Hebrew is a Semitic language that was once a dialect of Canaanite. It persisted as a literary language due to the Hebrew Bible, but has since re-emerged as a spoken language in Israel and other Jewish communities. There are many dialects, with Classical Hebrew being spoken in ancient Palestine. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda developed the standard Hebrew spoken in Israel today, and the language has two main dialects: Standard and Eastern.
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic family. It was once a dialect of the Canaanite language, but other dialects have died out. This language was spoken in ancient times until the late 4th century AD when it started to be replaced by Aramaic, but it persisted as a literary language, largely due to the Hebrew Bible being used by the Jewish faith. Today, it is once again a spoken language in Israel and other Jewish communities, boasting an estimated 4 million speakers worldwide.
There are many different dialects of this language, with the various versions spoken in ancient Palestine between the 10th century BC and the 10th century AD collectively being referred to as Classical Hebrew. It is further subdivided into earlier Biblical Hebrew, spoken up to the 1st century AD, and later Mishnaic, which existed between the 1st and 4th centuries AD Amoraic was a strictly literary language that coexisted with Mishnaic, and both forms, collectively called Rabbinic Hebrew, were used in the Talmud, a record of rabbinical commentaries on Jewish law and culture written between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. In medieval times, there were many regional dialects, the most important of which, Tiberian or Masoretic, it is sometimes referred to as Biblical Hebrew because it is used to pronounce the Bible. However, this form must be distinguished from the true Biblical form, spoken in Biblical times, of which there is no record of pronunciation.
Before Hebrew re-emerged as a spoken language, it was used in Jewish religious practices around the world, and styles of liturgical pronunciation differ by region. Ashkenazi Hebrew is the dialect of Central and Eastern Europe and is still used in Ashkenazi religious studies and services around the world. Sephardic Hebrew, the basis of the language used by native speakers in Israel, arose in the Iberian Peninsula and in the former Ottoman Empire. Mizrahi or Eastern Hebrew comprises a number of Middle Eastern dialects.
Its resurgence as a secular language began in the mid-19th century when Jewish writers began using it in novels and poetry. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a resident of Palestine in the early 20th century, developed the standard Hebrew spoken in Israel today. He was also instrumental in developing schools and textbooks to promote the spoken language, and after a large influx of mainly Russian Jews into Palestine between the 19th and 20th centuries, the movement towards a spoken language took off. The British Mandate of Palestine established it as an official language in 1904.
Hebrew benefited Palestinian Jews, as they came from different areas of the world and did not have a common language. The Hebrew Language Academy was also founded around the turn of the 20th century and continues to regulate the language. Today there are two dialects of the spoken language, in addition to the liturgical dialects discussed above. These are Standard and Eastern and differ mainly in phonology or pronunciation.
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