2.1.2. Writing

Substratum

Most writing is with a pen and ink on parchment or papyrus.

Orientation

On the scrolls, columns (“pages”) are ordered from right to left. Lines on a page are from top to bottom, letters in a line from right to left.

Character inventory

Form and composition of characters

During the evolution of the writing system, letters assume a square shape.

Number of characters

22 letters.

Table

Functions and classes of characters

The letters represent only consonants. Four of them are also used as matres lectionis to represent (long) vowels. Vocalization is optionally indicated by separate vowel points.

History of writing

From the 10^th cent. on, Hebrew was written in a variant of Phoenician script called Paleo-Hebrew, which however is not clearly distinct from surrounding Semitic alphabets. It does not yet use consonant letters to represent vowels, as later variants do.

After the Babylonian exile, use of the Hebrew script was discontinued and Aramaic script was employed. (According to other sources, the Aramaic script is a variant of Hebrew.)

In the 8^th cent. on, vocalization of the texts was standardized, mainly be a family (Ben Asher) at Lake Tiberias who used Jewish Palestinian Aramaic for oral communication.