# Samaritan script

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.
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. 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 Parisian library.

## Letters
### Consonants

| Letter | Name | IPA | Approximate western European pronunciation | Jewish Hebrew equivalent |
| ࠀ | ʾālāf | ∅ ~ [ʔ] | Either silent or like in _uh-_oh. Also used as mater lectionis for certain open vowels. | א |
| ࠁ | bīt | [b] | Like in bear. | ב |
| ࠂ | gāʾman | [g] | Like in goat. | ג |
| ࠃ | dāʾlāt | [d] | Like in dingle. | ד |
| ࠄ | ʾīy | ∅ ~ [ʔ] | Either silent or like in _uh-_oh. | ה |
| ࠅ | bå̄ | [b], [w] | Usually like in bear, but like in water in certain situations. Also used as mater lectionis for certain back vowels. | ו |
| ࠆ | zēn | [z] | Like in zax. | ז |
| ࠇ | ʿīt | ∅ ~ [ʔ], [ʕ] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish loch, but voiced, but usually either silent or like in _uh-_oh. | ח |
| ࠈ | ṭīt | [tˤ] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English, like a /t/ sound but emphatic. | ט |
| ࠉ | yūt | [j] | Like in yolk. Also used as mater lectionis for certain close vowels. | י |
| ࠊ | kāf | [k] | Like in skirt. | כ |
| ࠋ | lāʾbāt | [l] | Like in luck. | ל |
| ࠌ | mīm | [m] | Like in mother. | מ |
| ࠍ | nūn | [n] | Like in night. | נ |
| ࠎ | sinʾgå̄t | [s] | Like in sight. | ס |
| ࠏ | ʿīn | [ʕ], ∅ ~ [ʔ] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish loch, but voiced, but usually either silent or like in _uh-_oh. | ע |
| ࠐ | fī | [f], [bː] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Usually like in father. | פ |
| ࠑ | ṣå̄ʾdīy | [sˤ] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English, like an /s/ sound but emphatic. | צ |
| ࠒ | qūf | [q] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Multicultural London English cut. | ק |
| ࠓ | rīš | [r] | No equivalent pronunciation in Standard English. Like Scottish right. | ר |
| ࠔ | šān | [ʃ] | Like in short. | ש |
| ࠕ | tå̄f | [t] | Like in rat. | ת |

### Niqqud

| Niqqud | Name | IPA | Approximate western European pronunciation |
| ࠫ | o | [o] | Like in home but as a monophthong. |
| ࠪ | i | [i] | Like in General American fleece. |
| ࠩ | ī | [iː] | Like in Received Pronunciation fleece. |
| ࠨ | î | | |
| ࠧ | u | [u] | Like in General American goose. |
| ࠦ | ū | [uː] | Like in Received Pronunciation goose. |
| ࠥ | 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 occlusion. |
| ࠗ | | | |
| ࠖ | | | |

### Punctuation

| Punctuation mark | Name | Function |
| ࠭‎ | 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. |

## Unicode

Samaritan script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5.2.
The Unicode block for Samaritan is U+0800–U+083F:
Samaritan Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) :
| | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| U+080x | ࠀ‎ | ࠁ‎ | ࠂ‎ | ࠃ‎ | ࠄ‎ | ࠅ‎ | ࠆ‎ | ࠇ‎ | ࠈ‎ | ࠉ‎ | ࠊ‎ | ࠋ‎ | ࠌ‎ | ࠍ‎ | ࠎ‎ | ࠏ‎ |
| U+081x | ࠐ‎ | ࠑ‎ | ࠒ‎ | ࠓ‎ | ࠔ‎ | ࠕ‎ | ࠖ‎ | ࠗ‎ | ࠘‎ | ࠙‎ | ࠚ‎ | ࠛ‎ | ࠜ‎ | ࠝ‎ | ࠞ‎ | ࠟ‎ |
| U+082x | ࠠ‎ | ࠡ‎ | ࠢ‎ | ࠣ‎ | ࠤ‎ | ࠥ‎ | ࠦ‎ | ࠧ‎ | ࠨ‎ | ࠩ‎ | ࠪ‎ | ࠫ‎ | ࠬ‎ | ࠭‎ | | |
| U+083x | ࠰‎ | ࠱‎ | ࠲‎ | ࠳‎ | ࠴‎ | ࠵‎ | ࠶‎ | ࠷‎ | ࠸‎ | ࠹‎ | ࠺‎ | ࠻‎ | ࠼‎ | ࠽‎ | ࠾‎ | |
| Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points |||||||||||||||||