In your childhood, you must have read A, B, C, D… in school. This is the English alphabet. You must be knowing that there are 26 letters in the English alphabet. But do you know that there was a time when the English alphabet used to have 27 letters (27th alphabet of English)? This letter used to come after Z. Then where did this last letter disappear and what was it? Let us tell you.
There are 26 letters in the English language. (Photo: Canva)
According to the report of Daily Star News website, TikTok user @zachdfilms3 recently posted a video in which he revealed this secret. He told what is the 27th letter of English? He told that ampersand (&) was called the 27th letter of English and it was also taught in studies years ago.
The 27th letter of the English alphabet used to be &. (Photo: Canva)
The 27th letter was &
According to the Britannica website, ampersand first appeared in English in 1835 and was used as a letter. British students of the 19th century were taught it as the 27th letter. It is derived from the Latin word ‘et’ which means ‘end’. Actually, when students used to learn the alphabet, they used to read QRSTUVWXYZ &. Now, saying and after Z indicated that another letter was going to come in the alphabet. Because of this, it started being pronounced as ‘per se &’, which sounded like ‘ampersand’. In Latin, per se means different from all or alone.
Companies started using & in their names
By the end of the 19th century, the ampersand was considered just a symbol and was removed from the alphabet. Gradually, & started being used in the names of companies as well, such as ‘Marks & Spencer’, ‘Procter & Gamble’, H&M etc. It has also started being used in computer programming.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : July 4, 2024, 12:30 IST
