Meet the terminology committees: This is how new words are born Israel today

How is a word born?

There are currently no less than nine professional terminology committees at the Hebrew Language Academy, including an animal names committee, a marketing and advertising committee, a political science committee, a gender and sexuality committee - and a public health committee.

Throughout the Corona period, for example, the Public Health Committee has worked tirelessly to decide various words regarding the plague that has befallen our lives.

Over the years there have been many terminology committees that have dealt with more than a hundred different topics, and they have produced more than one hundred thousand terms in all areas of life.

"Each of the committees prepares a glossary in its professional field," explains Ronit Gadish, head of the academy's scientific secretariat.

"Sometimes it is a relatively short list of key terms in the field, and in other cases it is a wide-ranging dictionary with many hundreds of terms."

The committees are attended by senior professionals in their field and representatives from the Hebrew Language Academy.

 "The professionals bring the professional terms, explain them and also report what the Hebrew terms are used," Gadish adds.

"If necessary, the committee renews Hebrew terms, and in many cases adopts the term used. Not all foreign words are given a Hebrew alternative, so for example the recently discussed word 'epidemiology' remains alongside the three-word Hebrew alternative 'health research in the population'."

The Hebrew Language Academy, Photo: Efrat Eshel

Here are some suggestions for new terms that have come up in the terminology committees, but have not yet been approved.

Thus, for example, the Committee on Marketing and Advertising offers a Hebrew alternative to the word Buzz;

The suggestion is rasheshat (reminiscent of the words rahash and rashush, which indicate an incessant voice).

Elections are not yet in sight, but the Political Science Committee suggests the word mobilization (from the word bloc) meaning the creation of a political bloc from several factions, and the word proverbs to denote a process in which voters abandon their commitment to a particular party or ideology.

The Committee for the Names of Animals (Committee for Zoology) recently submitted to the academy the names of mosquitoes, and among other things, a Hebrew name for a mosquito called Belaz Edes was approved in this list - and it is now called a mosquito-day.

In the recent past, the committee has prepared lists of names for jellyfish, scorpions, starfish, butterflies and even dragonflies.

Today (Hebrew Language Day) there will be a festive live talk on the academy's website and Facebook on the subject of "everything you wanted to know about the language academy."

The event will be moderated by Vered Lyon-Yerushalmi and will be attended by Prof. Haim Cohen, editor of the historical dictionary;

Dorit Lerer, Vice President of the Academy; and Ronit Gadish, Head of the Scientific Secretariat.

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