there are 157 items on X (disambiguation), there's no reason for Twitter to be prioritized. Also no consensus on talk page after at least two discussions.
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== Use in writing systems == |
== Use in writing systems == |
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{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |
||
|+Pronunciation summary |
|||
|+Pronunciations of Xx |
|||
! colspan="5" | ''Languages in italics are not usually written using the [[Latin alphabet]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
!Language |
!Language |
||
!Dialect(s) |
!Dialect(s) |
||
Line 68: | Line 70: | ||
! rowspan="2" |Some central dialects |
! rowspan="2" |Some central dialects |
||
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |
||
|Before |
|Before {{angbr|i}} and usually {{angbr|u}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/sj/ ~ /ʃj/ |
|{{IPA|/sj/}} ~ {{IPA|/ʃj/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
Line 88: | Line 90: | ||
|{{IPAslink|dz}} |
|{{IPAslink|dz}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|{{angbr|xh}} represents {{IPAslink|dʒ}} |
|||
|xh={{IPAc-en|dZ|}} |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] |
||
Line 98: | Line 100: | ||
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|tx |
|{{angbr|tx}} represents {{IPAslink|tʃ}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="3" |[[Catalan language|Catalan]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="3" |[[Catalan language|Catalan]] |
||
Line 105: | Line 107: | ||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/gz/ |
|{{IPA|/gz/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
![[Mandarin Chinese]] |
!''[[Mandarin Chinese]]'' |
||
![[Standard |
!''[[Standard Chinese|Standard]]'' |
||
|{{IPAslink|ɕ}} |
|{{IPAslink|ɕ}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
|[[Pinyin]] romanization |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Tsou language|Cou]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Tsou language|Cou]] |
||
| |
|{{IPAslink|ɨ}} ~ {{IPAslink|ʉ}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|Possibly the only case in the world of |
|Possibly the only case in the world of {{angbr|x}} used as a vowel. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Dutch language|Dutch]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Dutch language|Dutch]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
|Usually |
|Usually |
||
| |
|Mainly used in loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
||
Line 134: | Line 136: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="6" |[[English language|English]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="6" |[[English language|English]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
|Usually; before an unstressed vowel |
|Usually; before an unstressed vowel |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/gz/ |
|{{IPA|/gz/}} |
||
|Before a stressed vowel |
|Before a stressed vowel |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/kʃ/ |
|{{IPA|/kʃ/}} |
||
|Groups ''-xion(-)'', ''-xious(-)'', ''-xua-''; in the word ''flexure'' |
|Groups ''-xion(-)'', ''-xious(-)'', ''-xua-''; in the word ''flexure'' |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/gʒ/ |
|{{IPA|/gʒ/}} |
||
|Only in ''luxury'' and derivatives |
|Only in ''luxury'' and derivatives |
||
| |
| |
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Line 154: | Line 156: | ||
| |
| |
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|- |
|- |
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|{{IPAslink|h}} |
|||
|/h/ |
|||
|[[Don Quixote]], [[Oaxaca]], words derived from [[Classical Nahuatl]]/[[Nahuatl]] |
|[[Don Quixote]], [[Oaxaca]], words derived from [[Classical Nahuatl]]/[[Nahuatl]] |
||
| |
| |
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Line 164: | Line 166: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |[[French language|French]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |[[French language|French]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
|Usually; in ''[[Aix (disambiguation)#France|Aix-]]'' (prefix or name of several places) |
|Usually; in ''[[Aix (disambiguation)#France|Aix-]]'' (prefix or name of several places) |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/gz/ |
|{{IPA|/gz/}} |
||
|Mainly in the [[prefix]] ex- followed by a vowel; sometimes word-initially |
|Mainly in the [[prefix]] ex- followed by a vowel; sometimes word-initially |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|Silent |
|||
|''silent'' |
|||
|Word-finally with no liaison |
|Word-finally with no liaison |
||
| |
| |
||
Line 189: | Line 191: | ||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/(k)s/ |
|{{IPA|/(k)s/}} |
||
|Some words |
|Some words |
||
|In learned loanwords |
|In learned loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[German language|German]] |
! colspan="2" |[[German language|German]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
|Mainly used in loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] |
||
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
|||
|/s/ |
|||
|In the beginning of a word |
|In the beginning of a word |
||
| rowspan="2" |Mainly used in [[Loanword|loanwords]] for science |
| rowspan="2" |Mainly used in [[Loanword|loanwords]] for science |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/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. |
|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. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Italian language|Italian]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Italian language|Italian]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
|Mainly used in learned loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] |
||
|{{IPAslink|x}} |
|||
|/x/ |
|||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Lao language|Lao]] |
! colspan="2" |''[[Lao language|Lao]]'' |
||
|{{IPAslink|ɕ}} |
|{{IPAslink|ɕ}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|Romanization |
|||
|Latinization |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Leonese dialect|Leonese]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Leonese dialect|Leonese]] |
||
Line 252: | Line 254: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|Archaic |
|Archaic |
||
Line 261: | Line 263: | ||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
|||
|/s/ |
|||
|Before consonants |
|Before consonants |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/ɡz/ |
|{{IPA|/ɡz/}} |
||
|In the prefix ex- before vowels |
|In the prefix ex- before vowels |
||
|In the [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]], [[Limousin dialect|Limousin]], [[Auvergnat]], [[Vivaro-Alpine]], and [[Niçard]] dialects |
|In the [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]], [[Limousin dialect|Limousin]], [[Auvergnat]], [[Vivaro-Alpine]], and [[Niçard]] dialects |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/ɡʒ/ |
|{{IPA|/ɡʒ/}} |
||
|Before |
|Before {{angbr|i}} and {{angbr|u}} |
||
|In the [[Auvergnat]] dialect |
|In the [[Auvergnat]] dialect |
||
|- |
|- |
||
Line 284: | Line 286: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Polish language|Polish]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Polish language|Polish]] |
||
|/ks~gz/ |
|{{IPA|/ks ~ gz/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
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Line 293: | Line 295: | ||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
|Some words |
|Some words |
||
|Mainly in learned loanwords |
|Mainly in learned loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
|{{IPAslink|s}} |
||
|When preceded by |
|When preceded by {{angbr|e}} and a consonant; some words |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
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Line 305: | Line 307: | ||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/gz/ |
|{{IPA|/gz/}} |
||
|In the [[prefix]] ''[[hexa-]]'' ("[[Numeral prefix|hexa]]-") |
|In the [[prefix]] ''[[hexa-]]'' ("[[Numeral prefix|hexa]]-") |
||
| |
| |
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Line 315: | Line 317: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] |
||
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |
|||
|/ʃ/ |
|||
|Old Sicilian words and names |
|Old Sicilian words and names |
||
|E.g. [[Bettino Craxi|Craxi]], [[Joppolo Giancaxio]] |
|E.g. [[Bettino Craxi|Craxi]], [[Joppolo Giancaxio]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|/k(ə)s(ə)/ |
|{{IPA|/k(ə)s(ə)/}} |
||
|Loanwords |
|Loanwords |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Somali language|Somali]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Somali language|Somali]] |
||
|{{IPAslink|ħ}} |
|||
| /ħ/, /ʜ/ |
|||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |[[Spanish language|Spanish]] |
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |[[Spanish language|Spanish]] |
||
|/(k)s/ |
|{{IPA|/(k)s/}} |
||
|Usually |
|Usually |
||
| |
| |
||
Line 347: | Line 349: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" |[[Swedish language|Swedish]] |
! colspan="2" |[[Swedish language|Swedish]] |
||
|/ks/ |
|{{IPA|/ks/}} |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
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Find sources: "X" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
X | |
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X x | |
Usage | |
Writing system | Latin script |
Type | Alphabetic and Logographic |
Language of origin | Latin language Greek language |
Sound values | [x] [χ] [ħ] [kʰ] [ks] [ʃ] [ɕ] [tʼ] [ʒ] [ɖ] [ʔ] [ǁ] [gʒ][1] [kʃ] [d͡z] [d͡ʒ] [t͡s] [t͡ʃ] [sʲ] [z] [gz] [∅] /ɛks/ |
In Unicode | U+0058, U+0078 |
Alphabetical position | 24 |
History | |
Development |
|
Time period | ~-700 to present |
Descendants | • × • ⨘ • ⨉ • ⨯ • ✗ • ☒ • ꭓ • X̧ |
Sisters | Х 𐍇 Ⴕ ქ Ⴟ ჯ |
Other | |
Associated graphs | x(x) |
Writing direction | Left-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. |
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ISO basic Latin alphabet |
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AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz |
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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]
Western Greek Chi |
Etruscan X |
Latin X |
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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:
In Old Spanish, ⟨x⟩ thus 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 Spanish, ⟨x⟩ was replaced by other letters. The original /ks/ for ⟨x⟩ was reintroduced in Latin loanwords.
Languages in italics are not usually written using the Latin alphabet | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Language | Dialect(s) | Pronunciation (IPA) | Environment | Notes |
Asturian | Some central dialects | /ʃ/ | Before ⟨i⟩ and usually ⟨u⟩ | |
/sj/ ~ /ʃj/ | ||||
Standard and other dialects | /ʃ/ | |||
Afar | /ɖ/ | |||
Albanian | /dz/ | ⟨xh⟩ represents /dʒ/ | ||
Azeri | /x/ | |||
Basque | /ʃ/ | ⟨tx⟩ represents /tʃ/ | ||
Catalan | /ʃ/ | Usually (word-initially, after consonants, i, au, eu, in some surnames such as Rexach) | ||
/gz/ | ||||
/ks/ | ||||
Mandarin Chinese | Standard | /ɕ/ | Pinyin romanization | |
Cou | /ɨ/ ~ /ʉ/ | Possibly the only case in the world of ⟨x⟩ used as a vowel. | ||
Dutch | /ks/ | Usually | Mainly used in loanwords | |
/s/ | InTexel | |||
English | /ks/ | Usually; before an unstressed vowel | ||
/gz/ | Before a stressed vowel | |||
/kʃ/ | Groups -xion(-), -xious(-), -xua-; in the word flexure | |||
/gʒ/ | Only in luxury and derivatives | |||
/z/ | Word-initially | |||
/h/ | Don Quixote, Oaxaca, words derived from Classical Nahuatl/Nahuatl | |||
Esperanto | in digraphs only as a substitute for a diacritic | cx, 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/ | Insix (6), dix (10), Auxerre, and Bruxelles (Brussels) | |||
Galician | /ʃ/ | Usually | ||
/(k)s/ | Some words | In 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. | |||
Italian | /ks/ | Mainly used in learned loanwords | ||
Kurdish | /x/ | |||
Lao | /ɕ/ | Romanization | ||
Leonese | /ʃ/ | |||
Ligurian | /ʒ/ | |||
Maltese | /ʃ/ | |||
Mayan | /ʃ/ | Modern Romanization | ||
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 | /tʼ/ | |||
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- ("ex-") before a vowel | |||
/gz/ | In the prefix hexa- ("hexa-") | |||
Sardinian | /ʒ/ | |||
Sicilian | /ʃ/ | Old Sicilian words and names | E.g. Craxi, Joppolo Giancaxio | |
/k(ə)s(ə)/ | Loanwords | |||
Somali | /ħ/ | |||
Spanish | /(k)s/ | Usually | ||
/s/ | Word-initially | |||
/ʃ/ | In some names and words | |||
/t͡ʃ/ | ||||
/x/ | ||||
Swedish | /ks/ | |||
Uzbek | /χ/ | |||
Venetian | /z/ | Usually | ||
/s/ | InVenexia "Venice" | |||
Vietnamese | /s/ |
InEnglish 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] Before ⟨a⟩, ⟨i⟩or⟨u⟩, it can be pronounced /kʃ/or/ɡʒ/ (e.g. sexual and luxury); these result from earlier /ksj/ and /ɡzj/. It also makes the sound /kʃ/ in words ending in -xion (except for axion). When ⟨x⟩ ends a word, it is always /ks/ (e.g. fax), except in loan words such as faux (see French, below).
There are very few English words that start with ⟨x⟩ (the fewest of any letter). 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 XiaomiorXinjiang). Many of the words that start with ⟨x⟩ are of Greek origin, or 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]
In Latin, ⟨x⟩ stood for [ks]. In some languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, handwriting adaptations or simply spelling convention, ⟨x⟩ has other pronunciations:
Additionally, in languages for which the Latin alphabet has been adapted only recently, ⟨x⟩ has been used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by European usage, but in others, for consonants uncommon in Europe. For these no Latin letter stands out as an obvious choice, and since most of the various European pronunciations of ⟨x⟩ can be written by other means, the letter becomes available for more unusual sounds.
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨x⟩ represents a voiceless velar fricative.
Preview | X | x | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X | LATIN SMALL LETTER X | ||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 88 | U+0058 | 120 | U+0078 |
UTF-8 | 88 | 58 | 120 | 78 |
Numeric character reference | X |
X |
x |
x |
EBCDIC family | 231 | E7 | 167 | A7 |
ASCII 1 | 88 | 58 | 120 | 78 |
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Signal flag | Flag semaphore | American manual alphabet (ASL fingerspelling) | British manual alphabet (BSL fingerspelling) | Braille dots-1346 Unified English Braille |
roman numerals.
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.
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Authority control databases: National ![]() |
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