{"id":28556,"date":"2020-11-05T09:36:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T09:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/?p=28556"},"modified":"2021-09-20T09:08:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T09:08:35","slug":"hebrew-language-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/2020\/11\/05\/hebrew-language-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hebrew Language: History and Translation Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrew<\/a>, along with Arabic, is one of Israel\u2019s official languages. Hebrew language history as a spoken language goes back many years in time; in fact, Hebrew is one of the oldest known living languages that\u2019s currently still spoken. It\u2019s culturally considered the Jewish language. Hebrew is spoken by 7 million people in Israel. The United States is the second-largest Hebrew-speaking country with approximately 200,000 people, and Hebrew is also followed by Jewish diaspora (Jews living outside Israel) worldwide communities.<\/p>\n

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Hebrew Language History<\/h2>\n

\"TranslationHebrew was first documented in the Old Testament of the Bible. Historically, Hebrew has been a very widely spoken language. It was considered a sacred language. Mishnaic<\/em> Hebrew was the last dialect that was spoken as a native language in the region of Israel prior to the downfall of Hebrew.<\/p>\n

Until 1880, Hebrew was not spoken as a native language in any land. During this period, it was exclusively spoken instead as a liturgical language used in religious ceremonies and prayers.<\/p>\n

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The Rise of Hebrew<\/h2>\n

Hebrew did not experience a rebirth as a natively spoken language until the late 19th century, while the primary surge was experienced in 1880. Modern Hebrew is mutually intelligible, meaning speakers of different but related dialects can generally understand each other, among most Jewish communities worldwide.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s world, Modern Hebrew is spoken in everyday use in Israel and other Jewish communities worldwide (for everyday use), and Classical Hebrew is practiced for prayer and historical studies with Hebrew literature.<\/p>\n

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Hebrew Translation and Layout Tips<\/h2>\n

The Hebrew language has some characteristics that require special attention, whether you\u2019re laying out content for a document, localizing a website or localizing software. For example, the Hebrew writing style is right to left, so when translating an editorial document such as a manual, book or brochure, you must change the layout to right to left. Some authoring programs such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe FrameMaker offer a reverse layout functionality, which is one of the most useful options when working with a Hebrew or Arabic file.<\/p>\n

Here are some other interesting characteristics of Hebrew. The language doesn\u2019t have capital letters. And five letters change their shape when they\u2019re in the last position of the word:\u00a0\"Hebrew<\/p>\n