[Jonty30]

Anybody who is named, œ, here?

[ClearCase_guy]

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

[null and void]

No ə?

[BuffaloJack]

The cursive form of thorn (Þ, þ) looks similar to a Y, y, which is why it was picked up and used to replace thorn in printed works.

[SkyDancer]

There is no rule as to how the alphabet is arranged.

[Gay State Conservative]

later

[dfwgator]

[redfreedom]

“As any grade-schooler can tell you, the alphabet we’re using right now is made up of 26 letters.”

That was a true statement 30 or so years ago. Today it’s debatable for that statement to be made of an HS grad. Couple years ago a university professor told me some of her students could not write a complete sentence.

[Verginius Rufus]

Finally I found out what Ray Stevens was talking about in “The Streak” when he said “Don’t look, Ethel!” He was warning about that letter.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Right now on British television there is a three-part documentary called The Secret History of Writing, a series examining how the invention of writing gave humanity a history. From hieroglyphs to emojis, an exploration of the way in which the technology of writing has shaped the world in which we live. All three parts haven't aired yet but it looks like part 1 is already on Youtube. Here is part 1 if you're interested you can take a look.

[Betty Jane]

My first grade class used an experimental reading class. We use a method using ITA which had 42 letters representing sounds. I learned to read. The program went away after my class, so maybe it didn’t work for most.

[Oatka]

I thought they would mention the "backward 'f' " as shown in the Constitution's "Congress". Maybe it wasn't THAT old?

I think it was only used when a double "s" was involved, and custom dictated that it replaced the first "s".

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[Bigg Red]

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting this.

[bunkerhill7]

The letter “psst” also has been forgotten. It was a “p” + “s” + sh + t + h exhortive as in Greek “(” .
Used mainly to summon someone close by to come closer,
as in “Pssst! Hey you!”
I forgot how it was written.

[Texas resident]

Anyone know anything about the ebonics alfabet?

[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.

[AdmSmith]

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

[ApplegateRanch]

Could be a LOT worse...The Awful German Language
by Mark Twain

https://web.archive.org/web/20200120112847/https://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html