View source for Cursive Hebrew

{{Short description|Handwritten style of Hebrew letters}}
'''Cursive Hebrew''' ({{langx|he|כתב עברי רהוט}} {{Transliteration|he|ktav ivri rahut}}, "flowing Hebrew writing", or {{lang|he|כתב יד עברי}} {{Transliteration|he|ktav yad 'ivri}}, "Hebrew handwriting", often called simply {{lang|he|כתב}} ''{{Transliteration|he|ktav}}'', "writing") is a collective designation for several styles of [[handwriting]] the [[Hebrew alphabet]]. [[Modern Hebrew]], especially in informal use in [[Israel]], is handwritten with the [[Ashkenazi]] [[cursive]] script that had developed in [[Central Europe]] by the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ada |last=Yardeni |title=The Book of Hebrew Script: History, Palaeography, Script Styles, Calligraphy & Design |publisher=The British Library |year=2002 |isbn=1-58456-087-8 |page=97}}</ref> This is also a mainstay of handwritten [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Sheva |last=Zucker |title=Yiddish: an Introduction to the Language, Literature, and Culture |location=New York City |volume=1 |year=1994 |isbn=1-877909-66-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Sheva |last=Zucker |title=Yiddish: an Introduction to the Language, Literature, and Culture |location=New York City |volume=2 |year=2002 |isbn=1-877909-75-0}}</ref> It was preceded by a [[Sephardi]] cursive script, known as [[Solitreo]], that is still used for [[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Marie-Christine |last=Varol |title=Manual of Judeo-Spanish: Language and Culture |publisher=University of Maryland Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-934309-19-3 |page=28}}</ref>

==Contemporary forms==
As with all handwriting, cursive Hebrew displays considerable individual variation. The forms in the table below are representative of those in present-day use.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Orr-Stav |title=Learn to Write the Hebrew Script: Aleph through the Looking Glass |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-300-10841-9}}</ref> The names appearing with the individual letters are taken from the [[List of Unicode characters#Hebrew|Unicode standard]] and may differ from their designations in the various languages using them—see {{slink|Hebrew alphabet#Pronunciation}} for variation in letter names. (Table is organized right-to-left reflecting Hebrew's lexicographic mode.)
<!--
* Note to editors wishing to change He → Hei, Yod → Yud, Pe → Pei, Tsadi → Tsadiq, Qof → Quf, Tav → Taf:
* The letter names in this table follow the Unicode Standard.
* (View a list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_and_HTML_for_the_Hebrew_alphabet#Unicode)
* Variants of letter names and their pronunciation, such as colloquial Hebrew pronunciation and Yiddish pronunciation, are listed extensively in the article Hebrew alphabet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet#Pronunciation_of_letter_names .
* Please do not change the Unicode names in this table without explaining your rationale and having it discussed on the talk page – thank you!
-->

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap" dir="rtl"
|-
!'''[[Aleph (Hebrew)|Alef {{script|Hebr|א}}]]'''||'''[[Bet (letter)|Bet {{script|Hebr|ב}}]]'''||'''[[Gimel (letter)|Gimel {{script|Hebr|ג}}]]'''||'''[[Daled|Daled {{script|Hebr|ד}}]]'''||'''[[He (letter)|He {{script|Hebr|ה}}]]'''||'''[[Vav (letter)|Vav {{script|Hebr|ו}}]]'''||'''[[Zayin|Zayin {{script|Hebr|ז}}]]'''||'''[[Heth|Het {{script|Hebr|ח}}]]'''||'''[[Teth|Tet {{script|Hebr|ט}}]]'''||'''[[Yodh|Yod {{script|Hebr|י}}]]'''||'''[[Kaph|Kaf {{script|Hebr|כ / ך}}]]'''
|- style="font-size: 200%;"
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Alef handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Bet handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Gimel handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Daled handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter He handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Vav handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Zayin handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Het handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Tet handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Yud handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Kaf handwriting.svg|28px]]/[[Image:Hebrew letter Kaf-final handwriting.svg|28px]]
|-
!'''[[Lamedh|Lamed {{script|Hebr|ל}}]]'''||'''[[Mem|Mem {{script|Hebr|מ / ם}}]]'''||'''[[Nun (letter)|Nun {{script|Hebr|נ / ן}}]]'''||'''[[Samekh|Samekh {{script|Hebr|ס}}]]'''||'''[[Ayin|Ayin {{script|Hebr|ע}}]]'''||'''[[Pe (Semitic letter)|Pe {{script|Hebr|פ / ף}}]]'''||'''[[Tsade|Tsadi {{script|Hebr|צ / ץ}}]]'''||'''[[Qoph|Qof {{script|Hebr|ק}}]]'''||'''[[Resh|Resh {{script|Hebr|ר}}]]'''||'''[[Shin (letter)|Shin {{script|Hebr|ש}}]]'''||'''[[Taw (letter)|Tav {{script|Hebr|ת}}]]'''
|- style="font-size: 200%;"
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Lamed handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Mem handwriting.svg|28px]]/[[Image:Hebrew letter Mem-final handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Nun handwriting.svg|28px]]/[[Image:Hebrew letter Nun-final handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Samekh handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Ayin handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Pe handwriting.svg|28px]]/[[Image:Hebrew letter Pe-final handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Tsadik handwriting.svg|28px]]/[[Image:Hebrew letter Tsadik-final handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Kuf handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Resh handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Shin handwriting.svg|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[Image:Hebrew letter Taf handwriting.svg|28px]]
|-
|}
<small>'''Note:''' Final forms are to the left of the initial/medial forms.</small>

==Historical forms==
This table shows the development of cursive Hebrew from the 7th through the 19th centuries. This is discussed in the following section, which makes reference to the columns in the table, numbered 1 through 14.

[[Image:CursiveWritingHebrew.png]]
<br>'''Figure 3:''' "Cursive Writing" ''(Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901–1906)''.

'''Column:'''
# [[Incantation]] upon [[Babylonia]]n dish<ref>In Corpus Inscriptionum Hebraicarum 18.</ref>
# [[Egypt]]ian, 12th century.
# [[Constantinople]], 1506.
# 10th century.
# [[Spain|Spanish]], dated 1480.
# Spanish, 10th century.
# [[Hachmei Provence|Provençal]], 10th century.
# [[Italy|Italian]], 10th century.
# [[Greece|Greek]], dated 1375.
# Italian, dated 1451.
# Italian, 10th century.
# [[Germany|German]], 10th century.
# [[Eleazer of Worms]], copied at [[Rome]] in 1515 by [[Elias Levita]]<ref>German-Ashkenazi, [[British Museum]], Additional Manuser. of 27199 (Paleographical Society, Oriental series lxxix.).</ref>
# Ashkenazi, 19th century.

==History==
[[Image:Besht Signature.svg|thumb|'''Figure 1:''' Signature of the [[Baal Shem Tov]] some time in the 18th century, written in the cursive Hebrew script.]]
The brief inscriptions daubed in red ink upon the walls of the [[Jewish catacombs of Venosa|catacombs of Venosa]] are probably the oldest examples of cursive script. Still longer texts in a cursive alphabet are furnished by the clay bowls found in [[Babylonia]] and bearing [[exorcism]]s against magical influences and evil spirits. These bowls date from the 7th or 8th century, and some of the letters are written in a form that is very antiquated ''([[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|Figure 3, column 1]])''. Somewhat less of a cursive nature is the manuscript, which dates from the 8th century.<ref>Hebrew Papyri: Steinschneider, Hebräische Papyrusfragmente aus dem Fayyum, in Aegyptische Zeitschrift, xvii. 93 et seq., and table vii.; C. I. H. cols. 120 et seq.; Erman and Krebs, Aus den Papyrus der Königlichen Museen, p. 290, Berlin, 1899. For the Hebrew papyri in The Collection of Erzherzog Rainer, see D. H. Müller and D. Kaufmann, in Mitteilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer, i. 38, and in Führer durch die Sammlung, etc. pp. 261 et seq.</ref> ''[[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|Columns 2–14]]'' exhibit cursive scripts of various countries and centuries. The differences visible in the square alphabets are much more apparent. For instance, the Sephardi rounds off still more, and, as in [[Arabic]], there is a tendency to run the lower lines to the left, whereas the Ashkenazi script appears cramped and disjointed. Instead of the little ornaments at the upper ends of the stems, in the letters [[Image:Image1Letters.jpg]]{{clarify|reason=This blurry and extremely low resolution image is nigh illegible and totally inaccessible. It should be replaced with text|date=January 2023}} a more or less weak flourish of the line appears. For the rest the cursive of the Codices remains fairly true to the square text.

Documents of a private nature were certainly written in a much more running hand, as the sample from one of the oldest Arabic letters written with Hebrew letters (possibly the 10th century) clearly shows in the papyrus, in "Führer durch die Ausstellung", Table XIX., Vienna, 1894, ''([[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|compare Figure 3, column 4]])''. However, since the preservation of such letters were not held to be of importance, material of this nature from the earlier times is very scarce, and as a consequence the development of the script is very hard to follow. The last two columns of ''[[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|Figure 3]]'' exhibit the Ashkenazi cursive script of a later date. The next to the last is taken from a manuscript of [[Elias Levita]]. The accompanying specimen presents Sephardi script. In this flowing cursive alphabet the ligatures appear more often. They occur especially in letters which have a sharp turn to the left ({{script|Hebr|[[ג]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ז]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[כ]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[נ]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[צ]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ח]]}}), and above all in {{script|Hebr|[[נ]]}}, whose great open bow offers ample space for another letter ''(see Figure 2)''.<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Specimen of Modern Sephardic Script.jpg||389px|thumb|right|'''Figure 2:''' "Specimen of Modern Sephardic Script" ''(Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906)'']] -->

The following are the successive stages in the development of each letter: 
* [[Aleph|Alef]] is separated into two parts, the first being written as [[Image:Image2Letters.jpg]], and the [[perpendicular]] stroke placed at the left [[Image:Image3Letters.jpg]]. By the turn of the 20th century, Ashkenazi cursive had these two elements separated, thus ׀c, and the [[acute angle]] was rounded. It received also an abbreviated form connected with the favorite old ligature [[Image:Image4Letters.jpg]], and it is to this ligature of Alef and [[Lamedh|Lamed]] that the contracted [[Mizrahi Hebrew|Oriental]] Aleph owes its origin ''([[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|Figure 3, column 7]])''. 
* In writing [[Bet (letter)|Bet]], the lower part necessitated an interruption, and to overcome this obstacle it was made [[Image:Image5Letters.jpg]], and, with the total omission of the whole lower line, [[Image:Image6Letters.jpg]]. 
* In [[Gimel]], the left-hand stroke is lengthened more and more. 
* [[Dalet]] had its stroke put on obliquely to distinguish it from [[Resh]]; however, since in rapid writing it easily assumed a form similar in appearance to [[Resh]], [[Dalet]] in analogy with {{script|Hebr|[[ב]]}} was later changed to [[Image:Image7Letters.jpg]]. 
* A transformation very similar to this took place in the cases of final [[Kaph|Kaf]] and of [[Qoph|Qof]] ''([[Cursive Hebrew#Historical forms|see columns 2, 5, 11, 14]])'', except that Kaf opened out a trifle more than Qof. 
* The lower part of [[Zayin]] was bent sharply to the right and received a little hook at the bottom. 
* The left-hand stroke of [[Teth|Ṭet]] was lengthened. 
* Lamed gradually lost its [[semicircle]] until (as in both [[Nabataean Arabic|Nabataean]] and [[Syriac language|Syriac]]) by the turn of the 20th century, it became a simple stroke, which was bent sharply toward the right. In the modern script today the Lamed has regained its semicircle. 
* Final [[Mem]] branches out at the bottom, and in its latest stage is drawn out either to the left or straight down. 
* In [[Samekh]] the same development also took place, but it afterward became again a simple circle. 
* To write '[[Ayin]] without removing the pen from the surface, its two strokes were joined with a curl. 
* The two forms of the letter [[Pe (Semitic letter)|Pe]] spread out in a marked flourish. 
* For [[Tsade|Tsadi]] the right-hand head is made longer, at first only to a small degree, but later on to a considerable extent. 
* In the beginning [[Shin (letter)|Shin]] develops similarly to the same letter in Nabataean, but afterward the central stroke is lengthened upward, like the right arm of Tsadi, and finally it is joined with the left stroke, and the first stroke is left off altogether. 
* The letters {{script|Hebr|[[ה]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ד]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ח]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ן]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[נ]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ר]]}}, {{script|Hebr|[[ת]]}}, have undergone little modification: they have been rounded out and simplified by the omission of the heads.

==Samaritan Hebrew==
The [[Samaritans]] are an ethnic group descended from the Israelites and are a sister people to the Jews. Whereas the Israelites and later [[Hebrews]] suffered a number of exoduses and deportations over the course of history, Samaritans for the most part remained in [[Israel (region)|Israel]] since ancient times. As a result, the [[Samaritan Hebrew|Hebrew language of the Samaritans]] is written in a unique [[abjad]], distinct from that of Hebrew; this abjad is called the [[Samaritan alphabet]]. Thanks to the Samaritans' sedentary residence in Israel, the script of Samaritan Hebrew is a direct descendant of the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet]], the script which the Jews abandoned in favor of the [[Ktav Ashuri]] script in the 4th century [[BCE]]. Like standard Hebrew, Samaritan Hebrew has its own cursive script.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap" dir="rtl"
|-
!'''[[Aleph (Hebrew)|A'laf {{Script|Samr|ࠀ}}]]'''||'''[[Bet (letter)|Bit {{Script|Samr|ࠁ}}]]'''||'''[[Gimel (letter)|Ga'man {{Script|Samr|ࠂ}}]]'''||'''[[Daled|Da'lat {{Script|Samr|ࠃ}}]]'''||'''[[He (letter)|Iy {{Script|Samr|ࠄ}}]]'''||'''[[Vav (letter)|Ba {{Script|Samr|ࠅ}}]]'''||'''[[Zayin|Zen {{Script|Samr|ࠆ}}]]'''||'''[[Heth|It {{Script|Samr|ࠇ}}]]'''||'''[[Teth|Tit {{Script|Samr|ࠈ}}]]'''||'''[[Yodh|Yut {{Script|Samr|ࠉ}}]]'''||'''[[Kaph|Kaf {{Script|Samr|ࠊ}}]]'''
|-
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive alep.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive bet.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive gimel.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive dalet.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive he.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive vav.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive zayin.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive het.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive tet.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive yud.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive kaf.png|28px]]
|-
!'''[[Lamedh|La'bat {{Script|Samr|ࠋ}}]]'''||'''[[Mem|Mim {{Script|Samr|ࠌ}}]]'''||'''[[Nun (letter)|Nun {{Script|Samr|ࠍ}}]]'''||'''[[Samekh|Sin'gat {{Script|Samr|ࠎ}}]]'''||'''[[Ayin|In {{Script|Samr|ࠏ}}]]'''||'''[[Pe (Semitic letter)|Fi {{Script|Samr|ࠐ}}]]'''||'''[[Tsade|Sa'diy {{Script|Samr|ࠑ}}]]'''||'''[[Qoph|Quf {{Script|Samr|ࠒ}}]]'''||'''[[Resh|Rish {{Script|Samr|ࠓ}}]]'''||'''[[Shin (letter)|Shan {{Script|Samr|ࠔ}}]]'''||'''[[Taw (letter)|Taf {{Script|Samr|ࠕ}}]]'''
|-
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive lamed.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive mem.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive nun.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive samek.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive ayin.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive pe.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive tsade.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive quf.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive resh.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive shin.png|28px]]
|  align="center" style="background-color:white"|[[File:Samaritan cursive tav.png|28px]]
|-
|}

== See also ==
*[[Cursive]]
*[[Handwriting]]
*[[Judeo-Arabic languages]]
*[[Ruqʿah script]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.oketz.com/fonts/script.html Cursive Hebrew fonts for download at ''www.oketz.com'']
*[http://solitreo.com/ladinotype/ LadinoType - System for Solitreo and Rashi]
*[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1308&letter=A#3547 Cursive Hebrew] in the 1901–1906 [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] {{PD-notice}}

{{Hebrew language}}
{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Hebrew alphabet]]
[[Category:Handwriting script]]