http://eureka.org.il An etymological approach to learning Hebrew Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:10:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The word for snake in Hebrew is נחש (nakhash) and it's root is נ-ח-ש from which the verb 'to guess' (לנחש) also originates. At first, like many of the other Hebrew roots, seems an odd origin point. However, if one takes into consideration a third word, the word ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/08/11/slithery-slope-away-from-innocence/ Two words in Hebrew that come from the same root and yet are neither diametrically opposed nor related are 'cat' and 'diaper'. The root is (ח ת ל) and the word for cat is khatoul (חָתוּל) and the word for diaper is khaytoul (חִתּוּל). Without the diacritical markings, the words ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/07/23/the-diapered-cat/ Part of learning Hebrew is dealing with the ulpan system (אולפן). Ulpan literally means "studio" and is used both for tv studios as well as for the places where Hebrew is taught to new immigrants (as well as those who come to learn Hebrew). My naivety about the ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/18/ulpan-20-hours-a-week-i-cant-get-back/ In Hebrew the word מין (min) signifies a number of different things; essentially it means "type" or "point of origin". It's also used as the preposition מ (mi) which means "from"; as in where are you from - מאיפה אתה? - and a number of other expressions indicating "from". What's ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/17/whence-we-came/ Continuing the theme of yesterday's post about Hebrew orthograpghy, today I'd like to discuss the horrible state of affairs of Hebrew-to-English translation and transliteration. Granted, as a new immigrant, I should be striving towards mastery of Hebrew but that's not something that come quickly if ever. Israel, since it is ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/16/english-menu-asking-for-one-thing-and-getting-another/ Spelling isn't quite as important as it used to be. When I was a kid, spelling - orthography for the monocle-wearing crowd - was essential since most of writing and correspondence was done by hand. In class, everything was done by hand and my sinister nature (left-handed-ness) caused my teachers ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/15/hebrew-orthography-does-anyone-care/ The verb, to return (לחזור), was something of a mystery to me because its root is the same as "pig" and "alien" - ח ז ר (as was discussed in Pigs in Space).  The whole notion of strange and foreign is anathema to returning. Not unsurprising, the ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/12/return-of-the-pigs/ Do you  wait in line or on line?  The answer depends on your origins and locale; people in the middle of the country will say "in line" and people from New Jersey and New York tend to say "on line". The use of different prepositions to describe one's relation to, ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/11/on-or-in-the-perfidy-of-prepositions/ Nearly everyone knows that the pig is not Kosher and most Jews, even the secular ones, won't eat pork. This is because swine is considered the most unkosher of all non-kosher foods. Since pigs have cloven feet, they appear to be kosher. But, because they do not ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/10/pigs-in-space/ One aspect of learning a language that is tremendously difficult is the nuance between words that are casually translated the same way. For instance, the words המון (hamon) and הרבה ('arbay) are both translated as a lot or many or a plurality; they signify quite a hefty amount and ... http://eureka.org.il/2009/03/08/nuances-plenty-a-lot-or-uncountable/