Topmusicanswers
The six that most recently got axed are:
- Eth (ð) The y in ye actually comes from the letter eth, which slowly merged with y over time. ...
- Thorn (þ) Thorn is in many ways the counterpart to eth. ...
- Wynn (ƿ) Wynn was incorporated into our alphabet to represent today's w sound. ...
- Yogh (ȝ) ...
- Ash (æ) ...
- Ethel (œ)
- What 4 letters did Old English have that we no longer use?
- What are Old English letters called?
- Why was thorn removed from the alphabet?
- What letter is th?
What 4 letters did Old English have that we no longer use?
There are four letters which we don't use any more ('thorn', 'eth', 'ash' and 'wynn') and two letters which we use but which the Anglo-Saxons didn't ('j' and 'v'). Until the late Old and early Middle English period, they also rarely used the letters 'k', 'q' and 'z'.
What are Old English letters called?
Anglo-Saxon runes (futhorc/fuþorc)
Old English / Anglo-Saxon was first written with a version of the Runic alphabet known as Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Frisian runes, or futhorc/fuþorc. This alphabet was an extended version of Elder Futhark with between 26 and 33 letters.
Why was thorn removed from the alphabet?
We replaced it with 'th' over time—thorn fell out of use because Gothic-style scripting made the letters Y and thorn look practically identical. And, since French printing presses didn't have thorn anyway, it just became common to replace it with a Y.
What letter is th?
Thorn or þorn (Þ, þ) is a letter in the Old English, Gothic, Old Norse, Old Swedish, and modern Icelandic alphabets, as well as some dialects of Middle English. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th, except in Iceland, where it survives.
