Full Description
Historical Continuity in the Emergence of Modern Hebrew offers a new perspective on the emergence processes of Modern Hebrew and its relationship to earlier forms of Hebrew. Based on a textual examination of select case studies of language use throughout the modernization of Hebrew, this book shows that due to the unconventional sociolinguistic circumstances in the budding speech community, linguistic processes did not necessarily evolve in a linear manner, blurring the distinction between true and apparent historical continuity. The emergent language's standardization involved the restructuring of linguistic habits that had initially taken root among the first speakers, often leading to a retreat from early contact-induced or non-classical phenomena. Yael Reshef demonstrates that as a result, superficial similarity to earlier forms of Hebrew did not necessarily stem from continuity, and deviation from canonical Hebrew features does not necessarily stem from change.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: History, Culture, and the Speech Community
Chapter 2: Emergent Modern Hebrew as a Distinct Linguistic Phase
Chapter 3: The Role of Inherited Non-Classical Elements in the Emergence of a Colloquial Register
Chapter 4: The Rise and Fall of Honorifics
Chapter 5: Adjective Grading - The Formation of a Paradigm
Chapter 6: The Standardization of Action Nouns
Chapter 7: True and Apparent Continuity in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew
Bibliography
