Written Hebrew of the Revival Generation as a Distinct Phase in the Evolution of Modern Hebrew

A well-known fact is that the consolidation of the use of Hebrew for practical communication after World War I involved the transformation of Hebrew into a spoken language. The aim of this article is to show that the 1920s witnessed a marked transformation in the written language as well. Focusing on written texts from the emergence period of Modern Hebrew, it is shown that a series of features that were commonly used by revival generation writers were not absorbed into the mundane written practices of the emergent speech community. Based on this marked change, this article suggests to recognize the period between the 1880s and the 1920s as a distinct phase in the evolution of written Modern Hebrew.