View source for Rashi script

{{Short description|Semi-cursive Hebrew typeface used for traditional commentaries}}
[[Image:RashiAlphabetVector.svg|200px|thumb|Complete Hebrew alphabet in Rashi script (right to left)]]
The '''Rashi script''' or '''Sephardic script''' ({{Langx|he|כְּתַב רַשִׁ״י|Ktav Rashi}}) is a [[typeface]] for the [[Hebrew alphabet]] based on 15th-century [[Solitreo|Sephardic semi-cursive handwriting]]. It is named for the [[Rabbinic literature|rabbinic commentator]] [[Rashi]], whose [[Rashi#Works|works]] are customarily printed in the typeface (though Rashi himself died several hundred years before the script came into use). It was taken as a model by early Hebrew typographers such as [[Abraham Garton]], the [[Soncino family (printers)|Soncino family]] and [[Daniel Bomberg]] in their editions of commented texts (such as the ''[[Mikraot Gedolot]]'' and the [[Talmud]], in which Rashi's commentaries prominently figure).<ref name=chabad>{{cite web |last1=Shurpin |first1=Yehuda |title=What Is Rashi Script and Where Did It Come From? |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3715921/jewish/What-Is-Rashi-Script-and-Where-Did-It-Come-From.htm |website=Chabad.org |access-date=November 17, 2018 |language=en |quote=}}</ref>

==History==
The initial development of typefaces for the [[printing press]] was often anchored in a pre-existing [[manuscript culture]]. In the case of the Hebrew press, the tradition of using square or [[block letter]]s were [[movable type|cast]] for [[Biblical]] and other important works prevailed. However, secondary religious texts such as rabbinic commentaries, were commonly set with a semi-cursive form of Sephardic origin, ultimately normalised as the Rashi typeface.<ref name=chabad/>

A corresponding but distinctive semi-cursive typeface was used for printing [[Yiddish language#Printing|Yiddish]]. It was termed ''mashket'' or ''[[vaybertaytsh]]'', the Yiddish word ''vayber'' meaning "women" (Weiber) and ''taytsh'' being an archaic word for "German" (Deutsch), since works printed in ''mashket'' were often intended for a female readership.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stern |first1=David |title=The Jewish Bible: A Material History |date=October 22, 2017 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0295741499 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrUyDwAAQBAJ&q=vaybertaytsh+script |access-date=November 18, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==Comparison with square Hebrew==
{| class="wikitable" dir="rtl" style="margin: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1"
! colspan="9" dir="ltr" | Hebrew letters in Rashi and square type
|- style="font-size:15px;"
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[א]]}} = [[File:Alef (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ב]]}} = [[File:Bet (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ג]]}} = [[File:Gimel (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ד]]}} = [[File:Daled (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ה]]}} = [[File:He (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ו]]}} = [[File:Vav (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ז]]}} = [[File:Zayin (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ח]]}} = [[File:Het (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ט]]}} = [[File:Tet (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
|- style="font-size:15px;"
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[י]]}} = [[File:Yud (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[כ]]}} = [[File:Kaf-nonfinal (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ך]]}} = [[File:Kaf-final (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ל]]}} = [[File:Lamed (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[מ]]}} = [[File:Mem-nonfinal (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ם]]}} = [[File:Mem-final (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[נ]]}} = [[File:Nun-nonfinal (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ן]]}} = [[File:Nun-final (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ס]]}} = [[File:Samekh (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
|- style="font-size:15px;"
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ע]]}} = [[File:Ayin (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[פ]]}} = [[File:Pe-nonfinal (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|ף]]}} = [[File:Pe-final (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[צ]]}} = [[File:Tsadik-nonfinal (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ץ]]}} = [[File:Tsadik-final (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ק]]}} = [[File:Kuf (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ר]]}} = [[File:Resh (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ש]]}} = [[File:Shin (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
| style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;" | {{Script/Hebrew|[[ת]]}} = [[File:Taf (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg|10px]]
|}

==Ladino usage==
[[Image:Salmo 138.1-2 en la lingua Sefaradit.png|thumb|320px|Example of text written in Rashi script from a 19th century print of {{Bibleverse|Psalm|138|HE}} in [[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]] language; additional letters representing distinct Ladino [[phonemes]] can be seen, modified by the curved ''varrica'' [[rafe]] diacritic placed atop a letter (titles/headings are in block print).]]
Besides usage for the [[Hebrew language]], an adapted form of Rashi script alphabet is commonly used for writing [[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]] language texts in the Hebrew alphabet. To express additional fricative sounds found in Ladino, the alphabet is expanded by adding diacritic marks to existing letters. Whereas in block print a Hebrew letter is typically modified by an adjacent [[geresh]], in the Rashi script, new letters are formed by adding a breve-shaped ''varrica'' ("little crossbar") [[rafe]] diacritic ⟨ﬞ◌⟩ directly onto a letter.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Sefarađizo: Ladino: Alefbet: Tabla
 |url         = http://www.sefaradizo.org/ladino/alefbet/alefbet_ladino-tabla-es.html
 |date        = 2021-09-16
 |archiveurl  = https://archive.today/20210916192938/http://www.sefaradizo.org/ladino/alefbet/alefbet_ladino-tabla-es.html
 |archivedate = 2021-09-16
 |access-date = 2021-09-16
 |url-status  = live
}}</ref> Historically, a cursive script known as "[[solitreo]]" served as the standard handwritten form of Ladino in the Balkans and Turkey, which complemented the Rashi script character set used for printing.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="10" align=center | [[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]] letters formed using a 'varrica' [[rafe]]
|-
!! colspan="4" | Without ''Rafe''
!! colspan="4" | With ''Rafe'' (equivalent with [[geresh]])
|-
! Symbol !! [[Transliteration of Hebrew|Translit.]] !! [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]] !!Example !! Symbol !! [[Transliteration of Hebrew|Translit.]] !! [[Help:IPA chart for Hebrew|IPA]]!!Example
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ב}}
| b
| {{IPAblink|b}}
| '''b'''oy
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ב׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|בﬞ}}
| v
|  {{IPAblink|v}}<span style="font-size:100%;">~</span>{{IPAblink|β̞}}
|  '''v'''oyage
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ג}}
| g
| {{IPAblink|ɡ}}
| '''g'''ap
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ג׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|גﬞ}} 
| dj, ǧ, <span style="font-size:50%;">or</span> ch, č
| {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}<span style="font-size:100%;">~</span>{{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}
| '''J'''upiter, '''G'''eorge, '''ch'''ip
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ד}}
| d
| {{IPAblink|d̪}}
| '''d'''ay
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ד׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|דﬞ}}
| dh, th, ḏ, đ
|  {{IPAblink|ð̞}}
|  '''th'''ey
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ז}} 
| z
|  {{IPAblink|z}}
| '''z'''oo
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ז׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|זﬞ}}
| j, g, zh, ž
| {{IPAblink|ʒ}}
| '''J'''acques, bei'''g'''e, vi'''s'''ion
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ט}} 
| t
|  {{IPAblink|t̪}}
| '''t'''oy
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ט׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|טﬞ}}
| th
| {{IPAblink|θ}}
| '''th'''irty
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|כ}} 
| c, k
|  {{IPAblink|k}}
| '''c'''are, '''k'''ing
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|כ׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|כﬞ}}
| ch, kh, ḵ
| {{IPAblink|x}}<span style="font-size:100%;">~</span>{{IPAblink|χ}}
| lo'''ch''', Ba'''ch'''  
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|פ}} 
| p
|  {{IPAblink|p}}
| '''p'''ast
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|פ׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|פﬞ}}
| f
| {{IPAblink|f}}
| '''f'''ast
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|{{Script/Hebr|ש}} 
| s, ç
|  {{IPAblink|s}}
| '''s'''in, '''c'''ent
| align="center" style="font-size: 150%"|({{Script/Hebr|ש׳}}) {{Script/Hebr|שﬞ}}
| sh, š
| {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| '''sh'''in
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/RashiAlphabetVector.svg Complete Rashi script]

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

[[Category:Abjad writing systems]]
[[Category:Hebrew typefaces]]
[[Category:Judaeo-Spanish]]