The Relationship Between Motivation And Performance Of...

Abstract Motivation derived from Latin word† Movere†, it is the drive which motivates to perform better. There is a link between motivation and performance. It is already resulted from previous studies that the motivated employees give more positive outcomes. To further investigate the relation among motivation and performance of workers. The research statement is designed to evaluate the relationship between motivation and employee’s performance. To evaluate the relationship, the quantitative research approach will be used to gather the data. A closed-ended questionnaire is designed and random sampling method will be used to collect the data. The target population will be 100 employees from Countdown Supermarket, Te Puke, New Zealand. The data will be analysed by using Likert Scale and by calculating Mean, Mode, Median and frequency or percentage. The expected results might show that it is the demand of every employee to be appreciated for their work either internally or e xternally. The limitation of this study will be the less information collected from the respondents. This quantitative research will give way to carry out further study. 1.Introduction Motivation is the mixture of a person s feelings and efforts towards achieving a goal. Motivation can be internal, such as satisfaction and feelings of achievement; or external, such as rewards, punishment, and goal obtainment. Every employee is motivated by different factors, so it is the responsibility ofShow MoreRelatedRelationship Between Motivation And Economics Essay1376 Words   |  6 PagesRelationship Between Motivation and Economics in Southwest Airlines All organizations aspire to be successful in this era of rapid development where the market is very competitive. Therefore, there is a need for them to motivate their employees since they are a critical strategic asset for dealing with such competition. Employees’ motivation can be described as the psychological process that causes workers to behave in a positive manner thus improving their performance behavior (Townsend, 2002)Read MoreThe Importance Of Employee Motivation And Customer Retention Essay1634 Words   |  7 PagesGanesh and Mangalore (2016) established a strong link between employee motivation and customer retention. Therefore, any effort to improve the performance of an organization should begin with addressing human resource issues in the attempt to improve its motivation. Employee motivation has been a central area of focus in organizational behavior issues and studies. Scholars and professionals have been trying to understand factors that motivate workers. One of the key roles and responsibilities of aRead MoreEmployment Benefits And Rewards Like Outings And An Employee s Work Effort As Inputs986 Words   |  4 Pagesloyalty of a worker †¢ Flexibility of the employee such as undertaking short-term tasks †¢ The support the employee has provided to the organization, colleagues and line managers. Output Examples: †¢ Salary †¢ Bonus †¢ Prizes †¢ Recognition of the employee’s contribution †¢ Positive work appraisals †¢ Work promotions †¢ Pension †¢ Employer flexibility †¢ Annual leave Adam s stated that if an employee believes that his work outs are not equal to or greater than his contributions, the worker will loseRead MoreEssay on Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation1327 Words   |  6 PagesIntrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation Introduction The success of any business depends on the productivity and satisfaction of its employees. Employees need to be motivated to work. Motivation can be defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. Motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. For an individual to be motivated in a work situation there must be a need, which the individual would have to perceive a possibilityRead MoreThe Link Between Performance and Reward Management1061 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Performance and Reward Management: Performance management is an important organizational aspect that is geared towards developing people with necessary competencies and commitment for working towards the achievement of common organizational goals. As a result, the frameworks of this component are developed in order to enhance both individual and organizational performance. This is done through identifying performance needs, providing regular feedback, and helping individuals in their career developmentRead MoreThe Relationship Between Reward, Employee Motivation and Production945 Words   |  4 Pages M121692 COURSE: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1 COURSE CODE: HRM 101 LECTURER: MR NYAMUBARWA QUESTION: CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REWARDS,EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY The main thrust of this essay is to critically analyse the relationship between reward ,employee motivation and productivity.Humble (1992) goes on to define motivation as an influence that causes people (employees in this case) to want to behave in a certain way.Productivity is then defined as theRead MoreHow Happiness Can Improve Productivity788 Words   |  3 Pagesvarious claims about the effect of happiness on productivity. Some people think that the enjoyment of life can produce involvement and smooth interaction. Therefore, it can boost productivity. Others rather expect that happiness will reduce the motivation to seek improvement and make them passive and dull. Comparing with other organization, construction industry has the highest need of human resources for all hierarchical levels. It is one of the largest global employment sectors, providing workRead MoreEngstrom Auto Mirror Plant : Motivating942 Words   |  4 Pagesissues, lack of motivation, Individual moral, and inadequate communication between management and employees. The resulting impact of each of these root causes is clarified with the support of human behavior theories. The theories ultimately gave reasons for why people behave the way they do in an organizational setting. Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad Root Cause Analysis The success of an organization is built on a functional relationship between managers and employeesRead MoreCommunication Serves Four Major Functions Within A Group1285 Words   |  6 Pagesmajor functions within a group or organisation: (1) control, (2) motivation, (3) emotional expression and (4) information (Scott and Mitchell, 1976). (1) Communication assists in the controlling process through the various levels of hierarchy with certain principles and guidelines that employees must comply to. (2) The development of specific goals, feedback on performance, and reward for desired behaviour all stimulate motivation and require communication. (3) Communication within the work groupRead MoreBrm Reaearch1696 Words   |  7 Pages2013 (Friday) Companies benefit through employee loyalty. Crude downsizing in organizations during the recession crushed the loyalty of millions. The economic benefits of loyalty embrace lower recruitment and training costs, higher productivity of workers, customer satisfaction, and the boost to morale of fresh recruits. In order that these benefits are not lost, some companies while downsizing try various gimmicks. Flex leave, for instance, is one. This helps employees receive 20% of their salary

My Internship At The United States Probation Office

On August 25, 2014, I commenced my internship at the United States Probation Office in El Paso, Texas. During my internship, I was exposed to both sides of what a United States Probation Officer does; first I experienced presentence investigation and then supervision. My exposure within the presentence investigation side included my presence during interviews with defendants, District Court hearings, and Magistrate Court hearings. Further, I assisted in the preparation of presentence reports which included the defendant’s identifying data, his/her offense conduct, criminal history, offender characteristics, and the sentencing options. I investigated relevant facts about defendants, assess those facts in light of the purpose of sentencing, applied the appropriate guidelines, statutes, and rules to the available facts. Additionally, I assisted in organizing files by obtaining proper documents officers need to complete their investigations. Moreover, I assisted in identifying al l appropriate guidelines as stated in the United States Sentencing Guideline Manual and calculated the defendant’s offense level and criminal history category. Also I completed collateral requests to different districts regarding a defendant’s prior criminal conduct for the purpose of scoring his/her criminal history. By actively conducting investigative work, it allowed me to become familiar with the documents that officers utilized when completing investigations. Such documents include; NCIC,Show MoreRelatedExpository Essay : The Criminal Justice Department1081 Words   |  5 Pagesknowledge in the areas of criminal delinquent process, criminology, and corrections while evaluating moral and ethical issue of public servants. As a student at Chowan University my career path is law enforcement. I stride to obtain a Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement Track, B.S degree, obtaining this degree will prepare me for my captivating career ahead and unveil a massive amount of op portunities in the world of Criminal Justice. Courses such as Intro to Criminal Justice, Theories of Correction, CriminalRead MoreLetter Of Public Administration Online Learning Program1118 Words   |  5 PagesIt is my hope to enroll in and complete your Master’s of Public Administration-online learning program. I write what follows below in support of my application. My intent on writing this statement is to do so with pure genuine, honesty, and to express myself as openly as possibly so my heart can be understood. There were no extenuating circumstances in my background that would give a reason as to why I desire to work in the public sector. I believe I was born with the will to serve others, a strongRead MoreMy Internship With Juvenile Probation3214 Words   |  13 PagesDuring the last weeks of Winter break the dread of the spring semester starting, I wondered what my internship with Juvenile Probation was going to be like. Now after an entire semester working with the agency, I know that this is what my career is going to be. The one thing that stuck with me is that all of youth that have found themselves into this system, all get what is being said. But not all of know how to apply the knowledge that was given. Which brought me to the conclusion; all of theseRead MoreChoosing A Juvenile Probation Officer2033 Words   |  9 PagesMy chosen career path is to become a Juvenile probation officer. Juvenile probation officers work with youths that have been placed on probation and or have been court order to attend an alternative consequence school to continue their education. Most juvenile probation officers work with youths at a particular stage of their probation process, for an example supervision or investigation. This paper will cover information on the juvenile justice system and my career choice by touching bases withRead MoreInternship Report in Janata Bank Limited9784 Words   |  40 Pages1.1 Origin of the Report Internship Program is a partial requirement for acquiring MBA degree in Dhaka University. Before completion of the degree, a student must undergo the Internship Program. Internship program is a perfect bridge to match the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge. Only curriculum activity is not sufficient to handle the real business situation. So, it is an urge to arrange an internship program. This program consists of at least there phases: ⠝‘ Orientation withRead MoreJim Teague in Tanzania Essay2762 Words   |  12 PagesIntroduction Jim Teague, an MBA associate with a diploma in engineering, is hired for a summer internship in rural Africa to be an officer of a U.S- based social investment firm that is looking for an important agribusiness project in Africa. A small successful company in Tanzania â€Å"KiraFlour† is in the run for being financed by AgriFund. Upon his arrival in Tanzania, he is faced upon two issues: KiraFlour faces some major health-safety issues with the risks of spreading E-coli among the populationRead MoreIpms Project Management21640 Words   |  87 PagesConsultancy Services Limited (Company Profile) About PWD Uttarakhand (Client Profile) Internship Learning Objectives System Development Life Cycle Of The Project Front End And Back End Design (Tools Used For Development) System Analysis Proposed Architecture And Platform System Design System Testing System Implementation The Recommendations The Responsibilities And Works Assigned To Me Learning During The Internship Initiatives Tak en By Me Conclusion â€Å"Finding Reasons For Delay In Page Loading Time InRead MoreCase Studies13817 Words   |  56 Pagesuser-friendly--adding quizzes, polls, discussion boards, and photo albums--as well as setting Twitter blasts to go off repeatedly throughout the day. During her three-month internship, LeBlanc quadrupled the Fashionforward! Facebook fan base. Her project helped catapult the company into prominence. In the three months of her internship, Fashionforward! increased the number of items offered on the site threefold. The CEO noticed LeBlancs success in social networking and asked her to launch a guerrillaRead MoreLiterature Review of Training and Development of Marcantile Bank Bangladesh 5 Article14514 Words   |  59 Pages† is presented for your kind appraisal. I was assigned to Urmi Garments Ltd. by the Assistant Manager of Urmi Garments Ltd. and was approved by you as my thesis during 45 days internship program. In every sphere of my report, I tried my best to make a good combination of my learning from the last semester of MBA program. I also tried to match my theoretical knowledge. In this dissertation I tried to be as descriptive as possible for convenience to the readers, sill here is a room for further improvementRead MoreTexas Cpa Report6520 Words   |  27 Pagesbecome a Texas CPA. 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Managing People for Telcom Online Company - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theManaging People for Telcom Online Company. Answer: Introduction Telcom, is a company in Sydney that is owned by a small family that is able to bring strategies that will lead to good management and open to changes in the business industry.The company is located at Smallville building and sells computer items and also web designing materials to about different 200 businesses. The web designing and computer programs are used in the different organizations for promotional purposes. Just like many other companies in the world Telcom Online faces a lot of challenges in the business world. One of the challenges that the organization faces is the idle human resource and the idle equipment that is not in use during the off-peak period. The organization also faces the problem of high employee turnover and the challenge that highly affects most affects the company is the resistance to any change by the employees in the organization (Brown 2012). The company tries to increase its sales through the increase of profits by looking for ways of transforming the company to satisfy the needs of the customers by use of the available resources. The company always makes technological changes to improve the sales of the organization but it faces the problem of resistance to the changes by the employees who do not believe in changes during the low season. The company evaluates its internal environment by examining the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats that affect the business by coming up with technological adjustments or changes. The company always comes up with ways of development of new products and services targeted to the customers to be able to gain a competitive advantage over the other employees in the industry As the company has tried to institute the technological changes in the organization but the challenge that the company faces is the resistance of the employees about the changes that are happening in the organizations. The company has tried to introduce new production and printing machines but the employees tend to prefer the old materials. The organization structure and culture have been improved but the employees have found it hard to adjust to the changes that the management tries to bring in the organization. The reasons for the resistance to changes in the organization involve; the employees feel that they will lose status or job security in the organization. It is difficult to make any changes in the organization but in most cases the managers and employees will resist the administrative and technological changes as they feel they are going to be eliminated (Berg 2010). In the Telcom Online it has tried to bring technological changes but the employees feel that they will lose their jobs which will be replaced by the new technology. The employees in the organization resist to the changes because they see that there is no reward that comes with the new changes. When the employees try to implement the changes, they do not get rewards but the reward is in the future but the employees want short term returns in the organization. This means that the company should motivate the employees to adapt to the changes that happen in the organization. The rewards to the employees can be inform of giving the employees the power over other employees then he will feel that he is involved and rewarded. The employees also resist to changes because of fear of the unknown because when the members know less of the change to be implemented and its impact on them they tend to fear a lot. The organization needs to be prepared for any changes that ought to take place in the o rganization. Without a proper communication grapevine will lead to the resistance to change within the organization as was in the case the Telcom Company which the employees brought a propaganda that to introduce a new system in the organization will be a waste of resources and instead they should be increased their salaries in the organization. According to Newton.2010 Peer pressure in the organization also leads to resistance to change. There are notorious employees who operate in groups and would protect the interests of the employees by resisting the changes in the organization. The employees feel the need of protecting their coworkers. For example, in Telcom company the managers would resist from being promoted to protect the work groups whom you are made supervise. The employees also fear failure that may be attributed to the changes in the organization due to lack of required abilities and to adapt to the new changes. Lastly another reason for the resistance to the changes is the poor timing of the changes in the organization. The resistance come when the employees least expect just as it was the case at Telcom company which the changes of a new system was introduced at an awkward moment leading to resistance by the employees. The above-mentioned resistance to change can be mitigated or reduced using the following ways; networking skills should be employed in the organization for the employees to build on communication skills to avoid grapevine in the organization leading to improved changes in the organization. The employees should also be prepared for the changes that are about to happen in the organization. This can be through training and development and educating the employees on the importance of change in the organization since it is sustainable. Proper communication is also vital for the change process in the organization. The management will have to convince the employees on the on importance of change concerning the technological advancement, change of organization structure, implementation of organization culture and setting up a vision for the organization just as was the case for Telcom Company. In conclusion for a change to be implemented the teams of the employees need to be educated, monitored, motivated, trained on the changes that have to be made in the organization. Change is very vital in any given organization (Riley2010). References Berg, J.M., Wrzesniewski, A. and Dutton, J.E., 2010. Perceiving and responding to challenges in job crafting at different ranks: When proactivity requires adaptivity.Journal of Organizational Behavior,31(2?3), pp.158-186. Brown, K. and Osborne, S.P., 2012.Managing change and innovation in public service organizations. Routledge. Goodwin, N., Curry, N., Naylor, C., Ross, S. and Duldig, W., 2010. Managing people with long-term conditions.An Inquiry into the Quality of General Practice in England. The Kings Fund. Newton, C. and Tarrant, T., 2012.Managing change in schools: A practical handbook. Routledge. Joshi, A., Dencker, J.C., Franz, G. and Martocchio, J.J., 2010. Unpacking generational identities in organizations.Academy of Management Review,35(3), pp.392-414. Riley, M. and Thompson, A., 2010.Managing people. Taylor Francis.

To Reach for the Light free essay sample

Last week, I tripped and fell onto the banana tree that grows in the middle of our foyer. I had long before decided that I hated banana trees—we’d actually grown multiple over the years, caring for them as a fond reminder of tropical South India, where my parents had been born and raised. Each year, when autumn arrived with milky skies and chilled weather, the banana plant was hoisted into a hideous, burgundy pot and moved to the foyer, where it had a large window for light and plenty of room to grow. Despite the delectable fruit the tree made so delightfully convenient, as well as the sentimental value it held for my parents, I stubbornly remained critical, eyeing the plant as a waste of time and space. So the stormy morning I first spectacularly fell into that banana tree, comically tumbling over a poorly-tied shoelace and slamming into a giant mass of pale green, I had not expected to look up at its curled stem pointed towards the window and—slowly, wonderfully—realize how much I found myself in it. We will write a custom essay sample on To Reach for the Light or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Reflection is my most cherished pastime; there is nothing I desire more than to go on a summer walk with nothing but the whir of my thoughts in my head, their subject ranging from that morning’s political debate or even a simple AP Biology assignment I am eager to conquer. I enthusiastically participate in discussions at my church over the role of youth and why I am able to make my own decisions as a being of free-will. I tenderly place these thoughts in the journal I keep stuck to me like a second skin, filling it with my plans for my future as a healthcare professional, listing and elaborating on every step I must take to get there. I mull over and dissect the ideas and challenges that lie before me, simply allowing myself to think and attempt finding the answer to the questions buzzing in my mind—until finally, the sigh falling from my lips is one of satisfaction. It is fulfilling for me, an enjoyable challenge, to break apart even the most mundane aspects and study it closely. The banana tree, inching forward to catch any spattering of light spilling through dark clouds and through the window, was one of these topics, and over the week, as the image floated in my mind, teasing me and deepening my thought process, I found the answer in myself. I am full of vibrant, pulsing life. I do not wait for truth to come to me when I can search for it myself, exploring every event and every thought, pressing questions spilling from my lips. I felt this the most vividly during my junior year, during which my classmates and I were tasked with elaborating on an aspect of human character and then presenting on our findings. Naturally, I was thrilled, and after spending three months reading classic literature, studying texts, and analyzing various theories, I presented to the class my conclusion on the destructive power of materialism. I attempted to convince them with genuine and fluid words of why I felt so strongly about this subject—and to my complete delight, they were won over. I was extremely happy, my smile curling at the edges and causing me to realize I had just accomplished something wonderful. I am like this tree—this infuriating, stubborn tree, with its heavy leaves, sticky with viscous sap, that strain and reach in every direction. Like this banana tree, I love the sensation of fighting for what I believe in, searching for light, for truth, and extracting it from wherever I can. I am inexplicably in love with thought and reason, and I refuse to give up finding my answers, even if it causes me a little bit of hard work. Give me a challenge and watch my resilience—watch me reach for the light.

Becket

Becket Becket Essay Have you ever heard the phrase opposites attract? Have you ever experienced it for yourself? In the case of Thomas Becket and King Henry II, this phrase was a very accurate reality. King Henry was very spontaneous and irrational in his decisions for the well being of England. He relied significantly upon Thomas Becket for knowledge and guidance in situations of both importance and irrelevancy for the welfare of his country. Becket, on the other hand, did not give the impression of reliance upon Henry at all. Since their first encounter, Henry had been mystified by Becket's outlook on life and his passiveness and assurance. Although their characters give the impression to be in no way similar, their reliance upon one another is very powerful and yet extremely surprising. Becket becomes resilient to Henry's irrationalities and eccentric attitude in situations and looks past his weaknesses to show him his strengths and possibilities of being useful in life.Altar marking the spot of Thomas Becket's martyrdo...King Henry II is a very influential and imposing man. He has an extremely short temper and has absolutely no patience when it comes to ignorance. He exemplifies this with his actions toward his wife and mother after Becket has left. He becomes irate and will not listen to anyone. From when they first met, Henry was incredibly reliant upon Becket and his knowledgeable solutions to his problems and frustrations. Henry easily becomes bored with life and all the people things around him. He is not emotionally content, and Becket helps him to find satisfaction out of his life and role and duty as King England. Becket gives Henry a sense of worth and confidence, and Henry relishes the feeling. Most of Henry's decisions are to make himself feel better and Becket tries to make him realize that he can...

10 Actinium Facts

10 Actinium Facts Actinium is a radioactive metal that is the first element of the actinide series. Its sometimes considered the third element in Row 7 (last row) of the periodic table or in Group 3 (IIIB), depending on which chemist you ask. Here are 10 interesting facts about actinium. 10 Actinium Facts Actinium has atomic number 89, meaning each atom of the element has 89 protons. Its element symbol is Ac. It is an actinide, which also makes it a member of the rare earth element group, which is itself a subset of the transition metals group.Actinium was discovered in 1899 by French chemist Andre Debierne, who suggested the name for the element. The name comes from the Greek word aktinos or aktis, meaning ray or beam. Debierne was a friend of Marie and Pierre Curie. Some sources suggest he worked with Marie Curie to discover actinium, using a pitchblende sample from which polonium and radium had already been extracted (discovered by the Curies).Actinium was independently discovered again in 1902 by German chemist Friedrich Giesel, who had not heard of Debiernes work. Giesel suggested the name emanium for the element, which comes from the word emanation, meaning to emit rays.All isotopes of actinium are radioactive. It was the first non-primordial radioactive element to be isolated, even though other radioactive elements had been identified. Radium, radon, and polonium were discovered before actinium but werent isolated until 1902. One of the more noteworthy actinium facts is that the element glows blue in the dark. The blue color comes from the ionization of gases in the air by radioactivity.Actinium is a silver-colored metal that has properties similar to those of lanthanum, the element located directly above it on the periodic table. The density of actinium is 10.07 grams per cubic centimeter. Its melting point is 1050.0Â °C and boiling point is 3200.0Â °C. Like other actinides, actinium readily tarnishes in the air (forming a white actinium oxide layer), is extremely dense, is highly electropositive, and likely forms numerous allotropes. The other actinides readily form compounds with nonmetals, although actinium compounds are not well-known.Although it is a rare natural element, actinium does occur in uranium ores, where it forms from the radioactive decay of uranium and other radioisotopes, such as radium. Actinium is present at an abundance of 0.0005 parts per trillion by mass in the Earths crust. Its abundance in the solar system is negligible overall. There is about 0.15 mg of actinium per ton of pitchblende. Although it is found in ores, actinium is not commercially extracted from minerals. High-purity actinium may be made by bombarding radium with neutrons, causing the radium to decay in a predictable fashion into actinium. The primary use of the metal is for research purposes. It is valuable neutron source because of its high activity level. Ac-225 may be used for cancer treatment. Ac-227 may be used for thermoelectric generators, as for spacecraft.36 isotopes of actinium are known- all radioactive. Actinium-227 and actinium-228 are the two that occur naturally. The half-life of Ac-227 is 21.77 years, while the half-life of Ac-228 is 6.13 hours.One interesting factoid is that actinium is about 150 times more radioactive than radium!Actinium presents a health hazard. If ingested, it is deposited into the bones and the liver, where radioactive decay damages cells, potentially leading to bone cancer or other illnesses.

Business Ethics is Not an Option Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Ethics is Not an Option - Essay Example Analysis leads to the conclusion that observance of business ethics is not optional. Every business venture aims at flourishing in the modern marketplace. There are several methods of achieving including the application of marketing strategies for sales increase, manufacturing and production concepts for cost-effectiveness and organizational management for over-all company harmony. However, the concept of an ethically-run business as necessary for the company to succeed is becoming more and more recognized. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a by word for many business professionals. Although it is generally observing ethics and morals in business dealings, CSR is thought to comprise of activities such as supporting charities is CSR, funding anti-crime and poverty programs, exceeding legal or regulatory obligations in areas of business operation such as health and safety and consumer rights, managing the supply chain to ensure that suppliers respect human rights is CSR and taking measures to ensure that products do not harm the environment. (Kotler and Nancy 2004, p. 3) Our concern is not so much in defining CSR but in determining whether the observance of business ethics is optional or not. This paper will argue that business ethics is necessary and beneficial for the business firm. ... Increased Job Performance Quality The reason why a field in business called Human Resources Management (HRM) exists is that it was long recognized that there is a need to ensure that employee issues are properly addressed. One of the secrets of successful business companies is that they were able to derive extra commitment from all employees resulting to unprecedented quality and responsiveness in products and services along with heroic frugality, incredible levels of integration and collaboration within and without the organizations, and especially to pull off continuous, brilliant, and cheap innovation. According to the only way one can "manage" high level human output is to set the conditions for everyone doing their best: including support of the core competencies of people, their ability to self-organize, their ability to change and grow. A company can achieve this if it fosters trust and build organizational cultures in which freedom and personal initiative can cohabit with cooperation, caring and a highly integrated harmony. Only thru a sincere observance of business ethics can the company assure that its employees do not stage rallies, release negative public statements regarding the company, resign and reveal company trade secrets. Being ethical also helps in attracting excellent and skilled professionals to work for the company. The Industrial Society for the UK (in Price 2002) reports that "82% of UK professionals claimed that they would not work for an organisation whose values they did not believe in" and that "among smaller businesses, the survey showed that 62% of owner managers were influenced by their employees to be more socially active." Consumer Preference Observing moral and ethical values in the conduct of business does not

International B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International B - Essay Example The specific Forum reflects the trends in globalisation as developed both in the literature and the empirical field – i.e. the daily activities and policies of governmental and non-governmental organizations. The concept of globalisation has been considered to include seven different forces: in this paper, emphasis is given on the globalisation of markets – one of the seven forces mentioned above. The trends on the globalisation of markets – as highlighted in relevant studies – could help to understand the importance of this concept for the increase of the effectiveness of governmental and commercial strategies. The globalisation of markets has affected the strategies and performance of governmental and non-governmental organizations – referring especially to the commercial firms – both positively and negatively. The specific issue is highlighted in the study of Perrone et al. (2010) who focus on the effects of globalisation on small and medium enterprises – a study which can be used also in order to evaluate the effects of globalisation on large and multinational firms. In accordance with Perrone et al. (2010) ‘globalisation represents a threat, since new emerging companies are entering their domestic market, but on the other hand, it represents the opportunity to enter new emerging and growing markets’ (Perrone et al., 2010, p.356). From another point of view, globalisation can highly affect a speficic part of commercial firms: the corporate governance (Berry, 2010, 234); the different principles and cultures of the global market and the national market c ould negatively affect the firms that try to enter the global market. The importance of culture, the social ethics and the political system – actually referring to the traditions, the social principles and the politics of a specific country - on the success of the efforts for entering the global market is also highlighted in the study of Standing et al. (2010, p. 56). The above

High school Essay Example for Free

High school Essay We could say that an educated person is like a piece of artwork, it is open to the interpretation of the viewer. Just like every art work critique has their own opinion about an artwork, everyone has their own different interpretations of what an educated person is. One thing is clear though, in order to be a successful person in life, you do not need money, as well as in order to be an educated person, you do not need a college diploma. What you are willing to give up in order to become your best person depends on how much you truly want to accomplish that goal. Not everyone knows right away what they have a passion for. One has to explore new activities and only then will they be able to decide for themselves. Everyone expresses their opinion, and in my thought an educated person is the willing to put in time like Gladwell explains, claims their learning rights like Rich exercises, applies critical thinking and reasoning to work towards a success like Wagner emphasizes and lastly does not fall victim to adversity like my father focuses attention on. An educated person should always be willing to put in time. This means that they are willing to give up what they want now, for what they want most. For example, in Gladwell, Schoenfeld the math professor experimented with a young girl Renee, which took her approximately twenty-two minutes to figure the slope of a vertical line. â€Å"This is eight-grade mathematics If I put the average eighth grader in the same position as Renee, I’m guessing that after the first few attempts, they would have said, ‘I don’t get it. I need you to explain it. ’ (Gladwell 2008, pp. 245). † What Schoenfeld proved with this experiment was the willingness of Renee to continue the math problem. Of course, compared to the eighth grader, Renee had more self-discipline and wanted to continue on going until she was able to solve it. An educated person should be willing to put in time and work towards their goal. It will not be easy or given to the person, there is a lot of time and energy put to having what one wants. Another idea Gladwell explains is the amount of time one is willing to put in and how that makes one an expert. â€Å"Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours† (Gladwell 2008, pp.40). Gladwell’s idea of hard work and dedication to whatever it is that you want to become an expert at takes at least 10,000 hours. I agree with him, but only to a certain point. It is true that in order to become someone well knowledgeable on a certain activity or topic one must practice and put in time. I do not necessarily agree that 10,000 hours should be the exact number for â€Å"true expertise† as Gladwell calls it, but it definitely should not be a few hours. For example, ideally doctors should be one of the most specialized fields. They are ones performing their knowledge on people and I honestly would not want a doctor that has gotten a few hours of practice to do anything to me, because there is more of a chance that they are not as experienced as someone else that has been working for decades as a doctor. An educated person should be willing to put in time to practice which is what makes someone good at their specialization. Rich’s idea of â€Å"claiming an education† also applies within our pursuit to defining an educated person. Rich explains that a student should not think about education as â€Å"receiving it†, but to be thought of as â€Å"claiming it† (Rich 1979 pp.365). Rich explains that claiming an education is taking as if one were the owner. I agree with Rich, students should have the mentality of taking the education being given to them. There is a difference between claiming what is rightfully yours, and taking what if rightfully yours. One difference is that when you claim something, you are putting in effort to learning what is being taught. For example, a student that goes to class and learns whatever the lesson was for that day, would in my terms be called receiving. On the other hand, if that same student were to go to the instructor’s office hours and basically use the resources that there are around campus, that would be claiming. The mere difference of going one step above the other makes the difference between the two. Rich also backs this idea of claiming, with the simple act of participating in class, becoming more engaged in class and the teacher’s professional life. This idea of claiming an education is not limited to those in school, because not every educated person goes to college, or needs a college degree. It is helpful in order to have something to fall back upon. One way we can connect the idea of claiming an education without going to school, could be my father’s story. His decision of dropping out of high school did not stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He claimed his rights to learning about how to create his own company and becoming a successful entrepreneur, without having a business college degree. Claiming your rights as a human being over all is what counts. Anyone should be able to express their passion for something. In my father’s case, he first started by working at a small local shop as a cashier, but he found himself not doing what he loved, â€Å"I loved helping people, make their houses bigger or just fixing their house up for them. † (Gomez 2014). My father eventually stopped receiving, and started claiming. An educated person is one who does not receive, but one that claims and demands their ability to practice their passion. Give a child a list of three words with a definition to each, allow them to memorize it and few minutes later, they can regurgitate it back to you. As an education major, it is easy to go a whole year teaching children a certain vocabulary words, or teaching them how to solve a math problem, but explaining why the answer is the answer, is a lot more difficult. Wagner explains that many students lack â€Å"intellectual challenges† (Wagner 2008, pp. xxv). A class lacking intellectual challenge for students can cause a downfall in the future. Providing students with more rigorous work and questioning their solutions, prevents them from finding lessons uninteresting and eventually leading them to want to drop the course, or worse yet, want to drop out of school. For example in history class, one has to remember specific dates, but also know why several of these specific events happened or what lead to it. I was one of them. Rarely do students remember what lead to wars, or life historically changing events, like the great depression because they are just taught either to memorize the dates or they find it easier to only remember the dates and names of important historical figures. The same concept can be applied to mathematics, where one has to know how to solve the problem, but does not always know why a certain formula was used or why it only works with that certain problem. According to Wagner, knowing the answer is not sufficient, one must know and be able to critically think about the end result. Therefore, an educated person should be willing to not only claim their education, but also be able to apply more critical thinking and reasoning. Which by later exercising that through practicing and preparing, one can accomplish their goals. Lastly, I interviewed my father, because he is the first man I have ever admired. He was able to successfully carry out a career that he did not go to college for. Matter of fact, he never went to college, and only completed a few years of high school. Through my interview with him, he allowed me to truly appreciate and admire him a lot more. One main adversity he got through was coming in to the United States, he believes that without coming to the United States his success would not have been possible. â€Å"Coming from a huge family, having 8 brothers and 7 sisters you did not always get what you wanted† (Gomez 2014). My father further explained that he was always having to share his things and he never had the opportunities that I have today. â€Å"I had to run a whole mile in order to get to class, there were no buses, because we lived in the country, and I had to run to the city every morning to get to school† (Gomez 2014). My father continues with his story, â€Å"every morning we all had to do chores, mine were taking care of the farm animals. I would milk the cows every morning and since I had to do my morning chores before school, sometimes I ran late and I had to go to school smelling like farm animals and sweat† (Gomez 2014). The dedication put into working back then is not the same today. For everything there is always an excuse made up. I myself have made many excuses, but it takes an educated person to not make excuses. He could have easily said I am not walking a mile to go to school, but he was determined. My father did not drop out of school because he was failing his classes. At age 18 he became an innocent victim in a shooting, in which he was shot in the stomach and had missed a big portion of his senior year. He was months away from graduating, but he never was able to complete his missed classes due to the lack of support from his teachers, he explained. He after started his own family and came to the United States when I was born. â€Å"You are the luckiest one of everyone in the family† he told me, â€Å"your sisters do not have the opportunity that you have and an educated person is one who can make the best situation out of a tough one† (Gomez 2014). Without doubt, my father was able to create a self-made company. He was the only one of his 15 siblings to become an entrepreneur, and today in my eyes he is the most successful. An educated person would ideally be my own father, who was willing to put in time to learn about his passion, claim his rights as a United States resident and created his own business, and lastly he did fall victim to adversity. An educated person and a successful person go hand in hand, but the definitions are endless, and open to many interpretations, but what makes either person educated or successful, depends on what they are willing to give up in order to become their best person. An educated person is one who no matter what is willing to put in time in order to be called an expert at his passion. Someone who rightfully claims the ability to carry out their love for their passion and lastly, someone who does not fall victim to adversity. ? Bibliography Gladwell, Malcolm. â€Å"The 10,000-Hour Rule† in Outliers, 34-68. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Gladwell, Malcolm. â€Å"Rice Paddies and Math Tests† in Outliers, 224-249. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Gustavo Gomez, interview by Alondra Gomez, April 28, 2014. Rich, Adrienne. â€Å"Claiming and Education† in On Lies, Secrets and Silence, 365-369. New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1979. Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap, intro xix-xxviii. New York: Basic Books, 2008.

Death of a Salesman Structure Metaphoric Language and Theme Essays

Death of a Salesman Structure Metaphoric Language and Theme In looking at the characteristics of the tragic hero, it can be see that Willy Loman is not a tragic hero but a victim of a false idealistic pursuit of the â€Å"American Dream†. Willy strives to become and instill in his sons the success of the self made man that American society often advertises but ultimately falls short, and instead, escapes accepting his failure through lies and death. What many flaws Willy possesses, most do not correlate with the classic tragic hero. Willy Loman, was never really of noble stature, as was summed up by Linda, the person who knew him best. â€Å" Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived.† Willy’s harmartia was his obsession with the false American Dream that caused him to become delusional and totally blind of his actual situation. If this is so, then he cannot he commit a true and calculated error of judgment and then his downfall is due to an overriding irrepressible mental condition which cancels his own fault in his downfall. His delusional state of mind blurs reality and causes him to never accept or understand who he is or his downfall erasing any notion that he experienced an epiphany of any sort. In fact, it can be said that he dragged one of his sons with him. In front of Willy’s grave Happy vows to continue Willy’s dream. â€Å" He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have- to come out the number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him.† Willy Loman is an example of the middle class man caught as a victim of society where the odds are against him, a â€Å"has-been†. As a victim he unwillingly suppressed hi... ...t, but Ben is also dead. Willy’s father went off to Alaska to find wealth but also ended up dead. In the â€Å"Requiem†, Happy vows to finish what his father started and therefore following in his footsteps, â€Å"I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain.† He ends the proclamation with, â€Å"I’m gonna win it for him.† Three people with the same goal, economic success and freedom, with what can be assumed the same outcome, death. Alternatively, the story of David Singleman acts as an oracle in the way that it foreshadows Willy’s death, â€Å"- and by the way he died the death of a salesman.† Within the past, present and future actions of characters the effects of a preordained outcome are clearly visible. By looking at character relations and incorporating old techniques with more modern ones a dark pattern of design looms over the Loman family.

Great Leaders: Are They Made or Born? Essay

Skills such as communications skills, strategic and leadership skills are often questioned whether they are learned or naturally born within a person. These debates are caused by the bipolar opposition of an individual’s growth as influenced by nurture and nature. Human behaviors are studied by psychologists and sociologists to explain the phenomena whether those behaviors are innate or learned and acquired. One of those phenomena is a person’s success in terms of leadership abilities. Leadership skills are enhanced and developed through performance, actions and experiences; thus, triumphant and great leaders are made, not born. Leadership is defined as â€Å"working with and through others to achieve objectives† (qtd. Goldsmith). It means that any person who is in a position and whose success and achievement entails the support of others, can play the role of a leader (Goldsmith). Leaders make possibilities (Avolio 3), so the belief of most psychologists then that leadership qualities are innate are now being debated because of several researches that show the other possibility: leadership skills can be mastered and developed (Avolio). It is not enough to believe in the â€Å"Great Man† theories, which assume that the ability for leadership is inherent and inborn–that great leaders are born, not made. The theories most of the time illustrate leaders as heroic, mythic and fated to ascend to leadership when needed (Wagner). However, it is important to note that it is misjudged and underestimated if people fail to gather and learn from life and personal experiences, which are said to have an impact on developing leadership skills (Avolio 3). Great leaders emerge in a number of forms; however, there are particular characteristics that are common to the quality of leadership–a process of influencing members of the organization to commit and to work hard towards achieving the organization’s goals. Leaders can either be task-oriented–leaders who are interested most in directing behavior, training, performance and winning–or person-oriented, leaders who are enthused more on the interpersonal relationship of the organization (Sugarman 1). On the other hand, in order for a person to be addressed as a â€Å"great† leader, he or she must be both task-and-people-oriented so that every aspect of the organization will be given focus. The quote â€Å"great leaders are people persons† (Banescu), implies that a great leader is someone who likes to be with people, listens to them, relates to them, knows how to communicate well, and speaks their language and does not talk down to them. Moreover, great leaders are knowledgeable and efficient administrators. It means that the leader comprehends the works that are being done in all the areas of the organization: how the areas and the people collaborate. The leader possesses a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the people he or she administers. He or she devotes resources and time to correct the weaknesses and reinforce the strengths (Banescu). It is also essential to take into consideration that a leader needs to have the qualities that the organization is incorporating. For instance, if a leader desires his or her members to be confident and be disciplined, it is essential that he or she must first possess those traits. In order for a person to be called as a leader, he or she needs to lead by example. A leader serves as an influential model for all his or her members, so everything he or she does will be watched and looked at (Sugarman 1). Basically, the skills of a great leader revolve on his or her capacity to manage and lead the members of his or her organization, as well as to fulfill and do his or her own tasks while making sure that the organization functions well in achieving its goals and objectives. Great leaders’ qualities and abilities center on action rather than position. Leaders are in the position to supervise the organization and its members and to make sure that every aspect performs well. Leadership is not primarily about exercising one’s power and extending his or her dominion by abusing his or her authority and manipulating the members of the group. Thus, a leader guides the members of the organization, not rules them. He or she draws a course, bestows direction and enhances and develops the social and psychological milieu (qtd. Sugarman 2). Given the aforementioned premises, then, how great leaders are made? Being a leader especially a triumphant and great one is a matter of choice, a matter of priority and a matter of challenge. Of course, every individual desires to become a leader and sees him or herself as a catalyst of change. However, albeit the dreams and visions of becoming one, only those who follow their heart and who make the move have evolved to become leaders. Nevertheless, becoming a great leader is more challenging than just turning into an ordinary and usual leader. â€Å"Great† is a very powerful and strong adjective that describes the whole capacity and leadership abilities of a person. It is how a person makes use of his or her leadership capabilities as well as how he or she maximizes his or her strengths and potentials in order to manage and lead the organization properly. It is also about utilizing his or her leadership skills in order to create and discover new strategies and techniques. As what the old saying goes, â€Å"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trial;† this statement is very much suitable with regards to the explanation of making great leaders. It means that a person needs to learn from his or her personal experiences in accord to his or her leadership potentials. The acquired knowledge and experiences will definitely be of great help to an individual’s leadership development. So in order to become a great leader, a leader must first be beaten with a lot of trials and challenges during the process. Great leaders: are they made or born? That question has been commonly asked and has been studied for several decades. Psychologists then insist that great leaders are born because leadership skills are acquired from one’s ancestors. The leader’s abilities are intact on their genes. However, that notion with leadership is said to be dangerous because it promotes self-delusion and irresponsibility. It crafts an escape on one’s responsibility for taking action or for learning how to take action when he or she has seen the need of the organization or the community (Heifetz 20). On the other hand, current researches show and reveal that great leaders are made, not born. Because even though the person has been born with skills and abilities, but he or she fails to utilize them and fails to apply it in his or her experiences and leadership struggle, still, his or her innate capacities have no use. But if a person is already born with excellent skills on leadership and chooses to enhance and develop those skills, he or she has the power to transform him or herself into a person that he or she yearns for him or herself to be – a proficient leader. Great leaders are made because of several things that triumphant leaders accomplish. Such things involve getting 390 degrees feedback on his or her present effectiveness, picking the most essential behaviors for change, asking the members of the group for suggestions on how he or she can do a better job, listening to the members’ ideas, and following up and measuring change in efficiency over time (Goldsmith). Given that, an excellent leader provides a serene atmosphere where members can learn and grow. At the same time he or she gives responsibility to the group and fosters independence (Sugarman 2). Great leaders are made because they make use of their skills and abilities and apply what they have learned and what they have experienced in the course of their leadership process and development. They do not just sit on their table and order the members to do their jobs and to accomplish the organization’s goal; hence, triumphant leaders work together with their members. They motivate the group, not manipulate it. Great leaders are made because such leaders are open for crafting possibilities and achieving the unexpected. They make things happen by doing actions and taking responsibilities. They do not just allow a thing to materialize in itself; rather, they do something for it and they strive for it. Leadership is not a just a matter of choice; it is a matter of priority and willingness to act. Works Cited Avolio, Bruce. Leadership Development in Balance: Made or Born. London: Routledge, 2005. Avolio, Bruce. 1999. â€Å"Are Leaders Born or Made. † Psychology Today. 05 March 2009 . Banescu, Chris. 2007. â€Å"Key Characteristics of Great Leaders. † Orthodoxnet. com Blog. 05 March 2009 . Goldsmith, Marshall. 2008. â€Å"Great Leaders Are Made, Not Born. † Harvard Business Publishing. 05 March 2009 . Heifetz, Ronald Abadian. Leadership Without Easy Answers. United States: Harvard University Press, 1994. Sugarman, Karlene. 2008. â€Å"Leadership Characteristics. † Ottewell School. 05 March 2009 . Wagner, Kendra Van. 2009. About. com: Psychology. 05 March 2009 .

Hebrew Ehe Eternal Language

HEBREW: THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE WILLIAM CHOMSKY HEBREW : THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE Varda Books 5761 / 2001 skokie, illinois, usa Copyright  © 2001 by Varda Books Original copyright  © 1957 by THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA All Rights Reserved Second Printing, 1958 New ISBN 1-59045-441-3 Library PDFNo part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, except for brief passages in connection with a critical review, without permission in writing from the publisher: Varda Books, 9001 Keating Avenue, Skokie, Illinois, USA Prepared as an ebook by Varda Graphics, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. : 57? 8140 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To My Children >Home | TOC | Index PREFACE There has long been need for a book on the origin of the Hebrew language, its struggle for survival in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, and i ts survival as a spoken vernacular in our own day. I confess to having for many years cherished the hope that it would some day be given me to write this story. At the same time, I shrank from undertaking a task so vast and important, so basic to the Jewish cultural heritage, and involving so many aspects of Jewish life and history.When, therefore, the Zionist Organization of America approached me several years ago with the request that I prepare a pamphlet on the subject, Hebrew, The Story of a Living Language, I allowed myself to be persuaded for the very reason that the discussion would be brief and tentative. Yet some of my friends at once began urging me to expand that pamphlet into a full-sized book, and this is the result. The account is far from exhaustive. It is designed primarily for the intelligent reader rather than for the scholar. In the process of popularization much had to be diluted, omitted or condensed.In many areas the presentation is very sketchy, though, I hope , authentic and accurate. A more comprehensive account will have to await more auspicious circumstances. In the writing of this book I had to resort to various sources of information and to the help of individuals who are expert in certain specific areas, and I herewith wish to pay grateful acknowledgment. I am, of course, primarily indebted to Dr. Solomon Grayzel for his stimulation and encouragement, criticism and advice, in the preparation of this book.My thanks are due to the following individuals for helpful counsel and information: Judah Lapson, Chairman of Hebrew Culture Service Committee for American High Schools and Colleges; A. Leo Oppenheim, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; Cecil Roth, Oxford vii > Home | TOC | Index viii Preface University, England; E. A. Speiser, Chairman, Department of Oriental Studies, University of Pennsylvania. I also wish to make appreciative acknowledgment of the following publications from which illustrative materials were taken: The He brew Scripts, S. A.Birnbaum; Millon ha-Lashon ha-Ibrit, Eliezer Ben Yehudah; The Field of Yiddish, edited by Uriel Weinreich, Linguistic Circle of New York; Semitic Writing, G. R. Driver, Oxford University Press; A Study of Writing, I. J. Gelb, University of Chicago Press. Recognition is also due to Historische Grammatik der Hebraischen Sprache, Hans Bauer and Pontus Leander, Verlag von Max Niemeyer, which provided a model for the illustration of Branches of the Semitic Languages, on page 22. It is my hope that this volume will stimulate new interest in the Hebrew language among those who know it as well as those who do not.May the story of the ancient tongue prove as fascinating to my readers as it has always been to me. W. C . March 1, 1957 > Home | TOC | Index CONTENTS INTRODUCTION—The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life, 1 PART I—How the Language Began to Be Spoken CHAPTER 1—Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind, 17 CHAPTER 2—How the Hebrew Language Began, 32 CHAPTER 3—The Early Non-Biblical Sources of Hebrew, 50 PART II—How the Written Language Took Form CHAPTER 4—How the Hebrew Alphabet Originated, 73 CHAPTER 5—How Did the Vowel-System Evolve? 3 CHAPTER 6—How the Study of Hebrew Grammar Began and Developed, 117 CHAPTER 7—How Was the Text of the Hebrew Bible Preserved? 139 PART III—How the Language Was Preserved CHAPTER 8—How Did the Hebrew Language Grow? 157 CHAPTER 9—How the Hebrew Language Has Kept Abreast of Changing Needs, 172 CHAPTER 10—How Hebrew Evolved as a Modern Vernacular, 184 CHAPTER 11—Did Hebrew Ever Die? 206 PART IV—How the Language Meets Modern Needs CHAPTER 12—The Struggle for Revival, 231 CHAPTER 13—Hebrew in America, 245 EPILOGUE—Hebrew for American Jews, 270 Notes and Bibliography, 281 Index, 313 ix gt; Home | TOC | Index > Home | TOC | Index LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page 1. Hittite Hieroglyphic Writing. Courtesy o f I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Branches of the Semitic Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geographical Distribution of the Semitic Languages . . 21 22 23 2. 3. 4. Transcription of the Mesha Stone. Courtesy of I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 134 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Hieroglyphic Inscriptions found in Sinai. Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, London), 1954, page 94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hittite Hieroglyphic Writing. Courtesy of I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 75 6. 77 81 7. The Contents of a Mezuzah. An example of hand-written Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Inscriptions from the Sinaitic Peninsu la.Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, London), 1954, page 94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From Hebrew to the Latin Alphabets . . . . . . . . . . 83 87 9. 10. Three Vowel Systems: 1. Babylonian; 2. Palestinian; 3. Tiberian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 11. The Masoretic Text as prepared by the Ben Asher School. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, Fasc. 2, page 92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 12. A Page from the Rabbinic Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 xi > Home | TOC | Index xii List of Illustrations Between pp. 242 and 243 13. Hebrew Calendar from Gezer. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, no. 2 14. Sinaitic Writing. Courtesy of G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing (British Academy, London), 1954, pl. 38 15. The Siloam Inscription. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, no. 14 16. The Mesha Stone. Courtesy of The Louvre, Paris 17. Lachish O straca. Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, nos. 23, 24 18. Coins of the Second Commonwealth.Courtesy of S. A. Birnbaum, The Hebrew Scripts, nos. 56, 58, 61 19. Stamps of Modern Israel 20. The Nash Papyrus. Courtesy of Cambridge University Library 21. An Aramaic and Yiddish Version of Had Gadya. Courtesy of The Field of Yiddish: Studies in Yiddish Language, Folklore and Literature Published on the Occasion of the Bicentennial of Columbia University, ed. by Uriel Weinreich, Linguistic Circle of New York, 1954 22. Eliezer Ben Yehudah. Courtesy of Millon ha-Lashon ha-lbrit > Home | TOC | Index HEBREW: THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE >Home | TOC | Index > Home | TOC | Index INTRODUCTION THE ROLE OF HEBREW IN JEWISH LIFE Hebrew as a Modern Vernacular Barely a decade or two ago there were people who maintained that Hebrew was not a living language. Now, the â€Å"sacred language† of the past is the daily vernacular of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Israel. There the language liv es in the mouths of school children, bootblacks, busmen, cab drivers, cabaret singers, lawyers, doctors and officials, of the religious, irreligious and anti-religious—indeed, of everyone.The thick horizontal strokes and thin verticals of the Hebrew alphabet are blazoned all over the country on posters, advertising signs, stamps and coins; on highways, shops, stores and hotels. Hebrew slang, colloquialisms and even curses are freely coined; while the Hebrew Language Academy (formerly, Vaad haLashon), composed of outstanding scholars and writers and sponsored by the Israel government, is vigilantly on guard against the intrusion of any solecisms or barbarisms that might impair the purity of the language.From time to time, moreover, this Academy publishes lists of technical terms covering every branch and aspect of science, industry, technology and the like: some ten thousand new words have gained currency since the establishment of the State of Israel. At least four theatrical companies offer regular performances—all, of course, in Hebrew. Thou1 > Home | TOC | Index 2 Hebrew: The Eternal Language sands of books, magazines, newspapers and brochures on every conceivable topic are in daily circulation.Close to two hundred periodicals are published there in Hebrew, including fifteen dailies and the rest weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and annuals. Hebrew books are published in Israel at the rate of more than three a day. The air waves of Israel vibrate to the rhythm of the classical tongue. Outside of Israel, the most significant center of Hebrew culture is America. The language is read, understood and spoken by thousands of American Jews. There are Hebrew periodicals of popular as well as scholarly character; Hebrew books, fictional and scientific; Hebrew language instruction on elementary and college level.Schools, camps and clubs encourage the speaking of Hebrew. Can there be any question as to the vitality of the Hebrew language? None of the mode rn attempts to revive old languages, such as Gaelic, Welsh and Indi, can boast of anything approximating the progress made by Hebrew. Yet the Irish, Welsh and Indians have been rooted on their own soil and are free from political, physical and economic difficulties with which the young struggling Jewish community in Israel has had to cope.Sources of Vitality of the Hebrew Language How was the Hebrew language able to exist and function as an effective instrument of creative self-expression and intercommunication for about two thousand years, without such an essential ingredient for survival as a state or territory? How could Hebrew retain its vitality and elasticity over such a long period of time in the face of such adverse conditions? The answer to these questions may be discovered by considering the unique character of Judaism and its relation to the Hebrew language.Hebrew has not been a denationalized universal tongue, the medium of a specific religion, in the sense that Latin ha s been the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. Nor has it been merely a folk tongue like other living languages. As a matter of fact, it has persisted as a living lan- > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 3 guage for many centuries after it had ceased to be a spoken vernacular in the accepted sense of the term, as will be demonstrated in a later chapter in this volume.Hebrew has been the sacred language of the Jewish people—the language of its religion, culture and civilization. It has been, in sum, the language of Judaism and intimately identified with the national and religious experiences of the Jewish people throughout the generations. The Jewish people can no more be dissociated from Hebrew than they can be dissociated from their own spiritual identity—Judaism. Relationship between Language and Culture An analysis of the nature of language and of Judaism may help to clarify this point.Language is not merely a means of expression and c ommunication; it is an instrument of experiencing, thinking and feeling, as well as a means of self-expression and personal growth. In investigating the origin of language and â€Å"after tracing back its history as far as we can, we see that the earliest language was anything but intellectual, that it was indeed a sort of half-way house between singing and speech with long almost conglomerations of sounds, which served rather as an outlet for intense feelings than for an intelligible expression of them . . †1 Indeed, even in modern days language is employed â€Å"by children (and often by grown people), not so much to formulate and express thoughts as to give vent to feelings . . . †2 Our ideas and experiences are not independent of language; they are all integral parts of the same pattern, the warp and woof of the same texture. We do not first have thoughts, ideas, feelings and then put them into a verbal framework. We think in words, by means of words. Language and experience are inextricably interwoven, and the awareness of one awakens the other.Words and idioms are as indispensable to our thoughts and experiences as are colors and tints to a painting. Our personality matures and develops through language and by our use of it. Defective linguistic growth is known to go hand in > Home | TOC | Index 4 Hebrew: The Eternal Language hand with stunted intellectual and emotional development. Deaf and dumb people are, as a rule, intellectually retarded and, in some degree, even callous, unless given means of adequate communication.What is true of language in relation to individual growth is equally true in the case of the cultural growth and development of a people. Indeed, students of language have come to recognize that the experiences of a group, its mental and emotional habits, its modes of thoughts and attitudes are registered and reflected in the words and idioms of the group’s language. Thus, for example, the word shalom, usually render ed by â€Å"peace,† has in effect little in common with its English equivalent. Shalom does not have the passive, even negative, connotation of the word â€Å"peace. It does not mean merely the absence of strife. It is pregnant with positive, active and energetic meaning and association. It connotes totality, health, wholesomeness, harmony, success, the completeness and richness of living in an integrated social milieu. When people meet or part they wish each other shalom, or they inquire about each other’s shalom. Similarly, the Hebrew words ruah (spirit) and nefesh (soul) do not have the implications of a disembodiment, such as are indicated by their English equivalents. There is no dichotomy in the Hebrew mind between body and spirit or soul.One is not the antithesis of the other. These Hebrew words have dynamic, life-giving and motor-urgent connotations. Every living being has a ruah, even the beast possesses a ruah (Ecclesiastes 3. 21). The same is true of the sy nonym nefesh, which is generally rendered by â€Å"soul. † But nefesh, too, is the property of all living beings (Job 12. 10), including the beast (Proverbs 12. 10). Even the netherworld has a nefesh (Isaiah 5. 14). Furthermore, every living creature, man as well as animal, is designated as nefesh (Genesis 1. 0, 21, 24, 12. 5, 14. 21, etc. ). Both nefesh and ruah often signify strength and vigor, both in a material and a spiritual sense. Voracious dogs are said to possess a strong nefesh (Isaiah 56. 11); and the horses of Egypt, the prophet warns, are weak: they are â€Å"flesh and no ruah† (ibid. , 31. 3). > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 5 There is likewise a far cry between the Hebrew word tzedakah (from the stem tzadak, to be just or righteous), with its implications of social justice, and the English word â€Å"charity. In the case of â€Å"charity† the recipient sees himself beholden to the donor, whose action is voluntary. Tzedakah, on the other hand, has to be performed as a matter of obligation and the recipient is in no way indebted to the donor. The needy have a right to tzedakah, while those possessing means have a duty to give it. Indeed, even a poor person who receives tzedakah must in turn give tzedakah (Gittin 7b). There is, likewise, a wide semantic gulf between the Hebrew rahamim or rahmanut and the English equivalent â€Å"pity† or â€Å"mercy. The Hebrew word connotes love, family feeling (see Genesis 43. 30, etc. ), even motherliness, since it is related to rehem (mother’s womb) of the same stem. None of these connotations is implied in the English equivalents. Similarly, the richly meaningful and historically hallowed implications of the Hebrew torah are totally absent in the English equivalent â€Å"law. † The Hebrew term torah embraces the totality of Jewish creative labor throughout the ages. Just as inadequate is the English translation â€Å"commandment† for the Hebrew mitzvah.In one of his hasidic3 stories, the Hebrew writer Yehudah Steinberg depicts a hasid expressing astonishment at the ignorance and stupidity of the resha‘im (the wicked or the disbelievers ). The main motive for committing wicked deeds, reasons the hasid, is the search and pursuit of pleasure and enjoyment. But is any greater pleasure or joy conceivable than that of performing a mitzvah? Hence, he continues, if the resha‘im were sufficiently wise to realize this, they would abandon their wickedness and would all become tzaddikim (righteous or strictly observant Jews), just for their pleasure’s sake.This type of reasoning was not unique among traditional Jews. Simhah shel mitzvah, the joy of performing a mitzvah, constituted an integral element in the pattern of the Jewish way of life. To be sure, the word mitzvah originally meant no more than a command in the accepted sense. But the specific reli- > Home | TOC | Index 6 Hebrew: The Eternal Language g ious experiences of the Jewish people, their feeling of exultation in the performance of religious responsibilities, invested this word with a cluster of associations and connotations not originally inherent in it.Is it conceivable that one could get a thrill out of performing a mitzvah if it were merely a â€Å"commandment†? Every language, including English, has a stock of words which are charged with the emotional and intellectual experiences of the people employing it. To illustrate, within our own experiences, the English word â€Å"fireside† came to assume a new connotation as a result of listening to the fireside chats inaugurated by the late president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.Similarly, the word â€Å"filibuster,† originally signifying a freebooter or pirate, is now employed in the United States in the sense of hindering legislation by means of long speeches or other parliamentary tricks. One may also add, as examples, such expressions as â€Å"go to bat, † â€Å"strike out† and the like. The richer and the more intense the historical experiences of a people, the greater is the number of such words in its language and the more emotionally charged they are. When translated into another language, they become devitalized and almost meaningless.Such words are not mere linguistic units; they are cultural deposits. But they cannot be transmitted in isolation. They take on their meaning and gain in richness of association and connotation only through the context of experience. In the past some Hebrew words and expressions survived in the vernacular of the people long after the Hebrew language had ceased to be popularly spoken. They were kept alive by the intimate contact which the majority of the people continued to maintain with the Hebrew literary sources and by the persistence of Jewish forms of living and habits of thinking.Furthermore, one can readily quote a host of expressions and idioms which, though composed of words i n the vernacular, encase, in effect, Hebraic thought-patterns. It would seem that as long as the Jews were rooted in their traditional patterns of life, they were sensitive to the inadequacy of the vernacular in expressing and conveying the emotionally charged meaning > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 7 of certain Hebrew words. They therefore persisted either in retaining the original words and expressions, or in investing the Hebraic mental pattern or idiom with the garb of the vernacular.In this manner a great many words and expressions, as well as idioms, found their way into the various vernaculars employed by the Jews throughout the history of their dispersion. Such dialects arose as Judaeo-Greek, Judaeo-Arabic, JudaeoPersian and the like. The best known of these dialects, surviving to this day and incorporating a considerable proportion of these Hebraic elements, are Ladino, a Judaeo-Spanish dialect employed by the Jews in the Balkan States and Morocco, an d, especially, Yiddish.At present, however, especially in this country, Jewish patterns of life no longer provide a suitable functional context for these words and expressions. The distinctive features of the Jewish climate characteristic of traditional Jewish ghettos, especially those of Eastern Europe, have almost completely disappeared. The specific vocabularies and idioms of Jewish life no longer function; they have been translated into English equivalents. Yamim nora’im are High Holy Days, a siddur is a prayerbook, a mahzor is a High Holy day or Festival prayerbook.Yom tov has been replaced by holiday. Such traditional Hebrew terms as hazzan (cantor), shammash (sexton),’aron kodesh (holy ark), menorah (candelabrum), sefer torah (scroll of the Torah), gabbai (an elder in the synagogue), etc. , once commonly employed, have fallen into desuetude. A good Jew is no longer mekayyem a mitzvah, or is a shomer shabbat. Instead, he is performing a command or good deed and i s a Sabbath observer. He does not drink le-hayyim (to life or health); he drinks to happy days, and so on.The contact with the literary Hebraic sources remains, therefore, the only avenue to these cultural deposits. The Meaning of Judaism The meaning of the terms â€Å"Jews† and â€Å"Judaism† has, likewise, been a source of confused thinking. Are the Jews a race, > Home | TOC | Index 8 Hebrew: The Eternal Language a nation, a religious group, or what? Is Judaism only a body of beliefs and practices, or of nationalistic symbols and slogans, or of cultural ideas and literary compilations, such as could be conveyed by one linguistic vehicle or another?Much futile argumentation relative to these matters may be found in our recent literature. The disputants seem to ignore the fact that a feeling of kinship exists among Jews of all â€Å"races† and colors, of all parts of the world, regardless of whether they are orthodox, reform or even atheistic. To be sure, some o r all of the elements mentioned above may be found in the Jewish group or in Judaism, as the case may be, not in an additive sense, but rather in an integrative or chemical sense.Hence, the whole is not like any of the parts, just as common salt is not in the least like the sodium and chlorine of which it is compounded; or just as water is nothing like its elements, oxygen and hydrogen, of which it is a compound. The compound ABC is larger than the sum of the parts and different in character from each of them as a result of their integration and reciprocal influence. In such a compound the individual component elements are changed and modified. Removing one of these elements or substituting one for another will destroy or change the whole compound.All this is equally true of the cultural, national and religious elements that make up Judaism. Jewish religion is, in effect, a distinctive, dynamic life-pattern, constantly and progressively adapting itself to changing needs and circumst ances; it is accordingly intimately bound up with the Jewish people, their history, culture and civilization. It is in this vein that Judah Halevi interprets the very first Commandment, where the Lord is referred to as â€Å"thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,† and not as the God who created the universe and humanity.This purports to emphasize, Halevi asserts, the close identification of the Torah with the Jewish people and their historical experiences. 4 It is significant that neither biblical nor mishnaic Hebrew possesses a term for either â€Å"religion† or â€Å"Judaism. † To this day > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 9 no specific term for â€Å"religion† is to be found in Hebrew, while the concept â€Å"Judaism† (Greek Judaismos) stems from alien soil. It was invented by the Jews of the Hellenistic Diaspora to indicate the contrast between their faith, or way of life, and â€Å"Hellenism† (Hellenism os). The Hebrew term for this concept (yahadut) was probably coined by Rashi (1040–1105). The traditional term for this concept, employed in the Bible and in the Talmud, is â€Å"Torah. † Now this term, as has been said, embraces the totality of Jewish beliefs and practices, ideals and ideas, in fact, all the products of the Jewish creative genius through the centuries. â€Å"The Commandments,† according to one source, â€Å"imply all that is included in the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud, whether legal or homiletic in character.In fact, any interpretation which at any time a faithful student is likely to offer before his teacher was already presented to Moses on Mount Sinai. †6 When the rabbis were in doubt about the legality of certain rituals and practices, they would say: â€Å"Go and see how the people conduct themselves. †7 The conduct of the people in a normal traditional environment served as a guide for establishing and codifying certain l aws and rituals; indeed â€Å"a custom may nullify a law. †8 No religion in the accepted sense of this term would permit such latitude.Significantly, the Hebrew term for law, whether ritual, ethical, criminal, or civil, is halakhah, a word which signifies â€Å"conduct. † Peculiar historical circumstances, the analysis of which is outside our province, have operated in the case of the Jewish people in such a manner as to merge race, nationality, culture and religion into a composite unit, which is articulated in a distinctive language, with the result of modifying the individual characteristics of each of the components. Hence, the laws applying to each of them in isolation will not apply to any or all of them in integration.Thus, although Christianity may continue to function without a distinctive language, the Jewish religion cannot do so, because it is too intimately fused with elements of race, nationality and culture, all of which are in turn rooted in the Hebrew language. It is inconceivable that any of the > Home | TOC | Index 10 Hebrew: The Eternal Language traditional Jewish prayers, in translation, could evoke the same historical associations, cultural allusions and national memories, as they do in the original Hebrew. Because Jews of old wanted those associations they continued to pray in Hebrew and study their literary sources in Hebrew.They preserved the language and the language preserved them. Hebrew as the Language of Judaism In sum, Judaism may be defined as the ongoing historical experience of the Jewish people, in which are compounded religious, national and cultural elements. This unique historical experience has been articulated in distinctive words and idioms of the Hebrew language, with which it has become inextricably blended. Disassociate this historical experience from the Hebrew language, and the result is a pale, anemic reflection, a dilution and sometimes even an adulteration of the original experience.Indeed, some Je wish scholars maintained that the deviations of Christianity from Judaism may be directly traceable to the translations of the Bible into Greek. The original Hebrew words took on, in the Greek translation, connotations which were not intended by the Hebrew authors, with the result that they suggested views and ideas entirely alien to the Jewish spirit. One of the many glaring examples is the origin of the virgin-birth dogma in Christianity, a concept which was associated with the mistranslation of the word ‘almah (Isaiah 7. 14).In Hebrew the word merely means â€Å"young woman†; in the Greek translation it was rendered by parthenos which means â€Å"virgin. † Another example is the word ruah, which in the Greek translation connoted the un-Jewish concept of spirit-versus-body. In the course of their long and rich history, the Jewish people have gone through intensive intellectual and emotional experiences. They have experimented with life and its problems; problem s of the relationship of man to man, of man to God, problems of human destiny and of the impact of cosmic forces upon mankind. They have known joys and suffering, hope and despair.They have given voice to all these experi- > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 11 ences in their own distinctive Hebrew idiom. Language and experience have become intertwined so that one cannot be fully mastered without the other. Who can render in suitable translation the overtones, the cluster of associations and allusions attached to such expressions as shema‘ yisrael, kiddush ha-shem, hillul ha-shem, mesirut nefesh, and a host of others? It cannot be done. Yet such expressions symbolize the warp and woof of our historical religious and national experiences.These expressions stir in every conscious Jew feelings and images such as could never be evoked in any other language. In the words of Shema‘ Yisrael, for example, we hear echoes and reverberations of the agonized cries of our martyrs from the days of Akiba down to the â€Å"rebels† of the Warsaw Ghetto. In comparison the English equivalent, â€Å"Hear, O Israel,† sounds flat and insipid. Similarly, the terms kiddush ha-Shem (sanctification of the Name) and hillul ha-Shem (profanation of the Name) are the obverse and reverse of a concept which epitomizes Jewish martyrology throughout the ages.This concept has been a mainspring of traditional Jewish conduct, by word or act, with the view of hallowing God’s name, even at the risk of death, through proper conduct and avoiding deeds which might profane the name of God. The term mesirut nefesh, likewise, connotes the idea of self-sacrifice and readiness to devote one’s life to an ideal. The English equivalents of these terms fail completely to convey even a shade of the meaning of these repositories of Jewish experiences. Language is, of course, the symbol of meaning, or the expression of ideas by means of articulate sounds or graphic representations of these sounds.Yet, meaning is not inherent in the sounds or the words, but rather in our personal and group experiences which are fused with the particular words. In themselves words have no meanings; it is our reactions to them or our experiences with them that lend them their meaning. What the words â€Å"mean† or convey to us depends on the nature, extent and intensity of our experiences, direct or vicarious, with > Home | TOC | Index 12 Hebrew: The Eternal Language them. The word â€Å"democracy,† for example, means one thing to an American, and something entirely different to a Russian communist.The term â€Å"crusade† awakens in the minds of Jews clusters of historical memories and associations totally at variance with those in the minds of Christian peoples. Words are set in the orbit of the experience of the people employing them. When transposed from one experiential orbit into another by means of translation or borrowing, t he words change their â€Å"meaning. † Sometimes our experiences are blended and associated with specific forms of the word, with its particular pronunciation or configuration, and only these forms will convey to us meaning to its fullest extent.A radical change in the form, even of the same word, such as a difference of pronunciation or spelling, may at the outset fail to evoke our experiences associated with the particular word. Hence there is often resistance to spelling reforms or to changes in pronunciation, as for example, in the case of Hebrew, from Ashkenazic to Sephardic, and vice versa. An attempt by Itamar Ben Avi and others, several years ago, to change the Hebrew to Latin script proved abortive in the face of serious opposition. It should therefore be clear that language cannot be taken as a sort of currency or medium of exchange.Words in one language cannot be rendered by their equivalents in another language without losing something vitally and essentially pecu liar to the mentality and genius of the people employing the tongue. It is a delusion to assume that one can fully understand the essence of Judaism in any language but Hebrew. As indicated previously, one cannot get the pristine and genuine message of the Bible in a translation, however effectively executed. Our Sages likened the day on which the Bible was translated into Greek to the day when the Golden Calf was made, â€Å"for the Torah does not lend itself to an adequate translation. Dr. Max L. Margolis, editor of the Jewish Publication Society Bible translation, asserted: â€Å"It frequently happens that the translator, vainly seeking an equivalent for a Hebrew word or phrase, > Home | TOC | Index The Role of Hebrew in Jewish Life 13 realizes that translation deals not so much with words as with civilizations. † Consequently, some of the most significant and indispensable sources of Judaism must remain in a certain sense â€Å"sealed books† to those who do not kn ow Hebrew.The wisdom of the Sages, the poetry of Ibn Gabirol, Judah Halevi, Bialik and Chernichovski; or the prose of Mendele, Peretz and Agnon can never be rendered adequately in English or any other language. Nearly every word, every turn of expression or locution employed by these masters of Hebrew literature, springs from the bed-rock of Jewish experiences, literary sources and Jewish folklore, and stirs within us memories, associations and images, such as no translations, however artistically done, can duplicate. > Home | TOC | Index > Home | TOC | IndexART PART ONE How the Language Began to Be Spoken > Home | TOC | Index > Home | TOC | Index CHAPTER ONE HEBREW AND THE LANGUAGES OF MANKIND Ancient Attempts to Identify the Original Language How many languages are there in the world? How did these languages arise? Did they evolve from one primeval language, or are they to be traced to several basic languages? What was this primeval language, or which were the basic languages? The se questions have attracted wide attention among the inquisitive minds of the ancients as well as of modern scholars.The Greek historian Herodotus reports an experiment conducted by Psammetichus, king of Egypt (sixth century B. C. E. ), with the object of discovering what race of men was first created or evolved. He took two newborn babes, haphazardly selected, and placed them in the charge of a goatherd with strict instructions to bring them up on goat’s milk and to isolate them from any human contacts, so that no word of human speech might reach their ears. In this manner, the king hoped, the children would eventually yield to the promptings of nature and break out into human speech representing the primeval language of the original human race.The experiment succeeded, according to Herodotus. One day, after two years had passed, as the 17 > Home | TOC | Index 18 Hebrew: The Eternal Language goatherd opened the door of the lonely hut to serve the children their daily portion of milk, they cried out â€Å"Bekos! † and held out their hands. The goatherd reported this to the king, and upon investigation the king discovered that bekos was the Phrygian word for bread. He thereupon concluded that the Phrygians were the first race of men.The story bears, of course, the earmarks of pure racial propaganda. It is calculated to demonstrate the superiority of the Grecian race, the kinsmen of the Phrygians according to Greek tradition, by attributing to them a higher rank in antiquity than that of the Egyptians. But this experiment was not unique. Similar experiments are said to have been conducted in later ages: by the Mongol emperor Akbar Khan (sixteenth century), the German emperor Frederick the Second (thirteenth century), and King James IV of Scotland (fifteenth century).The last-named is reported to have shut two infants up with a dumb woman on the island of Inchkeith and ordered them kept there until they were old enough to speak perfectly. These chil dren are said by some to have spoken a pure Hebrew, although the chronicler himself entertained some doubts on the subject. Hebrew—the Mother of Languages There was, indeed, a time when Jews as well as Christians believed that all the languages of mankind derived from Hebrew, the language spoken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is, of course, to be inferred from the biblical accounts.Thus Eve was called Hawwah â€Å"because she was the mother of all living† (hai, Genesis 3. 20). Similarly, the woman was called ishshah â€Å"because she was taken out of man† (ish, ibid. , 2. 23). 1 In no other language besides Hebrew, the rabbis argued, do we find the terms for man and woman derived from the same root. The Hebrew language, it is therefore to be assumed according to them, was created simultaneously with the world and was the language employed by God in his conversations with Adam and Eve. 2 When Abraham was born, all > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 19 he dignitaries of Nimrod’s court wanted to destroy him, says an old midrashic account, and he was hidden in a cave for thirteen years. When he came out of the cave he spoke Hebrew. 3 â€Å"It (Hebrew) is, according to tradition, the language in which God spoke to Adam and Eve and in which they spoke between themselves† (Judah Halevi). This traditional view is reiterated time and again during the Middle Ages and later by both Jews and non-Jews. Among the theses offered by the first class of Harvard graduates in 1642 was one entitled Hebrea est Linguarum Mater (Hebrew is the mother of the languages).Non-Jewish sources resorted to all sorts of whimsical etymologies to prove that the origin of European languages is to be found in Hebrew. 4 In his introduction to the Pentateuch, Moses Mendelssohn restates the view of the primacy of Hebrew and attempts to adduce additional proof in its corroboration. It was only after the fiasco of the Tower of Babel, according to the biblical tradition, that â€Å"the Lord did there confound the languages of the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth† (Genesis 11. ). Thus, says rabbinic tradition, evolved the languages of mankind, numbering seventy-two (or seventy), twentytwo of which were spoken by the descendants of Japheth, twenty-four by the children of Ham, and twenty-six by the children of Shem. 5 Modern Studies of Indo-European Languages Toward the end of the eighteenth century the study of linguistic science was given strong impetus by the discovery of Sanskrit and the recognition of the relationship of this language to Greek and Latin. It was then and during the major part of the ineteenth century that the Aryan or Indo-European languages were identified and subjected to careful study and scrutiny. No one knows how many languages there are in the world. They certainly can be counted in the thousands. Many of them > Home | TOC | Ind ex 20 Hebrew: The Eternal Language are unrecorded in writing and may disappear without leaving a trace, as many unrecorded languages have undoubtedly disappeared already, while others are known from very scanty records. The majority of the languages of the world are probably those which have never been committed to writing by any of their native speakers.The most thoroughly investigated language family is the IndoEuropean. This family includes such languages, and language groups, as Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Armenian, Albanese, Celtic, Slavic, Baltic and Germanic. The Germanic group, to which English belongs, is probably the most widely employed, and English is now the most widespread of all languages in the world. However, the language which is known to have retained the greatest number of original forms of the Germanic dialect is Icelandic, a language spoken today by about 100,000 persons.Similarly, Lithuanian, one of the two surviving languages of the Baltic branch, spoken by sever al million people who live on the borders of Prussia and Russia, is said to have â€Å"preserved many of the forms of Indo-European speech in a less corrupted condition than any of its European cogeners, aye, than any dialect of the entire family which is not at least two thousand years older†6 All these language groups have been identified as divergent forms of a single prehistoric language, hypothetically named Primitive Indo-European.No records of this primitive language are available, but this may be a mere historic accident. The oldest known member, or near relation, of this family is an extinct language, spoken by the Hittites, a people widely mentioned in the Bible and even regarded by the prophet Ezekiel as among the ancestors of the Hebrew people (Ezekiel 16. 3, 45). The available documents in that language already deciphered are written in a form of the cuneiform syllabary—a wedge-like form of characters having syllabic rather than alphabetic value. These doc uments date back to about the fifteenth century B.C. E. Other Hittite documents, written in hieroglyphic script, have already been virtually deciphered. > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 21 Hittite Hieroglyphic Writing From I. J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (University of Chicago Press), 1952, page 83. Semitic Languages The language family which concerns us most at this time is that designated since 1781 as Semitic. The origin of this designation is the genealogical record of Genesis 10. 21–31, according to which the peoples employing these languages were descendants of Shem, son of Noah.These peoples occupied a territory extending from the Mediterranean to the other side of the Euphrates up to the Tigris, or Mesopotamia, and from the mountains of Armenia to the southern coast of Arabia. Through conquests and migrations these languages spread also to parts of Africa and Europe. The Canaanites (Phoenicians, etc. , Genesis 10. 15–20) are traced in the Bible back to Ham, probably on account of their being a mixed race and also because, owing to their paganism, they were regarded with contempt by the biblical writers. However, their language is clearly a branch of the Semitic family, and the prophet Isaiah (19. 8) refers to > Home | TOC | Index 22 Hebrew: The Eternal Language Branches of the Semitic Language > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 23 Geographical Distribution of the Semitic Languages > Home | TOC | Index 24 Hebrew: The Eternal Language Hebrew as the language of Canaan (sefat Canaan). Most of these languages are now dead, some having left important literary legacies. The only languages of this family still spoken, besides Hebrew, are: Arabic, Ethiopic, and, to a limited extent, Syriac or Aramaic.The Semitic languages are generally divided into the following branches: A. East Semitic: Assyrian-Babylonian or Akkadian. This language is known now from inscriptions on stone and clay, in cuneiform writin g, dating back to about 2500 B. C. E. In this language were written the Code of Hammurabi (around 1800 B. C. E. ), the Amarna letters (1400 B. C. E. ) and other important documents. It was at one time widely in vogue in the Orient in official circles. It was there a sort of lingua franca, an international language. Later, around the middle of the first half in the last millennium B.C. E. , it was superseded by Aramaic. B. Northwest Semitic 1. Aramaic Branch. a. Eastern Aramaic or Syriac, of which the language of the Babylonian Talmud is a Jewish modification. b. Palestinian or Western Aramaic, which is represented by portions of the Palestinian Gemara and the Targumim (Bible translations generally included in the traditional Jewish editions of the Bible). The Aramaic portions of the Bible may also belong in this category, although some modern scholars challenge the possibility of establishing the local identity of these portions.At that early period, when these documents were writte n, no distinction between Eastern and Western Aramaic existed, according to these scholars. The oldest documents in the Aramaic language date from the eighth century B. C. E. A few centuries later, especially around > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 25 the beginning of the Christian Era, Aramaic gained wide currency over large tracts of Western Asia, superseding several languages, among them Assyrian, and to a considerable extent also Hebrew.The theory held by some Jewish and non-Jewish scholars that Aramaic had completely displaced Hebrew is without any foundation and has been effectively disproved. But Aramaic undoubtedly exercised a tremendous influence on the evolution of the Hebrew language, and left its impress upon it. For about a millennium (from about 700 B. C. E. to around 650 C. E. ) Aramaic was employed as the official language of the Near East, until it was replaced by Arabic as one result of the Mohammedan conquests (of the seventh century C. E. ). When Assyria conquered the Aramean states and incorporated them into its empire, it adopted the language of the anquished. The spread of this language was facilitated especially by the Persian Empire which flourished during the fifth to third centuries B. C. E. The imperial policy of Persia was generally favorable to the preservation of the national mores and culture of its subject peoples. The Persian chancery accordingly chose to correspond with the provinces of Western Asia in their own peculiar dialect, Aramaic. Aramaic is still spoken by a few thousand Syrian Christians and Jews in Kurdistan, and various other isolated localities in the Orient on the borders of Persia, Iraq, Turkey and in Syria near Damascus.A considerable number of the Aramaic-speaking Kurdish Jews have recently immigrated into Israel. 2. Middle Semitic or Canaanite Branch. a. Moabitic, known especially from the famous inscription of King Mesha, ninth century B. C. E. The character and significance of this inscription will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. b. Phoenician, the language spoken in Phoenicia, as well as in the Phoenician colony of Carthage in North Africa, close to the present site of Tunis. The Phoenicians continued to identify themselves as Canaanites down to the Roman period.Its oldest known inscriptions are of the > Home | TOC | Index 26 Hebrew: The Eternal Language twelfth or fourteenth century before the Christian Era. Around the early part of the first millennium B. C. E. , Phoenician enjoyed the status of an international language in Syria and nearby coastal Asia Minor, until it was replaced by Aramaic by the end of the eighth century. It continued to flourish in Carthage until several centuries into the Christian Era, and was still spoken in the time of Augustine in the fifth century C. E. c.Hebrew. The oldest portions of the Hebrew Bible probably date back to about 1300 B. C. E. , and the language has never ceased to be employed in most Jewish localities as a literary medium, as well as for purposes of written (if not spoken) intercommunication. In oral use it has been restricted largely to houses of worship and study, although there is ample evidence to prove that even for conversational purposes oral Hebrew has been employed, in a limited degree and in certain localities, throughout the history of the Jewish people.Furthermore, many words and expressions dealing with intimate personal and national experiences have been incorporated into the various languages spoken by the Jewish people in the lands of their dispersion. Similarly, many Hebrew idioms have infiltrated, in translated forms, into the various Jewish dialects, such as Yiddish and Ladino (a Judaeo-Spanish dialect), and have persisted there to this day. In modern times the vitality and adaptability of the Hebrew language have been demonstrated to a remarkable degree, as a spoken language in Israel, and in many Jewish communities outside of Israel. . Ugaritic. A vast and signif icant literature has been > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 27 unearthed since 1930, shedding much light on biblical literature and language, in modern Ras Shamra, on the coast of Syria, opposite Cyprus. This Canaanitic literature was written in an alphabetic cuneiform script, indicating consonants and even some vowels. It contains epic poems typical of ancient Canaanite religion and civilization during the Late Bronze Age, when Ras Shamra was the site of Ugarit, the wealthiest Canaanite city.In language and style, this literature resembles to a remarkable degree the poetic portions of the Bible. Biblical literature and language must have been influenced tremendously by the highly developed culture and civilization of Ugarit. 3. South Semitic. a. Arabic and its various dialects. The earliest records of Arabic are of the third century B. C. E. Since the seventh century C. E. the territory of the language has extended, as a result of the Mohammedan conquests, to embrace large tracts of Asia and Africa. It is now in oral and written use by nearly forty millions of eople, besides serving as the sacred and official language of Islam. b. Ethiopic and its dialects. This language is used on the east coast of Africa (Abyssinia). It emerged into the light of history towards the beginning of the fourth century C. E. , immediately after the conversion of the Abyssinian Kingdom to Christianity. The language is still used in Abyssinia in modern dialects. Uniformity vs. Diversity in Languages Attempts were made by students of language to discern relationships between the Indo-European and the Semitic lan- gt; Home | TOC | Index 28 Hebrew: The Eternal Language guages. These attempts stem from the assumption that both these language families evolved from the same parental stock. In proof of this assumption scholars adduce the examples of the Hebrew banah (built) and the Latin pono (compare English â€Å"exponent,† â€Å"expound†); also baâ €˜ar and Greek pyr from which originate the English â€Å"pyre,† â€Å"pyro-,† and â€Å"fire†; Hebrew yayin (wine), Greek oinos, Latin vinum, Arabic waynun; Hebrew sheba, Sanskrit saptan, Latin septem, English â€Å"seven. A medieval Jewish scholar collected over two thousand Hebrew words, which, in his opinion, were the basis of a similar number of words in Latin, Greek and Italian. 7 Such attempts are now largely discredited. If there is a relationship between the two language families, and there may be, the available evidence is inadequate and inconclusive. Mutual borrowing and mere accident may account for these relationships. The division of languages is, according to biblical tradition, a curse or punishment inflicted upon mankind for the daring attempt of the people of Shinar to erect there â€Å"a tower, with its top in heaven† (Genesis 11).To this day the multiplicity of languages is viewed by some people as an affliction responsible for mis understanding and dissension among individuals, groups and nations. If people spoke a common language, it is held, discords would disappear, wars would be eliminated, peace and good will would reign in the world. Unsuccessful attempts have accordingly been made to devise a universal language, or to urge the adoption of one of the most widespread languages as a common language. That the adoption of a common language will serve as an effective instrumentality of peace is highly questionable.History can record many wars among peoples employing the same language. But it is a matter of grave doubt whether the adoption of a common language is feasible. Even if the peoples of the world would consent to adopt such a language, it would in the course of time split up into various, mutually alien languages and dialects. We may note, as an illustration, the tendency of American English to deviate in its development, both > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 29 in idiom and v ocabulary, from British English.Even in the same country the people of certain generations find it difficult or impossible to understand the language of their ancestors several generations back. It may, incidentally, be seriously questioned whether the adoption of a common language would be desirable from a cultural point of view, even if it were possible. A common language would impose, to a considerable degree, common cultural and literary patterns. Witness the influence of English culture and literature on early American life and literature. Such a language would certainly result in the impoverishment of world culture and civilization.The Trend in Language towards Diversity Language (Sprache in German, lashon or safah in Hebrew), as indicated by its etymology, is basically a speech experience. It is transmitted by word of mouth from parents to children. We speak and pronounce words as we hear them spoken and pronounced by our elders, who in turn learned them from generations prec eding them. It seems quite obvious to us that we speak exactly as do our parents and elders, and they believe they do the like with reference to the generation which preceded them. Yet, over a period of several generations there have been evident linguistic changes and modifications.The language of Shakespeare is no longer the English we speak; while the fourteenth century English of Chaucer, and far more so the English of Alfred the Great of the ninth century, are to us virtually foreign tongues. When, for example, was the Latin senior reduced to the French sire and the English â€Å"sir†? When did the Anglo-Saxon deofol (Latin diabolus) evolve into the modern English â€Å"devil†? How did these radical changes in form and pronunciation occur? When did they inject themselves into the language? Each generation of speakers would certainly disclaim responsibility.Evidently the process of language transmission is imperfect. Both our hearing and our capacity for articulati ng or imitating > Home | TOC | Index 30 Hebrew: The Eternal Language the sounds which we hear are imperfect and inexact. Hence language is subject to modification and change. Both growth and decay are characteristics of language development, as they are of biological development. Some phonetic elements gradually disintegrate and disappear, while new ones sprout and emerge. Occasionally, the variations are so great as to produce an entirely new offshoot, a new dialect or a new member of the language family.Two main factors generally operate as controls in the process of linguistic change: (1) isolation and (2) possession of written records. A people occupying a circumscribed territory and relatively unexposed to contacts with other races or peoples is more likely to preserve the original forms of its speech than a people bent on expansion, migration or collision with other races and peoples. Similarly a common literature often exercises a strong conservative influence on the language and shields it from the intrusion of alien elements and from radical phonetic and dialectical divergencies.For this reason, the changes in English since Shakespeare’s time are not as pronounced as those during the interval between his period and that of Chaucer, and they are especially less significant than the changes during the five centuries preceding Chaucer, when England was assimilating the Normans. 8 Reason for Relative Unity in the Hebrew Language The literary control on linguistic change is particularly marked when, as in the case of the Hebrew language, the common literature is integrated with the religious traditions and experiences of the people.The Hebrew people were thrown into contact and collision with other people. Its vocabulary was considerably enriched by the admission of numerous foreign words borrowed from the many peoples among whom they dwelt. Yet the original linguistic pattern of Hebrew remained more or less intact. Thus we speak of biblical Hebrew as a unitary phase of the language, distinguished by typical characteristics of grammar and style. Yet, the interval between the earliest biblical documents, such as the Song of Moses or the > Home | TOC | Index Hebrew and the Languages of Mankind 1 Song of Deborah, on the one hand, and the books of Koheleth and Esther, on the other, is as long as the interval separating the period of Alfred the Great from our own day. Furthermore, the twenty-two centuries subsequent to the biblical period failed to impair the pristine pattern of the language. The result is that modern Hebrew writers may choose to employ biblical Hebrew as the medium of their literary expression, without the need of apology and without fearing that their writings will be incomprehensible or even regarded as unduly archaic.What is the explanation, in the case of Hebrew, of this unique linguistic phenomenon? How did the Hebrew language escape the transmuting effects of time which are in evidence in other languages? To be sure, the fact that the ancient biblical texts lacked a fixed system of vocalization and were very scantily supplied with vowel-signs is in large measure responsible for the seeming phonetic uniformity of the Hebrew language. But it cannot be doubted that the Bible and the esteem with which it has been cherished throughout the centuries, counteracted and prevented fundamental changes in the structure of the language.Unlike Latin, which has been the language of the Catholic church, that is, of the clergy, without becoming the language of the faithful or of the multitude, the study of biblical Hebrew has been pursued throughout the generations by young and old with more or less zeal and assiduity. A great many new wordcoinages, word-forms and idioms have indeed been added to the language since the days of the Bible. Yet the original organic pattern of the language remains intact.To this day children in elementary grades are trained and grounded in the intricacies of biblical Hebre w, while in the writings of practically every Hebrew author one may find a goodly number of word-structures, phrases, and turns of expression typical of the Bible. As a matter of fact, modern Hebrew sometimes shows preference for biblical usages over mishnaic or medieval usages. The biblical phrases and expressions of thirty-five centuries ago pulsate with vitality and vigor almost on a par with the language spoken in Israel today. >Home | TOC | Index CHAPTER TWO HOW THE HEBREW LANGUAGE BEGAN Aramaic Background of Hebrew Some forty centuries ago, during the first half of the second millennium B. C. E. , a family or clan led by a chieftain named Terah, emigrated—so the biblical tradition has it—from UrKasdim, a city of immemorial antiquity in Babylonia, to Haran in northwestern Mesopotamia, with the intention of proceeding from there â€Å"into the land of Canaan† For unspecified reasons Terah and his clansmen settled in Haran and apparently abandoned the idea of journeying on.It must have been a long time after settling in Haran that one of the sons of Terah, named Abram (later renamed Abraham), after his father’s death, received a call from God saying: â€Å"Get thee out of thy country . . . unto the land that I will show thee. † Whereupon Abram, heeding the call, resumed the journey into Canaan, taking with him â€Å"Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran . . . and into the land of Canaan they came. † This clan, headed by Abram, was by no means a nomadic or bedouin band.It was made up of settled or semi-settled herdsmen, who migrated with their wives and children and with their servants, cattle and other belongings. Abram must, ac32 > Home | TOC | Index How the Hebrew Language Began 33 cordingly, have achieved in Haran considerable status and authority. Jewish tradition explains his departure from there by attributi ng to him a revulsion from the idolatrous practices prevalent in his native land and by the â€Å"call† to go forth and establish a new and â€Å"great nation† in the â€Å"land of Canaan. † It was to be a rather peaceful venture.Yet, we find Abram capable of mustering fighting forces among his clansmen and allies adequate to attack and defeat the armies of four victorious kings, and thus retrieve his nephew Lot and all the booty that had been captured from five defeated kings headed by those of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14). Furthermore, Abimelekh, the Philistine king of Gerar, was eager to conclude with him a treaty of peace; the native Amorites, Mamre, Eshkol and Aner, were his confederates; while the Hittites accorded him honor and referred to him as â€Å"a mighty prince† (ibid. 23. 6). In the traditions of the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and other peoples, Abram would undoubtedly have been described as a mighty chieftain leading a victorious inva sion. His heroic exploits and glorious feats of conquest would have constituted the theme of epic sagas and poems. But the Torah, as the etymology of the term implies, is primarily designed to teach moral and religious lessons, not to tell stories or report historical events.Hence, all these warlike exploits in the life of the â€Å"fathers† of the Jewish people are glossed over and mentioned only incidentally. During a period of famine, Abram and his clansmen traveled to Egypt, but only for a brief sojourn. As soon as conditions improved they returned to Canaan, where they were to make their permanent home. They were part of a wave of migration that gravitated from the north and the east during the first half of the second millennium B. C. E. toward the grasslands of the more fertile South, with the object of conquest and occupation.This desire to seek â€Å"fresh woods and pastures new† was undoubte