Koppa (letter) - Alphabetic Koppa

Alphabetic Koppa

In Phoenician, qoph was pronounced ; in Greek, which lacked such a sound, it was instead used for /k/ before back vowels, Ο, 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. The koppa was used as a symbol for the city of Corinth, which had the early spelling of Ϙόρινθος.