Languages of Israel. What languages are spoken in Israel?

Representatives of various national groups coexist in Israel. Walking around Jerusalem, a tourist can meet as a religious Jew in a hat and black clothes, as well as an Arab in a national kerchief. What languages are spoken in Israel today?

Main languages

Currently there are two official languages in Israel - Arabic and Hebrew. In addition to them, Italian, Persian, Romanian, Ethiopic, English and many others are also common. Hebrew has about 5 million people. This is the main language of Israel. However, throughout history, Hebrew has ceased to be the language of everyday communication. Gradually, he moved to religious texts, rituals, as well as books. Less common is Arabic. However, both languages in Israel, both Arabic and Hebrew, are public.

Where in Israel is Ethiopian?

People who come to Israel for the first time often confess that their perceptions of the Jews change dramatically after meeting with the ethnic group of Ethiopian Jews - Falash. This is a Jewish community that lives in the North, as well as North-Western Ethiopia. Those who are interested in what language they speak in Israel will be surprised that one of the most common is the Ethiopian language. Falashi consider themselves descendants of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. Officially they were recognized by the Jews rather late, only in 1973.

It was then that they obtained the right to obtain Israeli citizenship. However, this was not appreciated by the Ethiopian authorities. In the same year, a law was issued that prohibited Ethiopian citizens from leaving the country. Although some members of the community managed to escape, many of them died on the way. In the mid-eighties, the Israeli authorities decided to bypass this ban and try to get Jews out of Africa. After several operations on the Promised Land, about 35,000 Ethiopian Jews were transported. This is how the Ethiopian language spread to the territory of modern Israel.

Arabic in Israel

The Israeli Ministry of Education has a special Arab department that is developing a school curriculum for students who speak Arabic. Despite the fact that most of them learn Hebrew, many do not own it well enough. According to this bill, Jewish schoolchildren from the first grade should study Arabic, and Arab, in turn, should learn Hebrew. Arabic has become the official language of Israel, including with the goal of maintaining peace in the country. Specialists in linguistics argue that the interest of Israelis in the study of the Arabic language in recent years and without the introduction of special bills is increasing.

The prevalence of Russian

The Parliament of Israel has repeatedly proposed a bill on the introduction of the Russian language into the list of state languages of Israel. The last of such bills was proposed in August 2008. The most common language that is taught in Israeli schools is English. And also often studied and the second foreign, as a rule, Arabic or French. Since 2008, he is Russian. However, most of the speakers of the Russian language in Israel are representatives of the older generation. At the same time, many people say that the Russian language is more like a dialect. Despite this, the total number of press in Russian, as well as the media, is close to what is published in the state language of Israel - Hebrew.

Many tour operators guarantee to their clients that they will not have problems with communication while traveling to Israel. This is due to the fact that about 20% of the total population of this country is very fluent in Russian. In recent decades about a million Jews from the countries of the Soviet Union have moved to this state, for which the Russian was practically a native. However, young people of the new generation prefer to use the state language of Israel in Hebrew.

From the history of Hebrew

The official language of Israel has a long history. The word "Hebrew" is literally translated as "the Hebrew language". The very name appeared about 100 years ago, it is relatively new. Before that time, the Jews called their language a holy language. Many geologists believe that in Hebrew the Lord God conducted conversations with Adam in paradise. However, scientists are much more cautious in their conclusions. In their opinion, Hebrew is quite an ancient language. The age of the most ancient inscriptions in Hebrew, which were found in the territory of Israel, is about 3000 years. However, scientists are convinced that the most ancient texts were written even earlier - in the XII century BC. It is this time that is considered the beginning of the Hebrew history. The ancient Jews used the Phoenician letter. Apparently, they were taught this Canaan.

Scientists believe that the letters of the Phoenician alphabet come from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is interesting that from it all the alphabets of modernity originate - it is Jewish, Greek, Latin, Arabic. Cuneiform did not take root. It was distributed in the north of Phenicia. To date, the Hebrew letter, although in a very modified form, is used to record the Torah. In the IV century. BC. E. The Hebrew language ceased to be alive. At this time, there was a serious danger of the loss of appropriate pronunciation of various religious texts. In the sixth century, transcription systems were developed that specified the pronunciation of words. Thanks to these measures, the Hebrew language has come down to our days.

Interesting facts about Israel and Hebrew

So, we have considered the answer to the question of what language is spoken in Israel. What other facts can interest those who seek to learn more about the culture of this country? The capital of Israel is Jerusalem. It is on its territory that the main state institutions are located. However, the main business center of the country is Tel Aviv. This is where the headquarters of various corporations are located, as well as international consulates. Week in Israel does not begin on Monday, as is customary in many countries, but on Sunday. On Saturday, life almost freezes. However, local residents say that now the Sabbath is not observed as strictly as it was 15 years ago. Some stores still remain open. They say that in Israel you can live a lifetime and hardly have Hebrew. Even those Israelis who were born here will be able to understand you.

However, in order to get a job, you need to know the state language of Israel - Hebrew. It's a simple language. It is very structured and logical. Its main features are that there are no vowels in it at all, and words are written from right to left. Many people are interested in what language they speak in Israel, because they would like to know the local culture better. It is not difficult to learn Hebrew. At first it is difficult to overcome the craving to open books from the end, and not from the beginning. Hebrew words are few enough, and the verbs are 4 times smaller than in the Russian language. It takes about 6 months to learn how to explain in Hebrew with daily conversational practice.