Kha, Khe, Xe or Ha (Х х; italics: Х х) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. It looks the same as the Latin letter X (X x X x), in both uppercase and lowercase, both roman and italic forms, and was derived from the Greek letter Chi, which also bears a resemblance to both the Latin X and Kha.[1]

Cyrillic letter Kha or H
Phonetic usage:[x], [χ], [h]
Name (Early Cyrillic alphabet):хѣръ
Numeric value:600
Derived from:Greek letter Chi (Χ χ)
The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
АА́А̀А̂А̄ӒБВ
ГҐДЂЃЕЕ́Ѐ
Е̂Е̄ЁЄЖЗЗ́Ѕ
ИІЇИ́ЍИ̂Ӣ
ЙӤЈКЛЉМН
ЊОО́О̀О̂ŌӦП
РСС́ТЋЌУУ́
У̀У̂ӮЎӰФХЦ
ЧЏШЩЪЪ̀Ы
Ы́ЬѢЭЭ́ЮЮ́Ю̀
ЯЯ́Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
ӐА̊А̃Ӓ̄ӔӘӘ́Ә̃
ӚВ̌ԜГ̑Г̇Г̣Г̌Г̂
Г̆Г̈г̊ҔҒӺҒ̌
ғ̊ӶГ̡Д́Д̌Д̈Д̣Д̆
ӖЕ̃Ё̄Є̈ԐԐ̈ҖӜ
ӁЖ̣ҘӞЗ̌З̣З̆Ӡ
И̃ҊҚӃҠҞҜК̣
к̊қ̊ԚЛ́ӅԮԒ
Л̈ӍН́ӉҢԨӇ
ҤО̆О̃Ӧ̄ӨӨ̄Ө́Ө̆
ӪԤП̈Р̌ҎС̌ҪС̣
С̱Т́Т̈Т̌Т̇Т̣Ҭ
У̃ӲУ̊Ӱ̄ҰҮҮ́Х̣
Х̱Х̮Х̑Х̌ҲӼх̊Ӿ
ӿ̊ҺҺ̈ԦЦ̌Ц̈ҴҶ
Ҷ̣ӴӋҸЧ̇Ч̣Ҽ
ҾШ̣Ы̆Ы̄ӸҌ
ҨЭ̆Э̄Э̇ӬӬ́Ӭ̄Ю̆
Ю̈Ю̄Я̆Я̄Я̈Ӏʼˮ
Archaic or unused letters
А̨Б̀Б̣Б̱В̀Г̀Г̧
Г̄Г̓Ҕ̀Ҕ̆ԀД̓Д̀
Д̨ԂЕ̇Е̨Ж̀
Ж̑Џ̆
Ꚅ̆З̀З̑ԄԆԪ
І̂І̣І̨
Ј̵Ј̃К̓К̀К̆Ӄ̆К̑
К̇К̈К̄ԞК̂Л̀
ԠԈЛ̑Л̇Ԕ
М̀М̃Н̀Н̄Н̧Н̃
ԊԢН̡Ѻ
П̓П̀П́
ҦП̧П̑ҀԚ̆Р́Р̀
Р̃ԖС̀С̈ԌҪ̓
Т̓Т̀ԎТ̑Т̧Ꚍ̆
ѸУ̇У̨
ꙋ́Ф̑Ф̓Х́Х̀Х̆Х̇Х̧
Х̾Х̓һ̱ѠѼѾ
Ц̀Ц́Ц̓Ꚏ̆
Ч́Ч̀Ч̆Ч̑Ч̓
ԬꚆ̆Ҽ̆Ш̀Ш̆
Ш̑Щ̆Ꚗ̆Ъ̄Ъ̈Ъ̈̄
Ы̂Ы̃Ѣ́Ѣ̈Ѣ̆
Э̨Э̂Ю̂Я̈
Я̂Я̨ԘѤѦѪ
ѨѬѮѰѲѴѶ
Kha, from Elisabeth Boehm's alphabet book

It commonly represents the voiceless velar fricative /x/, similar to how some Scottish speakers pronounce the ⟨ch⟩ in “loch”, but has different pronunciations in different languages.

Kha is romanised as ⟨kh⟩ for Russian, Ukrainian, Mongolian, and Tajik, and as ⟨ch⟩ for Belarusian and Polish, while being romanised as ⟨h⟩ for Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Kazakh. It is also romanised as ⟨j⟩ for Spanish.

History

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The Cyrillic letter Kha was derived from the Greek letter Chi (Χ χ).

The name of Kha in the Early Cyrillic alphabet was хѣръ (xěrŭ).

In the Cyrillic numeral system, Kha has a value of 600.

Usage

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Russian

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Kha is the twenty-third letter of the Russian alphabet. It represents the voiceless velar fricative /x/ unless it is before a palatalizing vowel, when it represents /xʲ/.

Ossetian

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Kha represents the voiceless uvular fricative /χ/ in Ossetian. The digraph ⟨хъ⟩ represents the voiceless uvular plosive /q/.

Belarusian

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Kha is also an alternative transliteration of the letter خ Ḫāʼ in the Arabic alphabet. This was used in Belarusian Arabic script, corresponding to the above Cyrillic letter.

Ukrainian

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Kha is the twenty-sixth letter of the Ukrainian alphabet. It represents the voiceless velar fricative /x/.

Figurative meanings of "хѣръ"

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  • Because of the shape of the letter X, its name kher was often used to refer to something cross-shaped: Dahl mentions "the game of kheriki-oniki" (crosses and zeros) and the expression "legs like kher" as the opposite of "bowlegged", "legs like a wheel".[2] From this also comes the word pokherovat (originally, to cross out crosswise; cf. in N. S. Leskov: Vladika crossed out the consistory's decision on the appointment of the investigation with a kher.[3]
  • Being the first letter of the vulgar and obscene word for the male genital organ, the word kher has been actively used as its euphemism since the 19th century.[4] As a result, by the 1990s in the USSR, the word "kher" and its derivatives (e.g., "pokherit") were perceived as taboo by many people, as the original names of Cyrillic letters had been forgotten by the majority of the population. This fact has also affected the use of the word "kher" in the post-Soviet era, despite the change of attitude towards obscene vocabulary.[5] Nevertheless, the portal Gramota.ru notes that "the word kher and all derivatives of it do not belong to obscene words".[6]
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Computing codes

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Character information
Preview Х х
Unicode name CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER HA CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER HA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex
Unicode 1061 U+0425 1093 U+0445
UTF-8 208 165 D0 A5 209 133 D1 85
Numeric character reference Х Х х х
Named character reference Х х
KOI8-R and KOI8-U 232 E8 200 C8
Code page 855 182 B6 181 B5
Code page 866 149 95 229 E5
Windows-1251 213 D5 245 F5
ISO-8859-5 197 C5 229 E5
Macintosh Cyrillic 149 95 245 F5

References

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  1. ^ Aleksandr Chayanov and Russian Berlin.
  2. ^ ""Хер"" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2017-02-13. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  3. ^ ""Хер"" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ^ Левин Ю. И. Об обсценных выражениях русского языка // Левин Ю. И. Избранные труды. Поэтика. Семиотика. — М., 1998. — С. 809—819
  5. ^ "Русская бранная лексика: цензурное и нецензурное". philology.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  6. ^ ""Хер"". Gramota.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 12 July 2024.
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  •   The dictionary definition of Х at Wiktionary
  •   The dictionary definition of х at Wiktionary