Kaph
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| Kaph | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Syriac | Hebrew | Aramaic | Phoenician |
|
ﻛ,ﻙ | ܟܟ | כ,ך | 
| 
|
| Phonemic representation (IPA): | k, x | |||
| Position in alphabet: | 11 | |||
| Gematria/Abjad value: | 20 | |||
Kaph (also spelled Kap or Kaf) is the eleventh letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew כ and Arabic alphabet kāf ﻙ. Its value is IPA: [k].
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Kappa (Κ), Latin K, and the equivalent in the Cyrillic alphabet (К).
Contents |
[edit] Origin of Kaph
Kaph is thought to have been derived from a pictogram of a hand (in both modern Hebrew and modern Arabic, kaph means palm).
[edit] Hebrew Kaf
| Hebrew alphabet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| א ב ג ד ה ו | |||||
| ז ח ט י כך | |||||
| ל מם נן ס ע פף | |||||
| צץ ק ר ש ת | |||||
| History · Transliteration Niqqud · Dagesh · Gematria Cantillation · Numeration | |||||
| Arabic alphabet | ||||||
| ﺍ || ﺏ || ﺕ || ﺙ || ﺝ || ﺡ || ﺥ | ||||||
| ﺩ || ﺫ || ﺭ || ﺯ || ﺱ || ﺵ || ﺹ | ||||||
| ﺽ || ﻁ || ﻅ || ﻉ || ﻍ || ﻑ || ﻕ | ||||||
|
ﻙ || ﻝ || ﻡ || ﻥ || هـ || ﻭ || ﻱ | ||||||
| History · Transliteration Diacritics · hamza ء Numerals · Numeration | ||||||
| Syriac alphabet | |||||
| ܐ | ܒ | ܓ | ܕ | ||
| ܗ | ܘ | ܙ | ܚ | ܛ | ܝ |
| ܟܟ | ܠ | ܡܡ | ܢܢ | ܣ | ܥ |
| ܦ | ܨ | ܩ | ܪ | ܫ | ܬ |
[edit] Hebrew Pronunciation
The letter Kaf is one of the six letters which can receive a Dagesh Kal. The six are Bet, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph, Pe, and Tav (see Hebrew Alphabet for more about these letters).
There are two orthographic variants of this letter which alter the pronunciation:
- כּ — kaph — /k/
and
- כ — chaph — /x/
[edit] Kaph with the dagesh
When the Kaph has a "dot" in its center, known as a dagesh, then it represents a voiceless velar plosive ([k]). There are various rules in Hebrew grammar that stipulate when and why a dagesh is used.
[edit] Kaph without the dagesh (Chaph)
When this letter appears as כ without the dagesh ("dot") in its center then it represents a voiceless velar fricative (IPA: [x]); like the ch in German "Bach".
In modern Israeli Hebrew the sound value of Kaph is the same as that of Heth, but many communities have differentiated between them.
[edit] Final form of Kaph
At the end of words the letter's written form changes to a Chaph Sophit (Final Chaph):
- ך This does not alter the pronunciation (see above).
No longer commonly used in modern Hebrew, biblical Hebrew had a Kaph Sophit (Final Kaph):
- ךּ This does not alter the pronunciation (see above).
[edit] Significance of Kaph in Hebrew:
In gematria, Kaph represents the number 20. Its final form represents 500 but this is rarely used, Tav and Qoph (400+100) being used instead.
As a prefix, Kaph is a preposition:
- It can mean "like" or "as". This is an abbreviation of כּמו, k'mo (like/as)
- In colloquial Hebrew, Kaph and Shin together have the meaning of "when". This is a contraction of כּאשר, ka'asher (when).als:כ
ar:ك arc:ܟܦ de:Kaph es:Kaf fr:Kaf (lettre) id:Kaf he:כ ja:ك nl:Kaf (letter) fi:Kaf
