Why the Romans Barely Used "k" — and What That Means for Type Design

Here's a letter with a genuine comeback story: "k" was almost abandoned by the Romans. Latin already had "C" doing the same job representing a hard "k" sound, so "K" got sidelined, surviving mostly in fossilized words like "Kalendae" — the direct root of our word "calendar."

Most Romance languages descended from Latin still use "k" sparingly today. English took a different path entirely. Shaped more by Germanic patterns than Latin convention, English leaned on "k" heavily, especially where "c" might create pronunciation confusion — which is why the letter feels so natural in English despite nearly disappearing from the alphabet it came from.

Structurally, "k" is one of the more unforgiving letters to design well. It's built entirely from straight diagonal strokes with zero curves, so every angle and junction is fully exposed — no rounded stroke to visually smooth over a small inconsistency.

This glyph series breaks down every letter like this. ✍️ #TypeDesign #Typography #FontDesign

Read more: https://letterhanna.com/letter-k-lowercase-design-and-history/