The Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet

The Letters KAF

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Kaf is the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet has two pronunciations. Kaf, with a dagesh kal (small dot in the center) of the letter, and Khaf without a dagesh. Kaf also takes a final form when the letter occurs at the end of a word—the final form has the softer pronunciation of khaf.

Kaf

Khaf

Kaf sofit

Pronunciation.
Kaf is pronounced as "k" in kitten.
Khaf is pronounced as "ch" in bach it has a breathy "hk" sound.
Kaf sofit is pronounced as "ch" in bach.

Transliteration.
Kaf is transliterated "k".
Kaf is transliterated "kh".

Examples
(yes) is transliterated ken. Syllabification. ken.
(I) is transliterated anoki. Syllabification. a-no-ki.
(How are you fem.) is transliterated ma shlomekh . Syllabification. ma shlo-mekh .
(How are you mas.) is transliterated ma shlomkha . Syllabification. ma shlom-kha.

The letter kaf may be either a prefix and a suffix.
As a prefix
as a suffix means "like" or "as". Ki is an inseparable preposition—it is always attached to a word—and usually takes a sh'va. In some grammatical situations it can take other vowels. [The rules for attaching inseparable prepositions to a noun are available HERE.]

Example. (like a king), transliterated, kemelekh, Syllabication. keme-lekh.

As a suffix
The suffix form is always the kaf sofit and adds a 1st person possessive ending to a noun giving the meaning "you" or "your" to a word. Kaf as a suffix is usually accompanied by a kamats or a sh'va which indicate masculine or feminine gender.

Example.
(your love, mas. s.) is transliterated, ahavtekha. Syllabication. ʾa-hav-te-kha.
(your name, fem. s.) is transliterated, sh'mekh. Syllabication. sh'mekh.

Gematria. Kaf is equal to 20.

Spirituality of the Letter

Coming soon...

 

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