This week in Israel, although it is only August, the heat has subsided (don't worry, it is due to return and with strength)! And even though it is hard to believe, it is really nice to be able to stroll along the streets of our country. If I am permitted to be proud of our beautiful city for a moment, since the renovations Rechov Yafo has been transformed into one of the most inviting and bustling streets in the day and at night. It is a lot of fun to go out, with the night breeze, to stroll in the streets of central Jerusalem, to stop for coffee in a quaint coffee shop and to have fun here where there are no more fumes from buses to destroy your lovely burekkas (incidentally- highly recommended). This is really fun, it is really something something.
משהו – משהו: Something something!
I know that in translating to English this does not sound good, but if you want to be in Israel and sound Israeli, this is how Israelis talk. It happens a lot that we repeat the same word twice in order to emphasize the point like "this is a really true statement".
And to give some examples:
אח שלי הוא גבר-גבר, הבורקס ב"אמא" הוא לא סתם בורקס, הוא בורקס – בורקס! חכה, לאן אתה ממהר? לאט- לאט!
My brother is a gever- gever, a manly man. The burekkas at "Ima" are not just burekkas, they are burekkas burekkas! Wait, where are you hurrying to? Slowly Slowly!
Indeed it does sound very Israeli to speak like this, with repeated words, but to be clear, this is not just an Israeli thing; it is also a phenomenon evident in the past, as far back as the bible and also in the Talmud. This phenomenon to repeat words is apparent also in the slang of many other languages such as English: "easy-easy", Arabic: "Shwaye-shwaye" and many more examples in other languages. From these languages then it was very easy for it to enter Israeli slang! And so we have not totally invented this phenomenon but have warmly embraced it opening up a wealth of possibilities and opportunities for usage.
And here we come to the end of this blog,
סוף- סוף Finally!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Hello all!
Two weeks ago I spoke about the structures and forms in Hebrew and we mentioned the form of illnesses. Today I want to expand on this in speech.
As it is known, the basis of Modern Hebrew is from Biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew is the foundation of Modern Hebrew but does not comprise of enough words to complete our linguistic needs. Together with the emergence of cultural changes and technology we are lacking additional words that cannot be found in the bible. Words like newspaper, ice cream and more. These words could not be found in the bible because their objects were not yet in existence. When the Hebrew language began its reawakening, together with the nation of the Jewish people, there was no choice but to create new words. But how?
The changes that were made by Ben Yehuda were made according to the rules that began in the bible. For example, the word "Ee-ton", newspaper, is comprised of the word "Et" meaning time and the ending "On" which signifies order (like "rishON"- first, "AcharON"- last e.t.c.). The newspaper arrives at a certain time. These two parts are combined together to make a new word formed from the bible.
In the book of Deutoronomy, G-d says to the people of Israel
"And I will smite you with consumption, fever and infection" (Deutoronomy, 28:22).
"יַכְּכָה ה' בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת וּבַקַּדַּחַת וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת" (דברים כח)
From this sentence we learn the structure of illnesses in Hebrew (all the Hebrew words have the same structure as mentioned previously). In the rest of the world, illnesses move and diminish, only in Israel there are more and more illnesses that have never before been mentioned in the Doctor's books. Since the origins of the Hebrew language, new illnesses have begun to be publicized such as that of "Daberet", talkativeness, "Patpetet", Chattyness and "Hanemet", for people who give too many speeches.
But it is not just these illnesses that have appeared. In other arenas new illnesses have appeared, have you heard of the illness of "Nayeret", the paperwork illness that infects everyone that works in government offices? And if we are already talking about government offices, have you ever had to queue for documents and the person at the counter has "Sachevet", "foot-dragging"?
And it goes on…. Just use your imagination.
We will meet in the next post, until then, only in good health,
Kol Tov,
Osnat.
As it is known, the basis of Modern Hebrew is from Biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew is the foundation of Modern Hebrew but does not comprise of enough words to complete our linguistic needs. Together with the emergence of cultural changes and technology we are lacking additional words that cannot be found in the bible. Words like newspaper, ice cream and more. These words could not be found in the bible because their objects were not yet in existence. When the Hebrew language began its reawakening, together with the nation of the Jewish people, there was no choice but to create new words. But how?
The changes that were made by Ben Yehuda were made according to the rules that began in the bible. For example, the word "Ee-ton", newspaper, is comprised of the word "Et" meaning time and the ending "On" which signifies order (like "rishON"- first, "AcharON"- last e.t.c.). The newspaper arrives at a certain time. These two parts are combined together to make a new word formed from the bible.
In the book of Deutoronomy, G-d says to the people of Israel
"And I will smite you with consumption, fever and infection" (Deutoronomy, 28:22).
"יַכְּכָה ה' בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת וּבַקַּדַּחַת וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת" (דברים כח)
From this sentence we learn the structure of illnesses in Hebrew (all the Hebrew words have the same structure as mentioned previously). In the rest of the world, illnesses move and diminish, only in Israel there are more and more illnesses that have never before been mentioned in the Doctor's books. Since the origins of the Hebrew language, new illnesses have begun to be publicized such as that of "Daberet", talkativeness, "Patpetet", Chattyness and "Hanemet", for people who give too many speeches.
But it is not just these illnesses that have appeared. In other arenas new illnesses have appeared, have you heard of the illness of "Nayeret", the paperwork illness that infects everyone that works in government offices? And if we are already talking about government offices, have you ever had to queue for documents and the person at the counter has "Sachevet", "foot-dragging"?
And it goes on…. Just use your imagination.
We will meet in the next post, until then, only in good health,
Kol Tov,
Osnat.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Hello! I hope that this blog reaches you in a good and summery spirit!
Summer, it's hot. We, here in Israel are thirsty for water and a little breeze but despite this it is great to see all the tourists that come to Israel in order to experience a true Israeli summer. The heat, the humidity, the protests, the societies that have arisen at the last moment (because of the heat? the holiday?) This hasn't deterred the people that love the summer; the sea, the blue sky and the golden sand that we have here in Israel.
And for a proportion of the tourist season, also Ulpan Aviv benefits from seeing all the tourists that come to visit our country. We get to meet people from all over the world- from England, America, Portugal, Canada, France, Holand Italy and more. Many of them enjoy exploring Jerusalem during their studies, together with their teacher, to experience the interesting sites that we have here (of course in Hebrew). They learn about the holy places like the old city, ancient synagogues and more. But also, they learn about modern Jerusalem- Yemin Moshe, Rechavia and the shuk. All these sights and sounds can be taken as an indication that indeed it is the time of redemption, like the prophet Zecharia said in the Old testament:
"Thus said the L-rd of hosts: There shall yet be old men and women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem. And the man will have a stick in his hand for his great age. In the streets of the city, they will be filled with boys and girls playing in their streets." (Zecharia 8:4-5)
And we have already been reminded of the children playing in the streets of Jerusalem (and also in our new branch in Tel Aviv) because of the success of our children's courses which continue to grow and grow! This is in addition to the countless number of young (or young at heart) faces which arrive each morning to our Ulpan also with big smiles on their faces! Between the work that they do together with the teachers here at our school, they also have a packed schedule, trips to the zoo, to the science museum, to new neighborhoods and of course lots and lots of icecream, choco, falafel and a great atmosphere.
Just like we said, an Israeli summer!
Someone asked for Felafel? Until next time…..
Osnat
And for a proportion of the tourist season, also Ulpan Aviv benefits from seeing all the tourists that come to visit our country. We get to meet people from all over the world- from England, America, Portugal, Canada, France, Holand Italy and more. Many of them enjoy exploring Jerusalem during their studies, together with their teacher, to experience the interesting sites that we have here (of course in Hebrew). They learn about the holy places like the old city, ancient synagogues and more. But also, they learn about modern Jerusalem- Yemin Moshe, Rechavia and the shuk. All these sights and sounds can be taken as an indication that indeed it is the time of redemption, like the prophet Zecharia said in the Old testament:
"Thus said the L-rd of hosts: There shall yet be old men and women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem. And the man will have a stick in his hand for his great age. In the streets of the city, they will be filled with boys and girls playing in their streets." (Zecharia 8:4-5)
And we have already been reminded of the children playing in the streets of Jerusalem (and also in our new branch in Tel Aviv) because of the success of our children's courses which continue to grow and grow! This is in addition to the countless number of young (or young at heart) faces which arrive each morning to our Ulpan also with big smiles on their faces! Between the work that they do together with the teachers here at our school, they also have a packed schedule, trips to the zoo, to the science museum, to new neighborhoods and of course lots and lots of icecream, choco, falafel and a great atmosphere.
Just like we said, an Israeli summer!
Someone asked for Felafel? Until next time…..
Osnat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)