Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

אֲרוּחַת חַג, סְעוּדַת חַג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארוחת-חג-1.m4a” /] The predominant word for meal in Modern Hebrew is ארוחה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארוחת-חג-2.m4a” /], related to the word אורח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארוחת-חג-3.m4a” /] meaning guest, both words deriving from the root א.ר.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארוחת-חג-4.m4a” /] meaning path or way. But ארוחה does not appear in Biblical Hebrew except for a couple of instances. Neither does סעודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארוחת-חג-5.m4a” /],…

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 . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אתה-חי-בסרט-1.m4a” /]אַתָּה חַי בְּסֶרֶט Someone makes you an offer that in their mind you can’t refuse – but you can, and easily. You might say to them, “dream on” (well, in the 90’s you might have), indicating that they’re are living in a dream world and are totally wrong in their judgment. A Hebrew…

Note: Monday’s dose had a typo: מעטמי ביטחון – for security reasons – should read מטעמי ביטחון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפיק-2.m4a” /]. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפיק-3.m4a” /]לְהָפִיק סֶרֶט Those versed in Talmud will surely recognize the Hebrew root פ.ו.ק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפיק-4.m4a” /] meaning come out, so that in the causative הפעיל verb form, להפיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפיק-5.m4a” /] means to bring out or to produce (in the Talmud’s Aramaic…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפריע-1.m4a” /]אַל תַּפְרִיעַ לִי The title of an ancient Egyptian king is Pharaoh, פרעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפריע-2.m4a” /] in Hebrew. But though it’s composed of the letters פ.ר.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפריע-3.m4a” /], the authentically Egyptian word פרעה has nothing to do with the authentic Hebrew root פ.ר.ע meaning loose, let go. The Hebrew פ.ר.ע forms, among others, the root…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נהג-צמוד-1.m4a” /]נֵהָג צָמוּד As you may recognize, chauffeur comes directly from French. Hebrew does not borrow the word for such a personal driver from another language, but rather comes up with its own term: נהג צמוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נהג-צמוד-1.m4a” /] – literally, linked driver, where נהג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נהג-צמוד-2.m4a” /] means driver and צמוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נהג-צמוד-3.m4a” /] means linked or stuck to. For example:…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/במאי-קולנוע-1.m4a” /]בַּמַּאי קוֹלְנוֹעַ The word for a director who orchestrates the production of a play or a movie is במאי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/במאי-קולנוע-2.m4a” /] for a male and במאית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/במאי-קולנוע-3.m4a” /] for a female. They derive from the word במה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/במאי-קולנוע-4.m4a” /], which once referred to the platform on which people would perform religious rituals including sacrifice (containing…

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 . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend! =”410″> Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בדרך-כלל-1.m4a” /]בְּדֶרֶךְ כְּלָל, בְּאֹפֶן כְּלָלִי Yesterday we saw that דרך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בדרך-כלל-2.m4a” /] means path or way, as well as through. To create a term for usually, Modern Hebrew put together the words בדרך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בדרך-כלל-3.m4a” /] – on a path and כלל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בדרך-כלל-4.m4a” /] – general, so that usually is בדרך כלל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בדרך-כלל-5.m4a” /] – on path of general. This is similar to the…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דרך-האינטרנט-1.m4a” /]דֶּרֶךְ הָאִינְטֶרְנֶט The Hebrew word דרך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דרך-האינטרנט-2.m4a” /] means path or way, but it also means through. I can’t help but wonder whether through comes from דרך – look at how similar the sounds d and th are, and how the coarse guttural kh sound is how gh used to be pronounced in English. Look at the German durch meaning by, through: these English…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתגורר-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי מִתְגוֹרֵר בְּ… The common expression for to live as in to reside is לגור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתגורר-2.m4a” /], a hollow simple verb. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתגורר-3.m4a” /]גרתי בארצות הברית. I lived in the United States. And לגור works for living at the moment as well: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתגורר-5.m4a” /]איפה אתה גר? Where are you (a male) living? / Where…