How Hebrew transitioned from dead to alive

[@nofridaynightplans]

Don't hesitate to point at any possible mistakes for further improvement. I'd really appreciate it if you could support my work with a like. As ever, thank you for watching!

[@hi-callmefrank]

Do you take requests?

[@nofridaynightplans]

@@hi-callmefrank Not sure I understand your comment.

[@hi-callmefrank]

@@nofridaynightplans as in video idea requests.

[@nofridaynightplans]

​@@hi-callmefrank Sure. Depends on the idea obviously. If I find it interesting, I'll do it when time allows.

[@hi-callmefrank]

well, it's also about a somewhat dead language (maybe not officially, but I think it is). This is a Nguni language - widely accepted in South Africa but not in Zimbabwe - called isiNdebele (or Ndebele). There are two types of Ndebele, Northern- and Southern Ndebele. Northern Ndebele is spoken in Zimbabwe and Southern Ndebele is spoken in South Africa. Southern Ndebele is influenced by other Nguni languages and Sotho languages especially sePedi (or Pedi) the influence of the latter group is why I think the Zimbabwean doesn't acknowledge Southern Ndebele as a Nguni language. I'm half (Southern) Ndebele and I've grown more and more curious about the language because there are words that lack influence from either group, they're standalone, which made me wonder if we have lost such words leading up to 1994 and how much have we lost. Ndebele was not a recognised language during Apartheid my mother, uncles and pretty much everyone who is Ndebele growing up at that time didn't learn Ndebele as it was not offered in schools, they only had Zulu even in Ndebele dominant areas.

[@StudenttBen]

Very informative video. Thank you. If there are any Jewish viewers, I send them my regards as a Kurd.

[@mannyglass133]

We the Jews respect you very much for being another Non Arabic indigenous nation of the middle east.

[@siyacer]

oh no

[@lizberezin2919]

There are many jews in Israel who came from Kurdistan, and still maintain the Kurd language, the Kurd dance and the Kurd food.

[@NorbertNahumEvreuklovic]

Abdullah ocalan FREEDOM to kurdistan 💯 I was so sad it was captured in my country Greece though... Whatever. Stay strong n fight!

[@NorbertNahumEvreuklovic]

Gam ohavim Kurdistan 💯💯💯

[@brianmitchell9941]

You conducted extensive research on the history of the Hebrew language, but it’s evident that you’re not merely presenting a summary of your findings. You’ve carefully considered your discoveries and presented your well-informed opinions and fresh perspectives. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and rewatching your video, and I didn’t find any significant errors. However, I did notice a few differing viewpoints on certain topics, which I appreciate because it prompts me to reconsider my already well-established understanding of the subject and view it from a new perspective. Now, while Modern Hebrew is undoubtedly distinct from Classical Hebrew, I believe it shares a closer affinity with Classical Hebrew than Modern English does with Ænglisċ (or Old English) and its dialects, particularly West Saxon, Northumbrian, Mercian, and Kentish. Anway, Your work and quality are truly commendable!

[@nofridaynightplans]

Thank you for writing such an appreciative and interesting comment. I’m pleasantly surprised sometimes to see that people who got to know the channel through the RTK series or Arabic learning videos would also watch these. I didn’t know you had such extensive knowledge besides Japanese. It’s truly remarkable. Thank you for sharing and following the channel!

[@StudenttBen]

Needless to say, language reflects all of this and carries a message. One of the best ways to keep a nation united, or to bring a dispersed people back together, is to develop and promote the language they speak among themselves. Perhaps this is the reason behind the bans imposed on the Kurdish language. Kurds should learn a lot from Ben Yehuda and apply his methods. We need to understand the connection he established between the Hebrew language and Jewish nationalism.

[@christopherb.2986]

ive studies hebrew in all its forms, biblical, mishnaic and modern, and all these forms are way more closely related than mostmodern languages are to their counterparts of 2000 (or even older when considering biblical hebrew) years ago. an old germanic text of the year 100 looks so foreign and alien to me that i can hardly make out a single word that closely resembles modern german or english; but i can pick up a bible, read through a passage and maybe look up one or tow words whose meaning has shifted a little bit from "provisions" to "delicacy"..... the revival of hebrew is exactly what its name suggests.

[@dimbu]

Yeah, Hebrew is my native language so I don't really think about it often, but it is pretty astonishing that modern-day speakers can read millenniums old scripture with relative ease

[@romero522]

Exactly

[@lizberezin2919]

I'm now reading "The Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Rattisbone", a book written in Hebrew in 1187 by a german jew traveling to the Holly land. It reads like it was written today, if not for the lack of some words that we use today. I undestand 100%. I wouldn't be able to understand an English book written in 1187.

[@romero522]

@lizberezin2919 Or Benjamin of Tudela, who wrote about his journey in Hebrew, in 1165. Very understandable for an average Hebrew speaker

[@davidfryer9359]

Im obsessed with all forms of Hebrew and Semitic languages. It is an addiction I acquired late in life. If only I had started at 6. עם ישראל חי.

[@IEldritchI]

some high quality work here, people are sleeping on this channel fr.

[@nofridaynightplans]

Thank you. Don't hesitate to share it so that more people wake up to it😌

[@christopherb.2986]

youre only saying that bc you dont know anything about the subject lol she just went through some newspaper articles

[@IEldritchI]

​@@christopherb.2986you ignored the editing, the narration style & the simplification of the subject so most people can understand even if i am clueless abt the subject this is a good way to be introduced to it.

[@petarjovanovic1481]

Mishnaic Hebrew was not a hybrid of Hebrew and Aramaic. It was influenced by Aramaic, mainly in vocabulary and a bit in morphology but in general it wasn't a hybrid in any sense.

[@everythingtorah]

At the 5 minute mark is the true historical origins of "Palestine" not the invented nonsense you hear often nowadays

[@michaelfishman3976]

About Mishnaic Hebrew: Also worth noting is that it has many loan words from Greek and some from Latin, many of which are still used in Modern Hebrew today. Some examples: Parkalit: advocate Apotropos: one who's been entrusted with something Sanegor: Defense Lawyer Kategor: Prosecutor Apikoros: Heretic Apthiki: Cellar Karmelit: Garden Pruzbul: Contract Sandlar: Sandlemaker (or Sandler) Pras: Reward or Prize Listim: Bandits

[@michaelfishman3976]

Another common usage for Hebrew from the middle ages to the modern age was rabbinic commentaries of the bible and legal codes. Most famously, Moses Maimonides, 11th Century Andalusian, wrote his code "Mishna Torah" in Hebrew; but most of his works were written in Arabic. Rashi (10th century, French) wrote his commentary on the bible in Hebrew, but often used French words when he couldn't find a Hebrew word to illustrate a concept. Joseph Karo (16th Century, Palestine) used Hebrew for his Shulchan Aruch, which is the first place many rabbis turn when looking for answers. If a work was intended to be used by Jews globally, the rabbis would often use Hebrew.

[@juliabrowni9418]

Great video! Very interesting and informative 👍

[@davidschalit907]

As others have commented here, i can read ancient Hebrew just as i can read so called modern Hebrew. I can read ANY part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, and understand it. Something written in Hebrew 2,000 years ago. Yet, i might be able to read an English work from 1,000 to 1,500 years ago, but doubtful i would understand it that well, if at all.

[@ariebrons7976]

Verry informative: 5:08 Hadrian renamed the region to "Palestina" probably in reference to its name during the Iron Age. The iron age region of Palestina consisted of eleven coastal cities, Ashquelon being the most important. It was appearently chosen as a Roman custom of humiliating their enemies. Although I cannot find any other example of entire regions being renamed for this reason. Tuscany, Samnia,Gaul, Graecia, Carthage/Numidia,Korinthos, and Pontus still bare their orriginal names.

[@vasylkasra]

@@ariebrons7976 that it definitely was. "Palestine" was also something Herodotus called the general region, though I personally take objection to calling it a name that the local inhabitants (ie, Jews and the various people living among them) never called it, but that's how empires worked, I guess.

[@dovbarleib3256]

5 main cities in the SW Corner of The Holy Land(Ashdod, Ashqelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Gath) belonged to the Mediterranean Sea people from Crete who worshiped a Merman fish god named dagon. Driven to extinction by Senncharib and his son Esserhaddon of the Assyrian Empire between 700 bce and 660 bce. When Hadrian did his renaming project, 800 years had passed since the last Philistine live in his Pentopolis.

[@vasylkasra]

@dovbarleib3256 therein lies the problem. Jews were related to Canaanite peoples, they spoke a Canaanite language which they continue to speak to this day, and yet they're ignored in favor of actual settlers.

[@abrahamlevi3556]

The grammar of Aramaic and Hebrew are very similar, and it is very easy for a native Hebrew speaker to master it. Hebrew still lacks vocabulary in the areas such as technology, although a lot has been achieved through the years thanks to IDF's technology and armaments branch. One noticeable area of great achievements is in vocabulary related to aviation that to General Ezer Waitzman, the commander of the IAF who had insisted upon that Hebrew technical vocabulary replaced English and French.

[@yinondukhan1679]

Hi, Just to add, Hebrew and Phoenician are almost identical! if a Hebrew speaker try to read Pheonician text rewritten using the Hebrew alphabet he could somewhat understand

[@TheMaronite]

No

[@TheMaronite]

Iroshathi en 3esdor esde ish I want to help this man. Similiar but not that intelligible

[@adrianblake8876]

​@@TheMaronite He said "transliterate to modern script, not "transcribe phonetically". I'm not too sure why you're transcribing "z" as "SD", are you trying to make it difficult!?

[@romero522]

Thats true, as a hebrew speaker who read the script on Hiram tomb. It is almost identical Same for Moabite and Ammonite

[@TheMaronite]

@romero522 propaganda

[@carolahermann3282]

Thank you for another very interesting mixture of history and language. I learned a lot. 👏 I agree. It is rather a remix of old and new "borrows". But that is also true for other languages. I truly appreciate your work, the time you put in it. Always meet my interest.

[@nofridaynightplans]

Thank you Carola. It is always a pleasure to read a comment from you *\^.^/*

[@bahurhaviv]

great video, and great channel! im shocked from how low the subscribe counter is...

[@nofridaynightplans]

Thank you. Don't hesitate to share it so that more people get to know it😌

[@alan_qurious]

Very informative video! Thank you for breaking it down so easily for a general audience like me!

[@ariebrons7976]

10:55 The Hebrew accademies banned Yiddish. And any other language, but some exceptions where made for Arabic, English, and Spanish. People where also heavely discouraged from speaking French for instance.

[@lizberezin2919]

I don't think anyone can ban the entire Spanish language or even Yiddish. They heavily encouraged people speaking Hebrew in schools, in the streets, etc.

[@anshinee.8186]

Very informative video, I always wondered how they created this language

[@ahwien]

Hebrew was used as a spoken language over 3000 years ago by Jews in biblical times and later. It was renewed, not newly created.

[@HowlingWo1f]

As a Jew I understand both languages, There’s Hebrew in Yiddish however I cant think of any Yiddish in Hebrew. And I wouldn’t say it completely died Hebrew has always been used in Jewish study.

[@stephenfisher3721]

טָרָנטָה meaning jalopy comes from Yiddish

[@Balagoola]

נודניק!

[@tyrone2127]

The "-nik" in Hebrew is Yiddish/Slavic inspired. Tachles, Imale, etc

[@danisraelmalta]

As a native hebrew speaker, I can say that modern Hebrew is very close to biblical one. I can read any ancient text and understand it. Modern Hebrew and biblical Hebrew are to me closer than modern English and 600 years old written English.

[@vasylkasra]

There were a few communities who spoke their own dialects of Hebrew, mostly in MENA.

[@humbett]

Is the similarity between Arabic and Hebrew due to their coexistence in Spain? Or more deep?

[@nofridaynightplans]

I don't think it has anything to do with their presence in Spain. The similarities between the two is due to their being sister languages, within the same family. But the histories of both languages are quite different.

[@davidrobjant7386]

The histories of both languages and cultures are entwined and you don’t need Spain to evince this. Jews settled throughout Arabia (with particularly large settlement in Yemen) and it seems plausible that in the era of the Koran many jewish and arab arabic speakers were bilingual, living among Jewish settlements in what is now Saudi Arabia. Else one could not explain the references to the Torah in the Koran, nor the military campaigns against Jewish settlements recorded in the Koran, mentioning first place in modern day central Saudi Arabia. May I ask your native language? My first thought on hearing your English was perhaps a slavic or Russian speaking background, but this seems not very distinct and I am not at all sure. I might also have guessed Farsi, but again not sure. A most rivetting mystery.

[@nofridaynightplans]

@davidrobjant7386 Haha Slavic, first time I've been told this 😂 Native French speaker here. It's not a mystery though. I say it in many videos. I don't speak any of the languages you mentionned. That's what so amusing. Maybe I should jump on the Russian-Persian bandwagon.

[@davidrobjant7386]

Ah but I have the sense you are also a native French speaker. Sans doute, si je regarderais la video sur les berbers des explications peuvent survenir. Mais c’est comme même très curieux que l’anglais à l’etatsunisien que vous parlez n’a aucune trace de l’accent associé avec la langue d’ouil.

[@nofridaynightplans]

​@@davidrobjant7386 Oh, je pourrais faire les vidéos en anglais empreint d'accent français, mais 1) ça demande plus d'efforts (paradoxalement), 2) je doute que le public trouve cela agréable à écouter. Mais l'exercice pourrait peut-être se transformer en gag. Qui sait? 😌

[@tasneemkaka1942]

I am interested to know the methodology they used to teach Hebrew in schools such that it started being spoken at home. Second languages taught today are hardly spoken at home.

[@nofridaynightplans]

Based on what I read, the Union of Hebrew Teachers was created in the early 20th century and the educators devised specific curricula. You might be able to find them online. Though, I suspect they would be in Hebrew 😅

[@tasneemkaka1942]

@nofridaynightplans thanks!

[@bahurhaviv]

its different, because they didnt treat it like a second language, they treat it like their 'real' language.

[@yinondukhan1679]

The methodology was just teaching lessons in the hebrew language, the teacher spoke and taught everything in it and whenever they didn’t find a word they turned to the Hebrew language committee to find them or invent them a word.

[@lizberezin2919]

If you move to a new country and learn that language as a second language, of course you'll be using it. The methodology wasn't anything special, it's just that jews coming from other places had to know Hebrew to find jobs and live their lives in Israel, so they put the effort in.

[@Doucet_The_Great]

I just recalled I had read a book on how urbanization is killing languages and possible solutions. There was a chapter on Hebrew. But I don't remember anything, so the video was a good refresh 😅

[@ahwien]

Hebrew was never dead because Jews used it constantly in prayer and study wherever they lived. Jews spoke the languages of their host countries, while using Hebrew every day in prayer including 2 full hours exclusively every Sabbath morning service reading the Torah and praying in biblical Hebrew. Also many hours on Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays. In that sense it was relatively not difficult to revive Hebrew for common, colloquial usage by the returning population. Reviving a so-called dead language to a present-day population is complete unique in human history.

[@siyacer]

nice

[@omakomaro9551]

beautiful explanation I understand everything but What Hurts the Most is what happened for this language to re-exist in Palestine

[@achilles7607]

Judea*

[@nofridaynightplans]

Thank you. For me, it's really important for the information to be clear! So when the audience confirm it is "easy" to follow, I find it quite gratifying ^0^

[@clarencehammer3556]

Is modern Hebrew also influenced by ladino from Sephardic Jews?

[@jewishboi3384]

I love when an Arab tells me my history with an Arabic, English, American accent to call the British mandate of Palestine P/Balestine

[@BBarNavi]

blease

[@JF-gw8dh]

based on the fact that if you'd actually met an Arabic speaker you'd know they pronounce palestine with an "F" im gonna say you don't actually know what you're talking about.

[@JF-gw8dh]

and like, to be clear, this is entirely separate from the verified historical fact of most ethnic jews origins in the middle east. I just think based on the way you chose to comment whatever you have to say about it is more likely to involve racist and ahistorical claims about the arabization of the Levant than anything else and i have much better things to do than tolerate that bullshit

[@vasylkasra]

​​​@@JF-gw8dhOh? Go on, tell us, then.

[@mostm8589]

Booo hooo, nobody cares about you... Linguistics channels are not for Genokede supporters.

I enjoyed the video. What is your accent. Your English accent is confusing. I thought that I had heard you say the "Hebrew Language Comedy" when it was actually Academy you said. You should pronounce academy with strong Ahhh sounds, i.e., Ahhhcahhhdemy. Destroed - you meant destroyed. You should probably do videos in your mother tongue and use subtitles in English.

[@nofridaynightplans]

You should probably turn off the sound and use the English subtitles I provided to enhance your understanding. This is a multilingual channel and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Whatever language I fancy, I will use 😌

@nofridaynightplans I will. Honestly, working as a translator, it is always best to work in your mother tongue.

[@erikheddergott5514]

With Hebrew it was as it still is with Latin: Never died! But was relegated to a Religious Role. As Koine did not fully die. I have a big Problem with Netanyahu Zionists but I see no Problem with the Renaissance of Hebrew.

[@JF-gw8dh]

you misunderstanding what "dead" means when it comes to a language. it doesn't mean "no longer spoken" it means "no longer natively spoken". languages that are no longer spoken period are extinct, not just dead and much harder to bring back

[@vasylkasra]

If you have a problem with Zionism then you have a problem with Jews being able to have self-determination.

[@mostm8589]

Latin is dead. A language dies when children no longer learn it as a mother tongue, not when all knowledge of it is lost. Even Hebrew is to some extent still "dead". It imported many words and roots from Arabic during its revival, and its phonetics were changed (the french/german R, the European way of pronouncing Aiyen instead of the semitic sound of the Arabic ع, etc...). Modern Hebrew would sound broken and ungrammatical to a 1100s Jew, but then again so would modern Arabic to a 1100s Arab. But the scale of change with Hebrew is more massive, because the chain of transmission was broken for many centuries.

[@erikheddergott5514]

@ There are enough People who learn „Classical“ Language from 12 to 14 Years on for 4 to 6 Years and in many Academic Studies you must either know Latin or take Latin Lessons alone here in Switzerland. It ain’t much different in Germany or Austria. There is an unbroken Lineage of Teacher Pupil Relations. To declare a Language as dead when it is spoken in Everyday Live as Hebrews in Israel is ignorant. Again: I do consider Netanyahu Zionism as Racism and I condemn the Ethnic Cleansing through Massmurdering and Terror, but nitpicking on the Language of a People is not a strong and mature Reaction.

[@mostm8589]

@@erikheddergott5514 I have nothing against Hebrew, nor any language, no matter how tyrannical or **ge*n*o**c**dal** the nation state it's associated with. Nobody in their right mind would hate Mandarin because of the CCP or Russian because of Putin. I have been trying to learn Hebrew for about a year now, in fact, it's supposed to be easier for an Arabic speaker than most but I'm not giving it the proper time and discipline. That said, I think Hebrew being dead from about 100 BC to the 1800s CE is just the mainstream opinion in Linguistics. Ultimately all languages are different degrees of "dead" anyway, this channel does have a video arguing that Arabic itself is dead, and though I haven't seen it yet I know exactly what it's about. (Nobody actually speaks fully correct textbook Arabic, which is vastly harder to speak correctly than to write, the actual Arabic dialects spoken are often very different and full of different phonetics and loan words, most importantly they greatly relax and simplify Arabic's ancient and complex grammar.)

[@EnochianDemonology]

You cant take arab words and change them a little and declare you received Hebrew. Its disingenuous

[@lizberezin2919]

Ok, so the arab words bandura for tomato (=pomodoro) and bantaluni for pants (=pantalons) are disingenuous?

[@romero522]

every language loans words, the most influential languages on Hebrew were, and still, Aramaic and Greek. Arabic had some influence, but not nearly these two. but because it was a process of active revival, and active loaning, we all know which words came from Arabic. it is harder with Greek and Aramaic since some words were already so assimilated and are already ancient loans. and as this guy said, Arabic also has loanwords, a lot of. Such as Bandora, Pantalon. Arabic borrowed from Aramaic as well, Persian, Greek, French, Latin, Italian, and on and on and on. words that you might think are Arabic in origin, but are not. EVERY language is influenced.