Sound Bites > Israeli Radio and TV Anchors Talk about the Hebrew Language

This series was produced in 1999-2000 at the University of Texas at austin as part of the Modern Hebrew Project, directed by Esther Raizen. The producer was Dani Motalle, GMTV Israel, and the editor was Yaron Shemer. Technical support was provided by Eric Eubank, Liberal Arts ITS. All interviews were conducted with the understanding that they would be posted in a format which would make them open to the general public, and would be used for educational purposes only. We request that users respect this understanding.

The movies can be best viewed on machines with ethernet connection. In order for the clips to work properly, you must have the QuickTime Plug-In for your browser (free download).

The following articles may be of interest to users of this site:

Yaron London. "Aliyato Unfilato shel Hamivta Hasfaradi Bashidur Ha'ivri" Bamachane (details unavailable). Itzhak Roeh and Rephael Nir. "Speech Presentation in the Israel Radio News: Ideologial constrains and rheorical strategies." Text 10, 3(1990) 225-244. (A Hebrew version of the article can be found in Balshanut Ivrit 31-32, 1991).

Note: No transcripts or captioning are available at this time. While their audible component may benefit visually impaired users, the vignettes are not, at this time, accessible to users who are hearing impaired. All right reserved. These vignettes may not be copied or distributed.

Hanan Azran

Changes in accent on TV/radio broadcasts
Lack of guidelines regarding accent
Training of broadcasters - grammar
Language diversity should reflect societal diversity

Reuma Eldar

Lack of training in the early days of radio broadcasting
No substandard usage of language in the past
Hebrew has been losing its beauty
Consequences of the 'Ingathering of Exiles'

Ehud Manor

Standard Hebrew in the past (personal view)
Sensitivity to minorities and new immigrants
Rapid changes in modern Hebrew (personal view)
Language in flux

Yuval Maskin

The revival of the Hebrew language
Standard Hebrew in the past
Mixed influenced constitute a language in flux
Finding the middle road between lofty and substandard use of language
Lax use of language

Haim Platner

Hebrew as an evolving language
Training of radio broadcasters
Lack of guidelines regarding pronunciation
Accent of choice

Elimelech Ram

Introduction
Early days of radio broadcasting - person experience
History of early radio broadcasting
Pronunciation then and now
Biblical Hebrew - the foundation of modern Hebrew

Emmanuel Rozen

Language as a means, not goal
The attempt to impose strict grammatical rules in broadcasting (a)
The attempt to impose strict grammatical rules in broadcasting (b)
Everyday Hebrew not as rich as other spoken languages

Shmulik Rozen

Introduction - anchor skills an inborn gift
Changes in anchoring requirements (a)
Changes in anchoring requirements (b)
Consequences of centralized broadcasting in the past
Criticism of substandard usage of language

Moshe Timor

Pronunciation guidelines then and now
Importance of correct usage of language
Use of language in public broadcasting vs. private stations
Influence of substandard language

Yaron London

Introduction - the language of my parents
Formal and substandard language
The role of mass communication and new technologies in Israeli broadcasting
Pronunciation in the past
Gradual reduction of sounds in everyday Hebrew
Socio-economic status and its power over language
Relativism as a mindset and its impact on language (a)
Relativism as a mindset and its impact on language (b)