# Does anyone here speak Hebrew?



## Velka (Apr 15, 2013)

I am using a few Hebrew words and phrases in a WIP and need a little logistical advice.

The phrase 'little wolf' in phonetic Hebrew is ze’ev ktanah (ze'ev = wolf and ktanah = little (feminine)). In writing Hebrew reads right to left, but in speech patterns would it be _adjective noun_ or _noun adjective_?


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## CupofJoe (Apr 16, 2013)

I don't speak or write or read Hebrew but I have worked with it once or twice while helping international students...
"Yom" is day and "Yom Qippur" is day of atonement so it might be noun-adjective... but then I found this page and I don't think it matters so much...
Making sense of Hebrew syntax


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## Velka (Apr 24, 2013)

In case anyone else is interested, after some more research and extensive reading of the Orthodox Jewish Bible it seems the general convention is noun adjective in Hebrew writing.


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## Shockley (Apr 25, 2013)

My only advice on this front is to check and double check this over and over again. I've been taken out of a few movies (Pathfinder being the major example) where they have misused a language, and it will ruin a book quick for people fluent in the tongue.


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## Lancelot (May 14, 2013)

DIdn't you see "Inglorious Basterds!?" Not knowing the visual representation to go with a language can get you killed.


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## MFreako (May 14, 2013)

Hebrew speaker here.
It's noun-adjective in hebrew, and both nouns and adjectives change depending on the gender.
Therefore: Little Wolf (male) would be Ze'ev Katan whereas female would be Ze'eva Ktana

Feel free to contact me should you need any more help.


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## SeverinR (May 15, 2013)

I use to know some guys that spoke "Shebrew" really well.
Thats the laguage women speak after a few beers, and these guys seemed to always talk their language.


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## adampjr (May 15, 2013)

Velka said:


> I am using a few Hebrew words and phrases in a WIP and need a little logistical advice.
> 
> The phrase 'little wolf' in phonetic Hebrew is ze’ev ktanah (ze'ev = wolf and ktanah = little (feminine)). In writing Hebrew reads right to left, but in speech patterns would it be _adjective noun_ or _noun adjective_?



Day of Atonement are two nouns in construct. Noun-Noun can often mean <blank> of <blank>, but that's not the whole story and I can only tell you a little.
Consider Shir HaShirim. Shir: Song HaShirim: TheSongs. That is the Song of Songs (or the Song of Solomon as it is often known) and shows two nouns in construct which (in the case of boht being the same) seems to indicate a superlative meaning.

Opening my Torah here, it seems that noun adjective is the way to go almost all the time. My understanding of Arabic is way better than my understanding of Hebrew (but they share a LOT of commonality), and Arabic is noun-adjective (if it's noun adjective they have to match in being definite or not and in number and gender).

So, I typed little wolf in google translate and got a similar result, for some reason it had 'little' first (AN). Perhaps it was considering the words separately since I had little first. However, when I typed 'tiny wolf' it put ze'v za'ir (NA), which is consistent with my checking various parts of the Tanakh. 
Btw, ze'von means 'small wolff' so you could go with that.


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## adampjr (May 15, 2013)

A good, a better speaker than I already answered =D.


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