User:Ktom/Hebrew proposal

Chronolects

A feature of professional Hebrew dictionaries is that every definition is preceded by a designation of language period of origin. This is of strictly lexicographical interest and must not be taken as any sort of indication of a word’s current status: a word ubiquitous in every stratum of the Hebrew language will not be marked any differently from an obscure and obsolete Biblical term.

This style of designations is misleading to a new user of these dictionaries, naive to the fact that they indicate not the period of use, but rather of beginning of use;

Wiktionary treats chronolect labeling in an ambiguous and undeveloped manner.

The lack of a ‘Modern Hebrew’ label seems central to the philosophy of our treatment of Hebrew. While Modern Hebrew defaultism is the only possible approach to register labeling, in all other respects this choice is hard to justify.