The Academy of the Hebrew Language Information & The Academy of the Hebrew Language Links at HealthHaven.com

Academy of the Hebrew Language, Givat Ram, Jerusalem

The Academy of the Hebrew Language (Hebrew: הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית‎, HaAkademya LaLashon HaIvrit) was established by the Israeli Government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on the Hebrew language". It replaced the Hebrew Language Committee (Vaʻad ha-lashon ha-ʻIvrit), which was established in 1890. The Academy is responsible for creating new Hebrew words to keep up with today's rapidly changing society. In addition, the Academy regulates spelling, grammar and vocabulary for government publications and the educational system. Although the organisation's tasks include creating new words from Hebrew roots and structures to replace loanwords derived from other languages, its own name is a loanword, "akademya"^[1].

Ghil'ad Zuckermann's article "Realistic Prescriptivism" "provides a critical analysis of the Academy's mission, as intriguingly defined in its constitution: 'to direct the development of Hebrew in the light of its nature." Zuckermann claims that the Academy is giving in to native Hebrew speakers, long regarded as 'reckless' and 'lazy'."^[2]