Hebrew Language

Hebrew is a Semitic language belonging to the Afro-Asiatic family of languages—a family used throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia. These languages have played significant roles in the linguistic and cultural history of the Middle East for thousands of years.

Hebrew was the language used to write the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, which evolved into the Christian Old Testament. Hebrew has often been called lashon ha’kodesh, which means "the holy language." Ancient Jewish religious leaders maintained that Hebrew was the original language of all people.

The Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two letters, five of which are written differently when used as the last letters of a word. Hebrew letters are not connected to each other and have only one case; there are no capital letters. Hebrew is read and written from right to left. Words are never divided at the end of a line. Instead, an extra space is left or certain letters are stretched out to fill a line.

The ancient Hebrew language did not use vowels, but about the eighth century CE, Jewish scholars known as the Massoretes, developed a system of dots and dashes placed above or below consonants to represent vowels. They also developed a system of accents used to indicate pronunciation and tone.

Although these vowels are used commonly in books for Hebrew schools and textbooks for foreigners, newspapers, magazines, and trade books are generally written without them. Readers must be familiar with the words to pronounce them correctly and interpret their meanings.

History and Classification

The Hebrew language originated about the twelfth century BCE. Hebrew was both written and spoken until Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 BCE, when it was largely replaced by Aramaic. By 200 CE, the use of Hebrew as commonly spoken language had ceased. During that period, Hebrew was primarily limited to written scripts and used as a liturgical language.

As the Jewish people migrated and encountered new peoples, Hebrew was influenced by new cultures and languages. These influences produced two major branches of the language. Sephardic Hebrew was spoken throughout the Iberian Peninsula and the countries that had been part of the Ottoman Empire; and Ashkenazi Hebrew was spoken in Central and Eastern Europe. Sephardic Hebrew was influenced by the medieval Spanish language of Ladino, and Ashkenazi Hebrew was influenced by the Germanic language of Yiddish.

During a period in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries known as the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, there was a renewed interest in a true Hebrew language. Although the ancient language had not been spoken in nearly 2,000 years, European Jews began to revive interest in a spoken form of Hebrew. A dictionary compiler and newspaper editor named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922) made it his mission to restore Hebrew as an everyday language. Yehuda said it was essential for the Jewish people to have their own language. His plan was to make Hebrew the language spoken at home and in schools, and to expand and modernize its vocabulary. He exclusively conversed in Hebrew and instructed his family to do the same. He went so far as to prevent his son, Ben-Zion Ben-Yehuda, from being exposed to any other languages as a young child.

Because Hebrew was an ancient language, it did not have words for modern objects and actions. Ben-Yehuda used root words from ancient Hebrew to create hundreds of new words for the modern language. Hebrew words are formed from roots by adding prefixes and suffixes, or changing vowels. The pronunciation of Modern Hebrew is based more on that of Sephardic Hebrew than Ashkenazi Hebrew. Ben-Yehuda published a dictionary that became the basis of the Modern Hebrew language. He played a major role is the establishment of the Committee of the Hebrew Language, later the Academy of the Hebrew Language, which still exists today. In the early twentieth century, the first Hebrew schools were established. As a result, Hebrew became a language spoken in daily activities. For his contributions, Ben-Yehuda is known as the father of Modern Hebrew.

Geographic Distribution and Modern Usage

Hebrew is the official language of the State of Israel and is spoken by about five million people in the nation. Jews living outside of Israel often study Hebrew at some point, and it is also spoken by Arab Israelis and Palestinians. As a result, another two million people around the world also speak Hebrew.

Although there are many dialects, Hebrew comprises two general categories: Classical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew. Classical Hebrew is the language of the Hebrew Bible. It is preserved in writings, prayer, and literature. This is the language often taught as part of religious studies. Modern Hebrew is used in everyday conversation and taught to those learning it as a foreign language. An understanding of either Modern Hebrew or Classical Hebrew does not necessarily make it possible to understand the other because of differences in vocabulary and usage.

Christine Caputo B.S., M.B.A

Bibliography

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"Hebrew." Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems & Languages. Simon Ager. 2015. Web. 9 Sept. 2015. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm

Rabin, Chaim. "A Short History of the Hebrew Language." A Short History of the Hebrew Language. Publishing Department of the Jewish Agency, Web. 09 Sept. 2015. http://www.adath-shalom.ca/rabin‗he.htm

Thompson, Irene. "Hebrew." About World Languages. The Technology Development Group, Mar. 2014. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. http://aboutworldlanguages.com/Hebrew

Sáenz-Badillos, Angel. A History of the Hebrew Language. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. Print.