A new illustrated Hebrew weekly printed in Latin characters has arrived from Tel Aviv, Palestine, where it is published by Ittamar Ben-Avi.
The periodical is caled Deror (Liberty), presumably signifying the liberation of the Hebrew tongue, from Hebraic characters and the “return to the Jewish people of what belongs to them as a heritage from their forebears in times of old.”
The editor of the weekly is Mr. Ben-Avi, son of the Hebrew philologist, Elieser Ben-Yehuda. Deror represent Mr. Ben-Avi’s third venture in publishing Hebrew in Latin, His first was a book called “Avi”. His second was a weekly called “Ha Shavua Ha Palestini”, published in 1928.
Among the purposes of the paper is “to spread the Hebrew language in circles wider than those heretofore accessible.”
The editor refers to the Latin characters as “our old alphabet”, quoting the American scholar Professor Olmstead and the German scholar Professor Grimm as supporters of his theory that “Ben-Am-ram (Moses) created the original script from which developed the alphabets of the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Latins.”
The first issue of Deror carries news, editorials, articles, poetry and advertisements. There are also a department of instruction in Hebrew and a glossary of difficult words. Both these departments use English as the language of explanation. A guide to the pronunciation of Hebrew in Latin characters states that all letters are pronounced and that the vowels A, E, I. O, U are pronounced as in Latin.
In a letter to the editor, the prominent Hebrew writer Dov Kimhhi bemoans the fact that Ben-Avi’s projected change would destroy many associations connected with the traditional method of writing Hebrew.
“This new venture will not be an easy one for you,” Mr. Kimhhi writes. “If you were, for instance, Mustapha Kemal, and had not only the might of the pen but also military power, you would undoubtedly succeed and acquire many followers. But since you have no such power, scoffers will no doubt poke fun at you, and I will be among them. However, it is good that also this novelty appear in our language, and if there will come a day when our dailies and monthlies will be printed in these characters I shall not mourn because of it.”
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