View source for Koppa

{{Short description|Archaic letter of the Greek alphabet}}
{{For-multi|the archaic Cyrillic symbol|Koppa (Cyrillic)|other uses}}
{{Distinguish|kappa|Sowilō (rune){{!}}the rune sowilō (ᛋ)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2021}}{{Greek Alphabet|Image=Greek Koppa 3 forms.svg}}
'''Koppa''' or '''Qoppa''' ('''{{lang|grc|Ϙ, ϙ}}'''; as a modern numeral sign: '''{{lang|el|ϟ}}''') is a letter that was used in early forms of the [[Greek alphabet]], derived from [[Qoph|Phoenician qoph]] ({{lang|phn|𐤒}}). It was originally used to denote the {{IPA|/k/}} sound, but dropped out of use as an alphabetic character and replaced by [[Kappa (letter)|kappa]] (Κ). It has remained in use as a numeral symbol (90) in the system of [[Greek numeral]]s, although with a modified shape. Koppa is the source of [[Q|Latin Q]], as well as the [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] numeral sign of the same name ([[Koppa (Cyrillic)|koppa]]).

== Alphabetic ==
[[Image:Ravel 1008.2.jpg|thumb|left|Corinthian [[stater]]. Obverse: [[Pegasus]] with koppa beneath, for [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]]. Reverse: [[Athena]] wearing a [[Corinthian helmet]].]]
[[Image:Hemiobol Corinth.jpg|thumb|left|Corinthian [[obol (coin)|hemiobol]]. Obverse: Pegasus with koppa beneath, for Corinth. Reverse: [[Aphrodite]] wearing a ''sakkos'' headband.]]
In Phoenician, qoph was pronounced {{IPAblink|q}}; in Greek, which lacked such a sound, it was instead used for {{IPA|/k/}} before [[back vowel]]s [[Ο]], [[Υ]] and [[Ω]]. In this function, it was borrowed into the [[Old Italic alphabet|Italic alphabets]] and ultimately into Latin. However, as the sound {{IPA|/k/}} had two redundant spellings, koppa was eventually replaced by [[kappa]] (Κ) in Greek. It remained in use as a letter in some [[Doric Greek|Doric]] regions into the 5th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |title=Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer |last=Woodard |first=Roger D. |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-510520-6 }}</ref>
[[File:Naukratisalphabets.png|thumb|Greek alphabets of Petrie's Naukratis I with qoppa]]
The koppa was used as a symbol for the city of [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], which was originally spelled {{lang|grc-x-doric|Ϙόρινθος}} {{Transliteration|grc-x-doric|Qórinthos}} in [[Doric Greek]].

== Numeric ==
Koppa remained in use in the system of [[Milet|Milesian]] Greek [[Greek numeral|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.<ref name="eversoncase">{{cite web|url=http://dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1938.pdf|title=On GREEK LETTER KOPPA|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|year=1998}}</ref> In the Greek [[cursive|cursive script]], the Q-like shape with a closed circle on top (handwritten as [[File:Greek Koppa cursive 01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]) was often broken up at the side ([[File:Greek Koppa cursive 02.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]) or at the top ([[File:Greek Koppa cursive 03.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]). These are also the shapes in which it was borrowed into the early Cyrillic alphabet ([[Ҁ]]), as well as into the Gothic alphabet ([[Gothic alphabet|𐍁]]), 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 alphabet|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, {{IPA|/f/}}, derived from [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Egyptian demotic]]. Later, in [[Minuscule Greek|minuscule]] handwriting, the shape changed further into a simple zigzag line ([[File:Greek Koppa cursive 04.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]], [[File:Greek Koppa cursive 05.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]).

[[File:Greek capital numerals 01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|Example of a 19th-century font using S-shaped capital stigma (first row) and G-shaped capital koppa next to [[sampi]] (second row) .]]
[[File:Greek capital numerals 02.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|Example of a 19th-century font using turned-lamedh-shaped capital koppa and G-shaped capital stigma. (Translation: Psalm 96)]]
[[File:Greek Stigma and Koppa font design.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|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 ([[File:Qoppa Z-shaped.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]); with the top part curved rightward, evoking to some degree the original uncial form ([[File:Greek Koppa cursive 05.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]); in a characteristic shape with a shorter top arm slightly curved to the left, resembling a [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] letter [[lamedh]] ([[File:Greek Koppa lamedh-shaped.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]); or with the same lamedh shape turned upside down ([[File:Greek Koppa turned-lamedh.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]). Other variants common in older print include shapes based on the open uncial form ([[File:Greek Koppa cursive 02.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]], [[File:Koppa open.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]). Some of these shapes may be indistinguishable from realizations of the other Greek numeral, [[Stigma (letter)|stigma]], in other fonts. Koppa has also been replaced by a lowercase Latin "q", a mirrored uppercase "P", or a "5" turned upside down.

As with the numeral usage of [[stigma (letter)|stigma]] ([[digamma (letter)|digamma]]) and [[sampi (letter)|sampi]], modern typographical practice normally does not observe a contrast between uppercase and lowercase forms for numeric koppa.<ref>{{cite book|first1=David|last1=Holton|first2=Peter|last2=Mackridge|first3=Irene|last3=Philippaki-Warburton|title=Greek: a comprehensive grammar of the modern language|place=London|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|page=105}}</ref>

==Unicode==
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).<ref name="unicode_changes">{{cite web|author=Unicode Consortium|url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/DerivedAge.txt|title=Unicode Character Database: Derived Property Data
|access-date= 2010-09-25}}</ref><ref name="eversoncase2">{{cite web|url=http://dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1743.pdf|title=Additional Greek characters for the UCS|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|year=1998}}</ref> A second pair of code points specifically for the original closed epigraphical shape was introduced in version 3.2 (2002).<ref name="unicode_changes"/> 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, [[File:Greek Koppa uc 01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]] and [[File:Greek Koppa uc 02.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]], noting that he himself found them not "entirely satisfactory".<ref name="haralambous">{{cite web|last=Haralambous |first=Yannis |title=From Unicode to typography, a case study: the Greek script |url=http://omega.enstb.org/yannis/pdf/boston99.pdf |year=1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615031345/http://omega.enstb.org/yannis/pdf/boston99.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-15 }}</ref> A [[serif]]ed 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: [[File:Greek Koppa lc curved.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x16px]]. 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.<ref name="nicholas_numeric">{{cite web|first=Nick|last=Nicholas|url=http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/numerals.html#sampi|title=Numerals|access-date=2010-08-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805203248/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/numerals.html#sampi|archive-date=2012-08-05}}</ref>

* {{unichar|03D8}}
* {{unichar|03D9}}
* {{unichar|03DE}}
* {{unichar|03DF}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet |last=Powell |first=Barry B. |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-521-37157-0 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions |last=Threatte |first=Leslie |year=1980 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=3-11-007344-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/grammarofatticin0001thre|url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book |title=Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer |last=Woodard |first=Roger D. |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-510520-6 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Koppa (letter)}}
*[https://archive.today/20120628161421/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/nonattic.html Qoppa (alphabetic use)]
*[https://archive.today/20120805203248/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/numerals.html#koppa Qoppa (numeric use)]

{{Greek language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koppa}}
[[Category:Greek letters]]