Ben-Yehuda's Pocket English-Hebrew/Hebrew-English Dictionary [antikvár]

PREFACE The language of thesacred writings of the Jews, from the earliest documents of the Bible down to modern times, has been Hebrew. Its history extends over a period of three millennia, during which time the language had naturally undergone significant linguistic development. The Jewish Encyclopedia lists two broad phases of this linguistic development: (1) the creative period with its pre-exilic, postexilic and mishnalc phases, and (2) the reproductive period, beginning with amoraic literature (third century c.e.) and continuing until the present. Biblical or classical Hebrew, concise, vigorous and poetic, underwent little change during the first commonwealth. Beginning with exilic times, however, aramaic Influence on Hebrew began to be felt: increased number of word-borrowings, greater aramaization of its syntax; and its entrance into tan-naitic literature, the chief work of which is the Mishnah. New Hebrew or postbiblical Hebrew emerged as the language of the reproductive period, the second phase of linguistic development. The writers of talmudic, midrashic and liturgical literature adopted mishnalc Hebrew, avoiding the more poetic biblical Hebrew. The translation of Arabic works on philosophy and science necessitated a remodeling of mishnalc Hebrew, which was insufficient for the treatment of scientific subjects. A philosophic Hebrew, the language of medieval translators, grammarians, poets and writers, enriched the old language. New vocabulary Items were coined; Arabic words and syntax patterns were borrowed. However, neither the Arabic Influence on the Hebrew of medieval times nor the aramaic influence on the Hebrew of biblical times impaired the essential characteristics of the Hebrew language. The period of enlightenment followed by the rise of national consciousness throughout European Jewry created a modern Hebrew—a synthesis of biblical and mishnalc Hebrew, fusing the rhetoric and grandeur of the one with the clarity and simplicity of the other. The revival of Hebrew as a living, spoken language and the advocacy of a return to the ancestral homeland Inspired dedicated men to coin new terms for new Ideas. Biblical, mishnaic and medieval sources were culled by these dedicated men and were used as a scaffolding on which to enlarge the Hebrew vocabulary and serve modern times.