X

Last updated

X
X x
Latin letter X.svg
Usage
Writing system Latin script
Type Alphabetic and logographic
Language of origin Latin language
Greek language
Sound values
In  Unicode U+0058, U+0078
Alphabetical position24
History
Development
Time period~−700 to present
Descendants
Sisters
Other
Associated graphs x(x)
Writing directionLeft-to-right
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and  , see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

X, or x, is the twenty-fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ex (pronounced /ˈɛks/ ), plural exes. [2]

Contents

History

Western Greek
Chi
Etruscan
X
Latin
X
Greek Chi normal.svg EtruscanX-01.svg Capitalis monumentalis X.SVG

The letter X, representing /ks/, was inherited from the Etruscan alphabet. It perhaps originated in the Χ of the Euboean alphabet or another Western Greek alphabet, which also represented /ks/. Its relationship with the Χ of the Eastern Greek alphabets, which represented /kʰ/, is uncertain.

The pronunciation of /ks/ in the Romance languages underwent sound changes, with various outcomes:

In Old Spanish, x came to represent /ʃ/, which it still represents in most Iberian languages and in the orthographies of other languages influenced by Spanish, such as Nahuatl. In French (with a few exceptions), Italian, Romanian, and modern Spanish, x was replaced by other letters.

The use of x to represent /ks/ was reintroduced to the Romance languages via Latin loanwords. In many words, the /ks/ was voiced as /gz/.

Use in writing systems

Pronunciation of x by language
OrthographyPhonemesEnvironment
Asturian /ʃ/, /ks/
Afar /ɖ/
Albanian /dz/
Azeri /x/
Basque /ʃ/
Catalan /ʃ/Usually (word-initially, after consonants, i, au, or eu, in some surnames such as Rexach )
/gz/
/ks/
Standard Chinese (Pinyin)/ɕ/
Cou /ɨ/ ~ /ʉ/
Dutch /ks/Usually, mainly used in loanwords
/s/In Texel
English /ks/Usually; before an unstressed vowel
/gz/Before a stressed vowel
/z/Word-initially
/h/ Don Quixote , Oaxaca , and words derived from Classical Nahuatl/Nahuatl
Esperanto in digraphs only as a substitute for a diacriticcx, gx, hx, jx, sx, ux are used as substitutes for ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ where these characters are not available, see X-convention
French /ks/Usually; in Aix- (prefix or name of several places)
/gz/Mainly in the prefix ex- followed by a vowel; sometimes word-initially
Silent Word-finally with no liaison
/z/Word-finally with liaison; in sixième (6th) and dixième (10th)
/s/In six (6), dix (10), Auxerre , and Bruxelles (Brussels)
Galician /ʃ/Usually
/(k)s/Some learned loanwords
German /ks/Mainly used in loanwords
Indonesian /s/In the beginning of a word, mainly used in loanwords for science
/ks/In the middle or the end of a word, although words borrowed with the letter x in the middle or the end of a word are always replaced by the letters 'ks'. For example, the word 'maximum' and 'climax' in Indonesian would be 'maksimal' and 'klimaks'. Letter x on the middle or the end of a word only occurs in names. Mainly used in loanwords for science.
Italian /ks/Mainly used in learned loanwords
Kurdish /x/
Lao romanization/s/A "low consonant", affects the tone of the following vowel
Leonese /ʃ/
Ligurian /ʒ/
Maltese /ʃ/
Mayan (ALMG)/ʃ/
Nahuatl /ʃ/
Nguni /ǁ/
Norwegian /ks/Archaic
Occitan /t͡s/Usually
/s/Before consonants
/ɡz/In the prefix ex- before vowels in the Provençal, Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine, and Niçard dialects
/ɡʒ/Before i and u in the Auvergnat dialect
Oromo //
Pirahã /ʔ/
Polish /ks~gz/
Portuguese /ʃ/Usually, especially word-initially; in words derived from Tupi
/ks/Some words, mainly in learned loanwords
/s/When preceded by e and a consonant; some words
/z/In the prefix ex- before a vowel
/gz/In the prefix hexa-
Sardinian /ʒ/
Sicilian /ʃ/Old Sicilian words and names, e.g. Craxi and Giancaxio
/k(ə)s(ə)/Loanwords
Somali /ħ/
Spanish /(k)s/Usually
/s/Word-initially
/ʃ/, /t͡ʃ/, /x/In some names and words
Swedish /ks/
Uzbek /χ/
Venetian /z/Usually
/s/In Venexia, "Venice"
Vietnamese /s/

English

In English orthography, x is typically pronounced as the voiceless consonant cluster /ks/ when it follows the stressed vowel (e.g. ox), and the voiced consonant /ɡz/ when it precedes the stressed vowel (e.g. exam). It is also pronounced /ɡz/ when it precedes a silent h and a stressed vowel (e.g. exhaust). [3] Due to yod-coalescence, the sequence xi before a vowel can be pronounced /kʃ/ resulting from earlier /ksj/ , e.g. in -xion(-), -xious(-). Similarly, the sequence xu can be pronounced with /kʃ/ (e.g. flexure, sexual) or /ɡʒ/ (in luxury and its derivatives). Due to NG-coalescence, the sequence nx can be pronounced /ŋz/ in anxiety.

When x ends a word, it is always /ks/ (e.g. fax), except in loan words such as faux. When x does start a word, it is usually pronounced 'z' (e.g. xylophone, xanthan). When starting in some names or as its own representation, it is pronounced 'eks', in rare recent loanwords or foreign proper names, it can also be pronounced /s/ (e.g. the obsolete Vietnamese monetary unit xu ) or /ʃ/ (e.g. Chinese names starting with Xi, like Xiaomi or Xinjiang). Many of the words that start with x are of Greek origin, standardized trademarks ( Xerox ), or acronyms (XC).

In abbreviations, it can represent "trans-" (e.g. XMIT for transmit, XFER for transfer), "cross-" (e.g. X-ing for crossing, XREF for cross-reference), "Christ-" (e.g. Xmas for Christmas, Xian for Christian), the "crys-" in crystal (XTAL), "by" (SXSW for South by Southwest), or various words starting with "ex-" (e.g. XL for extra large, XOR for exclusive-or, or the extinction symbol).

X is the third least frequently used letter in English (after q and z), with a frequency of about 0.15% in words. [4] There are very few English words that start with x (the fewest of any letter).

Romance languages

In Latin, x stood for /ks/. In the Romance languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, x has other pronunciations:

Other languages

In languages which adopted the Latin alphabet later, x is used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by Latin or its descendants, but in others for unrelated consonants. Since the various Romance pronunciations of x can often be written in other ways, the letter becomes available for other sounds.

An illustrative example of x as a "leftover" letter is the differing usage in three different Cushitic languages:

Other systems

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, x represents a voiceless velar fricative.

Other uses

Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets

Other representations

Computing

Character information
PreviewXx
Unicode nameLATIN CAPITAL LETTER XLATIN SMALL LETTER XFULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER XFULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER X
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode 88U+0058120U+007865336U+FF3865368U+FF58
UTF-8 885812078239 188 184EF BC B8239 189 152EF BD 98
Numeric character reference XXxxXXxx
EBCDIC family231E7167A7
ASCII [lower-alpha 1] 885812078

Other

See also

Notes

  1. Also for encodings based on ASCII, including the DOS, Windows, ISO-8859 and Macintosh families of encodings.

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References

  1. as in the English word luxurious
  2. 1 2 "X", Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd edition (1989); Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (1993); "ex", op. cit.
  3. Venezky, Richard (1 January 1970). The Structure of English Orthography. The Hague: Walter de Gruyter. p. 40. ISBN   978-3-11-080447-8. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  4. Mička, Pavel. "Letter frequency (English)". Algoritmy.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
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  7. King, David A. (2001). The Ciphers of the Monks. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 282. ISBN   9783515076401. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2020. In the course of time, I, V and X became identical with three letters of the alphabet; originally, however, they bore no relation to these letters.
  8. Cajori, Florian (1928). A History of Mathematical Notations. Chicago: Open Court Publishing. p. 381. ISBN   9780486161167. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2020. See History of algebra.
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  10. "New Zealand Passports - Information about Changing Sex / Gender Identity". Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
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  14. "X, n." OED Online (Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2022), §6. Accessed 11 November 2022.
  15. "'찐따', 'X랄하다'...욕도 전통을 가진다?" ['loser', 'fXing'... swear words also have a tradition?]. www.goeonair.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  16. 참바다 (15 January 2021). 시사칼럼 우리 시대의 상징과 은유 (in Korean). e퍼플. ISBN   979-11-6569-712-9.
  17. Constable, Peter (19 April 2004). "L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  18. Everson, Michael; Dicklberger, Alois; Pentzlin, Karl; Wandl-Vogt, Eveline (2 June 2011). "L2/11-202: Revised proposal to encode "Teuthonista" phonetic characters in the UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  19. Anderson, Deborah; Everson, Michael (7 June 2004). "L2/04-191: Proposal to encode six Indo-Europeanist phonetic characters in the UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.