Monthly Email Newsletter
November 2003
IN THIS ISSUE:
I. Message from the Editor
II. Articles:
*** FEATURE ARTICLE: Doing Business in the Middle East - Part 2
1. Middle East Business News
**** FEATURED LANGUAGE: Hebrew
2. History of the Hebrew Language
3. Hebrew Origins of the English Language
III.
Helpful Web Tools
-- Online Tool for Biblical Names
IV. In Our Next Issue
V. Your Feedback
VI. How to Subscribe/ Unsubscribe
I. MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
Last month our feature article discussed key strategies for doing business in
the Middle East in a culturally sensitive manner. We feel that it is equally
important for you to be informed about the current state of the business
environment in the Middle East and the various business opportunities that this
area of the world represents. Therefore, the second part of our feature article
this month focuses on the latest business news and growing industries in the
Middle East.
Our featured language section focuses on the Hebrew language. The intriguing
history of the Hebrews is well documented in the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls,
stone tablets, and other archaeological artifacts, and many ancient and current
writings. Abraham, who is estimated to have lived around 1800 BC, is the first
person called a Hebrew in the Bible. However, the Hebrew language is estimated
to have roots as long ago as 3,000 BC, long before Abraham was born.
One of the articles describes history of this ancient language, which is
currently the official language of Israel and used throughout the United States
in synagogues, religious ceremonies, and Jewish schools. The second article in
this section describes the Hebrew origins of many of the English words we use
on a daily basis.
Our helpful web tools section focuses on a web site where you can identify
biblical names and read about the etymology, history, and meanings of biblical
names.
Since this newsletter is meant to create a virtual community where we share the
latest news and advice, we invite you to submit your suggestions, story ideas,
statistics and web site tips to
mailto:newsletter@globallanguages.com.
-- Inna Kassatkina, Editor
mailto:editor@globallanguages.com
II. ARTICLES
*** FEATURE ARTICLE: DOING BUSINESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, PART 2
1. MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS NEWS UPDATE
There's been a lot of activity in the oil and gas industry in the Middle East
lately. The United Arab Erimates (UAE) recently announced that it has earned
cumulative revenues of $308 billion dollars since 1962 when the country started
supplying commercial crude oil. Among the Arab Gulf countries oil revenues in
the region are expected to grow by 17 percent this year, amounting to Dh 550
billion this year compared to Dh 460 billion according to a recent study by the
Emirates Industrial Bank. In Saudi Arabia, Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi signed a
40-year natural gas exploration and production agreement with Royal Dutch Shell
and Total worth $5.5 billion dollars. In Qatar, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural
Gas (Rasgas), one of Qatar's two giant liquefied natural gas ventures will tap
the world's largest single source of natural gas reserves to boost Qatar's
exports from 6.4 million tons per year to 35-million tons per year within the
next 5 years. Aiming to fill the growing need in the United States for imported
gas, Exxon will invest $8 billion dollars in Qatar's LNG venture. Despite
continuous terrorist attacks in Iraq, state officials announced that Iraq's oil
output is close to pre-war levels. Iraq's production of crude oil is 2.2
million barrels per day and is expected to increase to pre-war levels of 2.8
million barrels per day by March of next year. Iraq's oil and gas industry has
tremendous potential. The country is estimated to hold more than 112 billion
barrels of proven oil reserves (and possibly much more in unexplored areas) as
well as 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Recent offshore exploration off
the coast of Israel has shown that the country has about 3 to 5 trillion cubic
feet in proved gas reserves. Although Iran is OPEC's second biggest oil
producer, it doesn't have the refining capacity to be self-sufficient and is
considering imposing rationing gasoline and slashing subsidies. Due to the
country's heavy fuel consumption, Iran spends about 10 percent of its GDP on
fuel subsidies.
(
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3236304.stm
http://www.zionoil.org/industry.htm
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=103050
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=66842&Sn=BUSI
http://www.arabia.com/business/news/aricle/english/0,14688,1417,00.html
http://jang.com.pk/thenews/nov2003-daily/16-ll-2003/business/b23.htm)
Looks like China is carving out a generous slice of the Middle East market. In
the UAE Chinese bilateral trade increased by 42.8 percent to approximately $4
billion dollars during the first nine months of 2003. Total trade between the
two countries is expected to rise to $5 billion dollars. China imports
aluminum, fertilizer, petroleum and chemical products from the UAE, while it
exports electrical products, textiles, garments, machinery equipment, hardware
products, footwear, and suitcases to the UAE. A few years ago China was at the
bottom of the list of countries trading with the UAE but during the last three
years surpassed both the UK and India to become the top exporting country to
the UAE. In other areas of the Middle East, China is achieving similar success.
Saudia Arabia-China trade turnover increased by 54 percent over the previous
year to $3.25 billion dollars, while trade with the GCC (the six Arab Gulf
Cooperation countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE and Oman)
reached $7.3 billion, up over 50 percent. One source of China's success is its
permanent exhibition center, Chinamex, which is located on the Dubai-Sharjah
border. The exhibition center has allowed China to show the Middle East that it
can also provide low-cost, quality products and services in light industry,
machinery, agricultural machinery, household appliances, textile machinery,
petrochemical engineering, communications, office automation, instrumentation,
and hardware tools. In addition to permanent exhibits, Chinamex also hosts the
annual Chinese Commodities Fair (scheduled from December 6 to 10 this year)
that attracts over 60,000 visitors and merchants.
What's China next challenge in the Middle East? Jimmy Ye, Deputy General
Manager of Chinamex, says the country is planning on carving out a share of the
estimated $150 billion investment in the Gulf region's power sector over the
next 20 years. China's interest in the power sector was sparked after its
exports of electrical equipment to the Middle East shot up in recent years to
$245 million.
(
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1490875-6078-0,00.html)
On the economic front, it looks like Israel and Lebanon are facing similar
challenges while the Algerian economy is experiencing growth. In Israel,
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is struggling to end "the worst economic
crisis in the country's history" by making $2.2 billion in cutbacks and
privatizing the state's assets. Unions reacted by calling a nationwide strike
to protest privatization that they say will lead to the loss of thousands of
jobs. In Lebanon, the government is also trying to reduce the country's $32
billion public debt via privatization and by increasing the value added tax
(VAT). Recent polls showed that nearly 54 percent of the Lebanese population
opposes privatization while 88 percent oppose the VAT. In contrast to the
economic woes in Israel and Lebanon, things are going well in Algeria where the
economy is expected to grow in 2003.due to a "stellar performance in the oil
and agriculture industries."
(
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/business/24_11_03_a.asp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/business/3236709.stm)
Where do future business opportunities lie in the Middle East? In addition to
the industries being targeted by Chinese businessmen, recent conferences and
business events in the region show that the power, defense, security, and
construction industries may be good targets. Organizers of the Security and
Safety Middle East 2003 Exhibition and Conference said that the region's
spending on defense and security, currently estimated at $60 billion dollars a
year, is growing at an annual rate of 10 percent. Safety and security equipment
alone account for approximately 30 percent of the world's security imports.
According to a press release on the Power-Gen Middle East 2003 Conference web
site, in addition to the power needed for Iraq, the Middle East represents
"probably the world's most bullish power generation market," with demand far
outstripping the global average. Within the next 10 years, the UAE is estimated
to need an additional 8,000 MW, while Saudi Arabia may need an additional 2,000
MW. Capacity growth at other Middle Eastern countries is expected to grow
between 7 to 10 percent per year, compared with a global average of 3 percent.
The public and private construction industry is also booming in countries such
as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and surrounding regions, leading to an increased
demand for stone products and stone technology, say coordinators of the
International Stone and Stone Technology Exhibition for the Middle East. Demand
is particularly high in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and surrounding regions.
(
http://quickstart.clari.net
http://pgme03.events.pennnet.com/content.cfm?Navid=812&Language=
http://www.ifp.com.lb/stone03/index.asp)
****FEATURED LANGUAGE: HEBREW 2. THE HISTORY OF THE
HEBREW LANGUAGE
The roots of the Hebrew language originate some 5,000 years ago around 3,000 BC
when the Egyptians, Sumerians and Semites -- which included Hebrews,
Canaanites, Moabites, Arameans and other groups in Western Asia, excluding Asia
Minor -- all used the same pictographic writing based on the ancient Semitic
alphabet. Early Semitic script was used up to 1500 BC by most Semitic tribes.
Between 1500 BC and 500 BC Middle Semitic script was used by most Semitic
tribes and continued to be used by the Hebrews up to the first century AD. The
Hebrews and the Arameans used Late Semitic script between 500 BC and 100 AD.
Modern Hebrews use a script that is similar to Modern Semitic script. To view
different samples of Early, Middle, Late and Modern Semitic scripts, go to
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/6_inscriptions.html. If you are
interested in comparing how the letters of the Hebrew language were written in
Early, Middle, Late and Modern Semitic scripts, look at the alphabet chart
shown at
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/6_chart.html.
Hebrew is the Semitic language originally adopted by the "ibhri" or Israelites,
when they took possession of the land of Canaan west of the Jordan River in
Palestine. The history of Hebrew is divided into four periods: Biblical or
Classical Hebrew, Mishnaic or Rabbinic Hebrew; Medieval Hebrew, and Modern
Hebrew.
The first period is called Biblical or Classical Hebrew. This ancient language
is the one in which most of the Old Testament of the Bible is written and was
used from the 12th century BC to the 3rd century BC. The language had 22
letters that included 18 consonants and 4 vowel/consonants such as our letter
"Y" which can be a consonant as in "yellow" or a consonant as in "y". Although
other vowel sounds were used when speaking the words, they were not written
since they were memorized or implied by the context of the sentence. For
example, you can probably figure out the meaning of the following English
sentence even without the vowels:
n th bgnng Gd crtd th hvns nd th rth.
(In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.)
Because the territory of Phonecia adjoined Canaan, which was occupied by
Hebrews during this period, Biblical Hebrew was closely related to the
Phonecian language. The language was written from right to left since most
ancient writing was done on stone by using a chisel in the left hand and the
hammer in the right hand.
Biblical Hebrew had a relatively small vocabulary, used concrete adjectives for
abstract nouns, and was limited to two verb tenses: the perfect and the
imperfect. These limitations sometimes made it difficult to connect and relate
ideas and to prevent ambiguities regarding time-related concepts. For example,
translating Biblical Hebrew into English can be tricky since Hebrew verb tenses
are related to action (perfect tense for completed action, imperfect tense for
incomplete action) while English verb tenses are related to time (past, present
and future). Since the perfect tense in Hebrew indicates a completed action,
the English translation is usually the past tense of the English verb. However,
the imperfect tense in Hebrew can indicate either the present or future tense
of the English verb, depending on the context.
The second period; called the Postbiblical Hebrew or Mishnaic, or Rabbinic
Hebrew; occurred between the 3rd century BC to the 6th century AD. Although
Mishnaic Hebrew was never used as a spoken language, it continued to be used
for written documents and was more adaptable to practical use than Biblical
Hebrew. The vocabulary and syntactic innovations were strongly Aramaic, and
words were borrowed from Greek, Latin, and Persian. New meanings and forms were
given to Biblical Hebrew words, and the expressions of time were clarified.
The third period, called Medieval Hebrew, represented a great resurgence of the
Hebrew language and spanned the period of time between the 6th century AD and
the 13th century AD. During this period about 2,000 to 3,000 scientific and
philosophical and scientific terms were added based on existing Hebrew words as
well as new words borrowed from Arabic, Greek, and Spanish. Hebrew vocabulary
was further augmented in the Middle Ages by the Arabic influence on philosophic
writing and through translations of Arabic philosophical and scientific works.
During this period many great poetic, theological, and philosophical Hebrew
works were composed.
For about 600 years after the end of the Medieval Hebrew period, the use of
spoken Hebrew declined as Jews moved to other areas of the world and adopted
the languages of the country in which they resided. However, Hebrew continued
to be used for written documents and in the synagogues. In the 1800's the
Haskalah, or Enlightenment movement promoted Hebrew as the future of Jewish
culture and developed the first Hebrew novel and other Hebrew literature. In
the late 1800's Eliezer Ben-Yehuda continued the resurrection of the Hebrew
language by promoting its use by common citizens in their everyday lives,
outside the synagogues. After Ben-Yehuda moved to Palestine, he sparked the
interest in using the Hebrew language by speaking Hebrew on a daily basis to
his family and fellow citizens, by publishing a very popular weekly newspaper
in Hebrew, by working with teachers to translate great works of literature into
Hebrew, by developing a very successful Hebrew immersion program to teach
Hebrew, and by promoting one common way of pronouncing words based on Sephardic
pronunciation. Ben-Yehuda also spent 50 years of his life developing a very
comprehensive 16-volume Hebrew dictionary that included the meaning of the
word; translations of the Hebrew word into English, French, and German; the
origin of the word and the changes it had undergone over time; related words;
and examples of its uses.
During the 1900s more Jews moved to Palestine and further revived the use of
Hebrew as an everyday spoken language. This period of time marked the beginning
of the fourth period, Modern Hebrew, and creation of the only spoken language
from a written language. The language is written from right to left and uses an
alphabet of 22 characters; the vocabulary is based on biblical Hebrew and the
syntax is based on Mishnaic Hebrew. Long vowels are generally expressed in
writing by unpronounced consonant sounds. Scriptures, children's books, and
poetry use Masoretic points which are dots or dashes that indicate vowels.
Pronunciation is based on that of the Sephardic Jews who live mainly in Turkey,
Greece, and Bulgaria. To adapt the ancient Hebrew to contemporary use Eliezer
Ben-Yhuda single-handedly coined 4,000 new words, particularly scientific
terms, from biblical Hebrew roots.
In 1913 Ben-Yhuda saw the beginning of his dream come true. People in Palestine
were speaking Hebrew and using it in their everyday lives, and Hebrew was named
the official language of instruction in Jewish schools in Palestine. Although
he died in 1922, the Hebrew language continued to make new inroads and in 1948
when the State of Israel was established, Hebrew became the official written
and spoken language in the country.
(
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/5_intro.html
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/6_chart.html
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/13_faqs1.html
http://www.ilperetz.org/people/jenny_mintz.htm)
3. HEBREW ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Although most English speakers are aware that many English words have Latin or
Greeks origins, most of us are not aware that the Greek alphabet developed from
the ancient Hebrew language (which was identical to the Phonecian language) and
that many English words have origins in the Hebrew language. In fact, a decade
of research published in 1989 in Mozeson's The Word: The Dictionary that
Reveals the Hebrew Source of English showed that 22,000 English words are
linked back to Hebrew.
The Hebrew language is written in Hebrew characters that are pictographic, look
like artistic calligraphy, and are read from right to left. In order to trace
the origin of English words in the Hebrew language, transliteration is used to
convert Hebrew characters into Roman text that uses letters similar to those
used in English in order to reveal common relationships between the sounds and
the meanings of Hebrew and English words.
Most languages are based on a root system where a common set of letters can be
found in different words of similar meaning. For example, the parent root "PR",
which means "fruit" is present in English words such as PRune, aPRicot, and
PeaR. The "FL" root which means "plant" is found in the English words FLora,
FLower, and FoLiage.
Many of the words in the English language have origins in the Hebrew language.
Here are some examples:
--
wood, from the word "ood" that means "firepoker"
--
arm, from the word "amah" that means "arm's length"
--
hush, from the word "hhush" that means "quiet"
--
tall, from the word "tal" which means "tall"
--
core, from the word "cor" which means "dug out hole".
--
gaze, from the word "hhaz" which means "haze"
--
tour, which comes from the word "tur" which means "to travel"
--
love, which comes from the word "lehv" which means the "seat of
emotion"
--
between, which comes from the word "beyhn" which means "between"
--
bashful, which comes from the word "bash" which means "shames"
--
earth, which comes from the word "erets" which means "land" or
"earth"
(
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/16_english.html
http://www.edenics.homestead.com
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/13_faqs1.html
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/5_intro.html)
III. HELPFUL WEB TOOLS
**** Online Tool for Biblical Names Do you
have someone in your family who is expecting a child and wants to select a
biblical name? Or have you ever wondered about the history and meaning of your
own name? If so, consider visiting the Behind the Name web site where you can
learn about the etymology and history of biblical first names that occur in the
Revised English Bible. To get names from the first half of the alphabet, click
into the box labeled "Aaron-Javan", and to select names from the rest of the
alphabet, click into the box labeled "Jedidah-Zipporah".
For example, when I looked up the name Miriam (which is the original spelling
of my name, Myriam) I found that Miriam is the Hebrew form of the name Mary and
is also the name of the elder sister of Moses. When I looked up Mary I found
that it has a range of possible meanings, including "rebelliousness", "wished
for child", and "beloved". So if you name your child Miriam or Mary, you can
expect a loving challenge. I also learned a little history about my name. It is
apparently an Egyptian name and was the name of other famous biblical
characters, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene as well as
the name of famous royalty such as Mary Queen of Scots.
(
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/bibl.html)
IV. IN OUR NEXT ISSUE
*** INDUSTRY FOCUS: International Tourism ***
FEATURED LANGUAGE: Italian
V. YOUR FEEDBACK
Have questions? Or a story idea or topic you would like us to address
in a future issue? Let us know by sending a message to
newsletter@globallanguages.com.
VI. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
