The Lost Letter: The Story of Thorn and Its Journey in the English Alphabet

🔤The English alphabet originally consisted of 26 letters, but it was not always like this.

🇬🇧Thorn, a letter specifically designed for Germanic languages like English, was used to represent certain sounds.

🅰️Due to the influence of Latin-speaking Christian missionaries, Latin letters were assigned to English sounds.

🇫🇷The evolution of thorn led to its resemblance to the letter Y, which caused the French to mispronounce it.

🖨️The decline of thorn usage occurred with the introduction of printing presses, as typesetters did not have thorn characters.

Why did thorn stop being used in the English alphabet?

—Thorn stopped being used in the English alphabet around 500 years ago due to the influence of the French language and the evolving appearance of thorn.

Can thorn still be used in the English language today?

—Technically, yes. With modern technology and Unicode standards, it is possible to use thorn in the English language. However, its usage is not widely adopted.

What languages still use thorn in their alphabets?

—Icelandic is one of the languages that still uses thorn in its alphabet. It is considered a relatively important living language.

How did thorn contribute to the development of the English language?

—Thorn played a role in representing specific sounds in Old English, highlighting the phonology of the language and its uniqueness.

Why should thorn be brought back into the English alphabet?

—While thorn is not necessary for everyday English usage, it can serve as a cultural and historical symbol, reminding us of the evolution and richness of the English language.

00:00The English alphabet originally consisted of 26 letters, but it was not always like this.

00:43Thorn, a letter specifically designed for Germanic languages like English, was used to represent certain sounds.

01:41Due to the influence of Latin-speaking Christian missionaries, Latin letters were assigned to English sounds.

02:42The evolution of thorn led to its resemblance to the letter Y, which caused the French to mispronounce it.

02:58The decline of thorn usage occurred with the introduction of printing presses, as typesetters did not have thorn characters.

03:41Thorn stopped being used in the English alphabet around 500 years ago due to the influence of the French language and the evolving appearance of thorn.

03:58Technically, yes. With modern technology and Unicode standards, it is possible to use thorn in the English language. However, its usage is not widely adopted.

04:23Icelandic is one of the languages that still uses thorn in its alphabet. It is considered a relatively important living language.