kaph

Kaph, also spelled Kaf or Kaf, is the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In Phoenician, its name was kaph, and it is linked to a pictogram of a hand, which has influenced its form and name through the history of the Semitic scripts. The letter’s traditional name in Hebrew is often rendered as Kaf or Kaph, and its form has a standard and a final variant.

Form and position: In writing, Kaf appears in two shapes: כ (kaf) and ך (kaf sofit), the latter used only at the end of a word. The letter is part of the early Semitic alphabet family and shares a lineage with other alphabets, including Greek and Latin, through the Phoenician kaph.

Pronunciation and usage: In Hebrew, Kaph represents the voiceless velar stop, commonly realized as a k sound. Historically, the presence or absence of a dagesh (a dot inside the letter) affected its pronunciation in some traditions, though in modern standard usage the distinction is less pronounced for many speakers. The name and sound have contributed to its adaptations across related languages and scripts.

Numeric value and order: In gematria, Kaph has the numeric value of 20. It occupies the 11th position in the Hebrew alphabet, between Yod (10) and Lamed (30).

Relation to other scripts: The Phoenician kaph gave rise to the Greek kappa, which in turn influenced the Latin alphabet’s C and K. This makes Kaph a key link between Hebrew, Phoenician, and other classical writing systems.

See also: Hebrew alphabet; Phoenician alphabet; Gematria.