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 and
Icelandic rune poems, meaning "
ulcer". The reconstructed
Proto-Germanic 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
S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''.
History ...
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
In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialect continuum in sev ...
(e.g. ''elch'' in
Nordendorf II
The Nordendorf fibulae are two mid 6th to early 7th century Alamannic fibulae found in Nordendorf near Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany.
Both fibulae are from the same grave, a woman's grave from an Alemannic cemetery of 448 row graves. They are labell ...
).
[
Tineke Looijenga, ''Texts & contexts of the oldest Runic inscriptions'', BRILL, 2003, , p. 129.
]
References
Runes
{{writingsystem-stub