From written to spoken usage: the contribution of pre-revival linguistic habits to the formation of the colloquial register of Modern Hebrew

The formation of the colloquial register of Modern Hebrew has been customarily attributed to the effects of speech revival. Based on an extensive textual examination of pre-modern texts, this paper suggests that some of the most conspicuous features of contemporary colloquial usage in fact reflect continuity with pre-existing linguistic habits which were well-rooted among Jewish writers prior to speech revival. These features were naturally transferred to speech by first generation L2 speakers, but due to their incompatibility with the classical models (on which literary language as well as linguistic education were based), they were interpreted by native-born L1 speakers as bearing a colloquial flavor. Recognition of this process sheds new light on the formation processes of Modern Hebrew. Moreover, it may have more general implications for our understanding of the mechanisms of language change, as it indicates that colloquial language does not have to be formed by actual speakers, but can be the result of language development that occurred in periods where the language was only used for writing.