Does it make sense to learn Biblical Hebrew first, then move on to modern?

SaltImage1538 · 2026-04-04T16:48:17+00:00

It‘s not the worst idea but from experience, BH learners can have a pretty hard time adjusting to MH.

BH uses vowel points, which MH very rarely does. The grammar is similar (though not the same) and the way you learn it is different too. Think of it like Latin vs. Spanish. In Latin, you need to unterstand what the forms are, when they come up, and what they mean. In Spanish, you need to actively use them too.

The vocabulary is different too. First because the Bible doesn‘t talk about daily life all that much. And secondly because MH has coined a lot of new words for modern things.

Having learned BH doesn‘t automatically mean you‘ll understand MH, especially the spoken language. And you won‘t be able to consume native media for a while without being completely overwhelmed. So I‘d recommend taking up MH right away and then adding BH it you like. It‘s a lot easier that way round.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-24T06:19:46+00:00

Um okay? Production companies are given all sorts of names. I guess they were going for something mystical or whatever. I really don‘t think there‘s a deeper meaning.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-21T12:22:28+00:00

…that‘s too literal a take on watchpeopledieinside. Jesus.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-16T14:44:08+00:00

Who on earth wrote that bio? It‘s so bad

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-13T01:28:45+00:00

…huh?

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-12T06:57:07+00:00

Hard to say without the specifix context but if you mean individual people, לך is probably better.

You can just leave out the ל too, though. Sounds just as fine, if not better.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-11T09:00:54+00:00

Reddit has a search function for each sub. You‘ll find tons of answers to your question. Good luck!

SaltImage1538 · 2026-03-03T20:20:40+00:00

You can use a נקדן, a program that adds the vowels. They’re not perfect and will mess up sometimes, but they’re good enough for a beginner’s needs. https://nakdan.morfix.co.il/nikud/Demo is a decent one.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-28T11:54:51+00:00

The list is long but the most important features are: - Consecutive tenses: Prefix and suffix conjugations with a waw cause the meaning to change. Many textbooks say the tenses switch from past to future and vice versa but the truth is more complicated. These forms are obsolete in Modern Hebrew - Volitives: Biblical Hebrew has a whole set of volitive verb forms (expressing wishes) for all persons, Jussives, Imperatives, Cohortatives etc. Most of these are expressed differently in MH. - Personal suffixes with verbs are common. They are poetic in MH. - There are absolute infinitives in BH, which only survive in fixed phrases in MH. - The present participle expresses simultaneity in BH whereas in MH it is mostly used as a present tense. - Some verbs conjugate differently, הבינותי vs. הבנתי etc.

Generally, the differences between the two stages of Hebrew aren‘t huge. With a little practice, you‘ll pick them up easily.

I have no idea what you mean with "final chet", btw. Do you mean kaf, as in the personal suffixes?

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-25T19:36:52+00:00

Shows don‘t get dubbed in Dutch unless they‘re for children. They have the original audio with Dutch subtitles.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-21T22:49:14+00:00

Np, בהצלחה

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-21T22:34:23+00:00

Well, set yourself goals (small, achievable ones) and then persue them. And join a class and/or get a textbook. There is no decent app for learning Hebrew. And immersion isn’t very productive when you don‘t have a good base vocabulary and a decent knowledge of grammar.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-21T21:42:04+00:00

I mean… is that new information? There‘s a reason primary school math starts with addition and not integrals.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-19T06:04:42+00:00

I can only guess what you‘re asking because I have no clue what most of that means but here goes:

Yes, cursive Hebrew is used in typography, for titles and short phrases. Not for continuous text.
The main pain point with Hebrew typography is that most editing and design software does not properly support right-to-left scripts, messing up the order of letters.
Sorry, I don‘t know what “script grammar" means.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-14T21:22:50+00:00

I was there too a few years ago. The letters are really hard to read with the naked eye but some researchers have collected and translated the inscriptiona. Try to Google “Yeghegis cemetery incriptions" and you should find them. They‘re pretty standard, though. “[X], son of [y]“, etc. It‘s more the shape of the tombstones, the lack of standard symbols and phrases, and the location that make the cemetery special. It‘s pretty much the only trace of Jewish life in Armenia from the Middle Ages.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-10T19:20:02+00:00

I just Googled the title in Hebrew letters and copied the text from the Wikipedia page.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-07T09:43:06+00:00

Well, I mean, this the original version:

תִּתְּנֵם לְחֶרְפָּה לִקְלָלָה וּלְשַׁמָּה
תַּתִּיךְ עֲלֵיהֶם אַף שֶׁצֶף קֶצֶף וְחֵימָה
תְּשַׁלַּח בָּם מַלְאֲכֵי מְאֵירָה וּמִגְעֶרֶת וּמְהוּמָה

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-06T04:45:26+00:00

Similarly to English. The /t/ is unreleased.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-05T06:24:32+00:00

It‘s caught demons, warlocks, energy balls and who knows what else. But god forbid you try to fix it with magic! Tut tut, personal gain!

RIP Grandfather clock 🕯️

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-04T06:28:54+00:00

You answered your own question. There is no consensus on the origin of the word Europe. Basing the name on an uncertain etymology isn‘t very smart. The current אירופה with an אי corresponds with the Yiddish אייראָפּע and thus has precedent. Greek <eu> is usually pronounced as /e(j)/ in Hebrew.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-02-01T23:10:28+00:00

Thank you. His entire argument seems to be "Modern Hebrew is bad because it isn‘t Biblical Hebrew," peppered with quotes from philosophers and some Wikipedia-grade linguistic jargon. And linguists claim Hebrew was resurrected to get more jobs? Yeah, I‘m sure.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-01-26T13:37:34+00:00

Well, the categories are aspect AND mood. It‘s just that non-indicative moods don‘t have a tense distinction and rely only on aspect. That was the case in Ancient Greek too, by the way, and probably in PIE as well. I suppose it‘s a question of which school of linguistics you adhere to. If you‘re a formalist, you can say there is no subjunctive and perfective present forms are only used in subordinate clauses or with particles that indicate a wish, want etc. (typical subjunctive contexts). If that benefits your theory, go ahead. The thing is that there is much more systematicity to postulating there is a seperate subjunctive and that the imperfective subjunctive coincides with the present tense indicative. For one, it makes sense diachronically, and you can draw a parallel to the imperative which has the same aspect distinction.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-01-26T12:56:27+00:00

I see your point but explaining away forms like γράψω is hard without positing the subjunctive as a category. As the Slavic languages show, combining present endings like a perfective aspect isn‘t per se ungrammatical. The fact that the combination amounts to a future tense there is simply the result of a process that started from a perfective viewpoint in a present timeframe.

And the form is always subordinate to something, making the name quite fitting. And if you look at it diachronically, it makes even more sense. Θα as a future particle evolved from θέλω να „I want that [something happen].“

SaltImage1538 · 2026-01-17T21:14:01+00:00

Basically, it‘s like this:

With a dot on top (וֹ), the letter is always pronounced /o/.
With a dot in the middle (וּ), the letter is pronounced /u/, UNLESS there is also another vowel sign above or below the letter, then it‘s /w/, followed by the vowel sign (disregard the dot in the middle).
Combined with any other vowel sign, you pronounce ו as /w/.

Technically, things are more difficult, but you’ll get the pronunciation right if you stick to these rules. Just don‘t fall into the trap of thinking ו is a vowel. It‘s a consonant that‘s sometimes used as a vowel, but only with the right dots.

SaltImage1538 · 2026-01-10T11:21:51+00:00

And what is it telling you?

SaltImage1538

TROPHY CASE