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Mishnaic Hebrew
Mishnaic  Hebrew is one of
the few of the Hebrew dialects
Mishnaic Hebrew
found in the Talmud, except for ‫חז"ל‬ ‫ לשון‬Leshon Chazal
direct quotations from the
Hebrew Bible. The dialects can
be further sub-divided into
Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also
called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early
Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic
Hebrew I), which was a spoken
language, and Amoraic Hebrew A section of the Mishna
(also called Late Rabbinic Region Judea, Syria Palaestina
Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew
Era Developed from Biblical
II), which was a literary
Hebrew in the 1st century
language only. CE; continued as Medieval
Hebrew as an academic
The Mishnaic  Hebrew
language after dying out as
language or Early  Rabbinic
a spoken native language
Hebrew  language is one of in the 4th century
the direct ancient descendants
Language Afro-Asiatic
of Biblical Hebrew as preserved family
by the Jews after the Semitic
Babylonian captivity, and Central Semitic
definitively recorded by Jewish Northwest Semitic
sages in writing the Mishnah
Canaanite
and other contemporary
Mishnaic Hebrew
documents. It was not used by
Early Biblical Hebrew
form
Writing Hebrew alphabet
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the Samaritans, who preserved system

their own dialect, Samaritan Language codes
Hebrew. ISO 639-3 –

A transitional form of the Glottolog None

language occurs in the other
works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the
completion of the Mishnah. These include the halachic Midrashim (Sifra, Sifre,
Mechilta etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known
as the Tosefta (‫)תוספתא‬. The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as
well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere; the generic term for
these passages is Baraitot. The dialect of all these works is very similar to
Mishnaic Hebrew.

Contents
Historical occurrence
Phonology
Morphology
See also
Further reading
References
External links

Historical occurrence
Mishnaic Hebrew is found primarily from the 1st to the 4th centuries of the
Common Era, corresponding to the Roman period after the destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem. It developed under the profound influence of spoken
Aramaic.[1]Also called Tannaitic Hebrew or Early Rabbinic Hebrew, the dialect

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is represented by the bulk of the Mishnah (‫משנה‬, published around 200) and
the Tosefta within the Talmud, and by some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, notably
the Copper Scroll and the Bar Kokhba Letters.

Dead Sea Scrolls archaeologist Yigael Yadin mentions that three Bar Kokhba
documents he and his team found at Nahal Hever are written in Mishnaic
Hebrew,[2] and that it was Bar Kokhba who revived the Hebrew language and
made Hebrew the official language of the state during the Bar Kokhba revolt
(132-135 AD). Yigael Yadin also notes the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew during
the time of Bar Kokhba revolt in his book "Bar Kokhba: The Rediscovery of the
Legendary Hero of the Last Jewish Revolt Against Imperial Rome,"[3] Yadin
notes, "It is interesting that the earlier documents are written in Aramaic while
the later ones are in Hebrew. Possibly the change was made by a special decree
of Bar-Kokhba who wanted to restore Hebrew as the official language of the
state" (page 181). In the book "A Roadmap to the Heavens: An Anthropological
Study of Hegemony among Priests, Sages, and Laymen (Judaism and Jewish
Life)" by Sigalit Ben-Zion (Page 155), Yadin remarks: "it seems that this change
came as a result of the order that was given by Bar Kokhba, who wanted to
revive the Hebrew language and make it the official language of the state."

However within a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic

Hebrew began to fall into disuse as a spoken language. The Babylonian
Gemara (‫גמרא‬, circa 500), as well as the earlier Jerusalem Talmud published
between 350 and 400, generally comment on the Mishnah and Baraitot in
Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in
the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which sometimes occurs in the Gemara
text.[4]

Phonology
Many of the characteristic features of Mishnaic Hebrew pronunciation may
well have been found already in the period of Late Biblical Hebrew. A notable
characteristic distinguishing it from Biblical Hebrew of the classical period is
the spirantization of post-vocalic stops (b, g, d, p, t, k), which it has in common
with Aramaic.[5]
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A new characteristic is that final /m/ is often replaced with final /n/ in the
Mishna (see Bava Kama 1:4, "‫)"מועדין‬, but only in agreement morphemes.
Perhaps the final nasal consonant in the morphemes was not pronounced, and
the vowel previous to it was nasalized. Alternatively, the agreement
morphemes may have changed under the influence of Aramaic.

Also, some surviving manuscripts of the Mishna confuse guttural consonants,

especially 'aleph (‫( )א‬a glottal stop) and `ayin (‫( )ע‬a voiced pharyngeal
fricative). That could be a sign that they were pronounced the same in
Mishnaic Hebrew.

Morphology
Mishnaic Hebrew displays various changes from Biblical Hebrew, some appear
alreadying in the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some, but not all, are
retained in Modern Hebrew.

For the expression of possession, Mishnaic Hebrew mostly replaces the

Biblical Hebrew status constructus with analytic constructions involving ‫של‬
'of'.[5]

Missing in Mishnaic Hebrew is the waw-consecutive.

The past is expressed by using the same form as in Modern Hebrew. For
example, (Pirkei Avoth 1:1): "‫מסיני‬ ‫תורה‬ ‫קיבל‬ ‫"משה‬. ("Moses received the Torah
from Sinai".)

Continuous past is expressed using the present tense of to  be unlike Biblical
but like Modern Hebrew. For example, (Pirkei Avoth 1:2): "‫אומר‬ ‫היה‬ ‫"( "הוא‬He
often said".)

Present is expressed using the same form as in Modern Hebrew, by using the
participle (‫)בינוני‬. For example, (Pirkei Avoth 1:2): "‫העולם‬  ‫דברים‬  ‫שלושה‬  ‫על‬
‫"עומד‬. ("The world is sustained by three things", lit. "On three things the world
stands")

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Future can be expressed using ‫ עתיד‬+ infinitive. For example, (Pirkei Avoth
3:1): "‫וחשבון‬ ‫דין‬ ‫ליתן‬ ‫עתיד‬ ‫אתה‬ ‫מי‬ ‫"ולפני‬. However, unlike Modern Hebrew but
like contemporary Aramaic, the present active participle can also express the
future.[5] It mostly replaces the imperfect (prefixed) form in that function.

The imperfect (prefixed) form, which is used for the future in modern Hebrew,
expresses an imperative (order), volition or similar meanings in Mishnaic
Hebrew. For example, (Pirkei Avoth 1:3): "‫כעבדים‬  ‫תהיו‬  ‫אל‬  ,‫אומר‬  ‫היה‬  ‫הוא‬
‫הרב‬ ‫את‬ ‫"( "המשמשין‬He would say, don't be like slaves serving the master...", lit.
"...you will not be..."). In a sense, one could say that the form pertains to the
future in Mishnaic Hebrew as well, but it invariably has a modal (imperative,
volitional, etc.) aspect in the main clause.

See also
Tiberian Hebrew (liturgical)
Yemenite Hebrew (liturgical)

Sanaani Hebrew (liturgical)

Sephardi Hebrew (liturgical)
Ashkenazi Hebrew (liturgical)
Mizrahi Hebrew (liturgical)
Modern Hebrew (State of Israel)

Further reading
Bar-Asher, Moshe, Mishnaic Hebrew: An Introductory Survey, Hebrew
Studies 40 (1999) 115-151.
Kutscher, E.Y. A Short History of the Hebrew Language, Jerusalem:
Magnes Press, Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1982 pp. 115–146.
Pérez Fernández, Miguel, An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew
(trans. John Elwolde), Leiden: E.J. Brill 1997.
Sáenz-Badillos, Angel, A History of the Hebrew Language (ISBN 0-521-
55634-1) (trans. John Elwolde), Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press, 1993.
M. H. Segal, Mishnaic Hebrew and its Relation to Biblical Hebrew and to
Aramaic (https://archive.org/details/jstor-1450862), JQR 20 (1908): 647–
73
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References
1. David Steinberg, History of the Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language (htt
p://www.adath-shalom.ca/history_of_hebrew.htm#mishheb)
2. The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Sep., 1961), Pg. 93
3. Yadin, Yigael. Bar-Kokhba: The Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero of the
Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome. New York: Random House, 1971
(hardcover, ISBN 0-394-47184-9); London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
1971 (hardcover, ISBN 0-297-00345-3).
4. Sáenz-Badillos, Ángel and John Elwolde. 1996. A history of the Hebrew
language. P.170-171: "There is general agreement that two main periods
of Rabbinical Hebrew (RH) can be distinguished. The first, which lasted
until the close of the Tannaitic era (around the year 200), is characterized
by RH as a spoken language gradually developing into a literary medium,
in which the Mishnah, Tosefta, baraitot and Tannaitic midrashim would be
composed. The second stage begins with the Amoraim, and sees RH
being replaced by Aramaic as the spoken vernacular, surviving only as a
literary language.
5. "History of the Hebrew Language by David Steinberg" (http://www.adath-s
halom.ca/history_of_hebrew.htm#mishheb).

External links
History of the Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language (http://www.adath-sh
alom.ca/history_of_hebrewtoc.htm), David Steinberg
Short History of the Hebrew Language (http://www.adath-shalom.ca/rabin_
he.htm), Chaim Rabin

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