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  • From: Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc: Peter Constable <peter_constable AT SIL.ORG>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] ALEF-LAMED combo
  • Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 07:47:54 -0700

On 09/07/2003 06:38, Yigal Levin wrote:

Hi Deborah (or Michael or both),

Yes, combining the Aleph and Lamed used to be standard practice in many
Hebrew humashim (printed Torah volumes) and siddurim (prayer books). I
understand that it was both a space-saving measure and in order to avoid
printing the sacred name El (similar to using two Yods instead of YHWH). I
have a feeling that it might have been influenced by the way Arabic
combines the same letters (in the opposite order). The practice has been
dropped by modern priters, but is still found in what you called "cheapy"
books, which are usually photocopies of old prints.

Yigal


At 04:03 PM 7/8/2003 -0700, Deborah Millier wrote:

Dear list members,

Six months ago, I purchased in Jerusalem some "cheapy"
books of Psalms--one for myself, one for a friend in
the States. Recently she showed me something I had
noticed but never pondered: in several places the text
combines the ALEF and the LAMED to make what appears
to be a single symbol for the two letters. I
speculated that because the print quality was
obviously sub-par, it probably was a way to save
money...or something. Then a couple of days ago, this
same friend brings over a book of Jewish art,
inscriptions, etc. and HINNEH!, there on a memorial
inscription from the 1700s was this phenomena again.

Does anybody know anything about the practice of
combining ALEF and LAMED? Any info to take back to my
friend would be appreciated. Plus, now I'm kind of
interested to know.

B'RAKHOT,
-- Michael Millier



When this combo (ligature is the technical term) is used, do you ever get two vowel points with the one letter, one to go with the aleph and one with the lamed? I ask because that could have some interesting implications for Unicode.

--
Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/






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