Bilinguals See the World in Greater Depth

March 15, 2011

When Jewish kids in the Diaspora are taught Hebrew, the purpose is not primarily to make vacationing in Israel easier, but to put it to liturgical use and to make thousands of years of Jewish tradition more accessible.

However, I’d like to believe that with the language we not only open intellectual avenues, but enable the student to experience the world differently, to see it colored by the sensitivities and the rich experiences of generations of Jews from the recent and distant past.

Now, a new study of bilingual people sheds light on how, indeed, to see the world differently, to experience it from the vantage point of different cultures. Even the simple act of describing a color becomes enriched:

Panos Athanasopoulos, of Newcastle University, has found that bilingual speakers think differently to those who only use one language. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | English, news | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Arie Folger

How German built the Hebrew language

February 19, 2010

Languages evolve constantly. New technologies, new philosophical concepts and ideas, and new social organizations and interactions necessitate new words. Cultural encounter also leads to incorporation of foreign loan word for foreign phenomena, whether to label them as something desirable, or as pejorative influences to be rejected.

Mishnaic and Talmudic Hebrew brought Greek and Latin terms to Hebrew (Apotika=Hypotheka, Dinar, Drachon, Itztaba=Stoa, Sanhedrin, Siqriqon=Sicarii, Biberin=Vivarium; other examples in the Jewish Encyclopedia). Mediaeval Hebrew incorporated Arab and Greek philosophical terms (just leaf through Maimonides’ Guide for abundant examples), and the twentieth century, technological terms.

In recent decades, such words have often come from English – in all languages, including Hebrew. However, earlier in the 20th century, German dominated, and, as DPA documents in Haaretz, Hebrew not inly includes many Yiddish terms, but outright German loan words, too:

When an Israeli gets out of bed on a dark morning, she will flick on a light Schalter (switch in English) and wash down a Biss (bite) of toast with a Schluck (sip) of coffee – all Hebrew words that stem from the German language. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | English | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Arie Folger