Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as a first language or proficiently as a second language. Its standard form, known as Modern Hebrew , is the main medium of life in Israel.
Modern Hebrew is the primary official language of the State of Israel. As of 2013, there are about 9 million Hebrew speakers worldwide, [87] of whom 7 million speak it fluently. [88] [89] [90] Currently, 90% of Israeli Jews are proficient in Hebrew, and 70% are highly proficient. [91]
Developed as part of the revival of Hebrew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is the official language of the State of Israel and the only Canaanite language still spoken as a native language. The revival of Hebrew predates the creation of the state of Israel, where it is now the national language.
Israel is the only country to have a revived official language, Hebrew. Israel is the only country where Jews constitute more than 2% of the total population, and in which they are the largest demographic. Its culture comprises Jewish and Jewish diaspora elements alongside Arab influences.
In Mandatory Palestine, Modern Hebrew became one of three official languages and after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, one of two official languages of Israel, along with Modern Arabic. In July 2018, a new law made Hebrew the sole national language of the State of Israel, while giving Arabic a "special status". [1]
After Israel's establishment in 1948, English was removed as an official language, leaving Hebrew and Arabic as co-official languages. The 2018 Nation-State Law declared Hebrew as the "state's language" and Arabic as a language that has "a special status in the state" whose use "in state institutions or by them will be set in law."
Arabic was an official language of Mandatory Palestine and was retained as an official language when the State of Israel was founded in 1948. In 2018, the Knesset upgraded the status of Hebrew from official to State language of Israel, and gave Arabic a special status in the State by adopting the relevant Basic Law.
Jewish languages are the various languages and dialects that developed in Jewish communities in the diaspora. The original Jewish language is Hebrew, supplanted as the primary vernacular by Aramaic following the Babylonian exile. Jewish languages feature a syncretism of Hebrew and Judeo-Aramaic with the languages of the local non-Jewish population.