View source for Modern Hebrew

{{Short description|Standard form of the Hebrew language}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Modern Hebrew
| altname          = {{hlist|Hebrew|Israeli Hebrew}}
| nativename       = {{lang|he|עברית חדשה|rtl=yes}} <br/> {{translit|he|'Ivrit ḥadasha}}
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| image            = File:Shalom black.svg
| imagescale       = 0.6
| imagecaption     = The common greeting "[[Shalom]]" written in the [[Hebrew alphabet]], including [[Niqqud|vowel diacritics]]
| ethnicity = [[Israeli Jews]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|he|ivˈʁit||}} {{pronunciation|He-Ivrit-2.ogg|listen|help=no}}
| speakers         = 10.6 million
| date             = 2024
| ref              = <ref name="UCLALMP">{{cite web|title=Hebrew|url=http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profile.aspx?langid=59&menu=004|website=UCLA Language Materials Project|publisher=University of California|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311025731/http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=59&menu=004|archive-date=11 March 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Dekel>{{harvnb|Dekel|2014}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web|title=Hebrew|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/heb|website=Ethnologue|access-date=12 July 2024|archive-date=14 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514202425/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/heb|url-status=live}}</ref>{{bulletedlist
| [[First language|L1]]: 6.6 million
| [[Second language|L2]]: 4 million}}
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| fam2             = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| fam3             = [[West Semitic languages|West]]
| fam4             = [[Central Semitic languages|Central]]
| fam5             = [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest]]
| fam6             = [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]]
| fam7             = [[Canaanite languages#South Canaan|South]]
| fam8             = [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
| nation           = [[Israel]]
| ancestor         = [[Biblical Hebrew]]
| ancestor2        = [[Mishnaic Hebrew]]
| ancestor3        = [[Medieval Hebrew]]
| script           = [[Hebrew alphabet]]<br/>[[Hebrew Braille]]
| agency           = [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]
| iso1             = he
| iso2             = heb
| iso3             = heb
| glotto           = hebr1245
| glottorefname    = Modern Hebrew
| lingua           = 12-AAB-ab
| map              = Hebrew Language in the State of Israel and Area A, B and C.png
| mapcaption       = {{align|center|'''The Hebrew-speaking world:'''<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=he:אוכלוסייה, לפי קבוצת אוכלוסייה, דת, גיל ומין, מחוז ונפה |language=he |trans-title=Population, by Population Group, Religion, age and sex, district and sub-district |publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics |date=6 September 2017 |url=http://cbs.gov.il/shnaton68/st02_19x.pdf |access-date=2018-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509012748/http://cbs.gov.il/shnaton68/st02_19x.pdf |archive-date=2018-05-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Arab Population in Israel |publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics |date=November 2002 |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arabju.pdf |access-date=2018-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225719/http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arabju.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}{{Legend|#17a3bf|>50% of the population speaks Hebrew}} {{Legend|#5dc6de|25–50% of the population speaks Hebrew}} {{Legend|#9ddbeb|<25% of the population speaks Hebrew}}
| region           = [[Southern Levant]]
| state =  [[Israel]]
}}
{{Contains special characters|Hebrew}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

'''Modern Hebrew''' ({{langx|he|label=[[Endonym and exonym|endonym]]|עִבְרִית חֲדָשָׁה|rtl=yes|'Ivrit ḥadasha}}, {{IPA|he|ivˈʁit χadaˈʃa|IPA}} or {{IPA|he|ʕivˈrit ħadaˈʃa|}}), also known as '''Israeli Hebrew''' or simply '''Hebrew''', is the [[Standard language|standard form]] of the [[Hebrew language]] spoken today. It is the only extant [[Canaanite language]], as well as one of the [[List of languages by first written account|oldest languages to be spoken]] as a [[native language]] in the modern day, on account of Hebrew being attested since the [[2nd millennium BC]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aderet |first1=Ofer |title=Two 3,800-year-old Cuneiform Tablets Found in Iraq Give First Glimpse of Hebrew Precursor |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-01-20/ty-article/two-3-800-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-found-in-iraq-give-first-glimpse-of-hebrew-precursor/00000185-ca23-d3a8-a3cf-cf3326430000 |access-date=24 January 2023 |work=Haaretz |date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230121070718/https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-01-20/ty-article/two-3-800-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-found-in-iraq-give-first-glimpse-of-hebrew-precursor/00000185-ca23-d3a8-a3cf-cf3326430000 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Q|Q9288}}</ref> It uses the [[Hebrew Alphabet]], an [[Abjad|abjad script]] written from [[right-to-left]]. The current standard was [[Codification (linguistics)|codified]] as part of the [[revival of Hebrew]] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and now serves as the [[Official language|sole official]] and [[national language]] of the [[State of Israel]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Official Language of Israel |url=https://www.ifcj.org/learn/resource-library/the-official-language-of-israel |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=[[International Fellowship of Christians and Jews|IFCJ]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Sarah |date=2024-07-12 |title=How Is Modern Hebrew Related to Biblical Hebrew? |url=https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/how-is-modern-hebrew-related-to-biblical-hebrew/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Bible Odyssey |language=en-US}}</ref> where it is [[Languages of Israel|predominantly spoken]] by over 10 million people. Thus, Modern Hebrew is nearly universally regarded as the most successful instance of [[language revitalization]] in history.<ref name="GrenobleWhaley2">{{cite book |last1=Grenoble |first1=Leonore A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vavj5-hdDgQC&pg=PA63 |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |last2=Whaley |first2=Lindsay J. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0521016520 |location=Cambridge, UK |page=63 |quote=Hebrew is cited by Paulston et al. (1993:276) as 'the only true example of language revival.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Huehnergard, John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yD6IDwAAQBAJ |title=The Semitic Languages |author2=Pat-El, Na'ama |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |isbn=9780429655388 |page=571 |access-date=2021-02-18 |archive-date=2023-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134731/https://books.google.com/books?id=yD6IDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A [[Northwest Semitic language]] within the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language family]], Hebrew was spoken since antiquity as the [[vernacular]] of the [[Israelites]] until around the 3rd century BCE, when it was [[Language shift|supplanted]] by a [[Western Aramaic languages|western dialect]] of the [[Aramaic|Aramaic language]], the local or dominant languages of the regions Jews migrated to, and later [[Judeo-Arabic dialects|Judeo-Arabic]], [[Judaeo-Spanish]], [[Yiddish]], and other [[Jewish languages]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3fsCgAAQBAJ |title=Language Contact and the Development of Modern Hebrew |date=2015-11-16 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-31089-6 |language=en|pages=3, 7}}</ref> Although Hebrew continued to be used for [[Jewish liturgy]], [[Jewish literature|poetry and literature]], and written correspondence,<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Modern Hebrew|first=Ora (Rodrigue)|last=Schwarzwald|editor-first=Stefan|editor-last=Weninger|editor2-first=Geoffrey|editor2-last=Khan|editor3-first=Michael P.|editor3-last=Streck|editor4-first=Janet C. E.|editor4-last=Watson|title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2012|page=534|doi=10.1515/9783110251586.523|chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110251586.523/html|isbn=978-3-11-025158-6}}</ref> it became [[Extinct language|extinct]] as a spoken language.

By the late 19th century, [[Russian-Jewish]] linguist [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]] had begun a popular movement to [[Language revitalization|revive]] Hebrew as an everyday language, motivated by his desire to preserve [[Hebrew literature]] and a distinct [[Jewish peoplehood|Jewish nationality]] in the context of [[Zionism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mandel |first=George |title=Encyclopedia of modern Jewish culture |date=2005 |others=Glenda Abramson |isbn=0-415-29813-X |edition=[New ed.] |location=London |chapter=Ben-Yehuda, Eliezer [Eliezer Yizhak Perelman] (1858–1922) |oclc=57470923 |quote=In 1879 he wrote an article for the Hebrew press advocating Jewish immigration to Palestine. Ben-Yehuda argued that only in a country with a Jewish majority could a living Hebrew literature and a distinct Jewish nationality survive; elsewhere, the pressure to assimilate to the language of the majority would cause Hebrew to die out. Shortly afterwards he reached the conclusion that the active use of Hebrew as a literary language could not be sustained, notwithstanding the hoped-for concentration of Jews in Palestine, unless Hebrew also became the everyday spoken language there. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fellman |first=Jack |title=The Revival of Classical Tongue : Eliezer Ben Yehuda and the Modern Hebrew Language |date=19 July 2011 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-087910-0 |oclc=1089437441 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Kuzar |first=Ron |title=Hebrew and Zionism |date=2001 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110869491.vii |work= |access-date=2023-05-10 |place=Berlin, Boston |publisher=DE GRUYTER |doi=10.1515/9783110869491.vii |archive-date=2023-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134737/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110869491.vii/html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Soon after, a large number of Yiddish and Judaeo-Spanish speakers were murdered in the [[Holocaust]]<ref name="Sprache 1984 p. 3">[[Solomon Birnbaum]], ''Grammatik der jiddischen Sprache'' (4., erg. Aufl., Hamburg: Buske, 1984), p. 3.</ref> or [[aliyah|fled to Israel]], and many speakers of [[Judeo-Arabic dialects|Judeo-Arabic]] emigrated to Israel in the [[Jewish exodus from the Muslim world]], where many would adapt to Modern Hebrew.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berdichevsky |first=Norman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1_TCwAAQBAJ |title=Modern Hebrew: The Past and Future of a Revitalized Language |date=2016-03-21 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2629-1 |language=en|pages=39,65,73,77,81,101}}</ref>

Currently, Hebrew is spoken by over 10 million people, counting native, fluent, and non-fluent speakers.<ref name="CBS 2023 Hebrew Survey">{{cite web |title=Selected Data from the 2023 Social Survey on Mastery of the Hebrew Language |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/mediarelease/Pages/2025/Selected-Data-from-the-2023-Social-Survey-on-Mastery-of-the-Hebrew-Language.aspx |website=Central Bureau of Statistics |date=2025 |access-date=2025-10-21 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Behadrey-Haredim>{{cite web|author=Nachman Gur|author2=Behadrey Haredim|title=Kometz Aleph&nbsp;– Au• How many Hebrew speakers are there in the world?|url=http://www.bhol.co.il/article_en.aspx?id=52405|access-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104025104/http://www.bhol.co.il/article_en.aspx?id=52405|archive-date=4 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Over 6.5 million of these speak it as their [[native language]], the overwhelming majority of whom are [[Sabra (person)|Jews who were born in Israel]]. The rest is split: 2 million are [[Aliyah|immigrants to Israel]]; 1.5 million are [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]], whose first language is usually [[Levantine Arabic|Arabic]]; and half a million are [[Yerida|expatriate Israelis]] or [[Jewish diaspora|diaspora Jews]].

Under Israeli law, the organization that officially directs the development of Modern Hebrew is the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]], headquartered at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].

==Name==
The most common scholarly term for the language is "Modern Hebrew" ({{lang|he|עברית חדשה}}). Most people refer to it simply as "Hebrew" ({{lang|he|עברית}} {{IPA|he|ivˈʁit}}).<ref name=Dekel1>{{harvnb|Dekel|2014}}; quote: "Most people refer to Israeli Hebrew simply as Hebrew. Hebrew is a broad term, which includes Hebrew as it was spoken and written in different periods of time and according to most of the researchers as it is spoken and written in Israel and elsewhere today. Several names have been proposed for the language spoken in Israel nowadays, Modern Hebrew is the most common one, addressing the latest spoken language variety in Israel (Berman 1978, Saenz-Badillos 1993:269, Coffin-Amir & Bolozky 2005, Schwarzwald 2009:61). The emergence of a new language in Palestine at the end of the nineteenth century was associated with debates regarding the characteristics of that language.... Not all scholars supported the term Modern Hebrew for the new language. Rosén (1977:17) rejected the term Modern Hebrew, since linguistically he claimed that 'modern' should represent a linguistic entity that should command autonomy towards everything that preceded it, while this was not the case in the new emerging language. He also rejected the term Neo-Hebrew, because the prefix 'neo' had been previously used for Mishnaic and Medieval Hebrew (Rosén 1977:15–16), additionally, he rejected the term Spoken Hebrew as one of the possible proposals (Rosén 1977:18). Rosén supported the term Israeli Hebrew as in his opinion it represented the non-chronological nature of Hebrew, as well as its territorial independence (Rosén 1977:18). Rosén then adopted the term Contemporary Hebrew from Téne (1968) for its neutrality, and suggested the broadening of this term to Contemporary Israeli Hebrew (Rosén 1977:19)"</ref>

The term "Modern Hebrew" has been described as "somewhat problematic"<ref name=Matras1>{{harvnb|Matras|Schiff|2005}}; quote: The language with which we are concerned in this contribution is also known by the names Contemporary Hebrew and Modern Hebrew, both somewhat problematic terms as they rely on the notion of an unambiguous periodization separating Classical or Biblical Hebrew from the present-day language. We follow instead the now widely-used label coined by Rosén (1955), Israeli Hebrew, to denote the link between the emergence of a Hebrew vernacular and the emergence of an Israeli national identity in Israel/Palestine in the early twentieth century."</ref> as it implies unambiguous [[periodization]] from [[Biblical Hebrew]].<ref name=Matras1/> {{ill|Haiim B. Rosén|he|חיים רוזן}} (חיים רוזן) supported the now widely used<ref name="Matras1" /> term "Israeli Hebrew" on the basis that it "represented the non-chronological nature of Hebrew".<ref name="Dekel1" /><ref name="Rosen15">{{cite book|author=Haiim Rosén|title=Contemporary Hebrew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PydwqOHyCMAC&pg=PA29|date=1 January 1977|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-080483-6|pages=15–18}}</ref> In 1999, Israeli linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]] proposed the term "Israeli" to represent the multiple origins of the language.<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, G.]] (1999), "Review of the Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary", ''International Journal of Lexicography'', Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 325-346</ref>{{rp|325}}<ref name="Dekel1"/>

==Background==
{{main|Hebrew language}}
The history of the Hebrew language can be divided into four major periods:<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/259061/Hebrew-language#ref267079 Hebrew language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611005453/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/259061/Hebrew-language#ref267079 |date=2015-06-11 }} ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref>

* [[Biblical Hebrew]], until about the 3rd century BCE; the language of most of the [[Hebrew Bible]]
* [[Mishnaic Hebrew]], the language of the [[Mishnah]] and [[Talmud]]
* [[Medieval Hebrew]], from about the 6th to the 18th century CE
* '''Modern Hebrew''', from the 19th century to the present, the language of the modern [[State of Israel]]

Jewish contemporary sources describe Hebrew flourishing as a spoken language in the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|kingdoms of Israel and Judah]], during about 1200 to 586 BCE.<ref>אברהם בן יוסף ,מבוא לתולדות הלשון העברית (Avraham ben-Yosef, Introduction to the History of the Hebrew Language), page 38, אור-עם, Tel Aviv, 1981.</ref> Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew remained a spoken vernacular following the [[Babylonian captivity]], when [[Old Aramaic language|Old Aramaic]] became the predominant international language in the region.

Hebrew [[language death|died out]] as a vernacular language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] of 132–136 CE, which devastated the population of [[Judea]]. After [[History of the Jews in the Roman Empire|the exile]], Hebrew became restricted to [[Sacred language|liturgical]] and [[Literary language|literary]] use.<ref>Sáenz-Badillos, Ángel and John Elwolde: "There is general agreement that two main periods of RH (Rabbinical Hebrew) can be distinguished. The first, which lasted until the close of the Tannaitic era (around 200 CE), is characterized by RH as a spoken language gradually developing into a literary medium in which the Mishnah, Tosefta, ''baraitot'' and Tannaitic ''midrashim'' would be composed. The second stage begins with the ''[[Amoraim]]'' and sees RH being replaced by Aramaic as the spoken vernacular, surviving only as a literary language. Then it continued to be used in later rabbinic writings until the tenth century in, for example, the Hebrew portions of the two Talmuds and in midrashic and haggadic literature."</ref>

== Revival ==<!--This section is linked from [[Yemenite Hebrew]] ([[MOS:HEAD]])-->
{{Main|Revival of the Hebrew language}}Hebrew had been spoken at various times and for many purposes throughout the Diaspora. During the [[Old Yishuv]], it had developed into a spoken [[lingua franca]] among [[Palestinian Jews]].<ref>Tudor Parfitt; The Contribution of the old Yishuv to the Revival of Hebrew, Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume XXIX, Issue 2, 1 October 1984, Pages 255–265, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/XXIX.2.255 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134735/https://academic.oup.com/jss/article-abstract/XXIX/2/255/1687934?redirectedFrom=fulltext |date=2023-07-01 }}</ref> [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]] then led a [[revival of the Hebrew language]] as a mother tongue in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Modern Hebrew used Biblical Hebrew [[morpheme]]s, Mishnaic spelling and grammar, and Sephardic pronunciation. Its acceptance by the early Jewish immigrants to [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|Ottoman Palestine]] was caused primarily by support from the organisations of [[Edmond James de Rothschild]] in the 1880s and the official status it received in the 1922 constitution of the [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate for Palestine]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hobsbawm|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Hobsbawm|title=Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcYLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA113|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-39446-9}}, "What would the future of Hebrew have been, had not the British Mandate in 1919 accepted it as one of the three official languages of Palestine, at a time when the number of people speaking Hebrew as an everyday language was less than 20,000?"</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Swirski|first=Shlomo|title=Politics and Education in Israel: Comparisons with the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DOPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|date=11 September 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-58242-5}}: "In retrospect, [Hobsbawm's] question should be rephrased, substituting the Rothschild house for the British state and the 1880s for 1919. For by the time the British conquered Palestine, Hebrew had become the everyday language of a small but well-entrenched community."</ref><ref>[[s:Palestine Mandate|Palestine Mandate]] (1922): "English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of Palestine"</ref><ref name="Harshav1999">{{cite book|author=Benjamin Harshav|title=Language in Time of Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPwR7pmx84IC&pg=PA85|year=1999|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-3540-7|pages=85–}}</ref> Ben-Yehuda codified and planned Modern Hebrew using 8,000 words from the Bible and 20,000 words from rabbinical commentaries. Many new words were borrowed from Arabic, due to the language's common Semitic roots with Hebrew, but changed to fit Hebrew phonology and grammar, for example the words {{transliteration|he|gerev}} (sing.) and {{transliteration|he|garbayim}} (pl.) are now applied to 'socks', a diminutive of the Arabic {{transliteration|ar|ğuwārib}} ('socks').<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Even-Shoshan|editor-first=A. |editor-link=Avraham Even-Shoshan |title=[[Even-Shoshan Dictionary]] |publisher=ha-Milon he-ḥadash Ltd.|volume=1 |page=275 |date=2003 |oclc=55071836 |language=he|isbn=965-517-059-4 }}</ref><ref>Cf. Rabbi [[Hai Gaon]]'s commentary on [[Mishnah]] ''Kelim'' 27:6, where {{lang|he|אמפליא|rtl=yes}} ({{transliteration|he|ampalya}}) was used formerly for the same, and had the equivalent meaning of the Arabic word {{transliteration|ar|ğuwārib}} ('stockings'; 'socks').</ref> In addition, early Jewish immigrants, borrowing from the local Arabs, and later immigrants from Arab lands introduced many nouns as loanwords from Arabic (such as ''[[Mentha|nana]]'', {{transliteration|he|[[zaatar]]}}, {{transliteration|he|[[Apricot|mishmish]]}}, {{transliteration|he|[[Coriander|kusbara]]}}, {{transliteration|he|[[Hilbah|ḥilba]]}}, ''[[Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata|lubiya]]'', ''[[hummus]]'', {{transliteration|he|[[Carrot|gezer]]}}, {{transliteration|he|[[Basil|rayḥan]]}}, etc.), as well as much of Modern Hebrew's slang. Despite Ben-Yehuda's fame as the renewer of Hebrew, the most productive renewer of Hebrew words was poet [[Haim Nahman Bialik]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

One of the phenomena seen with the revival of the Hebrew language is that old meanings of nouns were occasionally changed for altogether different meanings, such as ''bardelas'' ({{lang|he|ברדלס|rtl=yes}}, a loanword from {{langx|grc-x-koine|πάρδαλις|párdalis|leopard, panther}}), which in Mishnaic Hebrew meant '[[hyena]]',<ref>Maimonides' commentary and Rabbi [[Ovadiah Bartenurah|Ovadiah of Bartenura]]'s commentary on Mishnah ''Baba Kama'' 1:4; Rabbi [[Nathan ben Abraham I|Nathan ben Abraham]]'s Mishnah Commentary, ''Baba Metzia'' 7:9, s.v. {{lang|he|הפרדלס}}; ''[[Arukh|Sefer Arukh]]'', s.v. {{lang|he|ברדלס}}; Zohar Amar, ''Flora and Fauna in Maimonides' Teachings'', Kefar Darom 2015, pp. 177–178; 228</ref> but in Modern Hebrew it now means '[[cheetah]]'; or ''shezīf'' ({{lang|he|שזיף|rtl=yes}}) which is now used for '[[plum]]', but formerly meant '[[jujube]]'.<ref>Zohar Amar, ''Flora and Fauna in Maimonides' Teachings'', Kfar Darom 2015, p. 157, s.v. {{lang|he|שזפין}} {{OCLC|783455868}}, explained to mean 'jujube' (''Ziziphus jujuba''); [[Solomon Sirilio]]'s Commentary of the Jerusalem Talmud, on ''Kila'im'' 1:4, s.v. {{lang|he|השיזפין}}, which he explained to mean in Spanish {{lang|es|azufaifas}} ('jujubes'). See also Saul Lieberman, Glossary in ''Tosephta'' - based on the Erfurt and Vienna Codices (ed. M.S. Zuckermandel), Jerusalem 1970, s.v. {{lang|he|שיזפין}} (p. LXL), explained in German as meaning {{lang|de|Brustbeerbaum}} ('jujube').</ref> The word {{transliteration|he|kishū’īm}} (formerly 'cucumbers')<ref>Thus explained by Maimonides in his Commentary on [[Mishnah]] ''Kila'im'' 1:2 and in Mishnah ''Terumot'' 2:6. See: Zohar Amar, ''Flora and Fauna in Maimonides' Teachings'', Kefar Darom 2015, pp. 111, 149 (Hebrew) {{OCLC|783455868}}; Zohar Amar, ''Agricultural Produce in the Land of Israel in the Middle Ages'' (Hebrew title: {{lang|he|גידולי ארץ-ישראל בימי הביניים}}), [[Ben-Zvi Institute]]: Jerusalem 2000, p. 286 {{ISBN|965-217-174-3}} (Hebrew)</ref> is now applied to a variety of [[summer squash]] (''Cucurbita pepo'' var. ''cylindrica''), a plant native to the [[New World]]. Another example is the word {{transliteration|he|kǝvīsh}} ({{lang|he|כביש|rtl=yes}}), which now denotes a street or a road, but is actually an [[Aramaic]] adjective meaning 'trodden down' or 'blazed', rather than a common noun. It was originally used to describe a blazed trail.<ref>Compare [[Rashi]]'s commentary on Exodus 9:17, where he says the word {{transliteration|he|mesillah}} is translated in Aramaic {{transliteration|tmr|oraḥ kevīsha}} ('a blazed trail'), the word {{transliteration|tmr|kevīsh}} being only an adjective or descriptive word, but not a common noun as it is used today. It is said that [[Ze'ev Yavetz]] (1847&ndash;1924) is the one who coined this modern Hebrew word for 'road'. See [https://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/with-tu-bishvat-near-a-tree-grows-in-zichron-yaakov.premium-1.496141 Haaretz, Contributions made by Ze'ev Yavetz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924160513/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/with-tu-bishvat-near-a-tree-grows-in-zichron-yaakov.premium-1.496141 |date=2015-09-24 }}; {{cite news | last =Maltz | first =Judy | title =With Tu Bishvat Near, a Tree Grows in Zichron Yaakov | language =en | publisher =Haaretz | date =25 January 2013 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/with-tu-bishvat-near-a-tree-grows-in-zichron-yaakov.premium-1.496141?=&ts=_1490626484939 | access-date =27 March 2017 | archive-date =28 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328021151/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/with-tu-bishvat-near-a-tree-grows-in-zichron-yaakov.premium-1.496141?=&ts=_1490626484939 | url-status =live }}</ref><ref>Roberto Garvia, ''Esperanto and its Rivals, University of Pennsylvania Press'', 2015, p. 164</ref> The flower ''[[Anemone coronaria]]'', called in Modern Hebrew {{transliteration|he|kalanit}} ({{lang|he|כלנית|rtl=yes}}), was formerly called in Hebrew {{transliteration|he|shoshanat ha-melekh}} ('the king's flower').<ref>{{cite book |last=Amar|first=Z. |author-link=Zohar Amar |title=Flora and Fauna in Maimonides' Teachings|date=2015 |location=Kfar Darom|page=156 |language=he |oclc=783455868}}, s.v. citing [[Maimonides]] on [[Mishnah]] ''[[Kil'ayim (tractate)|Kil'ayim]]'' 5:8</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150218130708/http://www.matar.ac.il/zmanim/flowers/flowers-1.asp Matar – Science and Technology On-line], the Common Anemone (in Hebrew)</ref>

== Classification ==
Modern Hebrew is classified as an [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language]] of the [[Semitic languages|Semitic family]], within the [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]] branch of the [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] subgroup.<ref name=e18>{{e18|heb|Hebrew}}</ref><ref name="Weninger, Stefan 2011">Weninger, Stefan, Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet CE Watson, Gábor Takács, Vermondo Brugnatelli, H. Ekkehard Wolff et al. ''The Semitic Languages''. An International Handbook. Berlin–Boston (2011).</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Semitic Languages |author=Robert Hetzron |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RWhvl4hD7S4C&q=modern+ |isbn=9780415057677 |access-date=2020-11-01 |archive-date=2023-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223090156/https://books.google.com/books?id=RWhvl4hD7S4C&q=modern+ |url-status=live }}{{failed verification|reason=Searching the online source does not show Hebrew, Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, and Canaanite in close proximity; page needed|date=September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics |author=Hadumod Bussman |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0-9Iw0Qh6EC&pg=PA199 |page=199 |isbn=9781134630387}}</ref> While Modern Hebrew is largely based on [[Mishnaic Hebrew|Mishnaic]] and [[Biblical Hebrew|Biblical]] Hebrew as well as [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardi]] and [[Ashkenazi Hebrew|Ashkenazi]] liturgical and literary tradition from the [[Medieval Hebrew|Medieval]] and [[Haskalah]] eras and retains its Semitic character in its morphology and in much of its syntax,<ref>Robert Hetzron. (1987). "Hebrew". In ''The World's Major Languages'', ed. Bernard Comrie, 686–704. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Patrick R. Bennett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfruK29pVl8C |title=Comparative Semitic Linguistics: A Manual |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=1998 |isbn=9781575060217 |access-date=2015-06-20 |archive-date=2023-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134746/https://books.google.com/books?id=LfruK29pVl8C |url-status=live }}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2016}} some scholars posit that Modern Hebrew represents a fundamentally new linguistic system, not directly continuing any previous linguistic state, though this is not the consensus among scholars.<ref name="Reshef, Yael 2013"/>

Modern Hebrew is considered to be a [[koiné language]] based on historical layers of Hebrew that incorporates foreign elements, mainly those introduced during the most critical revival period between 1880 and 1920, as well as new elements created by speakers through natural linguistic evolution.<ref name="Reshef, Yael 2013">Reshef, Yael. ''Revival of Hebrew: Grammatical Structure and Lexicon''. Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. (2013).</ref><ref name=e18/> A minority of scholars argue that the revived language had been so influenced by various [[substrate languages]] that it is genealogically a hybrid with Indo-European.<ref>{{cite book |author=Olga Kapeliuk |author-link=Olga Kapeliuk |editor=Shlomo Izre'el |editor2=Shlomo Raz |publisher=BRILL |year=1996 |series=Israel Oriental Studies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wv2eBP9lPskC&pg=PA59 |title=Studies in Modern Semitic Languages |chapter=Is Modern Hebrew the only "Indo-Europeanied" Semitic Language? And what about Neo-Aramaic? |page=59 |isbn=9789004106468}}</ref><ref>Wexler, Paul, ''The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past'': 1990.</ref><ref>Izre'el, Shlomo (2003). "The Emergence of Spoken Israeli Hebrew." In: Benjamin H. Hary (ed.), ''Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew: Towards the Compilation of The Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew (CoSIH)", Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, The Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies, 2003, pp. 85–104.''</ref><ref>See p. 62 in Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2006), "A New Vision for 'Israeli Hebrew': Theoretical and Practical Implications of Analysing Israel's Main Language as a Semi-Engineered Semito-European Hybrid Language", ''Journal of Modern Jewish Studies'' 5 (1), pp. 57–71.</ref> These theories are controversial and have not been met with general acceptance, and the consensus among a majority of scholars is that Modern Hebrew, despite its non-Semitic influences, can correctly be classified as a Semitic language.<ref name="Weninger, Stefan 2011" /><ref>Yael Reshef. "The Re-Emergence of Hebrew as a National Language" in Weninger, Stefan, Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet CE Watson, Gábor Takács, Vermondo Brugnatelli, H. Ekkehard Wolff et al. (eds) ''The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook''. Berlin–Boston (2011). p. 551</ref> Although Modern Hebrew has more of the features attributed to [[Standard Average European]] than Biblical Hebrew, it is still quite distant, and has fewer such features than [[Modern Standard Arabic]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/amir/pdf/LT_Hebrew_SAE.pdf|author=Amir Zeldes|journal=Linguistic Typology|title=Is Modern Hebrew Standard Average European? The View from European|pages=439–470|volume=17|number=3|year=2013|access-date=2021-07-13|archive-date=2021-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507035633/https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/amir/pdf/LT_Hebrew_SAE.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Alphabet ==
{{Main|Hebrew alphabet|Cursive Hebrew}}
Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using the [[Hebrew alphabet]], which is an [[abjad]], or consonant-only script of 22 letters based on the "square" letter form, known as ''[[Ktav Ashuri|Ashurit]]'' (Assyrian), which was developed from the [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic script]]. A [[Cursive Hebrew|cursive]] script is used in handwriting. When necessary, vowels are indicated by diacritic marks above or below the letters known as ''[[Niqqud]]'', or by use of ''[[Matres lectionis#Usage in Hebrew|Matres lectionis]]'', which are consonantal letters used as vowels. Further diacritics like [[Dagesh]] and [[Shin (letter)#Sin and Shin dot|Sin and Shin dots]] are used to indicate variations in the pronunciation of the consonants (e.g. ''bet''/''vet'', ''shin''/''sin''). The letters "{{Script/Hebrew|צ׳}}", "{{Script/Hebrew|ג׳}}", "{{Script/Hebrew|ז׳}}", each modified with a [[Geresh]], represent the consonants {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}, {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}, {{IPAblink|ʒ}}. The consonant {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} may also be written as "{{Script/Hebrew|תש}}" and "{{Script/Hebrew|טש}}". {{IPAblink|w}} is represented interchangeably by a simple vav "{{Script/Hebrew|ו}}", non-standard double vav "{{Script/Hebrew|וו}}" and sometimes by non-standard geresh modified vav "{{Script/Hebrew|ו׳}}".

{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable"
!Name
|{{transliteration|he|[[Aleph (letter)#Hebrew alef|Alef]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Beth (letter)#Hebrew bet|Bet]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Gimel (letter)#Hebrew gimel|Gimel]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Daleth#Hebrew dalet|Dalet]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[He (letter)#Hebrew heh|He]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Waw (letter)#Hebrew waw/vav|Vav]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Zayin#Hebrew zayin|Zayin]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Heth (letter)#Hebrew chet|Chet]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Teth#Hebrew tet|Tet]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Yodh#Hebrew yod|Yod]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Kaph#Hebrew kaf|Kaf]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Lamedh#Hebrew lamed|Lamed]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Mem#Hebrew mem|Mem]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Nun (letter)#Hebrew nun|Nun]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Samekh#Hebrew samekh|Samech]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Ayin#Hebrew ayin|Ayin]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Pe (Semitic letter)#Hebrew pe|Pe]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Tsade#Hebrew tsadi|Tzadi]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Qoph#Hebrew qof|Qof]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Resh#Hebrew resh|Resh]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Shin (letter)#Hebrew shin/sin|Shin]]}} 
|{{transliteration|he|[[Taw (letter)#Hebrew tav|Tav]]}} 
|-
! style="font-size:smaller"| Printed letter
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|א}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ב}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ג}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ד}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ה}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ו}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ז}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ח}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ט}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|י}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|כ}}<br/>{{script|Hebr|ך}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ל}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|מ}}<br/>{{script|Hebr|ם}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|נ}}<br/>{{script|Hebr|ן}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ס}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ע}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|פ}}<br/>{{script|Hebr|ף}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|צ}}<br/>{{script|Hebr|ץ}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ק}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ר}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ש}}
|  style="height:40px; font-size:150%; vertical-align:top;"| {{script|Hebr|ת}}
|-
! style="font-size:smaller"| Cursive letter
| [[File:Hebrew letter Alef handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Bet handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Gimel handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Daled handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter He handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Vav handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Zayin handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Het handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Tet handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Yud handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Kaf handwriting.svg|17px]]<br/>[[File:Hebrew letter Kaf-final handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Lamed handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Mem handwriting.svg|17px]]<br/>[[File:Hebrew letter Mem-final handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Nun handwriting.svg|17px]]<br/>[[File:Hebrew letter Nun-final handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Samekh handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Ayin handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Pe handwriting.svg|17px]]<br/>[[File:Hebrew letter Pe-final handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Tsadik handwriting.svg|17px]]<br/>[[File:Hebrew letter Tsadik-final handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Kuf handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Resh handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Shin handwriting.svg|17px]]
| [[File:Hebrew letter Taf handwriting.svg|17px]]
|-
! style="font-size:smaller"| Pronunciation
|{{IPAslink|ʔ}}, {{IPAslink|∅}}
|{{IPAslink|b}}, {{IPAslink|v}}
|{{IPAslink|g}}
|{{IPAslink|d}}
|{{IPAslink|h}}
|{{IPAslink|v}} {{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|o}}, {{IPAslink|w}}
|{{IPAslink|z}}
|{{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|χ}}~{{IPA link|ħ}}{{IPA|/}}
|{{IPAslink|t}}
|{{IPAslink|j}}, {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|e}}({{IPA link|i̯}}){{IPA|/}}
|{{IPAslink|k}}, {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|χ}}{{IPA|/}}
|{{IPAslink|l}}
|{{IPAslink|m}}
|{{IPAslink|n}}
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|{{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|ʔ}}~{{IPA link|ʕ}}{{IPA|/}}, {{IPAslink|∅}}
|{{IPAslink|p}}, {{IPAslink|f}}
|{{IPAslink|t͡s}}
|{{IPAslink|k}}
|{{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|ʁ̞|ʁ}}~{{IPA link|r}}{{IPA|/}}
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}, {{IPAslink|s}}
|{{IPAslink|t}}
|-
! style="font-size:smaller"| Transliteration
|', {{IPA link|∅}}
|b, v
|g
|d
|h
|v, u, o, w
|z
|kh, ch, h
|t
|y, i, e, ei
|k, kh
|l
|m
|n
|s
|', {{IPA link|∅}}
|p, f
|ts, tz
|k
|r
|sh, s
|t
|}

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Modern Hebrew phonology}}
Modern Hebrew has fewer phonemes than Biblical Hebrew but it has developed its own phonological complexity. Israeli Hebrew has 25 to 27 consonants, depending on whether the speaker has [[pharyngeals]]. It has 5 to 10 vowels, depending on whether diphthongs and vowels are counted, varying with the speaker and the analysis.

== Morphology ==
Modern Hebrew [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] (formation, structure, and interrelationship of words in a language) is essentially [[Biblical Hebrew|Biblical]].<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |title=Handbook of Orthography and Literacy |editor=R. Malatesha Joshi |editor2=P. G. Aaron |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781136781353 |page=343 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xX-am4mqWoC&pg=PA343 |access-date=2015-06-20 |archive-date=2023-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164822/https://books.google.com/books?id=1xX-am4mqWoC&pg=PA343 |url-status=live }}</ref> Modern Hebrew showcases much of the inflectional morphology of the classical upon which it was based. In the formation of new words, all verbs and the majority of nouns and adjectives are formed by the classically Semitic devices of [[Semitic root|triconsonantal roots]] (''shoresh'') with [[nonconcatenative morphology|affixed patterns]] (''mishkal''). Mishnaic attributive patterns are often used to create nouns, and Classical patterns are often used to create adjectives. Blended words are created by merging two bound stems or parts of words.

== Syntax ==
{{main|Modern Hebrew grammar}}
The syntax of Modern Hebrew is mainly Mishnaic<ref name="books.google.com"/> but also shows the influence of different contact languages to which its speakers have been exposed during the revival period and over the past century.

=== Word order ===
The word order of Modern Hebrew is predominately SVO ([[subject–verb–object]]). Biblical Hebrew was originally VSO ([[verb–subject–object]]), but drifted into SVO.<ref>Li, Charles N. ''Mechanisms of Syntactic Change''. Austin: U of Texas, 1977. Print.</ref> In the modern language, a sentence may correctly be arranged in any order but its meaning might be hard to understand unless אֶת is used.{{Clarify|reason=Isn't אֶת always needed anyway? How would a reader know what this is?|date=May 2025}} Modern Hebrew maintains classical syntactic properties associated with VSO languages:{{Clarify|reason=Are all these features found in VSO languages (esp. genitive order)? Citation?|date=May 2025}} it is [[preposition and postposition|prepositional]], rather than postpositional, in marking case and adverbial relations, [[auxiliary verb]]s precede main verbs; main verbs precede their complements, and noun modifiers ([[adjective]]s, [[determiner]]s other than the [[definite article]] {{lang|he|ה-}} ({{Transliteration|he|ha}}), and [[noun adjunct]]s) follow the head noun; and in [[genitive case|genitive]] constructions, the possessee noun precedes the possessor. Moreover, Modern Hebrew allows and sometimes requires sentences with a predicate initial.

== Sample text ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+From Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]
!Modern Hebrew<ref>{{Cite web |title=OHCHR &#124; Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Hebrew |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/hebrew}}</ref>
!Transliteration
!English<ref>{{cite news |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |newspaper=United Nations}}</ref>
|-
|{{rtl-para|he|כׇּל בְּנֵי הָאָדָם נוֹלְדוּ בְּנֵי חוֹרִין וְשָׁוִים בְּעֶרְכָּם וּבִזְכֻיוֹתֵיהֶם. כֻּלָם חוֹנְנוּ בִּתְבוּנָה וְּבְמַצְפּוּן, לְפִיכָךְ חוֹבָה עֲלֵיהֶם לִנְהֹג אִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ בְּרוּחַ שֶׁל אַחֲוָה.}}
|{{translit|he|Kol bne ha'adam noldu bne chorin veshavim be'erkam uvizchuyotehem. Kulam chonenu bitvunah uvematzpun, lefichach chovah 'alehem linhog 'ish bere'ehu beruach shel achavah.}}
|All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
|}

== Lexicon ==
Modern Hebrew has expanded its vocabulary effectively to meet the needs of casual vernacular, of science and technology, of journalism and [[belles-lettres]]. According to [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]]:

{{blockquote|The number of attested Biblical Hebrew words is 8198, of which some 2000 are [[hapax legomenon|hapax legomena]] (the number of Biblical Hebrew roots, on which many of these words are based, is 2099). The number of attested Rabbinic Hebrew words is less than 20,000, of which (i) 7879 are Rabbinic par excellence, i.e. they did not appear in the Old Testament (the number of new Rabbinic Hebrew roots is 805); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have a Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew added 6421 words to (Modern) Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israeli is 17,000 (cf. 14,762 in Even-Shoshan 1970 [...]). With the inclusion of foreign and technical terms [...], the total number of Israeli words, including words of biblical, rabbinic and medieval descent, is more than 60,000.<ref name="Zuckermann">[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (2003), [[Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew]]. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. {{ISBN|978-1403917232}} [http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613220549/https://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232 |date=2019-06-13 }}</ref>{{rp|64–65}}}}

=== Loanwords ===
Modern Hebrew has [[loanwords]] from [[Arabic]] (both from the local [[Palestinian Arabic|Palestinian dialect]] and from the [[Judeo-Arabic languages|dialects of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries]]), [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Yiddish]], [[Judaeo-Spanish]], [[German language|German]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[English language|English]] and other languages. Simultaneously, Israeli Hebrew makes use of words that were originally loanwords from the languages of surrounding nations from ancient times: [[Canaanite languages]] as well as [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. Mishnaic Hebrew borrowed many nouns from [[Aramaic]] (including Persian words borrowed by Aramaic), as well as from [[Greek language|Greek]] and to a lesser extent [[Latin]].<ref>The Latin "familia", from which English "family" is derived, entered Mishnaic Hebrew – and thence, Modern Hebrew – as "pamalya" (פמליה) meaning "entourage". (The original Latin "familia" referred both to a prominent Roman's family and to his household in general, including the entourage of slaves and freedmen which accompanied him in public – hence, both the English and the Hebrew one are derived from the Latin meaning.)</ref> In the Middle Ages, Hebrew made heavy semantic borrowing from Arabic, especially in the fields of science and philosophy. Here are typical examples of Hebrew loanwords:

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|-
!colspan=3|loanword!!colspan=3|derivatives!!colspan=3|origin
|-
!Hebrew!![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]!!meaning!!Hebrew!![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]!!meaning!!language!!spelling!!meaning
|-
|{{lang|he|בַּי}}||{{IPA|/baj/}}||goodbye||colspan=3|&nbsp;||rowspan=3|[[English language|English]]||colspan=2|bye
|-
|{{lang|he|אֶגְזוֹז}}||{{IPA|/eɡˈzoz/}}||[[exhaust system]]||colspan=3|&nbsp;||colspan=2|exhaust system
|-
|{{lang|he|דיג׳יי}}||{{IPA|/ˈdidʒej/}}||[[Disc jockey|DJ]]||{{lang|he|דיג׳ה}}||{{IPA|/diˈdʒe/}}||to DJ||colspan=2|[[wikt:DJ#Verb|to DJ]]
|-
|{{lang|he|וַאלְלָה}}||{{IPA|/ˈwala/}}||really!?||colspan=3|&nbsp;||rowspan=3|[[Arabic]]||{{lang|ar|والله|rtl=yes}}||[[wikt:really#Interjection|really!?]]
|-
|{{lang|he|כֵּיף}}||{{IPA|/kef/}}||fun||{{Script/Hebrew|כַּיֵּף}}||{{IPA|/kiˈjef/}}||to have fun<ref group=w>{{cite web |author=bitFormation |url=http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/arabic.php |title=Loanwords in Hebrew from Arabic |publisher=Safa-ivrit.org |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2014-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011050943/http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/arabic.php |url-status=live }}</ref>||{{lang|ar|كيف|rtl=yes}}||pleasure
|-
|{{lang|he|תַּאֲרִיךְ}}||{{IPA|/taʔaˈʁiχ/}}||date||{{lang|he|תֶּאֱרַךְ}}||{{IPA|/teʔeˈreχ/}}||to date||{{lang|ar|تاريخ|rtl=yes}}||date, history
|-
|{{lang|he|חְנוּן}}||{{IPA|/χnun/}}||geek, wimp,<br> nerd, "square"||colspan=3|&nbsp;||[[Moroccan Arabic]]||{{Script/Arabic|خنونة}}||snot
|-
|{{lang|he|אַבָּא}}||{{IPA|/ˈaba/}}||dad|| colspan="3" |&nbsp;||[[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]||{{Script/Hebrew|אבא}}||the father/<wbr/>my father
|-
|{{lang|he|דוּגרִי}}||{{IPA|/ˈdugʁi/}}||forthright|| colspan="3" |&nbsp;||[[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]]||{{Script/Arabic|طوغری}}<br>doğrı||correct
|-
|{{lang|he|פַּרְדֵּס}}||{{IPA|/paʁˈdes/}}||[[orchard]]|| colspan="3" |&nbsp;||[[Avestan language|Avestan]]||{{Script/Avestan|𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌⸱𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀}}||garden
|-
|{{lang|he|אֲלַכְסוֹן}}
|{{IPA|/alaχˈson/}}
|diagonal
| colspan="3" |&nbsp;
|[[Greek language|Greek]]
|λοξός
|slope
|-
|{{lang|he|וִילוֹן}}
|{{IPA|/viˈlon/}}
|curtain
| colspan="3" |&nbsp;
|[[Latin]]
|vēlum 
|veil, curtain
|-
|{{lang|he|חַלְטוּרָה}}||{{IPA|/χalˈtuʁa/}}||shoddy job||{{lang|he|חִלְטֵר}}||{{IPA|/χilˈteʁ/}}||to moonlight||rowspan=2|[[Russian language|Russian]]||[[wikt:халтура|халтура]]||shoddy work<ref group=w name=from_russian>{{cite web |author=bitFormation |url=http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/russian.php |title=Loanwords in Hebrew from Russian |publisher=Safa-ivrit.org |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2014-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010235722/http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/russian.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|{{lang|he|בָּלָגָן}}||{{IPA|/balaˈɡan/}}||mess||{{lang|he|בִּלְגֵּן}}||{{IPA|/bilˈɡen/}}||to make a mess||[[wikt:балаган|балаган]]||chaos<ref group=w name=from_russian/>
|-
|{{lang|he|תַּכְלֶ׳ס}}||{{IPA|/ˈtaχles/}}||directly/<br>essentially||colspan=3|&nbsp;||[[Yiddish]] from Hebrew||{{lang|yi|תכלית}}||purpose, goal<br/><small>(Hebrew word, only pronunciation is Yiddish)</small>
|-
|{{lang|he|חְרוֹפּ}}||{{IPA|/χʁop/}}||deep sleep||{{lang|he|חָרַפּ}}||{{IPA|/χaˈʁap/}}||to sleep deeply|||[[Yiddish]]||{{lang|yi|כראָפ}}||snore
|-
|{{lang|he|שְׁפַּכְטֵל}}||{{IPA|/ˈʃpaχtel/}}||[[putty knife]]||colspan=3|&nbsp;||rowspan=2|[[German language|German]]||Spachtel||putty knife
|-
|{{lang|he|גּוּמִי}}||{{IPA|/ˈɡumi/}}||[[rubber]]||{{lang|he|גּוּמִיָּה}}||{{IPA|/ɡumiˈja/}}||rubber band||Gummi||rubber
|-
|{{lang|he|גָּזוֹז}}||{{IPA|/ɡaˈzoz/}}||carbonated<br/>beverage||colspan=3|&nbsp;||[[Turkish language|Turkish]]<br/><small>from</small><br/>[[French language|French]]||gazoz<ref group=w>{{cite web |author=bitFormation |url=http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/turkish.php |title=Loanwords in Hebrew from Turkish |publisher=Safa-ivrit.org |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2014-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010235727/http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/turkish.php |url-status=live }}</ref><br/><small>from</small><br/>[[wikt:eau|eau]] [[wikt:gazeuse|gazeuse]]||carbonated<br/>beverage
|-
|{{lang|he|פּוּסְטֵמָה}}||{{IPA|/pusˈtema/}}||stupid woman||colspan=3|&nbsp;||[[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]]||{{lang|lad-Hebr|פּוֹשׂטֵימה}}<br>postema||inflamed wound<ref group=w>{{cite web |author=bitFormation |url=http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/ladino.php |title=Loanwords in Hebrew from Ladino |publisher=Safa-ivrit.org |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2005-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208124255/http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/ladino.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|{{lang|he|אַדְרִיכָל}}||{{IPA|/adʁiˈχal/}}||[[architect]]||{{lang|he|אַדְרִיכָלוּת}}||{{IPA|/adʁiχaˈlut/}}||[[architecture]]||[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]||{{lang|akk|𒀵𒂍𒃲}} ||temple servant<ref group=w>{{cite web |author=אתר השפה העברית |url=http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/akkadian.php |title=Loanwords in Hebrew from Akkadian |publisher=Safa-ivrit.org |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2014-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010235650/http://www.safa-ivrit.org/imported/akkadian.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|{{lang|he|צִי}}
|{{IPA|/t͡si/}}
|[[Naval fleet|fleet]]
| colspan="3" |&nbsp;
|[[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]]
|''{{transliteration|egy|ḏꜣy}}''
|ship
|}
{{Reflist|group=w}}

==See also==
*[[Biblical Hebrew]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Choueka|first=Yaakov|title=Rav-Milim: A comprehensive dictionary of Modern Hebrew|year=1997|publisher=CET|location=Tel Aviv|isbn=978-965-448-323-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Ben-Ḥayyim|first=Ze'ev|title=The Struggle for a Language|year=1992|publisher=The Academy of the Hebrew Language|location=Jerusalem}}
* {{cite book|first=Nurit|last=Dekel|title=Colloquial Israeli Hebrew: A Corpus-based Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mj_oBQAAQBAJ|date=2014|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-037725-5}}
* {{cite book|author1=Gila Freedman Cohen|author2=Carmia Shoval|title=Easing Into Modern Hebrew Grammar: A User-friendly Reference and Exercise Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-I86twAACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Magnes Press|isbn=978-965-493-601-9}}
* {{cite book|author1=Shlomo Izreʾel|author2=Shlomo Raz|title=Studies in Modern Semitic Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wv2eBP9lPskC&pg=PA59|year=1996|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10646-8}}
* {{cite journal|author-link1=Yaron Matras|first1=Yaron|last1=Matras|first2=Leora|last2=Schiff|date=2005|title=Spoken Israeli Hebrew revisited: Structures and variation|journal=Studia Semitica |volume=16|pages=145–193|url=http://languagecontact.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/YM/downloads/Matras,%20Y.%20and%20L.%20Schiff%20(2005)%20Spoken%20Israeli%20Hebrew%20Revisited%20Structures%20and%20Variation.pdf}}
* {{cite journal|last=Ornan|first=Uzzi|title=The Final Word: Mechanism for Hebrew Word Generation|journal=Hebrew Studies|volume=45|pages=285–287|year=2003|publisher=Haifa University|jstor=27913706}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Gotthelf Bergsträsser|editor-link= Peter T. Daniels |first=Gotthelf|last=Bergsträsser|editor= Peter T. Daniels |title=Introduction to the Semitic Languages: Text Specimens and Grammatical Sketches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcA22SsFG00C&pg=PA64|year=1983|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-10-2}}
* {{cite book|author=Haiim B. Rosén|author-link=:he:חיים רוזן|title=A Textbook of Israeli Hebrew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3IqE5f455wC|year=1962|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-72603-8}}
* {{cite book|author=Stefan Weninger|title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMzgBLT87MkC&pg=PA524|date=23 December 2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-025158-6}}
* {{cite book|first=Paul|last=Wexler|author-link= Paul Wexler (linguist)|title=The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_ebGe7FhVEC&pg=PA5|year=1990|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-03063-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Zuckermann|first=Ghil'ad|author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann|title=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew|year=2003|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|location=UK|isbn=978-1403917232|title-link=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Hebrew phrasebook|Hebrew|a phrasebook}}
*[[wikt:Appendix:Modern Hebrew Swadesh list|Modern Hebrew Swadesh list]]
* [http://humanities.tau.ac.il/~cosih/english/ The Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew - introduction] by [[Tel Aviv University]]
* Hebrew Today – [http://www.hebrewtoday.com/content/should-you-learn-modern-hebrew-or-biblical-hebrew Should You Learn Modern Hebrew or Biblical Hebrew?]
* [http://www.adath-shalom.ca/history_of_hebrewtoc.htm History of the Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language] by David Steinberg
* [http://www.adath-shalom.ca/rabin_he.htm Short History of the Hebrew Language] by [[Chaim Menachem Rabin]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120730024242/http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/English/BirthOfaWord/Pages/Howawordisborn.aspx Academy of the Hebrew Language: How a Word is Born]

{{Hebrew language|state=expanded}}
{{Modern Semitic languages|state=expanded}}
{{Jewish languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Modern Hebrew| ]]
[[Category:Canaanite languages]]
[[Category:Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
[[Category:Jewish languages]]
[[Category:Language revival]]
[[Category:Languages of Israel]]
[[Category:Subject–verb–object languages]]
[[Category:Constructed languages]]