Modern Hebrew

Modern Hebrew is the contemporary spoken and written form of Hebrew, established as a community language during the revival that began in the late nineteenth century.

Hebrew language: A Northwest Semitic language with a long written history and several historical forms. Modern Hebrew is the contemporary form within this language’s history.
Hebrew alphabet: The consonant-based script used to write Hebrew and several other languages. It is the writing system used for Modern Hebrew, usually without vowel marks in ordinary texts.
Hebrew-language education: The teaching and learning of Hebrew as a first or additional language. Schools were central to transmitting Modern Hebrew to children and new immigrants.
Biblical Hebrew: The ancient form of Hebrew used in much of the Hebrew Bible. It is a major historical source, but differs from contemporary Hebrew in grammar and vocabulary.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: A lexicographer and educator who advocated making Hebrew a spoken language in Palestine. His activism and word-making became emblematic of the revival.
Hebrew grammar: The rules governing word formation, sentence structure, and grammatical relationships in Hebrew. Modern Hebrew retains inherited grammatical patterns while using them in contemporary speech.
Hebrew literature: Literature written in Hebrew across its historical periods and genres. Modern Hebrew literature helped establish the language’s range beyond daily conversation.
Mishnaic Hebrew: A historical form of Hebrew found in the Mishnah and related rabbinic writings. Its post-biblical features form part of the linguistic inheritance behind modern usage.
Hebrew language revival: The movement that established Hebrew as a modern spoken language in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explains how Hebrew moved from principally literary and religious use into daily speech.
Hebrew phonology: The sound system and sound patterns of the Hebrew language. Its history helps explain why modern pronunciations differ from older reading traditions.

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Jewish literatureRelated: Its revival transformed Hebrew literature into a living national and everyday literary tradition.