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The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. What makes it unique is that the original Bible, the Torah, by Orthodox Jews held to be recorded in the time of Moses 3,300 years ago, was written in Biblical Classical Hebrew. Jews have always called it the לשון הקודש Lashon haKodesh ("The Holy Tongue") as many of them believe that it was chosen to convey God's message to humanity. After the first Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, Hebrew was replaced in daily use by Aramaic and became primarily a religious and literary language, used in prayer and study of the Mishnah (part of the Talmud). Hebrew was reborn as a spoken language during the late 19th and early 20th century as Modern Hebrew, replacing ArabicArabic is a Semitic language, fairly closely related to, for instance, the Hebrew language and the Aramaic language, spoken throughout the Arab world and widely known outside it. It has been a literary language for over 1500 years, and is the liturgical l, Ladino, YiddishYiddish (, Jiddisch is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. The name Yiddish itself means "Jewish" ( German: Judisch and is originally short for yidish daytsh , or "Jewish German"; an older term in English is Judaeo-, and other languages of the Jewish diasporaJewish diaspora ( Hebrew: Tefutzah or Galut "exile") refers to the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the world. Diaspora is commonly accepted to have begun with the Babylonian Captivity in 597 BCE. Many Middle Eastern Jewish communities were esta as the spoken language of the majority of the Jewish people living in IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea..
Modern Hebrew is the primary official language of the state of IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea., (Arabic also has official language status). The Hebrew name for the language is עברית, or `Ivrit (pronounced eevREET [ivr\it]).
| Hebrew (עברית [‘Ivrit])
|
| Spoken in:
| IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
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| Region:
| Israel and other countries
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| Total speakers:
| Over 6 million, as all Israeli Jewish citizens as well as its Arabs speak it
|
| Ranking:
| not in top 100
|
Genetic
classification:
| Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
Central
Northwest
Canaanite
Hebrew
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| Official status
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| Official language of:
| Israel
|
| Regulated by:
| Academy of the Hebrew Language
(האקדמיה ללשון העברית)
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| Language codes
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| ISO 639-1 | he
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| ISO 639-2 | heb
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| SIL | HBR
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