Lingua Ex Machina : Media in the Revitalization of Modern Hebrew.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ramati, Ido.

Series:

Jewish Culture and Contexts Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communication and technology.

Hebrew language--Revival.

Hebrew language.

Hebrew language--Writing.

Technology--Social aspects.

Technology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (279 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2025.

Summary:

An investigation of the connections between the parallel rise of modern Hebrew and modern mediaAfter lying dormant for two millennia as a mainly written language, Hebrew awoke from its literary slumber to become a living modern vernacular. This revitalization is unique and unprecedented in world history, and its success has been studied in fields from linguistics to cultural history. However, the role of modern technologies in mediating this revival has not yet been considered.What happens when an ancient language meets modern technology? Lingua Ex Machina explores such a moment in its investigation of the role media technologies—including typewriters, phonographs, and computers—played in the revitalization and modernization of Hebrew from the end of the nineteenth century into the present day.Ido Ramati examines the role sound recording technologies played in shaping the reemergence of modern Hebrew speech, reveals how the Hebraized typewriter pushed for the modernization of writing in Hebrew, and ultimately argues that these media—whose development and adoption paralleled the revitalization of Hebrew—were an active force in shaping the language as a modern communicative medium. This case study of Hebrew furnishes researchers with a rare opportunity to investigate the complex relation between language, its speakers, and technology at a decisive moment, and sheds new light on the study of media technologies and their theoretical, lingual, and social implications.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Prologue

Introduction

PART I. SPEECH: THE REEMERGENCE OF A MOTHER TONGUE

Chapter 1 The Revernacularization of Hebrew

Chapter 2 Sound Media and the Shaping of Hebrew Pronunciation

PART II Writing Mother Tongue in Father Script

Chapter 3. The Mechanization of Writing

Chapter 4. The Mechanization of Writers

PART III Code The Rise of Machine Code

Chapter 5. The Hebraization of the Machine

Chapter 6. The Latinization of the Hebrew Script

Epilogue Hebrew’s Media

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781512826548

1512826545

OCLC:

1454607556