Since there are a lot … Only two English words in current use end in "-gry". Telling interesting facts about the English language, one cannot help but note the difference in this sphere between England and the United States. Knowledge is the power and you can impress your friends, teachers, and colleagues with your trivia about English. But otherwise, our modern English alphabet remains quite similar to the version of the Roman alphabet that we inherited from the Irish. The best-known example in English is Ernest Vincent Wright's novel Gadsby: Champion of Youth (1939) — a story of more than 50,000 words in which the letter e never appears. A sentence that contains … As David Sacks notes in Letter Perfect (2004), "There are variations of the Roman alphabet: For example, English employs 26 letters; Finnish, 21; Croatian, 30. English Language: History, Definition, and Examples. Around 1,000 BCE, the Greeks adopted a shorter version of the Semitic alphabet, reassigning certain symbols to represent vowel sounds, and eventually, the Romans developed their own version of the Greek (or Ionic) alphabet. Because bilabial clicks ([ʘ] a … By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, The Number of Languages That Use the Roman Alphabet. 12. Let’s take a look at ten interesting facts about the English language: 1 “I am” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. English words for livestock (cow, sheep, chicken) are Germanic-based and the words for meats (beef, mutton, poultry) are French-based. Interesting Facts about English. Interesting Facts About the English Alphabet. 1.The English word alphabet comes (via Latin) from the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta. lexicographer. IT CAN REPRESENT A KISS, A RASPBERRY, OR VOCAL FRY. The United States doesn’t have an official language. English is an extraordinary language. (The Romans lacked J, V, and W.)". The word "uncopyrightable" is the longest English word in normal use that contains no letter more than once. The older pronunciation of "zed" was inherited from Old French. You can unsubscribe at any time. He created the so-called "American Dictionary of English." 1. The Origin of the Word Alphabet. We promise to never give away your email address or jeopardize your privacy in any way, shape or form. Lowercase Letters Explained. 10. A more efficient pangram is "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.". A sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet is called a "pangram". It's also a good enough reason to gather a few facts about one of the most significant inventions in human history. There are more than 40 distinct sounds (or phonemes) in English. – Source. What Is an Isogram (Or Word Play)? Have you read these? Shakespeare Added Over a Thousand New Words to the English Language … The most common consonant in English is "r", followed by "t". 12. But English can also be interesting! – Source. Knowledge is the power and you can impress your friends, teachers, and colleagues with your trivia about English. So, in honor of the fantastic world of vocabulary, here are 20 weird facts from around the web that you probably never knew about English words! Interesting facts you didn’t know about ENGLISH E’ is the most commonly used English alphabet; so common that one in eight alphabets written is ‘E’ ‘S’ is the letter which starts more English words, than the rest of the 25 letters. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor. Interesting facts you didn’t know about ENGLISH E’ is the most commonly used English alphabet; so common that one in eight alphabets written is ‘E’ ‘S’ is the letter which starts more English words, than the rest of the 25 letters. Free Online Teaching Directory: Tutors Shouldn’t Pay For Listings, 82 Essential German Travel Phrases And Words For Daily Survival, Free Anki/Quizlet Flashcards For The “Dino lernt Deutsch” German Learning Series. The first printed book was in German. 9. 4. 8. 1. Upvote. English is the language with the richest and widest-ranging vocabulary. ‘E’ is the most commonly used letter in the English language. Amazing Facts About English Alphabets Posted on: December 25, 2016 December 25, 2016 How many letters are in the english alphabet quick facts interesting facts about the english language longest fun facts about english 28 kinney brothers publishing fun facts about the english language r dictation esl facts about the world that will surprise even most It's generally accepted that the Roman alphabet reached England by way of the Irish sometime during the early period of Old English (5 c.- 12 c.). Noah Webster, a lexicographer, succeeded in this. Updated 22 February, 2016. Every syllable in English must have a vowel (sound). It's also a good enough reason to gather a few facts about one of the most significant inventions in human history. The letter z, by the way, has not always been relegated to the end of the alphabet. Did you know the most commonly used letter in the alphabet is E Did you know the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English alphabet Did you know the letter W is the only letter in the alphabet that has 3 syllables (all others … Exact matches only . 2. Interesting Facts About the English Alphabet "Writers spend years rearranging 26 letters of the alphabet," novelist Richard Price once observed. Not all syllables have consonants. The most common word in English is THE The English alphabet briefly included a typographical letter called a “long s.” Used from the late Renaissance to the early 1800s, it resembled the letter ‘f’ but was pronounced simply as ‘s.’ Eventually, the letter fell out of use; John Bell, who pioneered a new modern typeface, is often blamed for the disappearance of the long s. Because we have just 26 letters to represent those sounds, most letters stand for more than one sound. The consonant c, for example, is pronounced differently in the three words cook, city, and (combined with h) chop. Definition and Examples of Codification in English. The original set of 30 signs, known as the Semitic alphabet, was used in ancient Phoenicia beginning around 1600 BCE. Where the English Alphabet … Lipograms are text that deliberately excludes a particular letter of the alphabet. Although it is called a "phonetic alphabet" it is not really used for phonetics like the International Phonetic Alphabet or other phonetic alphabets. Pangrams are a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet. Every syllable in English must have a vowel (sound). Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. If you write any number in words (English), count the number of letters, write this new number in words and so on, you’ll always end with number 4. The most common consonant in English is "r", followed by "t". ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. The following sentence contains all 26 letters of the alphabet: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." 9. In its earliest known written record, the English alphabet had 29 letters. 11. 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