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Old language turns new
Hebrew has a new slang!
by Solomon H. Steckoll
We were sitting in a tent in an
Israeli army outpost northwest of
Mount Ataka in Egypt towards the
end of 1973 during that brief
period of Israeli occupation of
parts of Egypt proper, during the
Yom Kippur War.
"Go and see to the pak-pak,” the
major told a soldier. The soldier,
who obviously knew what a “pak-
pak” was, left the tent, to attend to
his duties. This was a word in
Hebrew we had not yet come
across, and enquiries revealed that
it was the new terminology for a
mobile electricity generator.
Because they sound off pak-pak-
pak.
The new Hebrew slang,
developed especially in the army,
but also among other groups, has
added particular vitality to this
ancient language, making it viable
as any other tongue of modern
usage.
It is only too easy to recognize
that there has been a veritable
revolution and a language has been
transformed so that there is no
subject, be it scientific or
colloquial, which cannot be
properly expressed in Hebrew.
A unique aspect of Hebrew is
that, today, it is possible to read
the classics, that is, the Bible,
written so many thousands of
years ago, and to understand it.
This despite the time gap, and
despite, also, the modem linguistic
revolution. The uniqueness of this
phenomenon can be readily
grasped if it is pointed out that in
English, for example, it is
practically impossible today for an
Englishman to understand
Chaucer, only 400 years old.
The spurt to the revival of
Hebrew as a living, vibrant
language, came with the
establishment of the State of Israel
30 years ago, which brought a
massive influx of immigrants in its
wake. Immigrants from all
quarters of the world, who spoke
more than the traditional seventy
languages which were spawned at
the Tower of Babel in another age.
A most intense campaign for the
integration of these immigrants
into the fabric of Israel was
initiated, the most important
plank of all in building the new
‘...while the language
bears a superficial
resemblance to Biblical
Hebrew, it has created
its own terminology. ’
Israeli nation being the creation of
a single, unified language for all.
The language of the prophets now
became the language of everyman.
While anybody knowing
Hebrew today can readily
understand the Biblical Hebrew of
Isaiah, the prophet, had he been
around today, would not
understand the language as it is
spoken today. Hebrew has new
dimensions. And it is not only a
matter of introducing new slang
terms, such as pak-pak.
There are new words used in
medicine, in science, in electronics
and nuclear chemistry. Words to
express every nuance of music
and words for household goods of
today, products of our modern
age. One of the characteristics of
modern Hebrew is the speed of the
changes in all respects and, while
the language bears a superficial
resemblance to Biblical Hebrew, it
has created its own terminology.
This has happened to Hebrew in
earlier attempts at revival, as well.
flOS^ 11D3
let this Passover be a
most joyous celebration
of freedom, family and
tradition.
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A brants Industries, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia
Hebrew ceased being a spoken
language by the masses in this
country in the third century BCE.
The educated classes preferred
Greek, while the lingua franca of
the common people was Aramaic.
Then, at the turn of the Era, the
Sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls
revived Hebrew, spoke and wrote
in this language. Like today, they
also created their own terminology
for their special concepts of
thought and way of life.
The revival of the Hebrew
language in Palestine by the
Qumran Sectarians of the Dead
Sea Scrolls did not last long,
however, and Greek and Aramaic
again became the languages
spoken. After its extinction as a
spoken tongue, many efforts at
revival were made. The first major
effort came in the fifth century
CE, with many linguistic
innovations.
There was a fresh impetus in the
Middle Ages, and again from the
end of the nineteenth century,
through the pioneering work of
Ben Yehuda. But, in all cases, until
our own time, Hebrew writers were
hampered. They had the Bible and
the Talmud, but the vocabulary
was small and modern concepts,
modern way of life, could not be
satisfactorily expressed.
The early generation in
Palestine, before the establishment
of Israel in 1948, had forged a
spoken language which rid
Hebrew of some of its more
pedantic and bombastic
characteristics, inherent in the
biblical rhetoric. Developing on
this, the modem crop of authors in
Israel of the new school have
created a natural language, alive
with colloquialisms, of which the
word pak-pak is only one of
thousands of examples. ’
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May This Festival of
Passover Bring You Joy !
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Page 15 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 21, 1978