Well, not to diminish Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's efforts to make it a native language again, but the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language predates him, and the resultant movement, while it acknowledges him as founder, owes a great deal to earlier revivalists.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Modern Hebrew went through a creole phase, just that it was influenced by the 'business Hebrew' being spoken when its first native speakers were growing up. I'm happy to agree to disagree, though, if our perspectives cannot be reconciled.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-16 03:02 pm (UTC)I wouldn't go so far as to say Modern Hebrew went through a creole phase, just that it was influenced by the 'business Hebrew' being spoken when its first native speakers were growing up. I'm happy to agree to disagree, though, if our perspectives cannot be reconciled.