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Hebrew Language & Usage

Proposed Q&A site for students, teachers and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Hebrew language.
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Just to be clear, I believe this should be an in-depth Hebrew language Q&A site, this has nothing to do with Judaism or Israel, just Hebrew. – Truth Feb 6 at 19:54

1
vote
3
answers

Should questions on other Jewish languages be on topic?

feb 6 at 19:51 Truth 391
2
votes
1
answer

Translating Hebrew t o English

jan 19 at 17:27 Robert Cartaino♦ 472
2
votes
4
answers

How should we type Hebrew words?

jan 18 at 18:43 cwallenpoole 250
1
vote
1
answer

Should questions on the rules and usage of Lashon Kodesh be on topic?

jan 15 at 19:25 Monica Cellio 376

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22 Example Questions

active oldest votes
up vote 10 down vote
How do you vocalize [Hebrew word here]?
added by Truth Nov 25 '11 at 9:51
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2  
It was already written in the bible, That when israelis people get down - they fall very deep. – ParPar Dec 18 '11 at 14:06
True, however there are newer words which do not appear in the bible. For instance, internet (אינטרנט), etc. – Truth Dec 18 '11 at 16:39
and...what did you mean to say? – ParPar Dec 19 '11 at 14:48
up vote 10 down vote
In Biblical Hebrew, why does the first vowel of the last word of a sentence sometimes change (e.g. gefen to gafen)? Is there a pattern?
added by Monica Cellio Nov 27 '11 at 22:50
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There is a pattern although it is very complicated. – ParPar Dec 18 '11 at 14:08
Sometimes there is not a pattern but then it comes to imply something. – ParPar Dec 18 '11 at 14:10
2  
Not the place for answers, trying to feel out what will be good questions. – Hrafn Jan 20 at 2:56
up vote 10 down vote
In Biblical Hebrew, how do I know when to read a vav prefix as "and" (usual case) versus "or" or "but" or some other word?
added by Monica Cellio Dec 1 '11 at 3:53
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I didn't quite understand that one. Could you give an example? (I speak Hebrew, if you can write Hebrew it's preferable.) – Truth Dec 2 '11 at 14:18
Vav is usually "and", but there are cases where translators render it "or" (and sometimes "but" or other connective words) instead. The question is whether they are reasoning from context ("it can't mean 'and' there so must be something else") or if there's a rule. See: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/11051/472 . – Monica Cellio Dec 2 '11 at 17:17
up vote 9 down vote
What is the earliest recorded use of "nekudos" (vowels) in Hebrew?
added by HodofHod Jan 15 at 17:58
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up vote 7 down vote
I've heard wav pronounced "w" and "v", which one is considered the "more correct" way?
added by cwallenpoole Dec 19 '11 at 7:10
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The most correct way is like "v", but when we want to spell some word in English contains "w", we usually use double "Vav". – ParPar Dec 19 '11 at 13:36
Also, in some cases, Vav as the first letter in the word may also be pronounced as "oo". – Truth Dec 19 '11 at 16:03
1  
Amusing how you compromise by calling it "wav" - rather than "vav" or "waw" – sq33G Dec 26 '11 at 10:11
If you speak the Yemini dialect, "w" is more correct than "v". Also those who believe the Yemini dialect to be close to the "correct" way, will also say it that way, even if they don't normally come from that region. – GMNoob Jan 9 at 8:18
up vote 7 down vote
When did the vowels receive the names we're familiar with today?
added by sq33G Dec 26 '11 at 10:23
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up vote 6 down vote
How were taf & tet pronounced historically? Today they're usually homophones (except when taf is like samech for Ashkenazim); what's the history?
added by Monica Cellio Jan 16 at 4:50
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A better question would be to ask how was Tet pronounced historically, as Tet was the one who changed, not Taf (Tet was T'et, like a Tet followed by an A'in טע) – Truth Feb 6 at 19:56
@Truth, reworded to address your concern. (Wow, is the limited character count here challenging!) – Monica Cellio Feb 9 at 19:54
up vote 5 down vote
What is the equivalent English expression to [insert Hebrew slang here]?
added by GMNoob Jan 9 at 11:47
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What's Machir Pritzutz in Hebrew first? xD. Seriously though, we need to determine a correct Hebrew latiniztion syntax... – Truth Jan 13 at 15:29
@Truth it literally means "Price explosion", and in the context of a food package it means something to the effect of "new low price" – GMNoob Jan 14 at 15:44
In which case, that's Me(c)hir Pitzuz, there's no ר in פיצוץ. Also, It's pronounces as "e" not "a" ;). And by this question you basically mean "What is the English equivalent to [Insert Hebrew slang here]". If it's true, please edit your question to reflect that. – Truth Jan 21 at 14:07
up vote 3 down vote
Shouldn't "Cherubim" be in the dual in Exodus 25:18.
added by René Nyffenegger Dec 27 '11 at 17:22
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I don't understand the question? (even after reading the verse) – Truth Jan 6 at 11:30
1  
@Truth, since there are exactly two you would expect cherubayim, like yadayim for a person's two hands. – Monica Cellio Jan 15 at 5:45
up vote 3 down vote
How do you know when to use Chof or Kof, or Beis or Veis?
added by HodofHod Jan 25 at 17:16
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For example, sometimes you say "kol" ("all"), and sometimes "chol". Sometimes "bein" ("between"), and sometimes "vein". And the same is true when they're used as prefixes. – HodofHod Jan 25 at 17:21
Not a great question, since it is so easily answerable via wikipedia. But could be a good question if it's about exceptions to the rule – Tal Fishman Jan 26 at 15:41
2  
@TalFishman. I disagree. For one, if you hadn't linked to it, I would never have seen that page, no matter how much searching I would've done. Second, once having found that page, I would have to spend an hour just learning all the technical terms there, before I could understand it. – HodofHod Jan 26 at 16:16
The question here is when should one use a Dagesh, which is a legitimate question. – Truth Feb 6 at 19:58
up vote 3 down vote
Are there any classical Hebrew words that are unattested in the Bible but are known from archeological findings?
added by Alex Jan 26 at 5:44
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up vote 2 down vote
Are the Dead Sea Scrolls the oldest existing Hebrew writings? If not, what is?
added by HodofHod Jan 25 at 1:50
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up vote 2 down vote
Why is there no dagesh in the fey of fesach in Exo 12:48 yet there is one in Deu 16:2, as both are preceded by mileil misharet havarot-petuchot?
added by Double AA Jan 29 at 6:16
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I would have given more background were the number of characters not so limited. – Double AA Jan 29 at 6:17
up vote 1 down vote
What are the origins of the various Hebrew dialects and pronunciations that exist today?
added by GMNoob Jan 9 at 11:48
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up vote 1 down vote
What are the various Hebrew scripts and letter-forms? Which are still used today?
added by HodofHod Jan 25 at 2:08
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1  
This seems like a rather general question, I think you should be a bit more specific. (It's like asking what are the various frameworks for PHP and which is still in active development on SO, only larger :X) – Truth Feb 6 at 20:02
up vote 0 down vote
Are there similarities to the famous "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" sentence in Hebrew?
added by Khaloymes Dec 25 '11 at 20:14
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up vote 0 down vote
What is the etymology of the word השלכות?
added by sq33G Dec 26 '11 at 10:08
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This question would be better with a ltitle more context -- why is this particular word interesting? – Monica Cellio Dec 26 '11 at 15:27
If you prefer, I can replace the particular word with <insert word here>. It was the only interesting word in the email subject I happened to have open when writing the question. – sq33G Dec 27 '11 at 11:14
Oh, ok! So you meant this question to be analagous to the "how do I vocalize X" question? – Monica Cellio Dec 30 '11 at 14:04
@sq33G Please do so. – Truth Jan 13 at 15:27
up vote 0 down vote
At the beginning of the News they use the word "Ulpan" in reference to the "Chadashot", what does the word "Ulpan" mean in this context?
added by GMNoob Jan 9 at 11:45
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up vote 0 down vote
Which word in Hebrew has the largest variety of meanings?
added by GMNoob Jan 9 at 11:54
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up vote 0 down vote
<W> means "Z" in Biblical Hebrew; the similar word <X> means "Z" in [Y] Hebrew. Why the change?
added by msh210 Jan 29 at 19:21
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E.g., W=טנא; X=טני; Y=Mishna; Z=basket. – msh210 Jan 29 at 19:22
up vote 0 down vote
Why do only three of the vowels have a chataf form?
added by Alex Jan 30 at 7:27
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up vote -3 down vote
Most of the documents we'll encounter as amateurs are in the medieval/modern script. Is there benefit in learning the more ancient character designs?
added by cwallenpoole Dec 19 '11 at 7:14
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I'd go with off topic. Recommendations etc are usually off topic in those kinds of things. – Truth Dec 22 '11 at 18:55

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