Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חקלאות-1.m4a” /]חַקְלָאוּת Scientific terms in English tend to borrow from Latin and Greek. Agriculture, for example, comes from the Latin agri cultura meaning cultivation of land. Hebrew follows suit in this tendency, borrowing from Aramaic’s word for field – חקל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חקלאות-2.m4a” /] – to create חקלאות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חקלאות-3.m4a” /] – agriculture. For example:   [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חקלאות-4.m4a” /]בגוש קטיף השיגו דברים…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards . Scatter . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עזרה-לזולת-1.m4a” /]עֶזְרָה לַזּוּלָת People respond to suffering in different ways. Some get angry, while others withdraw. Some repress, while others scream out. Some respond by making it their business to alleviate the suffering of others. To help others is, in Hebrew, לעזור לזולת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עזרה-לזולת-2.m4a” /] – literally, to help the other. And the idea of helping others is…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חולשה-1.m4a” /]חֻלְשָׁה The Hebrew word for weak is חלש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חולשה-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חולשה-3.m4a” /]אמא, תכיני לי קפה, אבל לא מאוד חזק, חלש. Mom, make (prepare for) me coffee, but not very strong, weak. Likewise, the word for weakness is חולשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חולשה-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חולשה-4.m4a” /]אדם שמכיר את עצמו היטב, גם מכיר את…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתחזק-1.m4a” /]לְהִתְחַזֵּק If you’ve got some basic Hebrew under your belt, you may know the word for strong – חזק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתחזק-2.m4a” /]. For example (in the feminine): [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתחזק-3.m4a” /]יש פה רוח חזקה מאוד. There’s a very strong wind here. חזק, a three-letter word, functions as a root, produces several other words such as להחזיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתחזק-5.m4a” /]…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /]עֹשֶׁר Yesterday, we saw the word for poverty – עוני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-2.m4a” /], while a poor man is עני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-3.m4a” /]. On the flip side, the word for wealth is עושר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /], and a rich man is עשיר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-4.m4a” /] (a rich woman is עשירה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-5.m4a” /]). A similar-sounding word is אושר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /] – contentment…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עוני-1.m4a” /]עֹנִי The Hebrew Bible having exported to the world the value of helping the weak, it should come as no surprise that Hebrew has more than ten ways to say poverty, including דלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עוני-2.m4a” /], אביונות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עוני-3.m4a” /] and מסכנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עוני-4.m4a” /]. The common word used today to describe this state lacking is עוני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עוני-1.m4a” /], the same word…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards . Scatter . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-9.m4a” /]חג שמח!

Note: This will be the last Dose of Hebrew until after Passover, except for tomorrow’s weekly review. חג שמח![audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-9.m4a” /] [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-1.m4a” /]לַעֲשׂוֹת סֵדֶר You may know the Hebrew slang word for a mess – בלגן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-2.m4a” /]. Contrary to popular belief, this word is not borrowed from Arabic, but rather from Slavic languages such as…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מנוע-חיפוש-1.m4a” /]מָנוֹעַ חִפּוּשׂ To search in Hebrew is לחפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מנוע-חיפוש-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מנוע-חיפוש-3.m4a” /]סליחה, אני מחפשת את הדואר. Excuse me, I (a female) am looking for the post office. Following the active-intensive verb pattern, the act of searching is חיפוש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מנוע-חיפוש-4.m4a” /]. And since an engine is a מנוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מנוע-חיפוש-5.m4a” /], a search engine is a…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחטא-1.m4a” /]מְחַטֵּא You may recognize the three-letter root of the word disinfectant – מחטא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחטא-1.m4a” /] – as that of the word for sin – חטא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחטא-2.m4a” /] as well as of the active-simple verb to sin – לחטוא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחטא-3.m4a” /].   To illustrate the latter word, here’s a Biblical verse: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחטא-4.m4a” /]כי אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה…