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]
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.
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 voicedas/gz/.
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.
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] 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/ (inluxury and its derivatives). Due to NG-coalescence, the sequence ⟨nx⟩ can be pronounced /ŋz/inanxiety.
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 XiaomiorXinjiang). 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:
InCatalan, ⟨x⟩ has three pronunciations; the most common is /ʃ/; as in xarop ('syrup'). Others are: /ks/; fixar ('to fix'), /ɡz/; examen. In addition, /ʃ/ gets voiced to [ʒ] before voiced consonants; caixmir. Catalan also has the digraph ⟨tx⟩, pronounced /tʃ/.
InGalician and Leonese, ⟨x⟩ is pronounced /ʃ/ in most cases (often used in place of etymological gorj). The pronunciation /ks/ occurs in learned words, such as 'taxativo' (taxing). However, Galician speakers tend to pronounce it /s/, especially when it appears before plosives, such as in externo ('external').
InFrench, ⟨x⟩ usually represents /ks/ or (primarily in words beginning with ex- followed by a vowel) /ɡz/. It is pronounced /s/ in some city names such as Bruxelles (although some people pronounce it 'ks') or Auxerre; it is nevertheless pronounced /ks/inAix, the name of several towns. At the ends of other words, it is silent (or/z/inliaison if the next word starts with a vowel). Two exceptions are pronounced /s/: six ('six') and dix ('ten'). It is pronounced /z/insixième and dixième.
InItalian, ⟨x⟩ is either pronounced /ks/, as in extra, uxorio, xilofono,[5]or/ɡz/, as in exogamia, when it is preceded by ⟨e⟩ and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably Venetian, it represents the voiced sibilant/z/. It is also used, mainly amongst young people, as a short written form for "per" (meaning "for"); for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This is because in Italian, the multiplication sign is called "per". However, ⟨x⟩ is found only in loanwords, as it is not part of the standard Italian alphabet; in most words with ⟨x⟩, this letter may be replaced with 's' or 'ss' (with different pronunciation: xilofono/silofono, taxi/tassì) or, rarely, by 'cs' (with the same pronunciation: claxon/clacson).
InPortuguese, ⟨x⟩ has four main pronunciations; the most common is /ʃ/, as in xícara ('cup'). The other sounds are: /ks/ as in flexão ('flexion'); /s/, when preceded by E and followed by a consonant, as in contexto (/ʃ/ in European Portuguese), and in a small number of other words, such as próximo (close/next); and (the rarest) /z/, which occurs in the prefix "ex-" before a vowel, as in exagerado ('exaggerated'). A rare fifth sound is /ɡz/, coexisting with /z/ and /ks/ as acceptable pronunciations in exantema and in words with the Greek prefix 'hexa-'.
InOld Spanish, ⟨x⟩ was pronounced /ʃ/, as it is still currently in other Iberian Romance languages. Later, the sound evolved to a /x/ sound. In modern Spanish, due to a spelling reform, whenever ⟨x⟩ is used for the /x/ sound it has been replaced with ⟨j⟩, including in words that originally had ⟨x⟩ such as ejemploorejercicio, though ⟨x⟩ is still retained for some names (notably "México", even though『Méjico』may sometimes be used in Spain). Presently, ⟨x⟩ represents the sound /s/ (word-initially), or the consonant cluster /ks/ (e.g. oxígeno, examen). Rarely, it can be pronounced /ʃ/ as in Old Spanish in some proper nouns such as Raxel (a variant of Rachel) and Uxmal.
InVenetian, ⟨x⟩ represents the voiced alveolar sibilant /z/, much like in Portuguese 'exagerado', English 'xylophone' or in the French 'sixième'. Examples from medieval texts include raxon ('reason'), prexon ('prison'), dexerto ('desert'), and chaxaorcaxa ('home'). Nowadays, the best-known word is xe (is/are). The most notable exception to this rule is the name Venexia, /veˈnɛsja/, in which ⟨x⟩ has evolved from the initial voiced sibilant /z/ to the present-day voiceless sibilant /s/.
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.
InDutch, ⟨x⟩ usually represents /ks/, except in the name of the island of Texel, which is pronounced Tessel. This is because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all /ks/ sounds have been replaced by /s/ sounds. Words with an ⟨x⟩ in the Dutch language are nowadays usually loanwords. In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, family names with ⟨x⟩ are not uncommon (e.g. Dierckxa and Hendrickx).
InEsperanto, the x-convention replaces ⟨ĉ⟩, ⟨ĝ⟩, ⟨ĥ⟩, ⟨ĵ⟩, ⟨ŝ⟩, and ⟨ŭ⟩ with x-suffixes: ⟨cx⟩, ⟨gx⟩, ⟨hx⟩, ⟨jx⟩, ⟨sx⟩, and ⟨ux⟩.
InGerman, generally pronounced /ks/; in native words, however, such as Ochsorwachsen, the cluster /ks/ is often written ⟨chs⟩.
In transliterations of Indian languages, primarily Indo-Aryan languages, ⟨x⟩ represents the consonant cluster [kʃ] in alternate spellings of words containing 'क्ष' (kṣ), especially names such as Laxmi and Dixit. Less frequently, ⟨x⟩ is used to represent 'ख़' /x/.
InNorwegian, ⟨x⟩ is generally pronounced /ks/, but since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to spell it out as ⟨ks⟩; it may still be retained in personal names, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language. Usage in Danish and Finnish is similar (while Swedish, on the other hand, makes frequent use of ⟨x⟩ in native words as well as in loanwords).
InPolish, ⟨x⟩ was used prior to 19th century both in loanwords and native words and was pronounced /ks/or/ɡz/, e.g. xiążę, xięstwo (now książę, księstwo). This was later replaced by ⟨ks⟩ and ⟨gz⟩ in almost all words and remained only in a few loanwords as 'xenia' (xenien), surnames as Axentowicz, Rexemowski, and Xiężopolski, names as Xawery, and Xymena, and abbreviations.
InVietnamese, ⟨x⟩ represents /s/. This sound was [ɕ] in Middle Vietnamese, resembling the Portuguese /ʃ/, spelled ⟨x⟩.
An illustrative example of ⟨x⟩ as a "leftover" letter is the differing usage in three different Cushitic languages:
It is also sometimes used as a typographic approximation for the multiplication sign, ×. In mathematical typesetting, x meaning an algebraic variable is normally in italic type (), partly to avoid confusion with the multiplication symbol. In fonts containing both x (the letter) and × (the multiplication sign), the two glyphs are dissimilar.
It can be used as an abbreviation for 'between' in the context of historical dating; e.g. "1483 x 1485".
Maps and other images sometimes use an X to label a specific location, leading to the expression "X marks the spot".[11]
In art or fashion, the use of X indicates a collaboration by two or more artists, e.g. Aaron Koblin x Takashi Kawashima. This application, which originated in Japan, now extends to other kinds of collaboration outside the art world.[12] This usage mimics the use of a similar mark in denoting botanical hybrids, for which scientifically the multiplication × is used, but informally, a lowercase "x" is also used.
At the end of a letter or other correspondence, 'x' can mean a kiss;[13] the earliest example of this usage cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1878.[14]
AnX rating denotes media, such as movies, that are intended for adults only.
^ ab"X", Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989); Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (1993); "ex", op. cit.
^"Dizionario di ortografia e pronunzia" [Dictionary of Spelling and Pronunciation]. Dizionario di ortografia e pronunzia (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^King, David A. (2001). The Ciphers of the Monks. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 282. ISBN9783515076401. 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.
^"X, n." OED Online (Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2022), §6. Accessed 11 November 2022.
^"'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.
), partly to avoid confusion with the multiplication symbol. In fonts containing both x (the letter) and × (the multiplication sign), the two glyphs are dissimilar.
Media related to X at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of X at Wiktionary
