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The development of the letter Kk
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the Semitic origin of the letter
Old Egyptians used the open hand as a sign to represent the letter D as in the Egyptian word DRT, meaning hand. Semites who lived in Egypt, adopted the sign of an open hand to represent the letter K as in the Semitic word “kap”.
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The proto Semitic Kk
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From phoenician to Greek
Later on, the sign of the letter came to the Greek (kappa) via Phoenician (kaph). Phoenician Kaph: The Greek Kappa:
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From Greek to Latin When Greek words were taken into Latin, the Kappa was changed into C. In the early Latin, the letters C, K and Q were all used to represent the sound /k/. Q was used to represent /k/ before a rounded vowel. K before /a/, and C elsewhere. Later, the use of C replaced most usages of K and Q. K survived only in a few fossilized forms.
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Kk in modern English Words with the /k/ sound came to English when already transliterated into C. Today, English is the only Germanic language to use hard C in addition to K. The wikipedia, defines Kk as the eleventh letter of of the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is “kay”. It is pronounced as /keɪ/.
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Conclusion – letter formation
Egyptian Hieroglyph Proto- Semitic Kk Phoenician Greek Kk Latin alphabet
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Conclusion – letter pronunciation
The letter is pronounced /k/. This sound value came into English via Semitic.
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