Fun Fact of the Day #50 (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

English used to have a letter called thorn (þ) that made the th sound. One of the reasons it fell out of favor was due to the invention of the european printing press. Most printing presses were made in Germany and Italy, which had no th sound. Because of this, the letter y was used in its place due to the similarity between the characters (in gothic print they looked much closer than now lol). This is also why you may see y used instead of th in old English print, such as the word "ye", pronounced as "the".

Appreciate linguistics


@lexus @Skinnny @Daydreamer @OnCloudJess @Baechu @bulletproof @potato @mirella​

 

[Mayday]

Have you seen the one "If English Was Phonetically Consistent" video? I think you'd enjoy that video as well.

 

[Ahsoka]

Have you seen the one "If English Was Phonetically Consistent" video? I think you'd enjoy that video as well.

No but ill have to give one a watch for sure, theyve popped up but ive never clicked them

 

[DrowningFishy]

That is a pretty nifty fact of the day.

I've always wondered how English learners knew a was a when we don't write how it is typed out. Not to mention depending which font you use is it I or is it l? Never mind when the wild & appears.

Another fun fact: It is estimated about 23% of Americans still/can write cursive.

 

[Ahsoka]

That is a pretty nifty fact of the day.

I've always wondered how English learners knew a was a when we don't write how it is typed out. Not to mention depending which font you use is it I or is it l? Never mind when the wild & appears.

Another fun fact: It is estimated about 23% of Americans still/can write cursive.

& used to be considered a letter of the alphabet actually, eventually they got rid of it

 

[DrowningFishy]

& used to be considered a letter of the alphabet actually, eventually they got rid of it

There we go another interesting fact. XD