Hebrew Letters: Kaf

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The next letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is called Kaf, pronounced similar to the word calf.

  Hebrew audio: Listen to the sound of Kaf.

Here is what the Hebrew letter Kaf looks like:

 
Kaf is one of the Hebrew letters which has two pronunciations, depending on whether it has the dot, or Dagesh, inside it. If it has a dot, it is pronounced with a hard k sound, like the words Chronicles, calf or kill. If there is no dot, it is pronounced ch like the Scottish word loch or the German Bach (but never, ever ch as in words like chat or charm).

Here are the two versions of Kaf:

  with the dot, pronounced k

  without the dot, pronounced ch

 
There is one other important thing about the Hebrew letter Kaf. Five of the letters in the Hebrew Alphabet, including Kaf, have a special form when they occur at the end of a Hebrew word. If these letters occur at the start or in the middle of a word, then nothing special happens - but if they occur at the end, then the special form must be used instead. You will be told which Hebrew letters have this special form when you get to them.

Here, then, is the special form of the Hebrew letter Kaf when it occurs at the end of a word:

  the form of Kaf at the end of a word

When Kaf occurs at the end of a Hebrew word, it is always pronounced with the softer sound, ch.

Here is how to write Kaf:



Both the normal and final forms of Kaf both have the Gematria (numerical value) of 20.

Practise writing the two versions of Kaf in the grid lines below:









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