Product Code Database
The Samaritan Hebrew script, or simply Samaritan script, is used by the Samaritans for religious writings, including the Samaritan Pentateuch, writings in Samaritan Hebrew, and for commentaries and translations in Samaritan Aramaic and occasionally Arabic language.
Samaritan is a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, which was a variety of the Phoenician alphabet. Paleo-Hebrew is the alphabet in which large parts of the Hebrew Bible were originally penned according to the consensus of most scholars, who also believe that these scripts are descendants of the Proto-Sinaitic script. Paleo-Hebrew script was used by the ancient Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans.
The better-known "square script" Hebrew alphabet which has been traditionally used by Jews since the Babylonian exile is a stylized version of the Aramaic alphabet called Ashurit (כתב אשורי).
Historically, the Aramaic alphabet became distinct from Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew in the 8th century BCE. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Judaism used both scripts before settling on the Aramaic form, henceforth de facto becoming the "Hebrew alphabet" since it was repurposed to write Hebrew. For a limited time thereafter, the use of paleo-Hebrew (proto-Samaritan) among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton, but soon that custom was also abandoned.
A cursive style of the alphabet also exists.
The Samaritan alphabet first became known to the Western world with the publication of a manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch in 1631 by Jean Morin. Exercitationes ecclesiasticae in utrumque Samaritanorum Pentateuchum, 1631 In 1616 the traveler Pietro della Valle had purchased a copy of the text in Damascus, and this manuscript, now known as Codex B, was deposited in a library.
| + ! Letter !Name !IPA !Approximate western European pronunciation !Jewish Hebrew equivalent | ||||
| ࠀ | ʾālāf | Zero consonant ~ | Either Silent letter or like in _uh- _oh. Also used as mater lectionis for certain Open vowel. | א | |
| ࠁ | bīt | Like in bear. | ב | |
| ࠂ | gāʾman | Like in goat. | ג | |
| ࠃ | dāʾlāt | Like in dingle. | ד | |
| ࠄ | ʾīy | Zero consonant ~ | Either silent or like in _uh- _oh. | ה | |
| ࠅ | bå̄ | Usually like in b ear , but like in water in certain situations. Also used as mater lectionis for certain Back vowel. | ו | |
| ࠆ | zēn | Like in zax. | ז | |
| ࠇ | ʿīt | Zero consonant ~ | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish English lo ch , but voiced, but usually either silent or like in _uh- _oh. | ח |
| ࠈ | ṭīt | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English, like a /t/ sound but emphatic. | ט | |
| ࠉ | y ūt | Like in yolk. Also used as mater lectionis for certain Close vowel. | י | |
| ࠊ | kāf | Like in s kirt. | כ | |
| ࠋ | lāʾbāt | Like in luck. | ל | |
| ࠌ | mīm | Like in mother. | מ | |
| ࠍ | nūn | Like in night. | נ | |
| ࠎ | sinʾgå̄t | Like in sight. | ס | |
| ࠏ | ʿīn | | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish English lo ch , but voiced, but usually either silent or like in _uh- _oh. | ע | |
| ࠐ | fī | | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Usually like in father. | פ | |
| ࠑ | ṣå̄ʾdīy | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English, like an /s/ sound but emphatic. | צ | |
| ࠒ | qūf | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Multicultural London English cut. | ק | |
| ࠓ | rīš | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish right. | ר | |
| ࠔ | šān | Like in short. | ש | |
| ࠕ | tå̄f | Like in ra t. | ת |
| ࠫ | o | o | Like in h ome but as a monophthong. |
| ࠪ | i | i | Like in General American fl eece. |
| ࠩ | ī | iː | Like in Received Pronunciation fl eece. |
| ࠨ | î | ||
| ࠧ | u | u | Like in General American g oose. |
| ࠦ | ū | uː | Like in Received Pronunciation g oose. |
| ࠥ | ă | ||
| ࠤ | ă | ||
| ࠣ | a | ||
| ࠢ | ā | ||
| ࠡ | āː | ||
| ࠠ | å | ||
| ࠠ | å̄ | ||
| ࠞ | å̄ː | ||
| ࠝ | e | ||
| ࠜ | ē | ||
| ࠛ | Marks epethentic yūt. | ||
| ࠚ | Marks an epethentic yût. | ||
| ࠬ | ∅ | Marks the absence of a vowel. | |
| ࠙ | Marks gemination. | ||
| ࠘ | Marks Occlusive. | ||
| ࠗ | |||
| ࠖ |
| ࠭ | nequdaa | Variant reading sign. |
| ࠰ | nequdaa | Word separator. |
| ࠱ | afsaaq | Interruption. |
| ࠲ | afsed | Restraint. |
| ࠳ | bau | Prayer. |
| ࠴ | atmau | Surprise. |
| ࠵ | shiyyaalaa | Question. |
| ࠶ | Abbreviation mark. | |
| ࠷ | Melodic qitsa. | |
| ࠸ | ziqaa | Shouting. |
| ࠹ | qitsa | End of section. |
| ࠺ | zef | Outburst. |
| ࠻ | turu | Teaching. |
| ࠼ | arkaanu | Submissiveness. |
| ࠽ | sof mashfaat | Full stop. |
| ࠾ | annaau | Rest. |
The Unicode block for Samaritan is U+0800–U+083F:
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