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O :: O () O, the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, derives its form, value, and name from the Greek O, through the Latin. The letter came into the Greek from the Ph/nician, which possibly derived it ultimately from the Egyptian. Etymologically, the letter o is most closely related to a, e, and u; as in E. bone, AS. ban; E. stone, AS. stan; E. broke, AS. brecan to break; E. bore, AS. beran to bear; E. dove, AS. d/fe; E. toft, tuft; tone, tune; number, F. nombre..

Vocabulary :: Vocabulary (n.) A list or collection of words arranged in alphabetical order and explained; a dictionary or lexicon, either of a whole language, a single work or author, a branch of science, or the like; a word-book..

Kyriological :: Kyriological (a.) Serving to denote objects by conventional signs or alphabetical characters; as, the original Greek alphabet of sixteen letters was called kyriologic, because it represented the pure elementary sounds. See Curiologic..

Q :: Q () the seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, has but one sound (that of k), and is always followed by u, the two letters together being sounded like kw, except in some words in which the u is silent. See Guide to Pronunciation, / 249. Q is not found in Anglo-Saxon, cw being used instead of qu; as in cwic, quick; cwen, queen. The name (k/) is from the French ku, which is from the Latin name of the same letter; its form is from the Latin, which derived it, through a Greek alphabet, from th

A :: A () The first letter of the English and of many other alphabets. The capital A of the alphabets of Middle and Western Europe, as also the small letter (a), besides the forms in Italic, black letter, etc., are all descended from the old Latin A, which was borrowed from the Greek Alpha, of the same form; and this was made from the first letter (/) of the Phoenician alphabet, the equivalent of the Hebrew Aleph, and itself from the Egyptian origin. The Aleph was a consonant letter, with a guttural

X :: X () X, the twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, has three sounds; a compound nonvocal sound (that of ks), as in wax; a compound vocal sound (that of gz), as in example; and, at the beginning of a word, a simple vocal sound (that of z), as in xanthic. See Guide to Pronunciation, // 217, 270, 271..

Acrostic :: Acrostic (n.) A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian.

Cipher :: Cipher (n.) A private alphabet, system of characters, or other mode of writing, contrived for the safe transmission of secrets; also, a writing in such characters..

Transliterate :: Transliterate (v. t.) To express or represent in the characters of another alphabet; as, to transliterate Sanskrit words by means of English letters..

I :: I () I, the ninth letter of the English alphabet, takes its form from the Phoenician, through the Latin and the Greek. The Phoenician letter was probably of Egyptian origin. Its original value was nearly the same as that of the Italian I, or long e as in mete. Etymologically I is most closely related to e, y, j, g; as in dint, dent, beverage, L. bibere; E. kin, AS. cynn; E. thin, AS. /ynne; E. dominion, donjon, dungeon..

Alphabetic :: Alphabetic (a.) Alt. of Alphabetica.

D :: D () The fourth letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. The English letter is from Latin, which is from Greek, which took it from Ph/nician, the probable ultimate origin being Egyptian. It is related most nearly to t and th; as, Eng. deep, G. tief; Eng. daughter, G. tochter, Gr. qyga`thr, Skr. duhitr. See Guide to Pronunciation, Ã178, 179, 229..

G :: G () G is the seventh letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. It has two sounds; one simple, as in gave, go, gull; the other compound (like that of j), as in gem, gin, dingy. See Guide to Pronunciation, // 231-6, 155, 176, 178, 179, 196, 211, 246..

Read :: Read (v. t.) To go over, as characters or words, and utter aloud, or recite to one's self inaudibly; to take in the sense of, as of language, by interpreting the characters with which it is expressed; to peruse; as, to read a discourse; to read the letters of an alphabet; to read figures; to read the notes of music, or to read music; to read a book..

N :: N () the fourteenth letter of English alphabet, is a vocal consonent, and, in allusion to its mode of formation, is called the dentinasal or linguanasal consonent. Its commoner sound is that heard in ran, done; but when immediately followed in the same word by the sound of g hard or k (as in single, sink, conquer), it usually represents the same sound as the digraph ng in sing, bring, etc. This is a simple but related sound, and is called the gutturo-nasal consonent. See Guide to Pronunciation,

Alphabetism :: Alphabetism (n.) The expression of spoken sounds by an alphabet.

Digamma :: Digamma (n.) A letter (/, /) of the Greek alphabet, which early fell into disuse..

T :: T () the twentieth letter of the English alphabet, is a nonvocal consonant. With the letter h it forms the digraph th, which has two distinct sounds, as in thin, then. See Guide to Pronunciation, //262-264, and also //153, 156, 169, 172, 176, 178-180..

Alphabetarian :: Alphabetarian (n.) A learner of the alphabet; an abecedarian.

H :: H () the eighth letter of the English alphabet, is classed among the consonants, and is formed with the mouth organs in the same position as that of the succeeding vowel. It is used with certain consonants to form digraphs representing sounds which are not found in the alphabet, as sh, th, /, as in shall, thing, /ine (for zh see /274); also, to modify the sounds of some other letters, as when placed after c and p, with the former of which it represents a compound sound like that of tsh, as in ch

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