Hebrew is written using the Hebrew script. When the state of Israel was founded, this modern version was immediately adopted as an official language. The spoken revival is often attributed to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who wanted Hebrew to be the primary Jewish language in secular as well as religious contexts.

Modern Hebrew was developed in the 19 th and 20 th centuries CE as a revival of what was then an unspoken language. Hebrew was later displaced as a vernacular language, mainly by Aramaic. It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, along with languages such as Arabic and Amharic. Hebrew is spoken by some 5 million people mainly in Israel.Ĭlassical Hebrew was spoken between the 11 th and 6 th centuries BCE in various forms and was used to write the Hebrew Bible, which is the basis of the Christian Old Testament. Since the dialect of Hebrew spoken by the Ephraimites contained no sound, they pronounced the word with an initial S, betraying themselves as the enemy.Hebrew (עברית) is the official language of Israel and the liturgical language of Judaism. In order to identify these disguised refugees, the Gileadites put each refugee to a simple test: pronounce the word shibboleth. According to the Book of Judges 12:1-15, after the people of Gilead defeated the tribe of Ephraim, some Ephraimites crossed secretly into Gilead's territory in an attempt to escape retribution. Word History: Today's Good Word is Hebrew shibboleth 'ear of corn' and 'flooded stream', both meanings ultimately from a Semitic root meaning 'to hang down, stretch, draw or move along'. In Play: The original shibboleth was always a word: 'Mama, we have a new clubhouse and the shibboleth to get in is 'supercalifragilistic expialidocious'!' By the 20th century, however, it was any test of authenticity: 'I escaped from the enemy but didn't know the shibboleth to cross the US lines-who had the most singles for the Chicago Cubs in 1943-so I went back, surrendered, and sat out the war in a POW camp.' Succeed in that and spelling today's Good Word is a snap. It is one of those words, however, with a double consonant and a single one easy to confuse: we must remember to double the B but not the L. Notes: This word is so long and unEnglish that it has not developed a family and remains a lexical orphan.

A test of authenticity such as a question that someone from outside a culture or organization cannot answer, betraying them as an outsider. A linguistic test or password, a catchword difficult to pronounce, designed to trap foreigners as nonnative speakers of a language.

Mikledet in hebrew