmond James de Rothschild and its official status in the 1922 constitution of the British Mandate for Palestine. Ben-Yehuda created Modern Hebrew using words from old Hebrew texts. He also added new words from Arabic, changing them to fit Hebrew sounds, like using special words for items such as nana, zaatar, and hummus.

Classification

Modern Hebrew is a type of Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Semitic family. It is part of the Canaanite branch within the Northwest Semitic subgroup. This language is mostly based on older forms of Hebrew, like Mishnaic and Biblical Hebrew, and also includes traditions from Sephardi and Ashkenazi speakers. Some experts think Modern Hebrew is a completely new language system, but most agree it is still a Semitic language.

Modern Hebrew is also called a koiné language because it brings together many layers of Hebrew and adds in some outside influences. These outside influences mostly happened between 1880 and 1920 when the language was being revived. A few experts believe these influences made Modern Hebrew a mix with Indo-European languages, but this idea is not widely accepted. Most experts still say Modern Hebrew is a Semitic language, even with these outside influences.

Alphabet

Main articles: Hebrew alphabet and Cursive Hebrew

Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using the Hebrew alphabet. This special alphabet is made up of 22 letters and is called an abjad, meaning it mostly shows consonants. It is based on a style called Ashurit (Assyrian), which came from the Aramaic script. When people write by hand, they use a special curly style called a cursive script.

Sometimes, extra marks go above or below the letters to show vowels. These marks are called Niqqud. Other special marks, like Dagesh and Sin and Shin dots, help show how some letters sound different. Some letters get a little mark called a Geresh to show special sounds.

Name	Alef	Bet	Gimel	Dalet	He	Vav	Zayin	Chet	Tet	Yod	Kaf	Lamed	Mem	Nun	Samech	Ayin	Pe	Tzadi	Qof	Resh	Shin	Tav
Printed letter	א‎	ב‎	ג‎	ד‎	ה‎	ו‎	ז‎	ח‎	ט‎	י‎	כ‎ ך‎	ל‎	מ‎ ם‎	נ‎ ן‎	ס‎	ע‎	פ‎ ף‎	צ‎ ץ‎	ק‎	ר‎	ש‎	ת‎
Cursive letter
Pronunciation	/ʔ/, /∅/	/b/, /v/	/g/	/d/	/h/	/v/ /u/, /o/, /w/	/z/	/χ~ħ/	/t/	/j/, /i/, /e(i̯)/	/k/, /χ/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/s/	/ʔ~ʕ/, /∅/	/p/, /f/	/t͡s/	/k/	/ʁ~r/	/ʃ/, /s/	/t/
Transliteration	', ∅	b, v	g	d	h	v, u, o, w	z	kh, ch, h	t	y, i, e, ei	k, kh	l	m	n	s	', ∅	p, f	ts, tz	k	r	sh, s	t

Phonology

Modern Hebrew has fewer sounds than older forms of Hebrew but has developed its own unique sound patterns. Israeli Hebrew has about 25 to 27 consonant sounds, depending on the speaker. It also has 5 to 10 vowel sounds, which can vary depending on how you count them and who is speaking.

Morphology

Modern Hebrew's way of building and changing words is very similar to how Biblical Hebrew did it. Most new words, like verbs, nouns, and adjectives, are made using a special method with three-letter roots called shoresh, combined with added patterns known as mishkal. Some nouns come from older patterns, and some adjectives use even older ones. Sometimes, new words are made by joining parts of two different words together.

Syntax

Modern Hebrew follows rules from older Hebrew but has also changed due to languages its speakers learned.

Modern Hebrew mostly uses the word order subject-verb-object, like "I see the dog." Older Hebrew used verb-subject-object, like "See I the dog." Even though Modern Hebrew can use different orders, adding a special word helps make the meaning clear. It keeps some older rules, such as putting words that describe before the main word they describe.

Sample text

Modern Hebrew is the main form of the Hebrew language used today. It is spoken by over 10 million people, mostly in Israel. Hebrew is a very old language, with writings dating back thousands of years.

Modern Hebrew uses the Hebrew Alphabet, which is written from right to left. It became the standard language in the late 1800s and early 1900s and is now the official language of Israel.

Lexicon

Modern Hebrew has grown its vocabulary to include everyday words, scientific terms, and words used in news and literature. It started with words from old Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew texts and added many new words over time.

The language also includes words borrowed from many other languages, such as Arabic, Aramaic, Yiddish, Judaeo-Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, and English. These borrowed words help make Modern Hebrew rich and useful for many different topics today.