Vocabulary
Modern Israeli Hebrew has borrowed many words from Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic (spoken Arabic, mainly Judeo Arabic and Palestinian Arabic), German, Latin, Greek, Polish, Russian, English and other languages. Some typical examples are:
| loanword | derivatives | origin | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | IPA | meaning | Hebrew | IPA | meaning | language | spelling | meaning |
| ביי | /baj/ | goodbye | English | bye | ||||
| אגזוז | /eɡˈzoz/ | exhaust system |
exhaust system |
|||||
| דיג׳יי | /ˈdidʒej/ | DJ | לדג׳ה | /ledaˈdʒe/ | to DJ | to DJ | ||
| ואללה | /ˈwala/ | really!? | Arabic | والله | really!? | |||
| כיף | /kef/ | fun | לכייף | /lekaˈjef/ | to have fun | كيف | pleasure | |
| חפיף | /χaˈfif/ | lightly | להתחפף | /lehitχaˈfef/ | to scram | خَفِيف | lightly | |
| אבא | /ˈaba/ | daddy | Aramaic | אבא | the father | |||
| לאלתר | /lealˈtar/ | immediately | לאלתר | /lealˈter/ | to improvize | על אתר | right here | |
| חלטורה | /χalˈtura/ | shoddy job | לחלטר | /leχalˈter/ | to moonlight | Russian | халтура | shoddy work |
| בלגן | /balaˈɡan/ | mess | לבלגן | /levalˈɡen/ | to make a mess | балаган | chaos | |
| תכל׳ס | /ˈtaχles/ | directly | Yiddish | תכלית | goal | |||
| חרופ | /χrop/ | deep sleep | לחרופ | /laχˈrop/ | to sleep deeply | חְרוֹפּ | sleep | |
| שפכטל | /ˈʃpaχtel/ | putty knife | German | Spachtel | putty knife | |||
| גומי | /ˈɡumi/ | rubber | גומיה | /ɡumiˈja/ | rubber band | Gummi | rubber | |
| גזוז | /ɡaˈzoz/ | carbonated beverage |
Turkish French |
gazoz eau gazeuse |
carbonated beverage |
|||
| פוסטמה | /pusˈtema/ | stupid woman | Ladino | inflamed wound | ||||
| אדריכל | /adriˈχal/ | architect | אדריכלות | /adriχaˈlut/ | architecture | Akkadian | arad-ekalli | temple servant |
- Sources
Read more about this topic: Modern Hebrew
Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:
“Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to the intellectual expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-medical jargon that parodies the concepts of science. The social style conforms to the political expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-liberal social movement that parodies the ideals of freedom and rationality.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)