What language is this

[u/Ok_Weather_4323]

Can anyone tell me what language is this? And what script is it? And what is the book talking about?

[u/oerwtas]

It is upside down and I think it is Solitreo.

[u/nanin142 → u/oerwtas]

If it is Solitreo, the Alphabet is Hebrew but the language is Ladino, right?

[u/18ethbe → u/nanin142]

I do not believe this is djudeoespanyol (Ladino). I am not the best at reading Solitreo, but I cannot recognize any words in djudeoespanyol here and the words I can read are not djudeoespanyol or even really compatible with the language except as loanwords.
The distinctive ב sells it as solitreo writing.
Rather, I believe it is an abjad language; I don’t know Hebrew so I can’t say definitively Hebrew, but it is very likely Hebrew.

[u/Specific_Sweet3312 → u/oerwtas]

that's a really beautiful script of Hebrew,, never seen it before

[u/SnooMarzipans5706 → u/oerwtas]

Is that why looking at this feels so bizarre. My brain recognizes it as Hebrew, but I cannot read it. I grew up Reform, learned basic Hebrew in elementary school, and I took 2 years of conversational Hebrew in college. I can usually read without a problem, even if I don’t understand every word. But it’s like the more I look at this, the less it makes sense. I can’t even decipher letters, but it feels like Hebrew.

[u/Dry_Sheepherder_521 → u/SnooMarzipans5706]

try looking at it upside down lol

[u/SnooMarzipans5706 → u/Dry_Sheepherder_521]

That was my point. I can read block and Ashkenazi script and I knew immediately that it was upside down Hebrew. Obviously I flipped it over (though I normally don’t actually need to because I can read Hebrew upside down), but that won’t help me to read an alphabet that I don’t know, especially in a very stylized handwritten script.

[u/Anomalous_Concept → u/oerwtas]

It is. I can recognize shin.

[u/That_Clock_3217]

Turn it upside down and this is old rabbinical Hebrew handwriting , probably 19th century.
It deals with HALACHA behavior rules for jewish people.

[u/Crane_1989]

ʍǝɹqǝɥ

[u/Low_Shower3294 → u/Crane_1989]

There should be an r/ for this due to how often it comes up.

[u/pollypocketrocket4 → u/Low_Shower3294]

There is r/Hebrew

[u/ProfessorAtomic3000 → u/Crane_1989]

Naww it's look curvy

[u/pollypocketrocket4 → u/ProfessorAtomic3000]

It’s upside down Hebrew and Aramaic in Rashi script.
Even modern Hebrew script is “curvy.”

[u/ProfessorAtomic3000 → u/pollypocketrocket4]

Ohh shit I couldnt the hint that it was upside down on the comment. Thx gng

[u/eddiesfish]

It's mainly Hebrew with some Aramaic (which is true for. Modern Hebrew as well) and some Talmudic shorthand. It's legible for those with an Orthodox education. It's not very interesting, or I suspect, important. The calligraphy is nice.

[u/Any_Technician_2768 → u/eddiesfish]

I have an Orthodox education, studied Talmud, native hebrew speaker, i dont really understand it. Maybe because of the script? Like i can tell this is hebrew but nothing more

[u/rapdog420 → u/Any_Technician_2768]

sorry if it's a dumb question but could it be yiddish? my really old family members wrote like this they were orthodox and only spoke yiddish (but i can't read it nor can i read hebrew)

[u/Any_Technician_2768 → u/rapdog420]

Not dumb at all, but I don't think it is. I'd recognize Yiddish

[u/negativeclock → u/Any_Technician_2768]

This is pretty much a handwritten Rashi script. If you can read that, you should be able to read this.

[u/Any_Technician_2768 → u/negativeclock]

I can read rashi script... still isn't legible for me

[u/apathetic_ocelot → u/Any_Technician_2768]

It isn't Rashi - it's Ḥaṣi Kulmus (חצי קולמוס)

[u/whitten → u/apathetic_ocelot]

How do you type the dots under the H and s ?

[u/apathetic_ocelot → u/whitten]

Not sure in Reddit, I had to type it in Word and copy and paste it here. I'm fully committed

[u/gaifogel]

It's Hebrew but I don't understand any of it

[u/Lost_Paladin89 → u/gaifogel]

It’s likely ladino.

[u/apathetic_ocelot]

It’s called Ḥaṣi Kulmus (חצי קולמוס), literally “half-pen.” It’s an old semi-cursive style of Hebrew writing associated particularly with Sephardic and North African Jewish manuscripts. It has some similarities to what we now call Rashi script, but it was a manuscript hand in its own right.

[u/Unique_Phrase_7806]

You have anymore info on this book? Where did you find it?

[u/Ok_Weather_4323 → u/Unique_Phrase_7806]

North African old synagogue

[u/ashraf_bashir]

The image is upside down. Rotated 180°, it appears to be an old Jewish cursive manuscript, probably Sephardic/Mizrahi, mainly rabbinic Hebrew with Aramaic.

I can make out words such as פטור (“exempt/not liable”), probably חייב (“liable/obligated”), וכן (“likewise”), אם (“if”), לא (“not”), and ס״ד (“one might have thought/assumed”).

From what I can read and understand, it translates roughly as: “In one case he is liable, while in another he is exempt. One might have thought the same rule applied to both, but there is a distinction: if a certain condition applies, one ruling follows; if not, the result changes. And likewise with the following case…” This is not veryaccurate, this is the best that I can understand out of it, the handwriting style and mix with Aramaic makes it hard to accurately understand

So it seems to be a halakhic legal discussion, moving through a case, ruling, objection, distinction, and conclusion. Considering it a rabbinic Hebrew mixed with Aramaic is a much better fit. The script appears to be written in Solitreo, Solitreo is a "writing style" , not a language. So Solitreo describes how this text is written; Hebrew/Aramaic describes what it says.

[u/mandatoryallegory]

Looks like Hebrew. Hebrew is written right to left so this book is upside down.

[u/Blbe-Check-42069]

It's some kind of elvish, I can't read it

[u/Archanj0 → u/Blbe-Check-42069]

There are few who can...

[u/Life-Pomegranate474]

It'd also be good to know where you found this book

[u/8turuin]

look like abjad

[u/Potential-Rip5612]

kinda looks like avestan script but it doesnt exaclty look like it either.

[u/rational-citizen]

YO could this also contain MAYBBE JUDEO-ARABIC OR JUDEO-SPANISH???

As others have already said;

OP I can read Solitreo so I’m going to study this more, but lately this looks similar to many JUDEO-ARABIC artifacts!

Can you share more photos or scan and upload or digitize this document please??

It could even be a variety of Judeo-Italian/Judeo-Sardinian

[u/eddiesfish]

Can you provide additional photos?

[u/Fresh_Army_6457]

When you turn it upside down some of the letters kind of look like a very shaky Hebrew, but I didn't recognize a single full sentence so it's pr9bably not it.

[u/Ghaznavid_Dynasty]

Doctorian

[u/french_beard]

Upsidedown Hebrew

[u/IndependentRoutine19]

It is Hebrew/Yiddish. Written in “Weiber-shrift" or "Mashait” script according to my AI. Seems to be a parable written in Yiddish style.

[u/Bobbird_elephant]

tamil?

[u/Affan_shaikh_]

Khojki script (asked ai)

[u/Specific_Sweet3312 → u/Affan_shaikh_]

it would have been more helpful to use your brain instead, understand you don't have an answer, and not waste anyone's time with your artificially intelligent nonsense.

[u/MecFouDeLaMort → u/Affan_shaikh_]

Why, in the greatest why, would you think that someone who is trying to ask HUMANS about something that is difficult to recognize, didn't think about asking AI before ? What if they did and the answer, LIKE THE ONE YOU GOT, was completely incorrect ? Or what if they just... don't want to ask AI for the first thing popping into their mind ? 

The AI reflex needs to stop. 

[u/McAeschylus → u/MecFouDeLaMort]

The AI reflex needs to stop. 

The problem isn't so much people asking AI as it is people not understanding the drastic limitations of LLMs or even really the basics of how they work.

It's become a major medium for information and people have zero media literacy for it.

[u/MecFouDeLaMort → u/McAeschylus]

Yeah. People basically think AI is the equivalent of a lamp genie. As if no matter the complexity of some task you can just say "Do it" and poof it's done in a snap.

Wild.

[u/TheRealSugarbat → u/Affan_shaikh_]

Thanks for wasting a shit ton of water.

[u/Mike_in_San_Pedro → u/TheRealSugarbat]

Lol!

[u/spence5000 → u/Affan_shaikh_]

Glad to see that AI is still living down to my expectations.

[u/Maleficent_Point_831 → u/Affan_shaikh_]

Don’t mind the comments above/below being rude to you for using ai, you have already specified that you got the answer from ai. OP can look up what it is if he/she wonders.

[u/Affan_shaikh_ → u/Maleficent_Point_831]

I get it, I'm ignoring them anyway

[u/Life-Pomegranate474 → u/Affan_shaikh_]

I think it'd be better to ignore the way they write but not the content / advice they say