There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the letter A. From its prestigious first place position to its interesting character origin – tracing the first letter of the English alphabet uncovers a history of honor that begins with, of all things, an ox.
The letter ‘A’ is derived from the Phoenician letter ‘Aleph’ – a western Semitic word meaning the aforementioned beast of burden. Aleph can be traced back to the Middle Bronze Age and the Proto-Sinaitic script found in parts of Egypt and Canaan from around 1850 BCE (Before the Common Era). The character comes from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph or pictogram depicting an ox’s head. Interestingly, the original image was reminiscent of the modern letter ‘K’ – imagine a sideways ‘V’ with a crossbar to indicate the ox’s horns. The letter originally served as a glottal stop (a stop consonant) in the Phoenician language such as a T or P in the middle of a word. Linguists believe the Aleph was placed at the beginning of the Phoenician alphabet to honor the ox, important for its muscle power and as a food source.
During the 8th century BCE, the ancient Greeks formed their own alphabet primarily based on the Phoenician alphabet. Since the Greeks had little use for a glottal stop, the Aleph was used to denote the vowel ‘a’ which was re-named ‘Alpha,’ possessing the phoneme ‘a’ as in “father.” The Greeks revised the former k-like character by turning it upright – similar to the modern day capital, or majuscule, letter A.
The Romans adopted the Greek alphabet by way of the Etruscans. Like the Etruscans before them, the Romans kept the character and phoneme intact; thus the Modern English vowel ‘A’ was born.
A is the third most commonly used letter in the English alphabet; the letter /e/ is in first place, followed closely by the letter /t/. The letter A likes to multitask, possessing three distinct phonemes: The /æ/, also referred to as a near-open front un-rounded vowel, denotes the ‘a’ sound in “apple” and “cat,” the open-back un-rounded vowel, or /a:/, denotes the long ‘a’ sound heard in “father” and “March,” and the /ā/, an orthographic vowel, exhibits the /ei/ sound heard in the words “made” and “fade.”
Okay, it’s your turn once again. Let us know which letter of the alphabet you’d like us to investigate next. The letter that gets the most comments will turn up here in the very near future.
Bee, oui? We Bumble Babble.
This is a very interesting topic. I always look forward to read this section because it astounds me with its interesting pieces of research as it divulges the history of the different fields of the English Language. I am curious as to how the letter “L” came into the English alphabet. I would also like to know the etymological background of the word “alphabet”.
[...] Amore! When the Moon hits your eyes like a Biga Pizza Pie — What else is there to say — about the letter A — The Alpha and Omega or the Yin and Yang do pray. — Our language limitation — is confusing so they say — thanks for the information — beginning with the letter A. –>>L.T.Rhyme — Thirsty? Au, oui? — J.J.Rousseau [...]
I wonder if it would ever be appropriate, in a future era, to devise a new alphabet and a new language based on knowledge and science and all the accumulated experience and intellect of humanity up to that point. A common language for a common people, united in their efforts to better their humanity, their world, and themselves. This assumes, boldly, that we’re all capable of continuing our own evolution.
I would love to hear about the letter X!
@eyesflux C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me. Speaking of which, I’m off to make some cookies.
Very very interesting.
I would like to know more about all letters to tell the truth. But If I had to choose only one it would be the letter D (from my first name of course).
Emoticons, twitter, texting and so on in the future we will be no longer here to hear. Ay? What was the question, Oui?
J please!
C or M 
if you could please i would like to know more about the alphabet that i found in an old dictionary where it shows the way of communication with thorns or rose buds with its steam on some 2 horisontal for a, 2 reects for b, perpendicular ford c, and so on. for me it was a great discovery i like to hear from the dictionary intelectuals about it . thank you very much for your attention.
How about letter “M”…
n
oooooh, that is soooo cool!! Can we learn about the letter C next, please??
Or even “Z”
i say yes, tell us about that useless letter called “C”!
What about the letter “V” I have always wondered what language the English Alphabet took the astonishing letter. And if there is a “V” then why have a “W” And why call it a “W” when it obviously is a double “V”!
I would love to learn about the letter L
I would say “c”. I’ve always thought it was kind of unnecessary because it makes a “k” and an “s” sound, and we already have those letters! Or the letter “z”.
Since the letter ‘p’ is not found in Arabic, I’m interested to know more about it.
Thanks.
Today’s article was brought to you by the letter “A”
thank you for the information. but how about the history of letter M?
I would like to know where’s the letter “J” derived from… “in the very near future” ??? I wonder when is that… hmmm.. i hope it won’t take long.. i’m so eager to know where letter “J” derived from.. =)
@French Lady 13: You probably know this but the French W translates directly to “double v” in English. COULD YOU GUYS DO Q OR SOME USELESS LETTER LIKE THAT?!
Letter J please… ???
Tell us about the letters S, L, D & R. Love your article. Thanks!
i would l♥v to hear about the letter D!
plz plz the letter D!
This article was very interesting… I wonder where they get all of there information and if it is all nonfiction…
I would love to learn more about the letter C. As some of the people above said, it makes the same sounds as the letters ’s’ and ‘k’, but why would we need duplicates?
Also, I’ve been wondering if the alphabet made in order like A being made first and Z being made last. If so then why were K and S created?
So, I would love to learn more about the letter C, please.
This is very interesting! Could we have an article about the order of the alphabet? That seems like a big topic, but it would be really interesting. Also, maybe one about th, ch, and sh, and why so few languages have the th sound (if we don’t have one already)? Thank you!
The letter “W”, because it was not part of the original Roman alphabet that we use.
H
My favorite letter X!!!
the whole thing with Vs Ws and Us (called “double u” but looks like two Vs)
but I’m actually more interested in X please …
C or Q please – either would be interesting. Both seem a bit redundant in that their sounds could be replaced by other letters. And Q can rarely even be used on it’s own – what’s the point in a letter that has to be followed by a U all the time?? How did that happen? Another really interesting piece from the hot word team, reading these livens up my morning
like ALEPHant 
Research on H please! and W (double ‘U’). Why double ‘U’ and not double ‘v’?
I’m selfish: please write about letter “M”
Yey Lebanon!!!!!
To Camsy:
Don’t look for these “scholars” to give you a legitimate answer for “X”. The letter identified as X in English or Latin comes from the ancient Greek letter “xi” (pronounced roughly as “hee”). It is the first letter in the name Christ. I say this because of their use of the neo-secular acronym “BCE” (before common era) instead of the term that has been used for centuries BC (before Christ) that people of all faiths, or of none have recognized and used. These days there are many “erudite” individuals that deny that Christ even truly existed. Makes me wonder what they are afraid of….
the letter is simply beautiful
e
Well, my name,obviously, starts with ‘L’, so I would like to know more about this letter, but ‘Q’ sounds more appealing as I am very curious to know its origin and how it came into use, as in my language, we do not have words which start with it.
Aleph – isn’t a million miles from eire (Gaelic = burden).
Not to be confused with Éire – the correct name in Irish for the island of Ireland and the state.
I vote for the letter W. What’s up with the weird, two-part name?
Interestingly enough, the first written alphabetic writing found to date was located in Egypt, where it is believed that the Hebrew slaves who routinely carved out the hyroglyphs altered them and formed a sound based alphabet – or more precisely a sound based aleph beit. This same writing was found in the turquoise mines, where Hewbrew slaves toiled. A prayer to God begging for deliverance was found etched into the wall. All the semetic peoples used derivations of the same language, so it is no surprise the Phonecians also formed a version of the letter Aleph.
funny!
I agree with Rebecca, the letter “C”
“I would say “c”. I’ve always thought it was kind of unnecessary because it makes a “k” and an “s” sound, and we already have those letters!”
c
Hm…how about “M?”
J
“R” please!!
J please!
z
I would like to know why
“W” is called “double-’U'” in English and “double-’V'” in French.
Can’t we all see it is a “double-’V'”?
Valérie
Thank you for a very interesting article. I was wondering if you could list some of the sources for your research on these origins for this and whatever the next letter is. I’ve always wondered how these things are researched.
What about the letter R?
it is amazing to go through the site. i hope it will improve my knowledge a lot. i will request my friends to see this.
i would like to know about theletter T
This was a very interesting and informative article. Please can you investigate the letter ‘Q’. Even though it is one of the least used letters in the English language, I would really like to find out where it came from and why there are no words, in the English language, beginning with ‘Q’ without the letter ‘u’ immediately following after. The only word I can think of beginning with ‘Q’ without the letter ‘u’ is ‘Qatar’ and that is a proper noun. Thank You
Wow that amazing forreal what about the letter t??
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
@Paul, I don’t know for sure, but “Alphabet” just sounds like it combines “alpha” and “beta”, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. There’s probably more to it, but it doesn’t sound like it’s that complicated a history.
How about P
Interesting! The first letter of the Futhark and other runic alphabets is Fehu, which means Cattle, and it actually looks like an F, very similar to the description made here for the Aleph. Moreover, together with a giant, a cow was the first being to appear in the universe according to norse mythologies.
do C. I wonder why we use it when we could/kould use k or s
I’d Like M
X, V, or W. X is interesting in its own right, and why is it used to denote ‘j’ sounds when transcribing foreign words (e.g. Xian)? V and W are interesting, because W often has a V sound in germanic languages.
Do D!
Can you explain the letter ‘C’ and the letter ‘P’ sometime? I’d love to know!!
Why is “W” not called Double Vee???
I’d like to learn the letter “L” for… lion, love, likable, luscious, leo, let’s, live, lick, lasting, Lord, lucky, laughter, lust, lips, lap, limbo, like-minded, lifeguard, lessons, leisurely, leader, ladylove, lady-in-waiting, Lancelot, lake, landmark, landscape, lenitive, legalize, legend, limelight, linkages, linguist, linkup, lionhearted, linger, lyrical, lurid, lubricate, lucid, lovelorn, longing, longstanding, longevity, loose ends, lottery, Lord’s Prayer, lost longtime, light hearted, lifesaver, looking glass, lovable, literature, literacy, lock, loanword, leading question, lessee, legmen, listen, lockout, lookout, lodging, lotion, lorn, lubricate, lure, lover, luxury,…LIST
Investigate the letter Q. I wanna know what the point in it is, besides just making words look fancy.
d and b since the look similar in lower case.
very interested in learning the history behind X!
I really liked Bull’s question on why the letter “W” is not referred to as “double v.” Please research “W” next! I would love to hear what you have to say about this letter!
Was Robert Graves correct in The White Goddess when he claimed the N and the F traded places in the alphabet after the Battle of the Trees?
One for vote for the letter /c/. Interested in it’s such common usage despite its redundancies (/k/ and /s/ make the same sounds).
The letter “4″ please
s
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Let’s go straight to X !, used so frequently in the Basque language, a olanguage unrelated to any other in the world, yet similar in sound to X used in Chinese, right? I like learning the origin and derivation of letters and words, since our modern English is such a relatively new language in the world, formed only 400 years ago (or so) in part by Shakespeare and the King James Bible.
Aleph (أ); is also the sound of the first letter of the Arabic Alphabet; so doesn’t that just prove that we all nothing at the end but ONE?
The letter L is of particular interest to me, i doubt it is the most popular, maybe some people can help me out and ask for L……
Love….
i just looked at the list…. thanks french lady….i’m with you…
oy oy! so many interesting letters!!!
I like
L
X
R
Q
sounds like elixir….. queen.
HA i have made a word of my letter choices so mow you must investigate these letters.
Who else votes that we should get rid of the letter c? its so useless, k and s make the same sounds
This is a very interesting topic. I always look forward to read this section because it astounds me with its interesting pieces of research as it divulges the history of the different fields of the English Language. I am curious as to how the letter “L” came into the English alphabet. I would also like to know the etymological background of the word “alphabet”.
@ paul
alphabet
alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet and Beta is the last letter
idk y im commenting on this but it makes me happy
I would like more info on the letter s, and particularly its origins from that weird f lookalike character. Hope it wasn’t done before I happened across this wonderful site.
the Letter “P” is so intriguing. Could you explain more about it?
@Paul The word alphabet comes from the first two greek letters, alpha and beta.
how you all doin
s or g
The letter “k” as the Italians do not have such. Also, cut out the PC stuff-don’t we all get tired of that? It’s BC – before Christ.
Awesome post, you guys should go into the history of Q and/or X. Neither of them seem necessary in modern English to me, since they combine consonant sounds but don’t really have those sounds today.
For Q to make a /kw/ a U seems necessary every time, which makes it seem redundant. X is apparently meant to make a /ks/ but seems to sound like a /z/ sometimes, as in xenophobia, and xylophone, and a /gz/ sometimes in words like exhausting, and exact. It’s even unnecessary as a letter because words in like excellent, KS would require the same number of letters.
I agree with FrenchLady13. Or “S” plz, for my beloved SUJU!!!!
Z would be nice to know about
Z
K!
Y, please! It is my absolute favorite letter and is so often overlooked!
Sure enough, within the span of 77 comments (at 13h PDT, 2011/05/11), someone complained about The Hot Word’s correct, rightful use of “BCE”. They who issue such needless complaints need to know and respect the fact that they backfire and annoy many others.
This column (or “blog” entry) was above-average in the absence of gaffes. Nevertheless, in the future, the writers need to anticipate the many overly sensitive religious readers and fundamentalist readers and prophylactically seek to defuse the grounds of their complaints.
In this case, perhaps a wordy phrasing like this would help explain the usage: “…around 1,850 BCE (Before the Common Era or common system of reckoning years)”. Insightful, open-minded readers should recognize that the A.U.C. (Ab Urbe Condita) system of counting ancient years is not in common use, like the Julian Day number system of avoiding the cumbersome counting of years. Obviously, dogmatic readers (and people prone to find effrontery and disparagement ex nihilo) would continue to be offended, but at least the writers could declare “We tried to conciliate sensitive readers.”
“Harry” (May 11, 2011 at 3:38 am) declared “It is the first letter in the name Christ.” However, “Christ” is not a name but a religious title. (Now obviously, Jesus’ loving parents did not call him מְשִׁיחַ—Messiah, let alone the Greek translation Χριστος, but, יְשוּעַ—y·shûa‘, we can guess, just as Harry’s parents did not call him Mister, Chairman or President. Think, please!) Though Harry’s semantic structure is vague and ambiguous (the reference of “it”), he seems to equate the Latin Xx with the Greek Χχ. Their likeness of appearance and history is irrelevant; they are functionally distinct (and must be computer-coded differently as a result, just like ×).
He then criticized ‘the neo-secular [abbreviation] “BCE” (before common era) instead of the term that has been used for centuries[:] BC (before Christ) that people of all faiths, or of none[,] have recognized and used.’
However, for centuries, some people called Mumbai by the false name Bombay, Myanmâ/Myanmar as Burma, and Zimbabwe as Rhodesia, amongst many better examples. Yet, the affected peoples sought to correct the deviations. Similarly, the real year of Jesus’ birth is unknown, but the best conjecture is 4 BCE. There, you see: the common system of reckoning years is incorrect even with respect to the religious purpose!
Moreover, is it just and proper to reckon the Christian era’s beginning from Jesus’ birth or his ministry’s commencement? Think! In the Christian belief system, did his practical function as Messiah to Jewry and the world begin with the former or the latter?
This linguistical blog must exclude arcane, thorny religious questions unless pertinent to the linguistical question.
My religious beliefs are equally irrelevant and extraneous. Nevertheless, I prefer “BCE” and “CE” over “BC” and “AD” because they are more accurate and blessedly religiously neutral. I believe that wielding a theological ax every time one speaks is intellectually wrong and, moreover, morally wrong if it demands the listener’s agreement with any religious precept or opinion. I say it bluntly: it is sinful to demand others’ prior agreement with one’s religious judgements.
People should not antagonistically demand or presume others’ religious agreement just to converse about religious questions—or beliefs, even in the descriptive terms they employ. Jews, Buddhists, agnostics and atheists should not be expected or intimidated to acquiesce in beliefs they do not (yet?) hold. And here, the Hot Word’s topic was not even indirectly religious!
To Harry and all of like minds, I commend to you the wisdom of the great, master psychologist embodied in Matthew 7:5 and Luke 6:42. Please, seriously read them about a dozen times, and seriously write an essay about its plenary range of meaning and pertinence. Doing so may even promote soul growth.
Finally, Hot Word: please compile and web-post an index of topics and key words in The Hot Word, for the benefit of them who did not read the prior answers to their questions. Is it not satisfying to let readers find what they seek with little effort? But that prerequisites a little more effort from you. Please.
to the next vowel!
E!
I DID TO – ITS IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE
NO – IM NOT KIDIN!
I SAW IT ALSO
what about n?
Folks interested in learning about the letter Q may want to check out this blog post about it: http://infomantic.net/2010/11/02/from-the-holy-land-to-england-a-cultural-history-of-the-letter-q/
Q actually has a fascinating history.
W for sure. why two “u”s instead of a totally new letter for the “w” sound?
I always wondered about X
Or Z
But I really didnt think about
S or R
So i dont care what letter you
do cuz im not sure…
BUT I BET YOU’LL DO X
I would love to know about “W” (as others have mentioned: why double “u” and not double “v”?) and “Q.” Mainly because “Q” always messes me up in my Scrabble games.
@ Paul: The word “alphabet” seems to me to be somehow related to Greek, as it begins with “alpha”, the first Greek letter, and ends in possibly an abbreviated form of “beta”. It interests me, too. I’d like to ascertain the connection.
P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
J !
@Paul The word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters in the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta.
J, X, or Z.
DONT STOP, BELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul, I believe the word ‘alphabet’ is derived from the greek language.
Would love to know about the letter ‘E’! BTW, interesting information…
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
“C” or “X” would be awesome!
thanks. this is interesting. i will share this with my students.
Letter J please?
Good research ! Great job ! I want you to work on letter K
In order of preference: X, C, Z, and Q (why is it NEVER without that u?) Thank you!!
C! maybe came from a horse hoof?
@ BRYAN : versatile huh…
Since you started with A then please continue on with B.
I’d love to know more about the letter ‘X.’ It’s a rarely used letter.
I also would like to know how the letter/s ‘L’ came about… =D
http://www.re5keratin.com
Believe it or not! Maintain hair straight for up to 4 months! No rebounding! Oh my lady gaga ^ ^”
i would like to know the letter x
Very interesting! I am a teacher and my pupils will find that very interesting, especially Vera!
Pasha Ionenko
Oh, and by the way, would you please do something based on Russian letters? My mother Asti Ionenko would love that, I will put it on her grave…
Pasha Ionenko
I love you.
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
Attaboy.!
Lucky ox.
I love it.
Yes, let’s hear about the letter “C”. You say Keltic, I say Seltic, let’s call the whole thing off! (Sorry, Louis Armstrong.)
For all who love curves, do ” S”. Anybody seen a more graceful letter?
The letter “X” could be interesting
i like all of the letters. i really really do. so many letters so little time, is how i feel. i really want to see somebody cover some important letters like “X” or “P”
i agree with lester. this is all very interesting. i like the letter “P”. i like the way my lips feel when I pronounce it. the “Puh” of it is quite intoxicating. also “X” is like “ECKS” say it once to yourself, “ECKS”…what a letter. fabulous.
I want to learn why the alphabet goes in order. what is the purpose of that? and I agree on the whole “W” thing
I would much rather discuss the pictographic or ideographic basis of the letters of all writing systems.
As a is to ox or kaf is to hand.
Wouldn’t that be so much fun. Instead of beating one poor letter to death. The whole world could chime in reguarding thier own favorite letter.
What does a tau represent or kieuk?
How about X?
I always thought it was an odd letter to have given that the sound it represents is more of a consonant cluster than a single phoneme.
X
X please
yeah, I’m good with C.
I’d like to know why we don’t consider the letter ‘W’ to be a vowel….? :/
I’d like to know why we don’t consider the letter ‘W’ to be a vowel….?
Well…the letter “B” is next in line…why not?!?!
I would love to hear about the letter G! )
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmandzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQandWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWw
I have always been interested in the origin of letters and numbers, and i think the letter R would be a great one to do. I suggest that one because its the begining of my name, and everything that has to do with R or K i always want to know about. I think they are the most unique letters of the alphabet.
nina I love you personality
L please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey
‘master of the cats’, my cats object! They want C and T.
Great article – how about some thoughts on the letter Z? It seems to be neglected in some English speaking cultures but finding new life in the USA’s text-driven modern short-hand. “Wuz up with that?”
The letters c x and q have een put to good use in the Xhosa language. They are used for the three basic ‘click’ consonants. So there q does not need to be followed by u unless it is a genuine vowel.
I vote for the letter L.
I’m a fan of learning about the letter Q. Q reminds me of a fuzzy car seat cover. It’s only useful if there’s a seat under it, but it’s kinda neat to have around. Q needs U to do any real work, and U is already busy, being a vowel, which is a tough job. To make matters worse, Q always gets to be first, while u has to come next, in lowercase, unimportant, unnoticed.
Now that I’ve pondered this, I’m kind of pissed at Q for being so lazy and taking all the credit. So how about we learn about U instead, and give it the respect it deserves?
Can you do the letter B please?
I would like to hear how M and N got put together and why the M came first when the N is easier to write and like the firsst two-thirds of M.
thanks Bryan, i have always wondered what His mother and His other folks called Him. The name varies as much as the translations of the Book. please how is the original Jewish name pronounced, tired of using corrupted vversions! vote for X
I would like “J” too but it would be nice to also trace out its use in some language cousins like spanish and nordic languages
wen W is rittn like uu it looks more like a dubl u
Adorable:-)) how about the letter L,
Mr. O’Brien: Keltic is the pronounciation on the isles, and Seltic came from “Celtique” as the say in French, or in France, or back then when it was Gaul.
Oh, and it was the Gershwins in 1937 who wrote those lyrics, but isn’t Louis’ and Ella’s version just wonderful?
They already did “X”, and @the epicness that is me C is a Coooool letter.
The word z”Alphabet comes” from the Greek alpha beta, which is derived from the Aramaic Aleph-Beth. Beth means “house” I.e Bethlehem. C is not explicitly for Cookie” but for “Gimmel” which is camel in Aramaic. Hence the k sound. D is for Delta ( greek) and deliph in Aramiac or “door” Epsilon is a greek word- I forget the Aramaic counterpart- but the meaning is window.
I would like to know about the letter T.
A is supernatural. Attack of the ghosts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why does Q usually have to be followed by U ? There seems to be no reason for it.
how bout “Q”? i mean its obviously just an “O” trying to be all fancy with its pointless little tail. And why does it make a very different and unique sound when paired with its partner in crime… “U”!
I would definately love to learn the history of my favorite letter C, please!
yo dawg
letter j, man
P!!!! p is a beautiful letter and deserves to be recognized…
How bout ñ?
Q!!!
I think “W” is interesting. Why is there a “U” and then a “double-U”, but with a “V” separating them?
I would love to hear (or read) about the letter D, M, F or C! =D
C might be nice to learn about. It makes a “K” sound, and also an “S” sound, so it’s mostly useless. But, it also makes the “CH” sound, which is kind of odd cause it’s a lot like SH.
Harry,
Yeah, I agree! When did BC (Before Christ) become BCE (Before Common Era)? They must know that it’s completely inaccurate. BC has always been the proper way of saying it. You can’t just change that.
By the way, Z was already picked, but any of the letters would be cool to find out the history on.
I would like to know about the letter X.
M!
Letter C please. Just wondering why it’s needed when we have K for the hard sound and S for the soft. Not quite sure what to do with the CH.
Everyone really got into this! No offense but what is so interesting about “L” or “M”? Now “X,” “Q” or “W” I can see. But what about “S”? I would have to guess they got it from a curvey SSSSSnake. It’s all interesting!!!
In addition to the three sounds that the “a” can make, it can (like all friggin’ vowels in English) make the schwa (medial, central, unrounded, unstressed…(and otherwise totally useless) /ə/ sound). I would like to see an article about the letter “h” …it’s sometimes pronounced…makes very little sound…doesn’t exist (for all intents and purposes) in many other languages…I’d be interested to find out why! ^_^
M
Why do they call it a W (Double U) when it’s a Double V and why does Q have to always have a u with it?
Tell us about Thorn!
It was a viking rune and it’s where all those mixed-up ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ sounds come from – also ‘ye’ for the, because it looked like Y but made a /th/ sound.
J..!
X for the next one, methinks
S, L, or R ??
heyyyyyy!!! how bout “V”!!!! It’s the opposite of a!!
And i sure love a!!!
VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVV
VVVVVVV
!!!!!!!!!!
“M” please? Pretty interesting article btw..
The history of each letter would be incredibly interesting. One a week perhaps? Of course I would be very interested in the letter J to start us off.
X ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
U, V, and W. Why is “W” pronounced double “U” but looks like a double “V”? Why were “V” and “U” switched in old English writings but sound nothing alike?
appreciate d history,wil lyk 2 knw mre bout leta ‘k’
Why don´t we make @ to a new letter? Wouldn´t that be fun?
What’s the story behind letter F and double u (w)?
I would also like to know the etymology of the word alphabet (What’s up with the word ‘bet’?)
W
I want to know the origin of letter ‘V’
i think ‘Q’ ; its a weird letter
“C” shouldn’t be a letter. It can sound like a “k”, like in cat which could easily be spelled kat and have the same exact sound. “C” can also sound like an “s” as in cesspool which could also be spelled sesspool and have the same sound. “C” doesn’t have an original sound, it’s just an “s” and a “k” in one letter. Therefore it should be removed.
@Paul I know that ‘alphabet’ is made up of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet; ‘alpha’+'beta’ – just without the ‘a’ from ‘beta’.
On a different note, I would love to know about every letter, but if I had to choose one, it would be between ‘x’, ‘m’ and ‘e’ (like why is the upper case ‘E’ different to the lower case ‘e’), for no particular reason.
I’d like to know about the letter ‘J’ – it has a hard sound in English, but a softer sound in French. I understand that it is a diffucult letter for them to pronounce – why is that? Thanks.
Oops, sorry, meant ‘difficult’ (sausage fingers).
Oops, sorry, meant ‘difficult’.
B
I agree with Darcy, letter D would be cool to learn about (it’s the first letter of my name). Thanks!
Please explain why we use Ph for F in words like physics and phone?
Do the letter G!
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GCGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGG
Try to find the
letter C among
all of the G’s!
Once you think you have the answer scroll down!
psst!
the C is in the 13th line
and it’s the 2nd letter!
I’m bubba and I know it!
G G G GGG ya
do the letter G ya
I’m bubba and I know it!
J please
I would love to know why ‘eth’ and ‘thorn’ were removed, and when. They’d be so useful in pronunciation, especially for new English speakers.
Hey, if anyone is wondering (Paul, I know you asked) the word ‘alphabet’ comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta. If you put them together, you have alphabeta. Take off the last ‘a’, and viola! You get ‘alphabet’!
P.S. I would love to learn more about the Greek alphabet, including the letter’s names and what they look like. Thanks!
What about the A sound of the word ‘all’?
‘A’ has four phonemes.
I would love to see an article written where the writer knows the proper use for quotation marks.
As in, referring to the letter “a”, NOT as in, referring to the letter /a/.
The use of a slash to denote where quotation marks SHOULD be used is a horrid abomination of punctuation. You are making a tiny quote, bringing the readers’ attention to what you are pointing out. For hundreds of years, a set of quotation marks did that quite comfortably…. and properly, as in:
The movie’s name is “I am Will”, [example only, easy to understand]
NOT
The movie’s name is /I am Will/. [imagine if that were also in italics!!]
Putting slashes on either side of a single letter can also be mildly confusing… they resemble italicized, lower-case “L”s.
If the author would please, please, PUH-LEEEZE look up where a slash is correctly used and fix up the corresponding text in this article with appropriate sets of quotation marks (AKA “double quotes”), it would be a helluva lot easier to read.
Oh, and a minor shout-out to “SomeoneSmart on May 10, 2012 at 1:06 pm”, the word is “voila”, NOT “viola”. A “viola” is an instrument. “Voila” is the exclamation to which you were referring. Not so smart. PROOF-READ!!
I want to know about the letter J!
I’m interested in the letter Q. how did it happen that it is now only usable with only a ‘u’?
Y please.
A does have four phonemes. But — Tal of Israel — the /a/ in “all” is the same /a/ in father.
The fourth phoneme of /a/ is actually the “uh” sound, as in about or around. C’mon Dictionary.com, get it right!
I would love to hear about our most frequently used letter: E!
I’m curious about Q–it’s the only letter that doesn’t stand alone.
The alphabet W will be an interesting one.
I am actually more interested in hearing about those silent letters like ‘k’ in ‘knife’, ‘g’ in ‘gnaw’ etc..
E
I would like to know why C is used when there is already K and S.
Or perhaps you can write about why the shape of L was created.
Another Question: Why are English words mostly based on Latin words?
Q
the letter “a” has the /a:/ sound when it’s an article (we do always use that article, how we do can see IN tha text and in tho comments)
Really I have enjoyed this article on Z.The most interesting article in this string of comments is the one written on BCE.More information should pour on BCE.Going thru this I would like to know about the origin of all Alphabet & the numbers.This will help me when my Grandson & Grand Daughter approaches me with questions of the origins of Alphabet & number and the thought that I would be able to counter him with confidence delights me.
Not a letter, but “…”.
C is for Cammy ,cookie, and cool. The letter C please.
Thanks Dictionary.com
If ae really denotes the sound in apple, then Encyclopedia Brittanica would be Encyclopadia Brittanica.
Would love to know abt the letter “C”