Solitreo (Hebrew:סוליטריאו ,סוֹלִיטְרֵיוֹ) is acursive form of theHebrew alphabet. Traditionally aSephardi script, it is the predecessor of moderncursive Hebrew currently used for handwriting in modernIsrael and forYiddish. The two forms differ from each other primarily in that Solitreo uses far moretypographic ligatures than the Modern Hebrew script.
Historically, Solitreo served as the standard handwritten form ofJudeo-Spanish in theBalkans andTurkey, that complemented theRashi script character set used for printing. In Sephardi communities in theMaghreb and theLevant, it was used forHebrew andJudeo-Arabic manuscripts. While both the Balkan and Maghrebine-Levantine forms are called Solitreo, they are quite distinctive and readers familiar with one type may find the other difficult to read.[1]
With the decline of Judaeo-Spanish and the dispersion of Sephardic population centres, examples of Solitreo have become scarce. The February 2012 digitization of a Jewish merchant's memoir from late 19th centuryThessaloniki,Ottoman Empire by scholars fromStanford University provided a new, high-quality resource for scholars of Judaeo-Spanish and Solitreo.[2]
| Hebrew letters in Solitreo and square type | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
א = | ב = | ג = | ד = | ה = | ו = | ז = | ח = | ט = |
י = | כ = | ך = | ל = | מ = | ם = | נ = | ן = | ס = |
ע = | פ = | ף = | צ/ץ = | ק = | ר = | ש = | ת = | |
| Letters in Soletreo and Rashi script | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = |
.svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = |
.svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) /.svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | .svg) = | |
 | This article aboutRomance languages is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
 | This article related toJewish history is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
