K (letter): Difference between revisions
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'''K, k''' is a letter of the [[Latin alphabet]]. It is the eleventh letter of most variants | '''K, k''' is a letter of the [[Latin alphabet]]. It is the eleventh letter of most variants, being placed after [[J (letter)|J]] and before [[L (letter)|L]], as is the case for instance in the [[English alphabet]]. Its English name is pronounced [ˈkeɪ], like the girl's name ''Kay''. It is derived from the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter [[kappa]] (Κ, κ). | ||
==Use in English== | ==Use in English== | ||
{{:English_spellings/Catalogs/Masterlist}} | {{:English_spellings/Catalogs/Masterlist}} | ||
Revision as of 12:12, 7 June 2009
K, k is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the eleventh letter of most variants, being placed after J and before L, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈkeɪ], like the girl's name Kay. It is derived from the Greek letter kappa (Κ, κ).
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common misspellings |
k has the sound of c in cát or q in quîte. Examples (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English phonemes): Ként, kéttle, kítsch, loòk, tâke, toòk, lâke, báck, dóck, bríck, åwkward (*åwquəd), hácker.
c is more common for this sound at the beginning of a word - and it can also be written ch as in chŏrd, álchemy, schoôner.
At the end of a word, k is usual after a double or long vowel, and after l, n and r: pêak, mâke, sínk, boòk, tánk, thánk, àrk, bàrk, sínk, mínk, mílk, tålk, jërk, quïrk, wörk, përk, lürk, Türk, besërk.
The l in fôlk is silent (as it is also in hālf and cālf).
Final -ke appears in pôke, tâke, câke, lîke, blôke, jûkebox, and forms many abbreviations: nûke (abbreviation of nûclear), bîke (of bîcycle), Jâke (of Jâcob).
Also: tâke, brâke car = breâk broken.
After c, k merely reinforces the hard c sound and the preceding short vowel: clóck (*clók *clóc), lúck, súck, néck, báck, thíck, blóck wood (= blóc nations), tíck clock (= tíc spasm, which has no k because it is, like blóc, from French), tíckle, crícket, wícket, tícket, níckel, ríckety, búcket. And so k is added to the ending -ic before suffixes -ing and -ed: politícking, tráfficking, frólicked, pánicked.
Thus the ck combination does not occur after long vowels - you don’t see *-êeck, *-oôck, *-orck, *-àrck etc.
And similarly, final k on its own is rare, and imported-looking, after a single vowel: trék, flák, wók.
c or ck are generally used instead of k when forming clusters, with the exception of wóks etc. and of kl as in boòklet, especially in nkl (nk is pronounced 'ngk': sínk, thínk, tánk): ánkle (cf. úncle), wínkle, ínkling, tínkle, tínkling.
Silent k occurs initially before n: knôw acquaint, understand (= nô negative), kneŵ acquainted (= neŵ fresh), knôwn (cf. nòne), knîght Sir (= nîght dark), knít, knáck, knóck, knéll, knóll, knâve cad (= nâve church).
kh has the sound of ch in Scottish lóch in words from Arabic, Urdu &c. - although many people merely pronounce it k: Khàn (*Kàn).
kk is very rare. It occurs in púkka and Dékker (= Décker, a more common name) and accidentally, with an extended k sound, in boòkkeeper.