September 28, 2021 - Who Decided on Letter Names?

 

Who invented the names of the letters in the American English alphabet? Why do A, J, and K end with an -ā sound while B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V and Z end with an -ē sound? Why do F, L, M, N, S, and X end with their respective sounds while the previous letters begin with them? Why do H, Q, and W not contain the sound they make? Come to think of it, what sound does Q make on its own? If it's only the same as K, why do we need qu- when we could just use kw-? Why does the letter C exist, when we already have K and S? Why does the soft G exist when we already have J? Why is W called double-u, but M is not called double-n?

You might think I'd have better ways to spend my time, what with school back in session and a baby at home, but here we are...