LOST LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET: 9 letters we stopped using

Thorn, eth, yogh, wynn, ash, ethel, eng, long S & the Tironian et. This video takes you on a tour of the letters we don't use anymore. It'll tell you where they came from and why they disappeared.

You are about to find out:
🖍 Why we're all pronouncing "ye" in "ye olde" wrong
🖍 How to actually pronounce Iceland Eurovision entry Daði Freyr's name
🖍 Why old documents contain lots of Fs instead of Ss
🖍 How we ended up with a letter called "double-U"
🖍 What the Anglo-Saxon version of the "ABC Song" sounded like (a bit creepy)
...and lots more.

Among these lost letters of the alphabet are some that I would gladly bring back. Let me know which you would like to resurrect in the comments.

Many of these are Old English letters. Others are letters from Middle English. Check out my other videos about the history of the English language.

Check me out on Twitter & TikTok:

That wonderful Futhorc chant is here:

==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Intro
0:36 Thorn (Þ þ)
2:24 Eth (Ð ð)
3:54 Wynn (Ƿ ƿ)
4:50 Ash (Æ) & Ethel (Œ)
6:24 Yogh (Ȝ ȝ)
7:48 Long S (ſ)
8:51 Eng (Ŋ ŋ)
9:23 Tironian "Et" (⁊)
10:27 Goodbye

Video by Rob Watts

[acorneroftheinternet]

Heads up for mobile typers!
Þ: hold T, choose Þ
Æ: hold A, choose Æ
Đ: hold D, choose đ
Œ: hold O, choose œ
Bonus! For ‽, just hold (?) If youre like me, it wont come up when holding M to get ?, you have to go to the second page of characters instead.
I couldn't find the eNG one unfortunately, i hope one of you can!

[hamishwsmacdonald]

The “long s” survives in the modern German letter ß, which is a double s (eg Strasse / Straße). The left hand side of the letter is a long s

[Run.Ran.Run]

I'm an ESL teacher and it's explanations such as this that give my students the rationale they need to help them grapple with spelling and pronunciation. Students from phonetic languages like to know why English looks different from the way it sounds. Thank you.

[BrookieBearMama]

I love how you smile while explaining the history. I can tell you love it and that’s infectious! Great teacher.

[Nyxwraith]

I once met a guy whose name was Thorn. When I suggested he spell his name using the letter, he seemed confused. Also, thank you for telling me how to pronounce Menzies.

[kavikv.d.hexenholtz]

The "Tironian et" is still used when writing Irish or Scott's Gaelic in the more traditional uncial script. It is also why, in Europe, the number '7' typically has the crossbar through it - to distinguish it from 'and'.

[kaitlinc]

As a vocalist who uses a lot of IPA, it's so cool to see that a lot of symbols used in that were used in English way back when!

[katiejo]

I really enjoy your language discussions and have watched many of your videos. Word origins have always been fascinating to me. I was in first grade in 1963, with Sisters of Mercy in a Catholic school. The nuns taught us some interesting things. First, our vowels were "A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y and sometimes W." W occasionally had an oo sound like in ooze. (I think it may be Welsh?) They also told us rooves was plural of roof. So at Christmas there were "hooves on the rooves". Plus (plusses) they taught us that the plural of BUS is BUSSES, with 3 Ss, not BUSES. Please keep posting, Mr. Rob, and thanks!

[bernhardwagner]

Thank you for filling in those obvious holes. I was born in Germany and came to America at age ten with no clue of American English. I learned fast and had to dump the accent in a hurry just to fit in. In high school I chose a language major and became a Latin scholar. Curiously that led me to become a high school art teacher for 35 years and a teacher teacher for five more after that. That also included 24 years of night school or adult education. Latin was so a part of me that I used every opportunity to include Latin word origins in my lesson both for the kids, adults and colleagues. I had 40 great years of passing on my my modest knowledge. I wish you had been around to enhance my etymology. I love your presentations. They give me great pleasure.

[Fieari]

For most of these, the replacements we have are perfectly fine and there’s no reason to go back. W works. & as well as simply “and”/“ond” works. But English orthography has no current way to distinguish between a voiced and voiceless “th”, so either “eth” or “thorn” or both would be a great thing to bring back.

[Bazroshan]

As a child in the nineteen-sixties, I noticed on old pub signs that there were two types of what I thought to be Y, one with tail going left, the other with the tail going right. Years later, I learnt about thorn but the old pub signs had all been replaced, leaving me to doubt my memory. The signs I remember had probably been written fifty years earlier by sign-writers educated in 1900 who were aware of the old ways. Upon moving to Reading, I found the George Hotel in King Street, the frontage of which bears the ancient but nicely renovated 'Ye George MDVI', the first letter clearly being thorn with the tail bending towards the right.

[AlbertoFolres]

What a great channel. Thank you for your dedication and passion you put in your videos. It is great to learn more about English

[harleengraves]

We need to bring back Þ. It's Þe best letter ever made

[UltraZelda]

I have to say, that old anglo-saxen alphabet song was just awesome... how about a looped or full version?

[bucket-o-fish]

I am absolutely over the moon that I found this channel. Right up my interests. Love linguistics.

[hrdlbrmpf]

Rob, Du bist fantastisch! Ihr Angelsachsen könnt sowas am besten. Keep on truckin`!

[meakimon]

Æs a Norwegian, I'm sitting here enthralled by this video. We still use Ææ Øø Åå. ^^ Also, I had no idea that futhark came from Anglo-Saxon. Learning new things is fun. ^^ So I will contribute! The "older" way of trying these letters in Norway, I was taught, was:
Æ = AE. Ø = OE. Å = AA. ^^ Nifty!

Though I am trying to teach my friends abroad how æ, ø, and å are all sounds in the English alphabet still! Maybe I can simply link them one of your videos. ^^

[Amyduckie]

Definitely bring back thorn, eth and eng. Seems way more efficient to have a single letter to denote a single sound instead of two letter combos.

[mechablaziken]

Thorn is definitely a useful letter that should make a come back. Some of these letters would definitely help especially when trying to teach English and to learn some of the other more complex languages in the world.

[SqueezedGrape]

Your video is truly þrilling, ȝiving a fresh perspective that þeels so creative. The way you þell the story is pure genius, every frame ȝlowing with energy. You've ȝot an exceptional talent that þeats expectations, and the twists in your video þrove how ȝreat your work is. The way it all þlows together, ȝenerating excitement, is just perfect! Keep making more of these incredible videos that ȝurely þave a lasting impact.