Is Zebra Destined to Become Xebra?

The last letter of our Roman alphabet is Z, a consonant that can seem racy and elusive or just plain disadvantaged. – David Sacks

I evidently missed this announcement when it was first released, but it caught my attention when DailyWritingTips.com did the Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010.

The article, “The Letter “Z” Will Be Removed from the English Alphabet,” by Daniel Scocco caused my mouth to gape in disbelief. “Tell me it isn’t so,” I whispered to my computer.

I happen to like the letters in our alphabet – all 26 of them. And who could not possibly love the Z? Part of the Phoenician alphabet, it’s been around since about 1000 B.C.

The article included a quote from the press release from English Language Central Commission (ELCC) saying,

“After carefully considering and debating the matter for over two years, the ELCC came to the conclusion that the letter “Z” should be removed from the English alphabet. The main objective of this change is to simplify the phonetic aspect of the language, and to unify the American and British spellings.”

According to David Sacks author of Letter Perfect,

“The potential indignity of being the alphabet’s caboose is compounded by one real weakness: Z is, on the average, the least-used letter in printed English. Of the 26 letters, Z finishes last in this race, too, behind Q and X, For every 1,000 appearances by E (our most-used letter), Q appears about 50 times, X 44, and Z a measly 22.

“No wonder Z has been called superfluous, mere excess baggage. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (A.D. 1605), the irascible Earl of Kent insults the fatuous courtier Oswald, calling by the British name for Z: ‘Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter!’”

Is this how the ELCC felt about the last letter in our alphabet? Is this why they came up with the ridiculous idea of deleting “Z” completely?

Before allowing my blood pressure to climb to a deadly high, I decided to look up this commission. That’s when I discovered that Daniel Scocco is a bit of a jokester.

“Whew!” I said to the empty room. "That was a close one."

I know better than to believe everything I read online. I mean, I wasn’t born yesterday (what an understatement) and I fell for it big time. After all, I read the article on a site I visit often and trust, the press release looked legit, and there were examples such as how zero would become xero and visualize would soon be visualise.

What didn’t register was the date of the original article – April 1. The article was an April fool’s gag. Good one, Daniel!

So rest easy - the letter “Z” has nothing to fear.

Have you ever fallen for an internet gag?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: David Sacks, King Lear, letter Z, English Language Central Commission, alphabet,

The Letter "J"

“Just as flowing water follows gravity, letters follow language.” – David Sacks

I grew up in America, learned my ABC’s, and eventually became a writer without once wondering about the letters that make up our alphabet. I simply took them all for granted. That is until my sister gave me the book, Letter Perfect by David Sacks. In this book, Mr. Sacks gives the history of the alphabet as well as all of the 26 letters in it.

I haven’t read about each letter—yet. I immediately flipped the pages to the letter “J” because…well, I couldn’t spell my name without it. Did you know that J is the 10th letter in our alphabet but one of the last two to letters to be added to the Roman alphabet? Me neither. According to the book, “If a letter evolves new sounds, its alphabet has to catch up, probably by adding sounds to existing letters or (a step further) by inventing a brand-new letter or two.” That’s how the J came about.

A capital J appeared in Spanish print before 1600, changing the spelling but not the pronunciation of Iesus to Jesus. The J began to replace the I in French around 1570. Italy rejected J altogether using it only for foreign words already in print. In fact, only since the mid 19th century, thanks to Noah Webster, did J gain full acceptance into our alphabet. Thank you, Mr. Webster.

J took its shape as, “…a hook-tailed version of the letter I.” Alphabet scholar, David Diringer said the letter J is, “inferior in design to other letters, lacking the balance, boldness, and dignity of the classical Roman monumental letters.”

At first I was offended that the letter “J” should receive such harsh criticism. Then I realized that it’s not as if it’s possible for that sentiment to carry over from the first letter of my name and into my life…is it? I’m sure if my mother had heard this about the letter J, she would have named me something that began with a more dignified letter.

I can’t wait to move on to the letter “A.”

Have you ever wondered about the alphabetical history of the letters in your name? In the future, do you think our alphabet will gain more new sounds or letters?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: David Sacks, Letter Perfect, Webster, Diringer, alphabet,