1147. In this bonus segment that originally ran in October, we look at the fascinating history of the "new letters" of the alphabet — V, W, X, Y, and Z. Danny Bate explains why T was the original end of the alphabet and how letters were added by the Greeks and Romans. We also look at the origin of the letter Y, which was originally a vowel, and the two historical reasons we call the final letter “zee” or “zed.”

Find Danny Bate on his website, Bluesky or on X. 

Get the book, "Why Q Needs U."

Listen to Danny's podcast, "A Language I Love Is..."

Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels)

• Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4
• Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205
• Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0B
• Guardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7

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