Chapter published in:
Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew: Background, Morpho-lexicon, and SyntaxEdited by Ruth A. Berman
[Studies in Language Companion Series 210] 2020
► pp. 97–130
Chapter 5Prescriptive activity in Modern Hebrew
Uri Mor | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
This chapter surveys prescriptive activity and discourse in Modern Hebrew from historical and
sociolinguistic perspectives. The first prescriptive efforts in the pre-Mandate period (up to 1918) were part of an
intensive language planning process aimed at creating a uniform functional national language based on classical Hebrew
sources. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the nationalistic tone of public discourse in Israel
increased, and with it prescriptive activity, up until the 1970s. At a very early stage in the formation of the speech
community, even prior to World War 1, two types of ideal (hegemonic) Hebrew began to emerge:
institutional (planned), reflecting a nationalistic and puristic stance grounded in the Jewish
past, and native (unplanned), reflecting a contrasting anti-institutional stance. Both types are
still active in contemporary public discourse in Israel, and together constitute a complex approach to prescriptivism
and the concept of correct language.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Prescription, norms, and standards
- 1.2Prescriptive discourse
- 1.3Prescriptivism, ideology, and nationality
- 1.4Attitudes towards prescriptivism
- 2.Prescriptive activity in Modern Hebrew
- 2.1The pre-state period (1889–1948)
- 2.1.1Initiatory attempts
- 2.1.2Nationalistic underpinnings
- 2.1.3Conflicts and divergence
- 2.2Prescriptivism in Israel since 1948
- 2.2.1The rise in nationalism and prescriptivism
- 2.2.2Institutionalization and expansion
- 2.2.3Changing values
- 2.1The pre-state period (1889–1948)
- 3.Some illustrations
- 3.1Pronunciation
- 3.2Grammatical structure
- 3.3Lexicon
- 4.Concluding notes
-
Notes -
References
Published online: 18 March 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.210.06mor
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.210.06mor
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