Vaybertaytsh typeface 18th-19th century

The Vaybertaytsh typeface model Vaybertaytsh.YidTakNL was deployed to support ongoing research done at Erasmus University (2021-2026). The model and its accompanying baseline model, in conjunction with the dataset YidTakNL can facilitate reading and researching Yiddish texts printed in Vaybertaytsh (18th-19th century). The model is based on regulations written in Amsterdam throughout the 18^th century.

Yiddish texts were printed in the Vaybertaytsh typeface during the 16th-19th centuries throughout Europe. Vaybertaytsh is a semi-cursive Ashkenazi typeface, also called ivre-taytsh, vayberksav, taytsh, Tsene-(u)rene-ksav, kleyn-taytsh, Tkhine-ksav and mashket/mesheyt
(Spinner 2019, 152; Zafren 1982, 138; Jacobs 2005, 47; Fishman 1991, 44; Fleischer 2018, 266).

For the untrained eye, this typeface is often difficult to read.
The text recognition model and accompanying dataset can enable researchers and students working with Yiddish written in Vaybertaytsh to create a digital corpus in an efficient and precise manner.