Special Dose of Hebrew for Yom Haatzmaut: 7 Hebrew Words for 7 Decades
In celebration of Israel’s 70th, the Academy of the Hebrew Language – האקדמיה ללשון העברית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-1.m4a” /] – opened up a vote to the Hebrew-speaking public for the most Israeli word for each of Israel’s 7 decades.
We at Ulpan La-Inyan thought it apt to introduce these words to you, to help you increase your Hebrew vocabulary and understanding – and to take a special part in Israel’s celebrations.
1948-1958: עַצְמָאוּת
The word עצמאות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-2.m4a” /] means independence. Its root is the word עצם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-3.m4a” /] – bone in the physical sense, essence or self in the abstract sense: בעצמי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-4.m4a” /] means by myself, בעצמו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-5.m4a” /] means by himself, etc. Thus עצמאות means selfness or the ability to stand alone – independently.
The word in context:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-6.m4a” /]עצמאות ישראל לא באה ברגל.
Israel’s independence is not to be taken for granted. (doesn’t just walk in)
Why Israelis choose עצמאות for the first decade is obvious. Let’s go on to the next one.
1958-1968: מִתּוּן
The years leading up to the Six-Day War in 1967 were difficult ones economically for the new state. So the word today’s Israelis chose that best characterizes these years is מיתון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-7.m4a” /] – recession.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-8.m4a” /]היה מיתון כלכלי בשנות השישים.
There was an economic recession in the sixties.
מיתון also means moderation. It is a noun form of the פיעל verb למתן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-9.m4a” /] – to moderate – which finds its origin in Aramaic.
1968-1978: מַהֲפָּךְ
While the word for the sixties sums up Israel’s economics for that decade, the one for the seventies highlights politics: מהפך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-10.m4a” /] means reverse or revolution, which is what took place in 1977 when for the first time, a rightist government was elected with Menachem Begin as its prime minister.
The word in context:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-11.m4a” /]בלא פחות ממהפך, הליכוד עלתה לשלטון בשנת 1977.
In nothing short of a revolution, the Likkud took office (ascended to rule) in 1977.
מהפך comes from the root ה.פ.כ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-12.m4a” /] meaning opposite or switchover.
1978-1988: שֶׁקֶל
If the sixties were about economic hardship, the eighties brought about a מהפך כלכלי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-13.m4a” /] – an economic reverse – with the changeover from the Lira to the Shekel: מהלירה לשקל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-14.m4a” /].
The שקל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-15.m4a” /] is the biblical currency the Israelites used when they started forming their society in the desert, upon leaving Egypt. It means literally weight, akin to the Latin-American peso and the British pound.
1988-1998: תַּקְלִיטוֹר
Here we enter the era of Israel’s (and the world’s) fascination with the technological boom, starting with that round, flat object that obviated the need to rewind for hours – the Compact Disc (CD). The Academy called this medium תקליטור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-16.m4a” /], though most Israelis continued calling it simply דיסק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-17.m4a” /] – disc.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-18.m4a” /]אבא, אף אחד לא אומר “תקליטור” – אומרים דיסק.
Dad, no one calls it a (says) taklitor – we say disc.
The Academy named the CD תקליטור after תקליט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-19.m4a” /] – a vinyl record, an object many of you may have never seen (some of you may have never seen a דיסק either). The root of these words is ק.ל.ט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-20.m4a” /] meaning recording or absorption, like משרד הקליטה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-21.m4a” /] – the Ministry of Absorption.
1998-2008: מִסְרוֹן
Here’s another word that didn’t quite catch on – though more Israelis use this than תקליטור: it’s מסרון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-22.m4a” /] – a text message.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-23.m4a” /]שלחתי לך מסרון, לא קיבלת?
I sent you (a male) a text, you didn’t get it?
מסרון comes from the word מסר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-24.m4a” /] – message. Israelis tend to use SMS instead of מסרון, and לסמס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-25.m4a” /] as to text.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-26.m4a” /]סמסי לי, ואני אחזור אלייך.
Text me and I’ll get back to you. (spoken to a female)
2008-2018: יִשּׂוּמוׁן
And the word of this decade is יישומון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-27.m4a” /] – an app. Most Israelis use אפליקציה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-28.m4a” /], but some use יישומון, and it still has time to catch on.
Here’s the word in context:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-29.m4a” /]אנחנו מפתחים יישומונים במשרד שלנו במגדלי עזריאלי.
We develop apps at our office in the Azrieli Towers.
Not us – we do Hebrew.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עשורים-30.m4a” /]יום עצאמות שמח!
Happy Independence Day!