2 ms·
I've been fascinated by this for years and years. I've known about thorn, but I didn't know about eth and how thorn and eth are pronounced differently. FTFY :)
by ascotan 10y ago
I've been fascinated by this for years and years. I've known about thorn, but I didn't know about eth and how thorn and eth are pronounced differently.
FTFY :)
"English hæs alƿays been a living languæge, changing and evolving wiþ use. But before our modern alphabet was estæblished, ðe languæge used many more charæcters ƿe’ve since removed from our 26-letter lineup. ðe six ðæt most recently got axed are:"
- porges 10y agoFYI: `languæge` and `charæcters` don’t make much sense—‘æ’ and ‘œ’ usually changed to simple ‘e’ in modern English (Encyclopædia, mediæval), unless at the start of a word (æsthetics). There are variations, ‘œ’ seems to have been more likely to change to ‘e’ at the start of a word (œsophagus, œstrus). Also, not every ‘ae’ was an ‘æ’—‘aerial’ is one example. I think the test is whether or not the Greek word used ‘αι’.
- kwhitefoot 10y agoAre you trying to say that in modern English that œsophagus has become esophagus? If so then you need to qualify it as American English; British English still uses oesophagus.
- porges 10y agoYeah, I originally qualified everything and then figured most readers of the site are USian anyway ;)