Uzi Ornan
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Uzzi Ornan ( he, עוזי אורנן;
ISO 259-3 ISO 259 is a series of international standards for the romanization of Hebrew characters into Latin characters, dating to 1984, with updated ISO 259-2 (a simplification, disregarding several vowel signs, 1994) and ISO 259-3 (Phonemic Conversion, ...
: ˁuzzi ˀornan; 7 June 1923 – 3 November 2022) was an Israeli linguist and social activist. Ornan was a member of the
Academy of the Hebrew Language The Academy of the Hebrew Language ( he, הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית, ''ha-akademyah la-lashon ha-ivrit'') was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on t ...
, professor of
natural language In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...
s computing at the Technion and professor emeritus at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
. Ornan was a member of the Israeli
Canaanite movement Canaanite may refer to: * Canaan and Canaanite people, Semitic-speaking region and civilization in the Ancient Near East *Canaanite languages *Canaanite religion *Canaanites (movement) Canaanism was a cultural and ideological movement founded ...
, founded by his brother
Yonatan Ratosh Yonatan Ratosh () was the literary pseudonym of Uriel Shelach ( he, אוריאל שלח) (November 18, 1908 – March 25, 1981), an Israeli poet and journalist who founded the Canaanite movement. Biography Uriel Heilperin (later Shelach) was ...
. He was the founder of the League against religious coercion in Israel and an active supporter of the separation of church and state.


Biography

Ornan was born in Jerusalem as ''Uzziel Halperin'', son of Yechiel Halperin, a Hebrew teacher and supporter of Chaim Weizmann, and Paulia, a member of Poale Zion. His parents immigrated to Mandate-era Palestine in 1919, as pioneers of the Third Aliyah. One of his brothers was
Yonatan Ratosh Yonatan Ratosh () was the literary pseudonym of Uriel Shelach ( he, אוריאל שלח) (November 18, 1908 – March 25, 1981), an Israeli poet and journalist who founded the Canaanite movement. Biography Uriel Heilperin (later Shelach) was ...
. In his youth, Ornan was active in the Irgun as a bomb-maker. In 1944 he was detained by the British authorities. Subsequently, he was deported to and imprisoned in British prison camps in
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
,
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and Kenya, where he was held until the
Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...
in 1948.


Linguistic career

In the internment camps he taught Hebrew phonology and morphology to other detainees. Following his return to Israel, he published his method as ''Diqduq ha-pe ve-ha-'ozen'' (Hebrew for "Grammar of Mouth and Ear"), which became a classic method for learning Hebrew grammar skills in high schools. He soon started studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received his Hebrew Linguistics PhD in 1964. He served his alma mater as
lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
and professor until 1987. In 1979 he was elected as a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. Ornan headed its committee that set the standards for Hebrew punctuation. In his research, he leaned toward a formal approach. Throughout the years he became increasingly interested in natural language computing. In 1987 he was a visiting professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He managed a laboratory for natural language computing for its department of Computer Science. He continued to teach and head a laboratory at the Technion until his death. In the 1990s Ornan developed a new standard for the Latin presentation of Hebrew, that allows for complete reversibility between the Hebrew and the Latin script. The standard was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization as
ISO 259-3 ISO 259 is a series of international standards for the romanization of Hebrew characters into Latin characters, dating to 1984, with updated ISO 259-2 (a simplification, disregarding several vowel signs, 1994) and ISO 259-3 (Phonemic Conversion, ...
.


Social activism

In 1950 he founded the League Against Religious Coercion, in which he served as secretary and chairman until 1967. In the 1970s he was chairman of the Israeli Secular Movement. He was an opponent of circumcision. His remarks about religious coercion have led to complaints from Knesset members and human rights groups to incite violence. He said in an interview that "without a rebellion it is doubtful whether the religious coercion will change" to the reporter's question about the nature of the rebellion Arnon answered "one that even involves suspending people on an electricity pole". On another occasion Ornan said to a religious Knesset member Nissim Zeev during a talk show: "You should be thrown into the sea, and all your schools should be closed". Ornan corrected himself later he meant only to throw the schools to the sea, not the people, as one might understand. Since the 1990s he has been active in the "I am Israeli" movement, which strives for equality among all Israelis, by dropping the nationality from the formal government registration of each citizen or revising the nationality to include "
Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...
" as an option. To this end, several appeals were submitted to Israeli courts.No 'Israelis' in Israel? Court to debate State's refusal to acknowledge Israeli nationality
Aviram Zino at Ynetnews, 31 November 2007


Published work


Books

* ''Grammar of Mouth and Ear'', 1947 * ''Hebrew Syntax'', 1963 * ''Dictionary of Forgotten Words'', 1996 * ''The claws of Asmodai'', 1999 * ''The Final Word'', 2003


Articles

Uzzi Ornan has written many articles on equality, civil rights, separation of church and state, and language.


References


External links

*
Personal website with articles
(mostly in Hebrew)
Uzzi Ornan
at the Technion website {{DEFAULTSORT:Ornan, Uzzi 1923 births 2022 deaths Linguists from Israel Israeli activists Israeli Jews Grammarians of Hebrew Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Technion – Israel Institute of Technology faculty People from Jerusalem Irgun members Canaanites (movement) Israeli Hebraists