The
Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by
scholars as the
Jewish script,
square script,
block script, is used in the writing of the
Hebrew language, as well as of other
Jewish languages, most notably
Yiddish,
Ladino, and
Judeo-Arabic. There have been two script forms in use; the original old Hebrew script is known as the
paleo-Hebrew script (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the
Samaritan script), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the
Aramaic script and was known by Israel's sages as the
Ashuri script (Assyrian script), since its origins were alleged to be from Assyria. Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a
cursive Hebrew script, which has also varied over time and place.