What Character Was Eliminated From The Alphabet?

Johnson & Johnson, Barnes & Noble, Dolce & Gabbana: the ampersand right this moment is used primarily in enterprise names, however that small character was truly as soon as the twenty seventh member of the alphabet. The place did it come from although? The origin of its title is sort of as weird because the title itself.
The place did ampersand come from?
The form of the character (&) predates the phrase ampersand by greater than 1,500 years. Within the first century, Roman scribes wrote in cursive, so once they wrote the Latin phrase et which suggests “and,” they linked the E and T. Over time, the mixed letters got here to indicate the phrase and in English as nicely. Certain versions of the ampersand clearly reveal the origin of the form.
Why was & a part of the English alphabet?
The phrase ampersand got here a few years later when & was truly a part of the English alphabet. Within the early 1800s, faculty kids reciting their ABCs concluded the alphabet with the &.
It could have been complicated to say “X, Y, Z, and.” So, the scholars stated, “and per se and.” Per se means “by itself,” so the scholars have been basically saying, “X, Y, Z, and by itself and.” The time period per se was used to indicate letters that additionally doubled as phrases, such because the letter I (for “me”) and A. By saying “per se,” you clarified that you simply meant the image and never the phrase.
Over time, “and per se and” was slurred collectively into the phrase we use right this moment: ampersand. When a phrase comes about from a mistaken pronunciation, it’s known as a mondegreen. (In the event you sing the fallacious lyrics to a music, that’s also known as a mondegreen.)
The ampersand can be utilized in an uncommon configuration the place it seems as “&c” and means etc. The ampersand does double work because the E and T.
The ampersand isn’t the one former member of the alphabet. Study what led to the extinction of the thorn and the wynn.
We’ll have you ever singing your ABCs all day lengthy with our explorations into letters, together with the remarkable W and the confounding Q, each of which have a historical past and relationship with the letter U.