Vintage 1963 Modern Hebrew A First Year Course Harry Blumberg Hardcover English For Sale

Hebrew[note 2]is aNorthwest Semitic languagewithin theAfroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of theCanaanite languages, it was natively spoken by theIsraelitesand remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as theliturgical languageofJudaism(since theSecond Temple period) andSamaritanism.[15]The language wasrevived as a spoken languagein the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example oflinguistic revival. It is the only Canaanite language still spoken today. It is also one of the only two Northwest Semitic languages with contemporary speakers, the other beingAramaic.[16][17]

The earliest examples of writtenPaleo-Hebrewdate to the 10th century BCE.[18]Nearly all of theHebrew Bibleis written inBiblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of theBabylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews asLashon Hakodesh(לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶש,lit. 'the holy tongue'or'the tongue [of] holiness') since ancient times. The language was not referred to by the nameHebrewin theBible, but asYehudit(transl. 'Judean') orSəpaṯ Kəna'an(transl. "the language ofCanaan").[1][note 3]Mishnah Gittin 9:8refers to the language asIvrit, meaning Hebrew; however,Mishnah Megillahrefers to the language asAshurit, meaningAssyrian, which is derived from the name ofthe alphabet used, in contrast toIvrit, meaning the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet.[19]

Hebrew ceased to be a regular spoken language sometime between 200 and 400 CE, as it declined in the aftermath of the unsuccessfulBar Kokhba revolt, which was carried out against theRoman Empireby the Jews ofJudaea.[20][21][note 4]Aramaic and, to a lesser extent,Greekwere already in use as international languages, especially among societal elites and immigrants.[23]Hebrew survived into themedieval periodas the language ofJewish liturgy,rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, andJewish poetic literature. The first dated book printed in Hebrew was published byAbraham GartoninReggio(Calabria, Italy) in 1475.[24]With the rise ofZionismin the 19th century, the Hebrew languageexperienced a full-scale revivalas a spoken and literary language. The creation of a modern version of the ancient language was led byEliezer Ben-Yehuda.Modern Hebrew(Ivrit) became the main language of theYishuvinPalestine, and subsequently theofficial languageof theState of Israel.[25][26]