Bible Encyclopedias

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Ḳof

Nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; for its form see Alphabet. The meaning ofthe name is uncertain. It corresponds in form to the Greek "koppa" and the English "q," and is distinguished in pronunciation from KAF in that it is produced, with a glottal catch, from the rear of the palate. It interchanges, in related languages, with ג, כ, and ע. Ḳof occurs only as a root-letter, never as a prefix or suffix. As a numeral it stands, in later usage, for 100.