Koppa or qoppa (Ϙ, ϙ; as a modern numeral sign: ϟ) is a letter that was used in early forms of the Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician qoph (𐤒). It was originally used to denote the /k/ sound, but dropped out of use as an alphabetic character in favor of Kappa (Κ). It has remained in use as a numeral symbol (90) in the system of Greek numerals, although with a modified shape. Koppa is the source of Latin Q, as well as the Cyrillic numeral sign of the same name (Koppa).
Corinthian hemiobol. Obverse: Pegasus with koppa beneath, for Corinth. Reverse: Aphrodite wearing a sakkos headband.
In Phoenician, qoph was pronounced [q]; in Greek, which lacked such a sound, it was instead used for /k/ before back vowelsΟ, Υ and Ω. In this function, it was borrowed into the Italic alphabets and ultimately into Latin. However, as the sound /k/ had two redundant spellings, koppa was eventually replaced by kappa (Κ) in Greek. It remained in use as a letter in some Doric regions into the 5th century BC.[1]
The koppa was used as a symbol for the city of Corinth, which had the early spelling of Ϙόρινθος.
Numeric
Koppa remained in use in the system of Milesian Greek numerals, where it had the value of 90. It has continued to be used in this function into modern times, though its shape has changed over time.[2] In the Greek cursive script, the Q-like shape with a closed circle on top (handwritten as ) was often broken up at the side () or at the top (). These are also the shapes in which it was borrowed into the early Cyrillic alphabet (Ҁ), as well as into Gothic (), in both cases with the same numeric function. In modern Church Slavonic, a similar-looking but unrelated letter Ч is used instead of the former. Similarly, in the Coptic script, the identical-looking sign ϥ is also used as a numeral for 90, although as an alphabetic letter it has an unrelated sound value, /f/, derived from Egyptian demotic. Later, in minuscule handwriting, the shape changed further into a simple zigzag line (, ).
Example of a 19th-century font using S-shaped capital Stigma (first row) and G-shaped capital Koppa next to Sampi (second row) .
Example of a 19th-century font using turned-lamedh-shaped capital Koppa and G-shaped capital Stigma. (Translation: Psalm 96)
Stigma and Koppa in modern fonts. Just as in historical typesetting practice, some versions of Stigma may be indistinguishable from some versions of Koppa.
Typography
Modern typography of the numeral Koppa has most often employed some version of the Z-shaped character. It may appear in several variants: as a simple geometrical lightning-bolt shape (); with the top part curved rightward, evoking to some degree the original uncial form (); in a characteristic shape with a shorter top arm slightly curved to the left, resembling a Hebrew letter Lamedh (); or with the same lamedh shape turned upside down (). Other variants common in older print include shapes based on the open uncial form (, ). Some of these shapes may be indistinguishable from realizations of the other Greek numeral, Stigma, in other fonts. Koppa has also sometimes been replaced by a lowercase Latin "q", a mirrored uppercase "P", or a "5" turned upside down.
As with the numeral usage of stigma (digamma) and Sampi, modern typographical practice normally does not observe a contrast between uppercase and lowercase forms for numeric koppa.[3]
Computer encoding
The Unicode character encoding standard originally (since version 1.1 of 1993), had only a single code point for Koppa, which was marked as uppercase and could be used either for an epigraphic or a numeral glyph, depending on font design. A lowercase form was encoded in version 3.0 (1999).[4][5] A second pair of code points specifically for the original closed epigraphical shape was introduced in version 3.2 (2002).[4] This left the older two code points (U+03DE/U+03DF, Ϟϟ) to cover primarily the numeral glyphs.
As of 2010, coverage of these code points in common computer fonts is therefore still inconsistent: while the most commonly used version of the numeral glyph will be located at the lowercase code point U+03DF in recent fonts, older fonts may either have no character at all or a version of the closed epigraphic form at that position. Conversely, older fonts may have the numeral glyph at the uppercase code point, while this position may be filled with any of several less common glyphs in newer ones. Since there had never been a consistent typographic tradition for a specifically uppercase numeral koppa, the typographer Yannis Haralambous proposed two new variants for it, and , noting that he himself found them not "entirely satisfactory".[6] A serifed version similar to his koppa was adopted as the reference glyph for the Unicode code charts, along with a lowercase form with heavy curved arms and pointed angles: . Some current Unicode fonts have adopted these new shapes, while many font designers have opted for some combination of the more traditional glyphs, including the uncial and the lamedh-shaped ones.[7]
^Woodard, Roger D. (1997). Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-510520-6.
^Everson, Michael (1998). "On GREEK LETTER KOPPA" (PDF).
^Holton, David; Mackridge, Peter; Philippaki-Warburton, Irene (1997). Greek: a comprehensive grammar of the modern language. London: Routledge. p. 105.
^Everson, Michael (1998). "Additional Greek characters for the UCS" (PDF).
^Haralambous, Yannis (1999). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-15.
^Nicholas, Nick. "Numerals". Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
Further reading
Powell, Barry B. (1991). Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-37157-0.
Threatte, Leslie (1980). The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN3-11-007344-7.
Woodard, Roger D. (1997). Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-510520-6.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koppa (letter).
Koppa (alphabetic use)
Koppa (numeric use)
January 10, 2023
koppa, letter, archaic, cyrillic, symbol, koppa, cyrillic, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, koppa, le. For the archaic Cyrillic symbol see Koppa Cyrillic This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Koppa letter news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Koppa or qoppa Ϙ ϙ as a modern numeral sign ϟ is a letter that was used in early forms of the Greek alphabet derived from Phoenician qoph 𐤒 It was originally used to denote the k sound but dropped out of use as an alphabetic character in favor of Kappa K It has remained in use as a numeral symbol 90 in the system of Greek numerals although with a modified shape Koppa is the source of Latin Q as well as the Cyrillic numeral sign of the same name Koppa Contents 1 Alphabetic 2 Numeric 3 Typography 4 Computer encoding 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksAlphabetic Edit Corinthian stater Obverse Pegasus with koppa beneath for Corinth Reverse Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet Corinthian hemiobol Obverse Pegasus with koppa beneath for Corinth Reverse Aphrodite wearing a sakkos headband In Phoenician qoph was pronounced q in Greek which lacked such a sound it was instead used for k before back vowels O Y and W In this function it was borrowed into the Italic alphabets and ultimately into Latin However as the sound k had two redundant spellings koppa was eventually replaced by kappa K in Greek It remained in use as a letter in some Doric regions into the 5th century BC 1 The koppa was used as a symbol for the city of Corinth which had the early spelling of Ϙorin8os Numeric EditKoppa remained in use in the system of Milesian Greek numerals where it had the value of 90 It has continued to be used in this function into modern times though its shape has changed over time 2 In the Greek cursive script the Q like shape with a closed circle on top handwritten as was often broken up at the side or at the top These are also the shapes in which it was borrowed into the early Cyrillic alphabet Ҁ as well as into Gothic in both cases with the same numeric function In modern Church Slavonic a similar looking but unrelated letter Ch is used instead of the former Similarly in the Coptic script the identical looking sign ϥ is also used as a numeral for 90 although as an alphabetic letter it has an unrelated sound value f derived from Egyptian demotic Later in minuscule handwriting the shape changed further into a simple zigzag line Example of a 19th century font using S shaped capital Stigma first row and G shaped capital Koppa next to Sampi second row Example of a 19th century font using turned lamedh shaped capital Koppa and G shaped capital Stigma Translation Psalm 96 Stigma and Koppa in modern fonts Just as in historical typesetting practice some versions of Stigma may be indistinguishable from some versions of Koppa Typography EditModern typography of the numeral Koppa has most often employed some version of the Z shaped character It may appear in several variants as a simple geometrical lightning bolt shape with the top part curved rightward evoking to some degree the original uncial form in a characteristic shape with a shorter top arm slightly curved to the left resembling a Hebrew letter Lamedh or with the same lamedh shape turned upside down Other variants common in older print include shapes based on the open uncial form Some of these shapes may be indistinguishable from realizations of the other Greek numeral Stigma in other fonts Koppa has also sometimes been replaced by a lowercase Latin q a mirrored uppercase P or a 5 turned upside down As with the numeral usage of stigma digamma and Sampi modern typographical practice normally does not observe a contrast between uppercase and lowercase forms for numeric koppa 3 Computer encoding EditThe Unicode character encoding standard originally since version 1 1 of 1993 had only a single code point for Koppa which was marked as uppercase and could be used either for an epigraphic or a numeral glyph depending on font design A lowercase form was encoded in version 3 0 1999 4 5 A second pair of code points specifically for the original closed epigraphical shape was introduced in version 3 2 2002 4 This left the older two code points U 03DE U 03DF Ϟϟ to cover primarily the numeral glyphs As of 2010 coverage of these code points in common computer fonts is therefore still inconsistent while the most commonly used version of the numeral glyph will be located at the lowercase code point U 03DF in recent fonts older fonts may either have no character at all or a version of the closed epigraphic form at that position Conversely older fonts may have the numeral glyph at the uppercase code point while this position may be filled with any of several less common glyphs in newer ones Since there had never been a consistent typographic tradition for a specifically uppercase numeral koppa the typographer Yannis Haralambous proposed two new variants for it and noting that he himself found them not entirely satisfactory 6 A serifed version similar to his koppa was adopted as the reference glyph for the Unicode code charts along with a lowercase form with heavy curved arms and pointed angles Some current Unicode fonts have adopted these new shapes while many font designers have opted for some combination of the more traditional glyphs including the uncial and the lamedh shaped ones 7 Character information Preview Ϟ ϟ Ϙ ϙUnicode name GREEK LETTER KOPPA GREEK SMALL LETTER KOPPA GREEK LETTER ARCHAIC KOPPA GREEK SMALL LETTER ARCHAIC KOPPAEncodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hexUnicode 990 U 03DE 991 U 03DF 984 U 03D8 985 U 03D9UTF 8 207 158 CF 9E 207 159 CF 9F 207 152 CF 98 207 153 CF 99Numeric character reference amp 990 wbr amp x3DE wbr amp 991 wbr amp x3DF wbr amp 984 wbr amp x3D8 wbr amp 985 wbr amp x3D9 wbr References Edit Woodard Roger D 1997 Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 510520 6 Everson Michael 1998 On GREEK LETTER KOPPA PDF Holton David Mackridge Peter Philippaki Warburton Irene 1997 Greek a comprehensive grammar of the modern language London Routledge p 105 a b Unicode Consortium Unicode Character Database Derived Property Data Retrieved 2010 09 25 Everson Michael 1998 Additional Greek characters for the UCS PDF Haralambous Yannis 1999 From Unicode to typography a case study the Greek script PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 06 15 Nicholas Nick Numerals Archived from the original on 2012 08 05 Retrieved 2010 08 12 Further reading EditPowell Barry B 1991 Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 37157 0 Threatte Leslie 1980 The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions Berlin Walter de Gruyter ISBN 3 11 007344 7 Woodard Roger D 1997 Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 510520 6 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koppa letter Koppa alphabetic use Koppa numeric use Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Koppa letter amp oldid 1124845860, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
