KOF

KOF (Qof; Heb. קוף ;ק), the nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; its numerical value is 100. In the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions its form was \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1212 , which later, in the linear Phoenician   script turned into \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1213 . In the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. the kof developed as follows: the circle was opened \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1214 , it turned into two half-circles \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1215 , and then the left one was drawn with the downstroke without lifting the pen \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1216 . The last form was preserved in the Hebrew script, while in other scripts the head of the kof formed an S, as in Phoenician ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1217 ), Samaritan ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1218 ), and Aramaic ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1219 ). The later Aramaic and Jewish kof reduced the left curve of its head \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1220 . The Nabatean script went further and the letter was written as follows: \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1221 . This developed into \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1222 , until it became similar to the pe ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1223 ). In the Arabic script it was necessary to add diacritic marks in order to distinguish between pe ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1224 ) and kof ( \!ejud\_0002\_0012\_0\_img1225 ). See alphabet , Hebrew. (Joseph Naveh)