The ''k''-

rune Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

(Younger Futhark , Anglo-Saxon futhorc ) is called Kaun in both the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and Icelandic

rune poem Rune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Three different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poe ...

s, meaning "

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...

". The reconstructed

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...

name is *Kauną. It is also known as Kenaz ("torch"), based on its Anglo-Saxon name. The Elder Futhark shape is likely directly based on Old Italic ''c'' (, 𐌂) and on Latin C. The Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc shapes have parallels in Old Italic shapes of ''k'' (, 𐌊) and Latin K (compare the

Negau helmet The Negau helmets are 26 bronze helmets (23 of which are preserved) dating to c. 450 BC–350 BC, found in 1812 in a cache in Ženjak, near Negau, Duchy of Styria (now Negova, Slovenia). The helmets are of typical Etruscan ' vetulonic' shape, s ...

inscription). The corresponding

Gothic letter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

is 𐌺 ''k'', called ''kusma''. The shape of the Younger Futhark ''kaun'' rune () is identical to that of the "bookhand" s rune in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. The rune also occurs in some

continental runic inscriptions A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of El ...

. It has been suggested that in these instances, it represents the ''ch'' /χ/ sound resulting from the Old High German sound shift (e.g. ''elch'' in Nordendorf II). Tineke Looijenga, ''Texts & contexts of the oldest Runic inscriptions'', BRILL, 2003, , p. 129.

References

Runes {{writingsystem-stub