Re: The Letter "K"
| From: | Jeffrey Henning <jeffrey@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, February 29, 2004, 17:42 |
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On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 15:51:37 -0800, Akhilesh Pillalamarri
<valardil@...> wrote:
"It makes no sense the letter K is in the latin alphabet, if the original
"C" in latin coveyed that sound. All the places i've searched said that "k"
was used in greek words, but the romans didnt borrow "pi" to represent greek
words tat could otherwise be spelled with "p." I suspect tat the "k" might
have been pronounced [x]. Does anyone know the purpose of k?"
They kept it to have a one-letter symbol for "okay" in instant messaging
(then handled through flags on mountain tops).
Seriously, K was used in fewer than a tenth of a percent of words in a Latin
dictionary I consulted (<0.1%):
K, ABB.
KADAMITAS, KADAMITATIS
KAESO, KAESONIS
KAL, ABB.
KALATOR, KALATORIS
KALATORIUS, KALATORIA, KALATORIUM
KALENDA, KALENDAE
KALENDARIA, KALENDARIAE
KALO, KALARE, KALAVI, KALATUS
KALUMNIA, KALUMNIAE
KALUMNIATOR, KALUMNIATORIS
KALUMNIATRIX, KALUMNIATRICIS
KAPITULARIUM, KAPITULARII
KAPUT, KAPITIS
KARDO, KARDINIS
KARTHAGO, KARTHAGINIS
KARUS, KARA -UM, KARIOR -OR -US, KARISSIMUS -A -UM
KATAFRACTARIUS, KATAFRACTARIA, KATAFRACTARIUM
KATAFRACTARIUS, KATAFRACTARII
KL, ABB.
KOPPA, UNDECLINED
KYRIE, UNDECLINED
EKTHETA, EKTHETAE
EPINIKION, EPINIKII
Here's a good article on the Latin alphabet and pronunciation:
http://home.tiscali.be/mauk.haemers/collegium_latinum/pronounce.htm
Best regards,
Jeffrey
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