Israel Languages: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 16:18, 19 August 2025

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Arabic

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Cultural Groups

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In other languages: עברית

Israel

Languages

Description

The Israeli population is linguistically and culturally diverse.

Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as native speakers or proficiently as a second language. Its standard form, known as Modern Hebrew, is the main medium of life in Israel.
Arabic is used mainly by Israel's Arab minority which comprises about one-fifth of the population. Arabic has a special status under Israeli law.
Russian is spoken by about 20% of the Israeli population, mainly by the large immigrant population from the former Soviet Union.
English is a known foreign language by a significant proportion of the Israeli population as English is used widely in official logos and road signs alongside Hebrew and Arabic.
In addition, the 19th edition of Ethnologue lists 36 languages and dialects spoken through Israel.

According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age report their native language as:

*Hebrew 49%

*Arabic 18%

*Russian 15%

*Yiddish 2%

*French 2%

*English 2%

*1.6% Spanish

*10% other languages (including Romanian, German and Amharic, which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. ^[1]

Word List(s)

Hebrew

Arabic

Russian

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Hebrew

Arabic

Russian

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Hebrew

Arabic

Russian

Additional Resources

Naor, Menahem. Hebrew language and grammar : a practical textbook. Jerusalem: R. Mass, 1949. Available at: WorldCat.
Wood, Charles Travers, Henry Craven Ord Lanchester, and R H Kennett. A Hebrew grammar. n.p.: CPSIA, 2016. Available at: WorldCat.
Israel (Britannica)
Israel (Wikitravel)

References

↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Cyprus," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel, accessed 27 October 2021.

[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Cyprus," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel, accessed 27 October 2021.

[1]

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-{{Israel-sidebar}}{{breadcrumb
+{{CountrySidebar
+|Country=Israel
+|Name=Israel
+|Type=Topic
+|Topic Type=Background
+|Background=Languages
+|Content=Standardized
+}}{{breadcrumb
 | link1=[[Israel Genealogy|Israel]]
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@@ Line 16: / Line 23: @@
 According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age report their native language as:
-::*Hebrew 49%
+{{Block indent|*Hebrew 49%|2}}
-::*Arabic 18%
+{{Block indent|*Arabic 18%|2}}
-::*Russian 15%
+{{Block indent|*Russian 15%|2}}
-::*Yiddish 2%
+{{Block indent|*Yiddish 2%|2}}
-::*French 2%
+{{Block indent|*French 2%|2}}
-::*English 2%
+{{Block indent|*English 2%|2}}
-::*1.6% Spanish
+{{Block indent|*1.6% Spanish|2}}
-::*10% other languages (including Romanian, German and Amharic, which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Cyprus," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel, accessed 27 October 2021.</ref>
+{{Block indent|*10% other languages (including Romanian, German and Amharic, which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Cyprus," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel, accessed 27 October 2021.</ref> |2}}
 ==Word List(s)==
@@ Line 75: / Line 82: @@
 ==Additional Resources==
-*Naor, Menahem. '''''Hebrew language and grammar : a practical textbook.''''' Jerusalem : R. Mass, 1949. [https://www.worldcat.org/title/hebrew-language-and-grammar-a-practical-textbook/oclc/11922466&referer=brief_results Available at WorldCat]
+* Naor, Menahem. ''Hebrew language and grammar : a practical textbook.'' Jerusalem: R. Mass, 1949. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/11922466 WorldCat].
-*Wood, C T; H C O Lanchester; and R H Kennett. '''''A Hebrew grammar.''''' [Place of publication not identified] : CPSIA, 2016. [https://www.worldcat.org/title/hebrew-grammar/oclc/964546166&referer=brief_results Available at WorldCat]
+* Wood, Charles Travers, Henry Craven Ord Lanchester, and R H Kennett. ''A Hebrew grammar.'' n.p.: CPSIA, 2016. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/964546166 WorldCat].
 *[https://www.britannica.com/place/Israel Israel (Britannica)]
 *[https://wikitravel.org/en/Israel Israel (Wikitravel)]