

Jewish communities spread across the world also spoke the native language of the countries they were living in. Ashkenazi (Jews who lived in Europe) Jewish communities generally spoke Yiddish (a combination of Hebrew and German), while Sephardic Jews spoke Ladino (a combination of Hebrew and Spanish). Hebrew was not a spoken language until a century back. Some of the noteworthy names are the novelist Abraham Mapu and the poet Judah Leib Gordon and the essayist Abad Ha’am among other novelists, poets, and essayists. It produced rich literature in Hebrew which was not the spoken language of the people. Among the great names in Hebrew literature is Moses Mendelssohn in Germany, who translated the Old Testament into German in Hebrew characters.Īnother important development is the Jewish enlightenment, Haskala, which was popular in Russia and Poland. Moshe Hayyim Luzzarato, the poet and playwright of Italy, heralded a new era in Hebrew literature.
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Hebrew literature flourished in Spain.Ī monumental contribution of the Judea-Arabic school was Mishne Torah which is the formulation of the code of Rabbinic Law by the Spanish-born Moses Maimonides. After the Talmudic era, it lapsed even as a literary language and was revived in Palestine and Spain from the 7th century. Hebrew ceased to be the language of the people but was used only by scholars and the clergy during the Judeo Hellenic period.
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Another important work of the same period is Midrash, which consists of a series of contributions made over many years giving the legendary and imaginative interpretations of the Bible. The Mishna and Gemara together constituted the Talmud. The expansion of Mishna by successive generations of scholars by way of commentaries was known as Gemara. About 220 A.D., the main laws were compiled by Judah ha-Nasi and committed to writing in the Mishna. They were not written down but preserved and transmitted orally. The Hebrew language works were studied and taught in synagogues and schools. The earliest Hebrew literature is the Old Testament which consists of a collection of historical, legal, ethical, and liturgical works composed over a period of many centuries. Hebrew literature has had a continuous tradition from the 12th century B.C. Modern Hebrew, the language of Israel in modern times.Ĭheck out I Love You In German Language.Medieval Hebrew from about the 6th century A.D.Mishanite Hebrew, the language of Mishna consisting of literature of Jewish traditions written about A.D.200 This form of Hebrew was never a spoken language among people.Biblical or Classical Hebrew until around 3rd century B.C., when most of the Old Testament was written.



Hebrew is a Semitic language written in the Semitic script from right to left and has 22 letters. (Also read: Oldest languages in the world) Hebrew Language’s Four Stages In Sumerian script – if you wanted to write something, all you needed to do is draw that thing you want to write down. The oldest evidence for pre-Hebrew letters was found in a region called ”Mesopotamia,” currently an area spreading through Iran and Iraq.įindings tell the Hebrew alphabet was evolved from the Sumerian script, 3,500 BC approximately. The Hebrew language is the only language founded at the same time handwriting was, and yet, it still is widely spoken in the 21st century.
