Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew

Doron, Edit (Editor)/ Hovav, Malka Rappaport (Editor)/ Reshef, Yael (Editor)/ Taube, Moshe (Editor)

ISBN 10: 902720327X / ISBN 13: 9789027203274

Published by John Benjamins Pub Co, 2019

About this Item

390 pages. 9.50x6.50x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # __902720327X

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew
• Publisher: John Benjamins Pub Co
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 902720327X
• ISBN 13: 9789027203274
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.85 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

The emergence of Modern Hebrew as a spoken language constitutes a unique event in modern history: a language which for generations only existed in the written mode underwent a process popularly called “revival”, acquiring native speakers and becoming a language spoken for everyday use. Despite the attention it has drawn, this particular case of language-shift, which differs from the better-documented cases of creoles and mixed languages, has not been discussed within the framework of the literature on contact-induced change. The linguistic properties of the process have not been systematically studied, and the status of the emergent language as a (dis)continuous stage of its historical sources has not been evaluated in the context of other known cases of language shift. The present collection presents detailed case studies of the syntactic evolution of Modern Hebrew, alongside general theoretical discussion, with the aim of bringing the case of Hebrew to the attention of language-contact scholars, while bringing the insights of the literature on language contact to help shed light on the case of Hebrew.