Modern Hebrew, which can now be heard everywhere on the streets of Israel, has continued to evolve since it was reintroduced as a living language. Eliezer Ben Yehuda is the man many credit with reviving the Hebrew language more than 100 years ago. Ben Yehuda's son, Itamar Ben Avi, was the first native Hebrew speaker. He had a thoroughly miserable childhood - home-schooled, locked up by his parents, and not allowed to play outside with other children so that he would not be exposed to any other languages. Itamar was three-and-a-half when he spoke his first Hebrew word.
Part of the difficulty in bringing an old language back to life was that, well, life had changed. The words that existed in the Bible often described rather grand ideas like love, war, and peace. But that was no help when trying to get shopping done - there were no words back then for ice cream or jelly, or underwear. So Ben Yehuda and his friends simply made them up, using old Hebrew roots to hint at the new words' meaning. And that process is still happening today.
The modern Hebrew language is growing all the time with around 20 new words being officially added each year. Approving these new words can be a lengthy process. A committee has to consider them, and it can take several years to reach a decision. And even after all that - there is no guarantee that the public will accept the words. Language is a sensitive issue in Israel. It is even discussed in the Knesset.
In 2005, Israel's then prime minister Ariel Sharon chastised Israelis for using the Arab-English hybrid expression "yala bay" to say farewell to each other (you hear it everywhere in Israel). Instead, Sharon argued, they should be using what he referred to as "the most beautiful word", shalom.
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