Hebrew : the Eternal Language

HEBREW::: THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE WILLIAM CHOMSKY HEBREWHEBREW::: THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE skokie, illinois, usa Varda Books 5761 / 2001 Copyright © 2001 by Varda Books Original copyright © 1957 by THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA All Rights Reserved Second Printing, 1958 New ISBN 1-59045-441-3 Library PDF No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, except for brief passages in connection with a critical review, without permission in writing from the publisher: Varda Books, 9001 Keating Avenue, Skokie, Illinois, USA Prepared as an ebook by Varda Graphics, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 578140 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To My Children << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index PREFACE There has long been need for a book on the origin of the Hebrew language, its struggle for survival in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, and its survival as a spoken vernacular in our own day. I confess to having for many years cher- ished the hope that it would some day be given me to write this story. At the same time, I shrank from undertaking a task so vast and important, so basic to the Jewish cultural heritage, and involving so many aspects of Jewish life and history. When, therefore, the Zionist Organization of America approached me several years ago with the request that I prepare a pamphlet on the subject, Hebrew, The Story of a Living Language, I allowed myself to be persuaded for the very reason that the discussion would be brief and tentative. Yet some of my friends at once began urging me to expand that pamphlet into a full-sized book, and this is the result. The account is far from exhaustive. It is designed primarily for the intelligent reader rather than for the scholar. In the proc- ess of popularization much had to be diluted, omitted or con- densed. In many areas the presentation is very sketchy, though, I hope, authentic and accurate. A more comprehensive account will have to await more auspicious circumstances. In the writing of this book I had to resort to various sources of information and to the help of individuals who are expert in certain specific areas, and I herewith wish to pay grateful acknowledgment. I am, of course, primarily indebted to Dr. Solo- mon Grayzel for his stimulation and encouragement, criticism and advice, in the preparation of this book. My thanks are due to the following individuals for helpful counsel and information: Judah Lapson, Chairman of Hebrew Culture Service Committee for American High Schools and Colleges; A. Leo Oppenheim, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; Cecil Roth, Oxford vii << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index viii Preface University, England; E. A. Speiser, Chairman, Department of Oriental Studies, University of Pennsylvania. I also wish to make appreciative acknowledgment of the following publications from which illustrative materials were taken: The Hebrew Scripts, S. A. Birnbaum; Millon ha-Lashon ha-Ibrit, Eliezer Ben Yehudah; The Field of Yiddish, edited by Uriel Weinreich, Linguistic Circle of New York; Semitic Writing, G. R. Driver, Oxford University Press; A Study of Writing, I. J. Gelb, University of Chicago Press. Recognition is also due to Historische Grammatik der Hebraischen Sprache, Hans Bauer and Pontus Leander, Verlag von Max Niemeyer, which provided a model for the illustration of Branches of the Semitic Lan- guages, on page 22. It is my hope that this volume will stimulate new interest in the Hebrew language among those who know it as well as those who do not. May the story of the ancient tongue prove as fascinating to my readers as it has always been to me. W.C. March 1, 1957 << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index CONTENTS INTRODUCTION—The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life, 1 PART I—How the Language Began to Be Spoken CHAPTER 1—Hebrew and the Languages of Man- kind, 17 CHAPTER 2—How the Hebrew Language Began, 32 CHAPTER 3—The Early Non-Biblical Sources of Hebrew, 50 PART II—How the Written Language Took Form CHAPTER 4—How the Hebrew Alphabet Origi- nated, 73 CHAPTER 5—How Did the Vowel-System Evolve? 93 CHAPTER 6—How the Study of Hebrew Grammar Began and Developed, 117 CHAPTER 7—How Was the Text of the Hebrew Bible Preserved? 139 PART III—How the Language Was Preserved CHAPTER 8—How Did the Hebrew Language Grow? 157 CHAPTER 9—How the Hebrew Language Has Kept Abreast of Changing Needs, 172 CHAPTER 10—How Hebrew Evolved as a Modern Vernacular, 184 CHAPTER 11—Did Hebrew Ever Die? 206 PART IV—How the Language Meets Modern Needs CHAPTER 12—The Struggle for Revival, 231 CHAPTER 13—Hebrew in America, 245 EPILOGUE—Hebrew for American Jews, 270 Notes and Bibliography, 281 Index, 313 ix << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page 1. Hittite Hieroglyphic Writing. Courtesy of I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 83 . 21 2. Branches of the Semitic Language . 22 3. Geographical Distribution of the Semitic Languages . 23 4. Transcription of the Mesha Stone. Courtesy of I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 134 . 61 5. Hieroglyphic Inscriptions found in Sinai. Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, Lon- don), 1954, page 94 . 75 6. Hittite Hieroglyphic Writing. Courtesy of I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 82 . 77 7. The Contents of a Mezuzah. An example of hand-written Hebrew . 81 8. Inscriptions from the Sinaitic Peninsula. Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, Lon- don), 1954, page 94 . 83 9. From Hebrew to the Latin Alphabets . 87 10. Three Vowel Systems: 1. Babylonian; 2. Palestinian; 3. Tiberian . 101 11. The Masoretic Text as prepared by the Ben Asher School. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, Fasc. 2, page 92 . 111 12. A Page from the Rabbinic Bible . 151 xi << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index xii List of Illustrations Between pp. 242 and 243 13. Hebrew Calendar from Gezer. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, no. 2 14. Sinaitic Writing. Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, London), 1954, pl. 38 15. The Siloam Inscription. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, no. 14 16. The Mesha Stone. Courtesy of The Louvre, Paris 17. Lachish Ostraca. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, nos. 23, 24 18. Coins of the Second Commonwealth. Courtesy of S. A. Birn- baum, The Hebrew Scripts, nos. 56, 58, 61 19. Stamps of Modern Israel 20. The Nash Papyrus. Courtesy of Cambridge University Library 21. An Aramaic and Yiddish Version of Had Gadya. Courtesy of The Field of Yiddish: Studies in Yiddish Language, Folklore and Literature Published on the Occasion of the Bicentennial of Columbia University, ed. by Uriel Weinreich, Linguistic Circle of New York, 1954 22. Eliezer Ben Yehudah. Courtesy of Millon ha-Lashon ha-lbrit << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index HEBREW: THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index INTRODUCTION THE ROLE OF HEBREW IN JEWISH LIFE Hebrew as a Modern Vernacular Barely a decade or two ago there were people who maintained that Hebrew was not a living language. Now, the “sacred language” of the past is the daily vernacular of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Israel. There the language lives in the mouths of school children, bootblacks, busmen, cab drivers, cabaret singers, lawyers, doctors and officials, of the religious, irreli- gious and anti-religious—indeed, of everyone. The thick hori- zontal strokes and thin verticals of the Hebrew alphabet are blazoned all over the country on posters, advertising signs, stamps and coins; on highways, shops, stores and hotels. He- brew slang, colloquialisms and even curses are freely coined; while the Hebrew Language Academy (formerly, Vaad ha- Lashon), composed of outstanding scholars and writers and spon- sored by the Israel government, is vigilantly on guard against the intrusion of any solecisms or barbarisms that might impair the purity of the language. From time to time, moreover, this Academy publishes lists of technical terms covering every branch and aspect of science, industry, technology and the like: some ten thousand new words have gained currency since the estab- lishment of the State of Israel. At least four theatrical companies offer regular performances—all, of course, in Hebrew. Thou- 1 << Chapter >> Home | TOC | Index 2 Hebrew: The Eternal Language sands of books, magazines, newspapers and brochures on every conceivable topic are in daily circulation. Close to two hundred periodicals are published there in Hebrew, including fifteen dailies and the rest weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and annu- als. Hebrew books are published in Israel at the rate of more than three a day. The air waves of Israel vibrate to the rhythm of the classical tongue. Outside of Israel, the most significant center of Hebrew culture is America. The language is read, understood and spoken by thousands of American Jews. There are Hebrew periodicals of popular as well as scholarly character; Hebrew books, fic- tional and scientific; Hebrew language instruction on elemen- tary and college level. Schools, camps and clubs encourage the speaking of Hebrew. Can there be any question as to the vitality of the Hebrew language? None of the modern attempts to revive old languages, such as Gaelic, Welsh and Indi, can boast of anything approxi- mating the progress made by Hebrew. Yet the Irish, Welsh and Indians have been rooted on their own soil and are free from political, physical and economic difficulties with which the young struggling Jewish community in Israel has had to cope.

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