{"id":3542,"date":"2015-10-27T13:26:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T13:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3542"},"modified":"2015-10-15T00:15:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T00:15:33","slug":"top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrew is an ancient language, and it carries a great deal of historical and religious significance. And it\u2019s a very living language nowadays, as well: it\u2019s spoken by almost 10 million people, and widely studied by linguists and theologists alike. But not all Hebrew is the same; indeed, there are several distinct dialects that have their own pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Below is a list of some of the most popular ones.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a>

Image via Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

1. Israeli<\/b><\/p>\n

Israeli Hebrew, also referred to as Modern Hebrew, <\/b>is the standard version of the Hebrew language, and is spoken by millions of people in Israel as well as its diaspora. Though it\u2019s by far the most common language in Israel, it\u2019s not the only official language: Arabic also holds official language status in Israel.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re learning Hebrew for communication purposes, you\u2019re likely learning this dialect. If you\u2019re learning Hebrew for religious reasons, it\u2019s more likely that you\u2019ll study a more ancient dialect, which is commonly used in religious texts.<\/p>\n

2. Ashkenazi<\/b><\/p>\n

The Ashkenazi dialect is also commonly used in Israel, though its popularity is declining compared to Israeli Hebrew. Its differences from the Israeli dialect are most notable in its pronunciation of certain words and letters. For example, the letters \u05d0<\/b> and \u05e2<\/b> are pronounced as glottal stops (think of the sound you make when saying \u201cuh-oh\u201d) in Israeli Hebrew, whereas they are completely silent in Ashkenazi Hebrew.<\/p>\n

3. Sephardi<\/b><\/p>\n

Another popular variation of Hebrew is the Sephardic dialect. Historically, speakers of Sephardi Hebrew have come into contact with many other languages such as Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese; for that reason, it\u2019s been influenced by those languages. Perhaps because of this, the letter\u05e8 <\/b>is pronounced in Sephardi Hebrew like the Spanish \u201cr\u201d, whereas it\u2019s more like the French \u201cr\u201d in other dialects.<\/p>\n

How good is your Hebrew? Find out by taking our <\/i><\/b>free online Hebrew level test<\/i><\/b><\/a>!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

4. Yemenite<\/b><\/p>\n

The Yemenite dialect of Hebrew was brought to Israel by the Yemenite Jews, who first began moving to Israel in the late nineteenth century. Like the other dialects on this list, it features several distinguishing phonological traits. For instance, the letter \u05d2\u05bc <\/b>is pronounced like a hard \u201cg\u201d in most Hebrew dialects; in Yemenite Hebrew, however, it is pronounced like the \u201cj\u201d in \u201cjob\u201d.<\/p>\n

5. Mizrahi<\/b><\/p>\n

Mizrahi Hebrew originated in Arab countries to the east of Israel. Though it is not as commonly spoken as some other dialects on this list, Mizrahi Hebrew is notable for staying remarkably true to ancient Hebrew -- more so than Israeli Hebrew. It has also been subject to significant Arabic influence, which shows in its shared pronunciation with many Arabic sounds.<\/p>\n

Indeed, there is a lot of variation within Hebrew, and each dialect has its own unique pronunciation and history. Whether you want to learn Hebrew for business, personal, or religious reasons, the best way to do so is to take personalized courses taught by a native Hebrew speaker<\/a>. Send us a quick inquiry<\/a> to learn about the various ways that we can help you learn Hebrew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hebrew is an ancient language, and it carries a great deal of historical and religious significance. And it\u2019s a very living language nowadays, as well: it\u2019s spoken by almost 10 million people, and widely studied by linguists and theologists alike. But not all Hebrew is the same; indeed, there are several distinct dialects that have(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":3543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[464,465],"class_list":["post-3542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-learning","tag-hebrew","tag-learn-hebrew"],"yoast_head":"\nTop Dialects of the Hebrew Language<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-27T13:26:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-15T00:15:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/\",\"name\":\"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-27T13:26:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-15T00:15:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a\"},\"description\":\"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"Image via Pixabay\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a\",\"name\":\"Paul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul\"},\"description\":\"Paul is a New York-based expat living in Buenos Aires. He enjoys playing piano, watching tango, and eating dulce de leche by the spoonful.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/paulmains\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language","description":"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language","og_description":"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2015-10-27T13:26:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-10-15T00:15:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":410,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/","name":"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-27T13:26:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-15T00:15:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a"},"description":"Learning Hebrew? Get to know more about the top dialects in Hebrew found throughout the world!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lldialects_hebrew1.jpg","width":600,"height":410,"caption":"Image via Pixabay"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/top-dialects-of-the-hebrew-language\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top Dialects of the Hebrew Language"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a","name":"Paul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul"},"description":"Paul is a New York-based expat living in Buenos Aires. He enjoys playing piano, watching tango, and eating dulce de leche by the spoonful.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/paulmains\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3542"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3545,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions\/3545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}