Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

שְׁפַן נִסָּיוֹן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guinea-pig-5.mp3″ /] When referring to that furry little animal the guinea pig, Israelis use either קַבְיָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guinea-pig-2.mp3″ /] or חֲזִיר יָם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guinea-pig-3.mp3″ /] (literally, sea pig). But the proverbial guinea pig gets a different term: שְׁפַן נִסְּיוֹנוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guinea-pig-4.mp3″ /] – rabbit or coney (whatever that is) of experiments, or שְׁפַן נִסָּיוֹן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guinea-pig-5.mp3″ /]…

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 Game 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!

מַשָּׂא וּמַתָּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משא-ומתן-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew term for negotiation is מַשָּׂא וּמַתָּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משא-ומתן-1.mp3″ /]. Broken down, we have: משא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משא-ומתן-2.mp3″ /] – a load, a burden. In the case of a negotiation, this is the what the negotiator would get out of it or take from it, what material they would walk away carrying. The…

הִתְחַמְּמוּת עוֹלָמִית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/global-warming-4.mp3″ /] This week is hot in Israel (here’s a video we’ve made about that), more so than usual for the season. Some blame it on global warming. As is the case with many terms that didn’t exist in antiquity, Modern Hebrew has three for global warming: הִתְחַמְּמוּת גְּלוֹבָּלִית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/global-warming-2.mp3″ /] borrows global from…

הַפְרָעַת קֶשֶׁב, רִכּוּז וְהִיפֶּרְאַקְטִיבִיוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/adhd-1.mp3″ /] When I was a kid, we talked about ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder. When I reached graduate school, I learned that the psychiatric powers that be call it ADHD – Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, lumping together the people who have difficulty concentrating, as well as those who are hyperactive. Following suit,…

לִקְלוֹעַ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקלוע-2.mp3″ /] The common Hebrew word for to shoot is לִירוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקלוע-3.mp3″ /]. It derives from the root י.ר.ה (y.r.h), the same as that of to teach (teaching typically has a clear goal to aim for). Another word for to shoot is לִקְלוֹעַ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקלוע-2.mp3″ /], which more typically refers to the end result of…

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 Game Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חג-השבועות-1.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם וְחַג שָׁבֻעוֹת שָׂמֵחַ! Shabbat Shalom, and happy Shavuot holiday!

שַׁבָּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שבת-1.mp3″ /] Modern Hebrew speakers use שַׁבָּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שבת-1.mp3″ /] – the Hebrew word for Sabbath – as a feminine noun. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שבת-2.mp3″ /]הָיְתָה לְךָ שַׁבָּת טוֹבָה? Did you (a male) have a good Shabbat? But is שבת necessarily a feminine noun? Looking at Biblical Hebrew, it’s not so clear: Sometimes שבת is…

קִשּׁוּר שָׁבוּר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/קישור-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for link (as in hyperlink) is קִשּׁוּר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/קישור-2.mp3″ /], deriving from the active-intensive application of the root ק.שׁ.ר. (k.sh.r). The word existed before the Internet as well, when it meant liaison or simply a connection. Broken is שָׁבוּר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/קישור-3.mp3″ /]. So a broken link is a קישור שבור[audioclip…

חַנְיוֹן, מִגְרַשׁ חֲנָיָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חניון-1.mp3″ /] In American English it’s called a parking lot, while in the Commonwealth they call it a car park. In Hebrew, such a facility has two terms, one for a parking structure and the other for an outdoor slab of land designated for parking cars. The first, the parking structure is a…

מִשְׁמֶרֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משמרת-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for a work shift is מִשְׁמֶרֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משמרת-1.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משמרת-2.mp3″ /]הִיא עוֹבֶדֶת בְּמִשְׁמָרוֹת לֹא קְבוּעוֹת. She works in inconsistent (not fixed) shifts. The root of משמרת is שׁ.מ.ר (sh.m.r) meaning to keep or to guard, so that משמרת originally referred to a shift of guarding something or…