The Role of Children in the Revival of Hebrew
This chapter discusses the role played by the first generation of Hebrew-speaking children in the emergence processes of Modern Hebrew. As the education system was a major agent in the dissemination of Hebrew speech, the first section is dedicated to a detailed survey of the development of Hebrew education in Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Next, the sociolinguistic aspects of speech revival are discussed, with particular reference to the crucial contribution of the introduction of preschool education in Hebrew. Finally, the chapter analyzes linguistic aspects of the process; it is suggested that insights gained from some well-studied cases of language emergence presented in the linguistic literature may be used to explain how a distinct, relatively uniform native variety emerged in Hebrew within a very short time span.