The Old English Alphabet Used To Have More Than 26 Letters

www.iflscience.com ^ | 14 Sept 2020 | Tom Hale

[Larry Lucido]

I’d like to bring back the quadruple-v (vvvv), or the “quad-4.” It was kind of cool. I also miss the vw (pronounced “voo”).

The quadruple-r is still in use, as in “Brrrr it’s cold!”

[Beowulf9]

I have an old 18th century document in which the word ‘murder’ is spelled ‘murther’.

Pronunciations back then were not as strict. It seems it was kind of a how you feel about the pronunciation or how it sounded with an accent.

Devil could be divel.

[bunkerhill7]

The letters “Ahem!” and “Hmmmm...” also have been forgotten.
Did you ever try to read classical German script from the 19th century? They got letters in there looks like a borscht

[eastforker]

The quick sly fox jumped over the lazy brown dog. This is another way to remember the alphabet.

[bunkerhill7]

Also the letter “tw” as in “tweren’t”, “twasn’t”

[Red Badger]

What is “vw” called in German?

A kar..................

[SkyDancer]

Or the Hebrew sheep herder said “Aye ... look at that sheep” which started it. The Alphabet was Hebraic in its origin.

[Dr. Sivana]

Vowels are the slaves of language. That' why you have to buy them.

Those writing in Hebrew don't like to include vowels in their written language. Maybe that is part of the reason for the stereotype of the cheap Jew.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger. The Olde rather than Ye Olde, hey, glad to know that, now that I've entered the category. ;^)

[jimtorr]

I always thought Hebrew doesn’t use vowels in writing because they’re supposed to free their Hebrew slaves every seven years. An eight-year old document would look pretty strange with all the vowels removed.

[GreyFriar]

My late mother’s name was Ethel Mae but spelled as I have typed it here

[Red Badger]

The Divel you say!.....................

[Fiddlstix]

[Varda]

A friend sat on the board of a large community college system. He told me they were constantly challenged by high school graduates who were illiterate. He said it used to be they all came from poorer districts. Now they can come from even the richest .

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Obviously “c” is redundant and can be replaces by “k” or “s” everywhere. As is “x” = “ks”.

Samuel Johnson deliberately retained spellings that even in his time were obsolete, to retain etymological links. He made a few mistakes, for instance, the “s” in island has no etymological justification. “Knight” could just as easily be “nite”, these days.

[xp38]

When is comes to double esses the Germans use this B with a tail. Most street signs have this which says strasse.

[nevadapatriot]

>Ampersand (&) is still considered to be the 27th letter of the alphabet by some.

Yeah, can’t think of too many real words that contain & as a character. And only one spelled Ampersand. Does that make it eligible for character status?

[Red Badger]

the “s” in island has no etymological justification.

Of course it does! Else we'd have GILLIGAN'S ILAND!.................

[AdmSmith]

Æthelred I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred_I,_King_of_Wessex

[Don W]

That letter is called (phonetically) ess-zett.