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Q&A What language is this (cursive) sample?

A recent post on Language Log includes this sample of an unidentified language: The article says this about the source: This is from RG 84, General Correspondence of the American consulate in...

1 answer · posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭ · last activity 2y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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Moshi‭ · 2021-08-16T02:47:52Z (over 2 years ago)

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#1: Initial revision by

Monica Cellio‭ · 2021-08-16T02:13:24Z (over 2 years ago)

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What language is this (cursive) sample?

A recent [post on Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=51723) includes this sample of an unidentified language:

![13 lines of right-justified text, maybe a numbered list](https://languages.codidact.com/uploads/EZaeRePHxWYBdLgjjBXkHCeJ)

The article says this about the source:

> This is from RG 84, General Correspondence of the American consulate in Tangier, Morocco.  The dates of the stuff is either 1912 or 1917.

The authors, and comments on the post, offer several speculations rooted in Semitic languages.  Proposals include Ladino, a form of cursive Rashi script (Hebrew), cursive Canaanite (though I wouldn't expect that in the 20th century, assuming the source info is correct), and Solitreo.

To me it looks like the writing is different in different parts of the sample, which makes we wonder about multiple scribes or multiple languages.  The second and third lines and the last two look very different to me.

What language or languages are we looking at here?  Can anyone help our friends at Language Log?

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