How German built the Hebrew language

[trillium13 84]

My German husband has commented on how similar the two languages are-he can understand a good amount of spoken Hebrew.

[scandal 951]

My German husband has commented on how similar the two languages are-he can understand a good amount of spoken Hebrew.

I doubt that. I'm sure he means Yiddish. Yiddish indeed is largely derived from German. Hebrew, despite the theme of the OP, is primarily an ancient Semitic language. It's closest modern relative would be Arabic (closest ancient relative would be Aramaic).

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I doubt that. I'm sure he means Yiddish. Yiddish indeed is largely derived from German. Hebrew, despite the theme of the OP, is primarily an ancient Semitic language. It's closest modern relative would be Arabic (closest ancient relative would be Aramaic).

Sadie, an elderly lady, is sitting in a restaurant in Brent Cross

Shopping Centre sipping her tea. Next to her, three nuns were discussing where to go on holiday.

The 2nd nun says to Mother Superior "Let's go to Jerusalem."

"No," says Mother Superior, "there are too many Jews there."

The 3rd nun says to Mother Superior "Let's go to Philadelphia."

"No," says Mother Superior again, "also too many Jews there."

The 2nd nun again speaks and says, "Let's go to Paris."

Yet again Mother Superior replies, "No, too many Jews there too."

Sadie had heard enough.She leans over and says to them, in a thick, loud Yiddish acccent, "Vell,vhy don't you go to Hell, dere are no Jews dere!!!!"

[Calypso 464]

Sadie, an elderly lady, is sitting in a restaurant in Brent Cross

Shopping Centre sipping her tea. Next to her, three nuns were discussing where to go on holiday.

The 2nd nun says to Mother Superior "Let's go to Jerusalem."

"No," says Mother Superior, "there are too many Jews there."

The 3rd nun says to Mother Superior "Let's go to Philadelphia."

"No," says Mother Superior again, "also too many Jews there."

The 2nd nun again speaks and says, "Let's go to Paris."

Yet again Mother Superior replies, "No, too many Jews there too."

Sadie had heard enough.She leans over and says to them, in a thick, loud Yiddish acccent, "Vell,vhy don't you go to Hell, dere are no Jews dere!!!!"

Korek!

[Calypso 464]

The vocabulary arrived in Israel particularly during the Fifth Aliyah, or wave of immigrants, in the 1930s when German Jews fled persecution under the Nazis.

Yiddish developed as a fusion of medieval German dialects with Hebrew, Slavic and other languages, a reflection of the migrating Jewish diaspora. The German words that have filled gaps in Hebrew are a result of the migration of Jews from Europe into what became modern Israel.

Not too long ago, barely a century old.

I wonder why the word "built" is used when certainly, Hebrew has started existing for a very long time even before the migration of the Jews from Europe. You can't even claim built that it made Hebrew complete because language is dynamic.

BTW, my professor in Applied Linguistics back in 2nd year college mentioned that a group of scientists once tested what the world's oldest language is. They placed a few infants in a secluded place and raised them without talking to them. Years passed and the kids started speaking to each other using a language that sounded like Hebrew.

No, that professor didn't tell us the source of such tale and if that research or experiment were true or if my professor interpreted it correctly or what, maybe someone could send me the link.

[scandal 951]

I wonder why the word "built" is used when certainly, Hebrew has started existing for a very long time even before the migration of the Jews from Europe. You can't even claim built that it made Hebrew complete because language is dynamic.

Hebrew is indeed an ancient language. Until the 20th century, the last time anyone spoke it as their regular everyday conversational language was in Biblical times. King David probably spoke Hebrew, however by Jesus' time everyone was already speaking Aramaic. Hebrew was used at that time for liturgical practices primarily.

Throughout the next 2000 years, Hebrew continued to be the language of prayer and study for Jews, while they adopted other languages for day to day use. Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish, North African Jews spoke Ladino. Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, English, French, German and many other languages were the 'first tongues' of all Jews, Hebrew was used in synagogue or cheder or yeshiva.

That all started to change with modern Zionism and the first waves of Aliyah (immigration to Israel), and most particularly with Eliezer Ben Yehudah, the father of modern Hebrew:

In 1881 Ben-Yehuda immigrated to Palestine, then ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and settled in Jerusalem. He found a job teaching at the Alliance Israelite Universelle school.[3] Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora lifestyle, Ben‑Yehuda set out to develop a new language that could replace Yiddish and other regional dialects as a means of everyday communication between Jews who made aliyah from various regions of the world. Ben-Yehuda regarded Hebrew and Zionism as symbiotic: "The Hebrew language can live only if we revive the nation and return it to the fatherland," he wrote. [3]

Ben‑Yehuda raised his son, Ben‑Zion Ben‑Yehuda (the first name meaning "son of Zion"), entirely through Hebrew. He refused to let his son be exposed to other languages during childhood. It is said he once reprimanded his wife, after he caught her singing a Russian lullaby to the child. His son Ben‑Zion was the first native speaker of modern Hebrew.

By the 1920s, Ben Yehudah had succeeded and Hebrew was the de facto language of most Jews in Israel. Other influences, e..g. the German influence from the 1930s alluded to in my OP, have colored that dynamic language, but its basis is traced to Ben Yehudah. Hebrew remains dynamic, with plenty of modern cultural references tossed in every year, just as you would expect.

[trillium13 84]

I doubt that. I'm sure he means Yiddish. Yiddish indeed is largely derived from German. Hebrew, despite the theme of the OP, is primarily an ancient Semitic language. It's closest modern relative would be Arabic (closest ancient relative would be Aramaic).

You know what? You're right. That was my mistake.

Edited February 18, 2010 by trillium13

[Calypso 464]

Hebrew is indeed an ancient language. Until the 20th century, the last time anyone spoke it as their regular everyday conversational language was in Biblical times. King David probably spoke Hebrew, however by Jesus' time everyone was already speaking Aramaic. Hebrew was used at that time for liturgical practices primarily.

Throughout the next 2000 years, Hebrew continued to be the language of prayer and study for Jews, while they adopted other languages for day to day use. Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish, North African Jews spoke Ladino. Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, English, French, German and many other languages were the 'first tongues' of all Jews, Hebrew was used in synagogue or cheder or yeshiva.

That all started to change with modern Zionism and the first waves of Aliyah (immigration to Israel), and most particularly with Eliezer Ben Yehudah, the father of modern Hebrew:

By the 1920s, Ben Yehudah had succeeded and Hebrew was the de facto language of most Jews in Israel. Other influences, e..g. the German influence from the 1930s alluded to in my OP, have colored that dynamic language, but its basis is traced to Ben Yehudah. Hebrew remains dynamic, with plenty of modern cultural references tossed in every year, just as you would expect.

That's better said, bro. Lucky Hebrew, Latin and Sanskrit are dead except in prayers and hymns.

[mawilson 2,133]

That's better said, bro. Lucky Hebrew, Latin and Sanskrit are dead except in prayers and hymns.

Hebrew is dead? Quick, somebody call 6 million Israelis who speak it every day.

[Calypso 464]

Hebrew is dead? Quick, somebody call 6 million Israelis who speak it every day.

I said Hebrew is lucky because Latin and Sanskrit are dead languages.