summary:Let $\tau $ be a type of algebras. A valuation of terms of type $\tau $ is a function $v$ assigning to each term $t$ of type $\tau $ a value $v(t) \geq 0$. For $k \geq 1$, an identity $s \approx t$ of type $\tau $ is said to be $k$-normal (with respect to valuation $v$) if either $s = t$ or both $s$ and $t$ have value $\geq k$. Taking $k = 1$ with respect to the usual depth valuation of terms gives the well-known property of normality of identities. A variety is called $k$-normal (with respect to the valuation $v$) if all its identities are $k$-normal. For any variety $V$, there is a least $k$-normal variety $N_k(V)$ containing $V$, namely the variety determined by the set of all $k$-normal identities of $V$. The concept...