Learning Journal 4

[Rebekah Yowell]

While listening to Israeli television and continuing to study vocabulary, one of the things I have noticed is the distinct rhythm of the Hebrew language. The rising and falling of tones makes me realize the importance of learning the correct way to pronounce each word, and knowing where to place the stress. Also, the length of the stress on a particular sound matters. For instance there are two vowel sounds, the shegol and the sheva, that both make the "ah" sound, but the sheva is just slightly shorter. Also, the difference between the sound made by the letter Hay and the letter Chet is interesting to note; the both make a "h" sound but the Chet is pronounced gutturally, in the back of the throat.

The reading mentions the importance of intonation in the organization of grammar. I thought back to watching Israeli TV, and this immediately made sense to me. Because I know so few words, in order to gain some idea of what was being said I was paying close attention to the rhythm and inflection of the sentences. For instance, in an interview I could make out who was the interviewer and who was responding by the heightening of tone at the end of a phrase that signaled a question.

In studying vocabulary, I have noticed that Hebrew is often arranged very logically. For instance, the word for "uncle" is "dod", and the word for "aunt" is "doda". Similarly, the word for "son" is "ben", and the word for "daughter" is "bat." Both pairs of words have obvious similarities, but also clear differences that signal gender change. Further, I thought it was interesting that the term for "male cousin" is "ben dod", literally "son of my uncle", and the word for "female cousin" is "bat doda", literally "daughter of my aunt". Patterns such as this make it easy to learn new terms once you have mastered the base words, because all you have to do is combine the words. I am hopeful that I will see a continuance of this pattern as I continue to build my vocabulary.