Petr Tomasek wrote:
Not in Hebrew. The only common ligature is the aleph_lamed, a post-classical import from Judaeo-Arabic.
Not true. See: Collete Sirat. Hebrew Manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press 2002, fig. 114 (p. 176) or fig. 127 (p. 189) or fig. 134 (p. 193).
I wouldn't classify any of those examples as 'common'. I also wouldn't classify all examples of touching letters -- of which many occur in rapidly written text -- as ligatures. Aleph+lamed on the other hand is a regularly occurring distinct formation in whole classes of manuscripts (and persisting in typography). I have a good collection of books on Hebrew palaeography, and while there are many examples of Hebrew letters being very tightly spaced there are relatively few instances of what I would consider ligatures, i.e. formations in which the ductus or spacing of the specific sequences of letters is modified to facilitate connection.
JH -- Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com Gulf Islands, BC [email protected] The criminologist's definition of 'public order crimes' comes perilously close to the historian's description of 'working-class leisure-time activity.' - Sidney Harring, _Policing a Class Society_
