PHONETIC CHARACTER. English k is a voice less half-guttural explosive made by a closure part way between the back of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, or between the hard and soft palate, tending rather toward the front than the back of the mouth in present English pronunciation. Its sound is to a great extent ex pressed in modern English spelling by c, and fre quently also by ck, ch, q. At present k is silent initially before a, as knight. knock. As to origin, initial English k comes from loan-words from the Greek or other non-Latin sources, as kinetic. khalirc, kangaroo. After the Norman Conquest the phonetic value of c was uncertain, as the Norman element brought in the s-sound of c. This gave rise to the use of k for the hard sound of c. particularly before e and i, where the value of c was the least settled. Owing to historical survivals, k is frequently found also in words of Scandinavian, Dutch, or Northern English origin, as keq, kilt, kirk, kipper.
As A SYNIBOL. In chemistry K = potassium (kalium). K stands for knight : K.B., Knight of the Bath; K.G., Knight of the Garter.
KA, ka. According to the belief of the an cient Egyptians. the immortal part of man con sisted of at least two parts—the ha, which broad ly speaking represented the vital principle, and the kn. The latter was a sort of spiritual double
of the individual; it was horn with him, was his inseparable companion and protecting genius during life, and after death dwelt in the tomb with his body, which it could at times enter and reanimate. The body had therefore to be pre served, so that the ka might take possession of it at will. As the ka. while dwelling in the tomb, was supposed to feel bodily needs. it was necessary to provide offerings of food and drink for its sustenance, and such household effects and other appliances as its comfort required.
Neither god nor man could be conceived as exist ing without his ka, and when the birth of kings is represented on the monuments the ka is depict ed as a new-born babe. Each Egyptian king had for his ka a sacred name, which was included in his titulary. Consult: Wiedemann, The Ancient Egyptian Doctrine of Immortality (trans., Lon don, 1895) ; id., Religion of the Ancient Egyp tians (trans., New York, 1897) ; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (London, 1894). See also EGYPT, paragraph on Ancient Religion.