Academy of the Hebrew Language

Academy of the Hebrew Language
האקדמיה ללשון העברית
Formation 1890 - Hebrew Language Committee
1953 - Academy of the Hebrew Language
Founder Eliezer Ben Yehuda
Type GO
Legal status Language regulator
Purpose To regulate the Hebrew language
Headquarters
Coordinates 31°46′20.34″N 35°11′54.71″E / 31.7723167°N 35.1985306°E / 31.7723167; 35.1985306Coordinates: 31°46′20.34″N 35°11′54.71″E / 31.7723167°N 35.1985306°E / 31.7723167; 35.1985306
Region served
Hebrew-speaking population
Official language
Modern Hebrew
President
 Moshe Bar-Asher
Staff
38
Website hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il
Formerly called
 Hebrew Language Committee

The Academy of the Hebrew Language (Hebrew: הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית, Ha-Akademya la-Lashon ha-Ivrit) was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on the Hebrew language in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem of Givat Ram campus."[1]

History

The Academy of the Hebrew Language building at the Hebrew University - Givat Ram campus

The Academy replaced the Hebrew Language Committee (Vaʻad ha-lashon ha-ʻIvrit) established in 1890 by Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who was its first president. As Hebrew became the spoken language in Palestine and was adopted by the educational system, the Hebrew Language Committee published bulletins and dictionaries. It coined thousands of words that are in everyday use today.[2]

Its successor, the Academy of the Hebrew Language, has continued this mission of creating new Hebrew words to keep up modern usage.

Although the academy's business is creating new words from Hebrew roots and structures to replace loanwords derived from other languages, its own name is a loanword, "akademya."[3] It addresses this irony on its English website.[4] The Academy sets standards for modern Hebrew grammar, orthography, transliteration, and punctuation based on the historical development of the language.

Organization

The plenum consists of 23 members. In addition, the academy employs 15 academic advisors, among them respected scholars of language, linguistics, Judaic studies, and Bible. The Academy’s decisions are binding on all governmental agencies, including the Israel Broadcasting Authority.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Minority Languages and Language Policy: The Case of Arabic in Israel
  2. ↑ The New Jewish Encyclopedia, ed. David Bridger
  3. 1 2 Hebrew Academy
  4. ↑ When Should Foreign Words Be Replaced By Hebrew Words?

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.