Kuf
/kʊf/noun
The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ק, representing the sound /k/.
Did you know?Kuf is also called Qoph or Qof, and its earliest pictographic ancestor is traditionally connected with a monkey, although scholars debate the original image and meaning.
Etymological Timeline
2nd Millennium BCE
Proto-Canaanite
𐤒
“An early alphabetic sign, probably derived from a pictograph; its original depicted object is uncertain.”
1st Millennium BCE
Phoenician
𐤒𐤐 (qōp)
“The letter qoph, representing a stop or emphatic consonant in the Phoenician alphabet.”
1st Millennium BCE
Biblical Hebrew
קוֹף (qōp)
“The Hebrew letter-name later written קוף, representing the consonant /q/.”
Late Antiquity
Aramaic/Hebrew
ק (qop/qof)
“A standardized alphabetic letter used in Jewish and Aramaic writing traditions.”
19th–20th Century
English
kuf, kufi, qoph
“English transliterations for the Hebrew letter ק, whose pronunciation is commonly rendered /k/ in modern Hebrew.”