{"id":1265,"date":"2017-03-10T20:30:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T20:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjhblog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2017\/03\/10\/tracing-the-past-deciphering-handwriting-in\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T20:30:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T20:30:31","slug":"tracing-the-past-deciphering-handwriting-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2017\/03\/10\/tracing-the-past-deciphering-handwriting-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracing the Past: Deciphering Handwriting in Yiddish and Hebrew"},"content":{"rendered":"

By J.D. Arden, Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Specialist, Center\u00a0for Jewish History<\/b> <\/p>\n

Here at the
\nCenter for Jewish History <\/a>in the Ackman and Ziff Family
\nGenealogy Institute<\/a>, researchers in genealogy often
\ndiscover or bring in old postcards, letters, manuscripts or vital statistics
\nrecords. These old documents are notoriously difficult to read! Some are in
\nYiddish, some in Hebrew. Here are my tips\u00a0for deciphering Hebrew-alphabet
\npenmanship and my suggestions of tricky handwriting patterns to watch out for.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

Tip 1. Don\u2019t just struggle on the word or name you need to decipher. Look at the entire writing sample for context and orthography patterns.
\nIf you find another recognizable word, use that to build a key of how the
\nauthor writes certain letters.<\/p>\n

There are many different ways to write an alef – \u05d0,
\nthe first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, for instance. Here are a
\nfew:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

Tip 2. Trace the writing yourself with your finger, reading aloud. A
\ndifficult word may become clearer from the context of the document and through
\nthe action of re-tracing a jumble of letters.<\/p>\n

Unlike
\nin Modern Israeli Hebrew, handwriting in
\nDiaspora or antiquated Hebrew, Yiddish (or other
\nDiaspora Jewish languages in the Hebrew alphabet) often uses fanciful ligatures
\nand final flourishes.\u00a0 Intermediary
\nletters, especially yud and double yud, can be absorbed into one or two
\nwavy lines, see some examples in Yiddish below: <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The vertical lines of vav, alef, and yud can become
\nalmost indistinguishable, here in Yiddish \u201c\u05d5\u05d5\u05d0\u05e1 \u05e9\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05d1\u05e1\u05d8 \u05d3\u05d0\u05e1\u201d \u2013 which you write that.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Here a flourished hooked daled ends the word
\n\u201c\u05d1\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u201d \u2013 photo<\/i> and a
\nfinal resh is often reduced to a horizontal flourish, as in the sample \u201c\u05d3\u05d9\u05e8\u201d
\n\u2013 [to] you<\/i>. <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

This phenomenon of a how a print standard of writing evolved into
\ncertain patterns of cursive script can be observed in the many connections between
\nthe Hebrew alphabet and the modern Arabic alphabet, which now functions as a
\ncursive script but is still related to earlier writing systems. <\/p>\n

Here,
\nin the name (or adjective) \u201c\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05de\u05e2\u201d \u2013 Fruma (pious)<\/i>, and
\nthe word \u201c\u05e7\u05d9\u05e0\u05d3\u05e2\u05e8\u201d \u2013 children<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Tip 3. Take into account that, before the modern convenience of ballpoint
\npens, pen and ink was messy! Letters might be smudged. And before the era of
\nspell check, spelling might vary widely depending on regional dialect or the literacy
\nof the author. Here are some common issues related to the nature of ink on
\npaper and to non-standardized spelling.<\/p>\n

The letter mem is often reduced to what appears as one thick mark,
\nhere <\/p>\n

\u201c\u05de\u05d9\u05d8",
\n“\u05de\u05d9\u05e8\u201d and \u201c\u05de\u05d9\u05d9\u05df\u201d\u00a0with, me<\/i> and my<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In contrast, a double vav with a
\nconnecting diagonal can often look like a version of a standard handwritten mem. <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Like in Modern Israeli Hebrew, the relative size of the similar letters
\nyud, vav, and final nun (\u05d9.\u05d5.\u05df) can vary from sample to sample.<\/p>\n

\nThe most common phrase accompanying a postcard or photograph
\nis \u201cin [the] memory of\u2026<\/i>\u201d – \u05e6\u05d5\u05dd \u05d0\u05e0\u05d3\u05e2\u05e0\u05e7 \u05e4\u05d5\u05df. Here are several samples to compare: in some dialects of
\nYiddish, \u05e2 \u00a0becomes \u05d9\u05d9 and, \u05e4\u05d5\u05df becomes \u05e4\u05d9\u05df.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Tip 4. Remember to think in historical context. Conventions of another era
\nand country may be unusual at first \u2013 like how to read a date.<\/p>\n

Dates in old letters and postcards can often in the format
\nof: day in Arabic numerals \/ month in Roman numerals | the abbreviated decade
\nof the year in Arabic numerals; see below:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

Sometimes letter-writers whose non-Jewish majority language
\neducation or experience was in Polish, Russian, or another European language,
\nwill habitually follow the convention of adding the abbreviation \u201cyear\u201d: r (rok),
\n\u0433 (\u0433\u043e\u0434 or \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430), etc. to the end of the date in Arabic numerals \u2013 even if the
\ntext of the letter is otherwise completely in Yiddish or Hebrew. Sometimes an
\nauthor might mix the Hebrew word \u201cyear\u201d – \u05e9\u05e0 with Arabic numerals.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that Jewish dates, years, enumeration,
\nlists of 1-2-3, all can be expressed only through letters of the alphabet \u2013
\neach Hebrew letter having a numerical value. In the context of Jewish-language
\nmanuscripts or printing, there is no necessity for the use of a numeral system,
\nRoman or Arabic. The Hebrew alphabet as numerical equivalents is most often
\nencountered in genealogy research of tombstones, marriage ketubbot, and in
\npersonal correspondence. Letters used as a numerical equivalent are marked with
\na geresh<\/i> \u2013 a slanted apostrophe-like sign used in the Hebrew alphabet as
\na diacritical or punctuation mark. Often in a religious or antiquated writing
\ncontext, the geresh<\/i> equivalent that is used is the more scriptural
\nsymbol tsinnorit<\/i> \u2013 similar to a sideways S and often simplified as a
\nhorizontal line. Numerical equivalents and all Hebrew abbreviations are marked
\nwith a geresh<\/i> (or gershayim<\/i>, plural).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below is an example of a Hebrew date sequence with numerical
\nequivalents represented by letters marked with a geresh<\/i>:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Here, a conventional religious abbreviation and a weekday
\nindicator are both marked with the tsinnorit<\/i> above the letter instead of
\na geresh:<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

And lastly, Tip 5. Take a break and ask a friend to
\ntake a look. Sometimes a deep breath and a fresh pair of eyes will help crack
\nthe case!<\/p>\n

For
\nfurther exploration of other styles of handwritten Jewish Diaspora languages
\namong many communities and some specific to the Sephardi and Mizrachi Diaspora,
\ncheck out this link<\/a> to a University of Washington Jewish Studies video – Learn
\nHow to Write Soletreo (the Ladino Alphabet) with David Bunis.<\/p>\n

The library and archive online catalog <\/a>
\nof CJH can be searched in Roman or Hebrew script, and our catalog results page
\ncan be refined to material in many languages, including Jewish Diaspora
\nlanguages such as Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Classical Syriac,
\nJudeo-Persian, and Samaritan Aramaic. Information pertaining to many other
\nJewish Diaspora languages (Judeo-Tat, Judeo-Provencal, Haketia, and others) can
\nalso be found within our collections.<\/p>\n

For more information about our vital statistics microfilm
\ncollection, our Genealogy Institute Membership Program,
\nworkshops and research guides, please visit www.genealogy.cjh.org<\/a> <\/p>\n

Note:
\nall numbered images are excerpts, used for the sole purpose of this educational
\narticle, from the public social media pages Facebook Genealogy Translations and
\nFacebook Tracing the Tribe.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By J.D. Arden, Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Specialist, Center\u00a0for Jewish History Here at the Center for Jewish History in the Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, researchers in genealogy often discover or bring in old postcards, letters, manuscripts or vital statistics records. These old documents are notoriously difficult to read! Some are in Yiddish, some in Hebrew. Here are my tips\u00a0for deciphering Hebrew-alphabet penmanship…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[163,107,164,55,47,9,160,161,162,5,50],"class_list":["post-1265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post","tag-fonts","tag-genealogy","tag-handwriting","tag-hebrew","tag-j-d-arden","tag-jewish-history","tag-jewishgenealogy","tag-ladino","tag-old-letters","tag-research","tag-yiddish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}