View source for Hebrew language

{{redirect|Hebrew|the civilization in the Near East|Hebrews}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Hebrew
| nativename       = {{lang|he|עִבְרִית}}'' {{transl|he|ʿIvrit}}''
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|[(ʔ)ivˈʁit]}} - {{IPA|[(ʔ)ivˈɾit]}}{{#tag:ref|Standard Israeli ([[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardi]]) {{IPA|[ʕivˈɾit]}}; Iraqi {{IPA|[ʕibˈriːθ]}}; [[Yemenite Hebrew|Yemenite]] {{IPA|[ʕivˈriːθ]}}; [[Ashkenazi Hebrew language|Ashkenazi]] {{IPA|[ˈivʀis]}}|group="note"}}
| states           = Israel, Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria;<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=&countryCode=&regionCode=o |title=CIA's World Fact Book |access-date=2013-03-04 |archive-date=2014-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708235858/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=&countryCode=&regionCode=o |url-status=dead }}</ref> used globally as a [[liturgical language]] for [[Judaism]]
| speakers         = 5.3 million <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.org.uk/show_language.asp?code=heb |title=Hebrew language report |author= |publisher=Ethnologue |accessdate=19 November 2012 |archive-date=22 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222024722/http://www.ethnologue.org.uk/show_language.asp?code=heb |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| date             = 1998
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| fam3             = [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]]
| fam4             = [[Central Semitic languages|Central Semitic]]
| fam5             = [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]]
| fam6             = [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]]
| script           = Hebrew alphabet<br>[[Hebrew Braille]]
| nation           = {{flag|Israel}}
| iso1             = he
| iso2             = heb
| lc1              = heb
| ld1              = [[Modern Hebrew]]
| lc2              = hbo
| ld2              = [[Biblical Hebrew language|Ancient Hebrew]]
| lingua           = 12-AAB-a
| minority         = 
* {{flag|Poland}}{{cn}}
* {{flag|South Africa}}{{cn}}
}}

The '''Hebrew language''', also referred to as the '''Hebraic language''', is a [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic language]].

It was spoken by [[Israelite]]s a long time ago, during the time of the [[Bible]]. After [[Judah]] was conquered by [[Babylonia]], the [[Jew]]s were taken captive (prisoner) to [[Babylon]] and started speaking [[Aramaic]]. Hebrew was no longer used much in daily life, but it was still known by Jews who studied [[halakha]].

In the [[20th century]], many Jews decided to make Hebrew into a spoken language again. It became the language of the new country of [[Israel]] in 1948. People in Israel came from many places and decided to learn Hebrew, the language of their common ancestors, so that they could all speak one language. However, Modern Hebrew is quite different from Biblical Hebrew, with a simpler [[grammar]] and many [[loanword]]s from other languages, especially [[English language|English]].

As of 2021, Hebrew has been the only [[Language death|dead language]] that had been made into a [[language revival|living language again]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monroecc.edu/depts/foreign/hebrew/|title=Hebrew {{!}} Foreign Languages {{!}} Monroe Community College|website=www.monroecc.edu|accessdate=2019-03-05}}</ref>

The [[Hebrew Bible]] was originally written in Biblical Hebrew.

== Grammar ==
Hebrew is a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]], like [[Arabic]], a similar language. Hebrew words are made by combining a root with a pattern. In Israeli Hebrew, some words are translated from European languages like [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], and [[Russian language|Russian]]. Many words from the [[Old Testament]] were given new meanings in Israeli Hebrew.<ref>{{cite book|last=[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann]]|first= Ghil'ad|date=2003|title=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew|place=England|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781403917232|url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403917232}}</ref> People learning Hebrew need to study the [[grammar]] first so that they can read correctly without vowels.

In Israeli Hebrew, there is no verb "to be" in the [[present tense]] only in the [[future tense|future]] and the [[past tense]]s. In Biblical Hebrew, there are no tenses but only two aspects: imperfect and perfect. The imperfect is something like the future and the present tenses. The perfect is something like the past tense.

Mishnaic Hebrew was spoken as well as [[Judeo-Aramaic]] at the time of [[Jesus]] and at the time of the Bar-Kokhba revolt ([[2nd century]] AD) until the [[Byzantine Empire]] of [[Justinian]] ([[6th century]] AD).

The Hebrew alphabet has been adapted to write [[Yiddish]], another [[Jewish languages|Jewish language]]. However, Yiddish is different from Hebrew because Yiddish comes from a mix of [[German language|German]], Hebrew, and other languages.

== Alphabet ==
[[File:Israel in Hebrew.svg|thumb|"Israel" written in the Hebrew alphabet.]]

The <!-- currently redirects here -->{{ill|Hebrew alphabet|lt=Hebrew|en|Hebrew alphabet}} [[alphabet]], also known as the Hebrew [[abjad]], has 22 letters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hebrew alphabet {{!}} writing system|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hebrew-alphabet|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Five of them change when they are at the end of a word. Hebrew is read and written from right to left.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph-Bet)|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-hebrew-alphabet-aleph-bet|access-date=2020-10-02|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> The first three letters, aleph, beth and gimel, are also used in [[mathematics]] in the context of [[Transfinite number|transfinite numbers]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-20|title=Greek/Hebrew/Latin-based Symbols in Mathematics|url=https://mathvault.ca/hub/higher-math/math-symbols/greek-hebrew-latin-symbols/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Math Vault|language=en-US}}</ref>

The Hebrew alphabet is an ''abjad'' and so only the consonants are written, and readers must supply the vowels. Since that can be difficult, the vowels can be marked as dots called [[niqqud]]. In Modern Hebrew, some letters can denote vowels, which are called ''matres lectionis'' (mothers of the reading) since they greatly help reading. [[Waw (letter)|Vav]] can make the 'oo' sound (/u/ in IPA) like in f'''oo'''d. [[Yodh|Yod]] can make the 'ee' sound (/i/ in IPA) like in f'''ee'''d.

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable"
|-
!'''[[Aleph]]'''||'''[[Bet (letter)|Bet]]'''||'''[[Gimel]]'''||'''[[Dalet]]'''||'''[[He (letter)|He]]'''||'''[[Waw (letter)|Vav]]'''||'''[[Zayin]]'''||'''[[Heth|Het]]'''||'''[[Teth|Tet]]'''||'''[[Yodh|Yod]]'''||'''[[Kaph]]'''
|-
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|א
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ב
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ג
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ד
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ה
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ו
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ז
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ח
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ט
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|י
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|כ
|-
|style="font-size:300%; font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman" height=40 valign=top|ך
|-
!'''[[Lamed]]'''||'''[[Mem]]'''||'''[[Nun (letter)|Nun]]'''||'''[[Samekh]]'''||'''[[Ayin]]'''||'''[[Pe (Hebrew)|Pe]]'''||'''[[Tsade|Tsadi]]'''||'''[[Qoph]]'''||'''[[Resh]]'''||'''[[Shin (letter)|Shin]]'''||'''[[Tav]]'''
|-
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ל
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|מ
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|נ
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ס
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ע
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|פ
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|צ
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ק
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ר
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ש
| rowspan="2" align="center"; style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ת
|-

| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ם
| style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ן
|style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ף
|style="font-family:SBL Hebrew, Ezra SIL SR, Ezra SIL, Cardo, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Arial Unicode MS, Narkisim, Times New Roman;font-size:300%" height=40 valign=top|ץ
|}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== Related pages ==

* [[Phoenician alphabet]]

==References==
{{InterWiki|code=he}}
{{wikibookspar||Hebrew}}
{{reflist}}

{{Hebrew language}}
{{Israel topics}}

[[Category:Hebrew language| ]]