Samaritan Letter Fi

It is a consonant inside words, not a standalone message. In Samaritan Hebrew and Aramaic, ࠐ helps spell a word; Fi is the Samaritan reading name, not an English translation. Samaritan Hebrew usually pronounces the letter's historical p sound like the f in “fish.”

On its own, ࠐ names no word or message. Its surrounding letters make its place in a word clear.

How did the Samaritan script survive?

It grew from older Hebrew writing through several stages. Its letter history runs back through Paleo-Hebrew to Phoenician writing; the Samaritan branch took shape in the late Hasmonean period. Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions at Mount Gerizim date to the third and second centuries BCE, and recognizably Samaritan forms appear by the third century CE.

The script serves Samaritan scripture and liturgical or scholarly writing. From the 10th–11th centuries, Arabic became the Samaritan community's everyday and literary language, while Samaritan script could mark sacred passages. Arabic written in Samaritan letters is attested from the 13th century; the practice returned in 20th-century festival poems.

How do I type Samaritan Fi?

Use a Samaritan keyboard layout. A Keyman listing dated 2024-06-14 covered Windows, macOS, Linux, web, Android, and iPhone/iPad input, including an online keyboard.

Samaritan text runs right to left. Vowel signs and consonant modifiers attach to a base letter as combining marks, so a cluster can be one letter plus marks. Fonts may show normalized forms or outlines modeled on manuscripts.