The Mishnaic Hebrew language or Rabbinic Hebrew language is one direct ancient descendant of Biblical Hebrew¹ as preserved by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity, and definitively recorded by Jewish sages in writing the Mishnah and other contemporary documents. It was not used by the Samaritans, who preserved their own dialect, Samaritan Hebrew.

¹ Hoffman, 2004

Phonetics

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Mishnaic Hebrew probably sounded much like Late Biblical Hebrew.

However, 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 these morphemes was not pronounced, and instead 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 (א) (a glottal stop) and 'ayin (ע) (a pharyngeal fricative). That could be a sign that they were pronounced the same in Mishnaic Hebrew.

Verb tenses

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The verbal system in Mishnaic Hebrew is similar to Biblical Hebrew, but with changes that appear in many other dialects of Hebrew, including the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Hebrew. Missing in Mishanic Hebrew is the conversive vav.

Past is expressed using the same form as in Modern Hebrew. For example (Pirkei Avoth 1:1): "משה קיבל תורה מסיניי".

Continuous past is expressed using + , perhaps under Latin influence. For example (Pirkei Avoth 1:2): "הוא היה אומר"

Present is expressed using the same form as in Modern Hebrew. For example (Pirkei Avoth 1:2): "על שלושה דברים העולם עומד".

Future is expressed using the future form or by עתיד + infinitive. For example (Pirkei Avoth 3:1): "ולפני מי אתה עתיד ליתן דין וחשבון".

The imperative (order) is expressed using a form similar to future in modern Hebrew. For example, (Pirkei Avoth 1:3): "הוא היה אומר, אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשין את הרב".

See also

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• Tiberian Hebrew language (liturgical)
• Yemenite Hebrew language (liturgical)
• Sephardi Hebrew language (liturgical)
• Ashkenazi Hebrew language (liturgical)
• Modern Hebrew language (State of Israel)

Further reading

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• Hoffman, Joel M. 2004. In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language. New York: NYU Press.
• Sáenz-Badillos, Angel, A History of the Hebrew Language (trans. John Elwolde). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Ancient languages | Hebrew language | Jewish texts | Judaism

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