Editing Shmuel Yosef Agnon (section)

==Language==
Agnon's writing often used words and phrases that differed from what would become established modern Hebrew. His distinct language is based on traditional Jewish sources, such as the [[Torah]] and the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]], [[Midrash]]ic literature, the [[Mishnah]], and other [[Rabbinic literature]]. Some examples include:

* ''batei yadayim'' ({{lit|hand-houses}}) for modern ''kfafot'' (gloves).
* ''yatzta'' ({{Script/Hebrew|יצתה}}) rather than the modern conjugation ''yatz'a'' ({{Script/Hebrew|יצאה}}) ("she went out").
* ''rotev'' ({{Script/Hebrew|רוטב}}) meaning soup in place of modern ''marak'' ({{Script/Hebrew|מרק}}). In Modern Hebrew the term 'rotev' means 'sauce'.
* ''bet kahava'' for modern ''bet kafe'' (coffee house / café), based on transliteration of the word 'coffee' from Arabic, rather than the contemporary term common in Hebrew, which comes from European languages.

[[Bar-Ilan University]] has made a computerized [[concordance (publishing)|concordance]] of his works in order to study his language.