Uzzi Ornan ( he, עוזי אורנן; ISO 259-3: ˁuzzi ˀornan; 7 June 1923 – 3 November 2022) was an Israeli

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

. 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 ...

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

at the Technion and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

. Ornan was a member of the Israeli Canaanite movement, 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 The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

Biography

Ornan was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as ''Uzziel Halperin'', son of Yechiel Halperin, a Hebrew teacher and supporter of

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...

, and Paulia, a member of

Poale Zion Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century after ...

. His parents immigrated to Mandate-era Palestine in 1919, as pioneers of the

Third Aliyah The Third Aliyah ( he, העלייה השלישית, ''HaAliyah HaShlishit'') refers to the third wave—or aliyah—of modern Jewish immigration to Palestine from Europe. This wave lasted from 1919, just after the end of World War I, until 1923 ...

. One of his brothers was

. In his youth, Ornan was active in the

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

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 ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, 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 camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

s he taught Hebrew phonology and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

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 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. They may also conduct res ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

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 Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...

. 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 In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropo ...

. He managed a laboratory for natural language computing for its department of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

. 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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

presentation of Hebrew, that allows for complete reversibility between the Hebrew and the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...

. The standard was adopted by the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...

as ISO 259-3.

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" 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 Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the ''Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and writ ...

, 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 Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, 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