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Questions tagged [hebrew]

Hebrew, a West Semitic language, is the ancient and modern language of the Jewish people.

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How are dead languages reconstructed?

I'm really interested in Biblical studies, so I've often wondered this about the languages in the Bible. Namely, Greek (Koine), Hebrew, and Aramaic. I've tried looking into it, but I've never really ...
Julian Jefko's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
792 views

Order of components within measurement units in RTL languages

This question is about measurement units in languages written in right-to-left (RTL) scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, Malay, Farsi, etc. and their country-specific variants (for example, Arabic ...
msoutopico's user avatar
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1 answer
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finding the language stem of vowelless Hebrew

I am looking for tools to find the language stem in vowelless Hebrew, preferably a full list of suffixes and prefixes with the stem. A small list can be found on wikipedia. An extensive list can be ...
davids's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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What is X in a syllable C=consonant, V=vowel

I don't under stand (X) and (s/sh) in this sentence. As opposed to Hebrew CV(X)(C), the non-Semitic syllable structure of Israeli, (s/sh)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(s/sh)
בנימן הגלילי's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Can anybody tell me what is on this picture? I think is hebrew [closed]

I saw this on a car in my city yesterday, and I have seen several cars with it. Not sure if it's a new trending, if it means something, if it meaningful. Any ideas? Thanks!!
jpruiz114's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Where do I find nikud for a word?

Where can I find some kind of database of all Hebrew words with the right nikuds? I did find a script to add nikuds to words on github, but the corpus used there is only from words from the bible, so ...
Florian's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
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Why was the name תאומא transliterated as Θωμᾶς (Thomas) rather than Τωμᾶς (Tomas)?

Thomas derives from Aramaic תאומא (cognate with the Hebrew תאום). My understanding was that Aramaic, like Tiberian Hebrew, had the fricative [θ] as a conditioned allophone for the plosive [t], and ...
Uri Granta's user avatar
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What characterises Hebrew spoken by native English speakers?

I was watching episode 8 of Srugim's third season and noticed, beginning at approximately 19:50 (at least in the Hulu upload), this very minor character whose Hebrew sounded weirdly "off" to me. From ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
203 views

Relation between Hebrew 'סמפוניה' and English 'Symphony'

In the Mishna, it mentions a musical instrument called a 'סמפוניה', transliterated 'Simp-O-nya'. This sounds rather like the English word symphony, which is a musical composition. What is the ...
Mithical's user avatar
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Do Persian Jews voice Hebrew ק?

I recently saw the Hebrew name יעקב transliterated into (American) English by Persian Jews as Yaghob. I find this curious (because the ע isn't transliterated, but that's a question for another time, ...
msh210's user avatar
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Concerning Semitic Pronunciation of Pharyngeal Letters

So a popular theory in the pronunciation of Hebrew is that "Biblical Hebrew" (or, at the very least, Hebrew up to the point to the fall of the Second Temple and well into the 8th century CE) had ...
rosenjcb's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Finding the root of an Aramaic or Hebrew word

I'm trying to make a dictionary on the web where people can automatically look up words in a text they're reading online. While I have the words and their definitions, the problem is that many times ...
PopularIsn'tRight's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
739 views

A spectral analysis of Hebrew pronunciation, looking for source

I recently was shown this article that claims that the Hebrew alphabet, when viewed in what appears to be a spectrogram, the actual frequencies in which the letter hits creates a shape of the physical ...
Michael's user avatar
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1 answer
107 views

Anomalous forms of Hebrew roots with final y

Hebrew triliteral roots whose final consonant is y have an anomalous conjugation in most templates. Why is this? Specifically: It is only in the passive participle template CaCuC, as far as I can ...
TKR's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
293 views

Hebrew to English connection through linguistics?

On the website, "Edenics- Where Language Began" it is mentioned that the Hebrew word 'zinoot'(fornication) a Zayin-mem word have influenced the English sin". Since the z and the s are closely ...
Duane T. Bentz's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
659 views

What is the etymology of the Hebrew word יָלַד

What is the etymology of the Hebrew word יָלַד, transliterated, yalad. The Hebrew Lexicon offers no etymology. This is an effort to research the linguistics pertaining to a question on BH-SE, How ...
Sarah's user avatar
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2 answers
541 views

Is there any etymological motivation for “I-slam”, “I-srael”, “Mu-slim” and “I-smael”?

Background Looking at old German orthographies, the long-s (ſ) spelling of the following five words (and I have not found any others so far) contradicts the spelling systematics of all other words: ...
ˈvʀ̩ʦl̩ˌpʀm̩ft's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
3k views

Are Hebrew numeric ranges written right-to-left or left-to-right?

There seems to be a difference between Hebrew and Arabic, for example. Here's a test you can do in Notepad: Switch the text direction to right-to-left (it's one of the context menu options) Paste (...
Tatiana Racheva's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
796 views

List of words in Hebrew

Where can I found a list of all the words in Hebrew including plurals, inflections, etc.? I have only found some lists that are based on wikipedia corpus or subtitles curpus, which include many errors ...
zenpoy's user avatar
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2 answers
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Etymology of witness in Hebrew

What are the origins of the Hebrew word pronounced "ed," meaning "witness?" It is spelled ayin daled. Is it related to the ayin daled portion of the word "Le-ad," which means "forever?" Does it ...
Randi's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
3k views

If the Arabic script is suited to Arabic grammar, how do speakers of non-Semitic languages cope with it?

The Arabic script is an Abjad writing system or consonantal alphabet. Most letters stand for a consonant, and short vowels are usually not indicated (but can exceptionally be indicated with diacritic ...
robert's user avatar
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6 votes
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Why is Ivrit not considered an artificial language?

Why is Ivrit, the modern version of Hebrew, not considered an artificial language like for example Interlingua? From the history it looks like the language was dead except in clerical circles and ...
0xC0000022L's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
852 views

Hebrew - Arabic grammar book

I've been searching for quite a long time for a Hebrew-Arabic grammar book to study both languages in more depth at the same time while being able to compare similar roots and the root system for ...
Ognan's user avatar
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1 answer
165 views

How could complex numerical interrelationships arise naturally in a language? [closed]

In Hebrew and possibly other abjads, there is a concept called "gematria", which is, in short, that each letter has a numerical value proceeding linearly through the alphabet, such that א equals 1, ב ...
yoel's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can the root ש ל ם be used to mean “Submission”?

In Arabic, the root S-L-M (س ل م) has a general meaning of "Peace", but can also be used for "Submission" (such as in the words Islam/Muslim). Given the close relation between Hebrew and Arabic, I'm ...
lingo101's user avatar
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9 votes
5 answers
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Linguistic or etymological relationship between the words "Sabbath" and "seven"

The words for "Sabbath" and "seven" seem similar in both Hebrew and Aramaic. Is there an etymological relationship between them? Sabbath (Shabbat), שַׁבָּת, is Strong's H7676. It is spelled shin-bet-...
Sarah's user avatar
  • 349
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

Meaning of sufformative versus suffix

In reading Daniel Block's commentary on Ezekiel, I have come across the word sufformative. (Block uses it of the Hebrew masculine singular ending -em.) I have searched all around but cannot find a ...
Kazark's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
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Hebrew "shemen" versus Latin "semen"

Is the etymology of the word "semen" (eng. "seed") in Latin connected to the hebrew word שֶׁמֶן "shemen" (eng. "ointment")? I've just read a peculiar article that attempted to make this connection: ...
André Staltz's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
3k views

Plural "you" in different language families connoting respect

I recently found out that French has two different words for "you." From here: Tu is the familiar "you," which demonstrates a certain closeness and informality. ... Vous is the formal "you." It is ...
b a's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
21k views

What are the origins of the word Hebrew?

I have read that this word may derive from an Egyptian decree issued by Pharoah Merueptah (1224 which referred to the hebrew word 'habitu' (type of slave) who carry stones for the great pylon of the ...
user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
3k views

What are the rules to infer the vowel in-fix in Hebrew conjugation?

Hebrew verbs are based on roots. A root can provide different verbs through processes of derivation called binyanim. Each verb can be conjugated by in-fixing vowels. For instance (using the first ...
neydroydrec's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
581 views

What transcription to reflect Hebrew script and phonetics?

I am currently learning modern Hebrew with simple material (Teach Yourself Hebrew). I would like to use a different transcription than the one offered in this book or in Omniglot to build up my ...
neydroydrec's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
93k views

The Origin of the Word 'God'

I originally posted this a while ago on my blog, but someone recently suggested that I pose it as a question here. A brief Wikipedia search on the origin of the word ‘god’ reveals the following: ...
Dov F's user avatar
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26 votes
4 answers
896 views

Why was מֹשֶׁה‎ transliterated as [moʊzɨz]?

How did the name "מֹשֶׁה‎" come to be transliterated with a [z] at the end? The OED entry notes that "Moses" derives from Biblical Hebrew "Mōšeh" and that the earliest attestations with a strident ...
WAF's user avatar
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36 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why the prevalence of "ph" in transliteration?

Why is "ph" used so often (as opposed to "f") to transliterate the Hebrew "fei" sound into English? Examples: Alef - 17.5 million Google hits (MGh) Aleph - 13.8 MGh Seraf - 0.9 MGh Seraph - 23.4 MGh
Isaac Moses's user avatar

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