Spoken by: | 7 million |
---|---|
Spoken in: | State of Israel |
Language family: | Semitic |
The Modern Hebrew Language (עִבְרִית - Ivrit) is a Semitic language spoken by approximately 7 million people in the State of Israel (מְדִינַת יִשְרָאֵל medinat yisrael). Hebrew is co-official in Israel with Arabic with Hebrew as the dominant language. It is part of the larger Afro-Asiatic Language Family which covers large portions of the Middle East and Africa. The language was revived in the early 1900s after not being spoken for almost 2000 years. The figure head of this movement was Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858-1922) (אליעזר בן–יהודה).
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
The Hebrew word for consonants is itsurim (עיצורים).
Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasals | m מ |
n נ |
|||||||||||||
Stops | p פּ |
b בּ |
t ט,ת,תּ |
d ד,דּ |
k ק,כּ |
g ג |
ʔ א,ע | ||||||||
Affricates | ʦ צ |
||||||||||||||
Fricatives | f פ |
v ב,ו |
s ס,שׂ |
z ז |
ʃ שׁ |
ʒ ש'ז |
x שׁח,כ, |
ʁ שר |
h ה | ||||||
Trills | ʀ ר |
||||||||||||||
Approximants | j י |
||||||||||||||
Laterals | l ל |
Dagesh[]
With dagesh | Without dagesh | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Name | IPA | Example | Symbol | Name | IPA | Example |
בּ | bet | /b/ | bun | ב | vet | /v/ | van |
כּ ךּ | kaph | /k/ | kangaroo | כ ך | khaph | /χ/ | loch |
פּ | pey | /p/ | pass | פ ף | fey | /f/ | find |
Vowels[]
Name | Symbol | Hebrew | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | English Example | |||
Hiriq | ִ | [i] | seek | חִירִיק |
Tzeire | ֵ | ɛ and ɛi | men | צֵירֵי or צֵירֶה |
Segol | ֶ | [ɛ], ([ɛi] with succeeding yod]]) |
men | סֶגוֹל |
Patakh | ַ | [a] | far | פַּתָּח |
Kamatz | ָ | [a], (or [ɔ]) | far | קָמָץ |
Sin dot (left) | [s] | sour | שִׂי״ן | |
Shin dot (right) | [ʃ] | shop | שִׁי״ן | |
Holam | וֹ | [ɔ] | bore | חוֹלָם |
Shuruk
מַפִּיק | ||||
ּ | [u] | cool | שׁוּרוּק | |
Kubutz | ֻ | [u] | cool | קֻבּוּץ |
Sh'va | (under bet) בְ | [ɛ] or [-] | silent | שְׁוָא |
Reduced Segol | ֱ | [ɛ] | men | חֲטַף סֶגוֹל |
Reduced Patakh | ֲ | [a] | far | חֲטַף פַּתָּח |
Reduced Kamatz | ֳ | [ɔ] | bore | חֲטַף קָמָץ |
Grammar[]
Orthography (alefbet)[]
The following letters on the chart are the letters in the alefbet.
Aleph | Bet/Vet | Gimel | Dalet | Hey | Vav | Zayin | Chet | Tet | Yud | Kaph/Khaph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
א | ב | ג | ד | ה | ו | ז | ח | ט | י | כ |
ך | ||||||||||
Lamed | Mem | Nun | Samekh | Ayin | Pey/Fey | Tsadi | Quph | Resh | Shin/Sin | Tav |
ל | מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת |
ם | ן | ף | ץ |
Common difficulties[]
The Foreign Service Institute has classified Hebrew as a "Hard" language. It is estimated that learning Hebrew to a Professional Working Proficiency in the language (a score of Speaking-3/Reading-3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale) will take an average of 44 weeks (1100 class hours).[1]
Vowels[]
In most cases the Hebrew language is written without vowel marking. This can be rather difficult for the learner, due to the fact that they can't actually know how the word is pronounced. It is said by native speakers that, in time, one simply knows what words say and the trouble dissapears. Children in Israel use the vowel markings and at a certain point in their education they are no longer used.
Consonantal system[]
Hebrew, being a Semitic language, uses consonants as the base of the language.
This can be rather unusual for people who do not speak a language with such a system.
For example:
The root k-t-b (כ-ת-ב) deals with "writing"
katavti כתבתי "I wrote" katavta כתבת "you (m) wrote" katav כתב "he wrote" or "reporter" (m) katevet כתבת "reporter" (f) katava כתבה "article" (plural katavot כתבות) miḵtaḇ מכתב "postal letter" (plural miḵtaḇim מכתבים) miḵtaḇa מכתבה "writing desk" (plural miḵtaḇot מכתבות) ktoḇet כתובת "address" (plural ktoḇot כתובות) ktaḇ כתב "handwriting" katuḇ כתוב "written" (f ktuḇa כתובה) hiḵtiḇ הכתיב "he dictated" (f hiḵtiḇa הכתיבה) hitkateḇ התכתב "he corresponded" (f hitkatḇa התכתבה) niḵtaḇ נכתב "it was written" (m) niḵteḇa נכתבה "it was written" (f) ktiḇ כתיב "spelling" (m) taḵtiḇ תכתיב "prescript" (m) meḵutaḇ מכותב "a person on one's mailing list" (f meḵuteḇet מכותבת) ktuba כתובה "ketubah (a Jewish marriage contract)" (f) (note: b here, not ḇ)
Resources[]
There is an Foreign Service Institute course for Hebrew.
Learn Hebrew Pod is a subscription podcast with free lessons for the A level. There are also B and C lessons which are more extensive. (Very recommended - J-learner)
Hebrewpodcasts is another hebrew learning podcast.
מילון מורפיקס - Melingo is a good online dictionary.
SBS Hebrew is an Australian national broadcast in Hebrew. Downloadable archive.
Sublearning - Hebrew to English movie subtitles flash cards
Pimsleur offers a course in Hebrew.
Duolingo offers a course in Hebrew.
Rosetta Stone offers a course in Hebrew.
References[]
- ↑ U.S. Department of State; FSI's Experience with Language Learning; https://www.state.gov/m/fsi/sls/c78549.htm