Modern Hebrew

Hebrew
עִבְרִית ʿIvrit
Pronunciation	[(ʔ)ivˈʁit] - [(ʔ)ivˈɾit][1]
Native to	Israel, Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria;[2] used globally as a liturgical language for Judaism
Native speakers	(5.3 million [3] cited 1998)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Northwest Semitic Canaanite Hebrew
Writing system	Hebrew alphabet Hebrew Braille
Official status
Official language in	Israel
Language codes
ISO 639-1	he
ISO 639-2	heb
ISO 639-3	Either: heb – Modern Hebrew hbo – Ancient Hebrew
Linguasphere	12-AAB-a

Modern Hebrew (Hebrew: עברית חדשה) is the standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the official language of Israel, where it is used in government, education, and daily life.

The roots of Modern Hebrew can be traced back to ancient Hebrew, which was used in the Bible and other religious texts. However, after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language and was only used for religious purposes.

In the late 19th century, a group of Jewish scholars and writers began working to revive Hebrew as a spoken language. They developed new words and grammatical structures to adapt the language for modern use.

Modern Hebrew is spoken today by about 9 millions of people (counting native, fluent and non-fluent speakers),^[4][5] mostly in Israel.

1. ↑ Standard Israeli (Sephardi) [ʕivˈɾit]; Iraqi [ʕibˈriːθ]; Yemenite [ʕivˈriːθ]; Ashkenazi [ˈivʀis]
2. ↑ "CIA's World Fact Book". Archived from the original on 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
3. ↑ "Hebrew language report". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
4. ↑ Klein, Zeev (March 18, 2013). "A million and a half Israelis struggle with Hebrew". Israel Hayom. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
5. ↑ Nachman Gur; Behadrey Haredim. "Kometz Aleph – Au• How many Hebrew speakers are there in the world?". Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.