Do we miss them?

These letters were left out of the English alphabet, and here's why

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Some letters and symbols were once part of the English alphabet or its ancestors. But time and lack of use eventually made them be dropped, replaced, or forgotten. Most of them come from Old English, Middle English, Latin, or early printing traditions, and their stories are full of phonetic shifts, shortcuts, and the drive toward standardization. Let’s look at them!

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Thorn was used to represent the "th" sound in words like thin or this. It visually resembled a modern P, which often causes confusion when seen in old manuscripts.

Common in Old English, it eventually got phased out during the Middle English period, replaced by the two-letter combination th. Thorn survives today in modern Icelandic, though!

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Eth was another letter used to represent the "th" sound, particularly the voiced version. It looked a bit like a crossed D and appeared alongside thorn in Old English texts.

Over time, English speakers settled on using "th" for both the voiced and voiceless sounds, and eth gradually fell out of use. Like thorn, eth still exists in modern Icelandic.

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Wynn was used to represent the "w" sound in Old English—a sound that Latin lacked a letter for. It resembled a capital "P," though it had no connection to that sound.

Instead of writing two "u"s (as in "uu"), scribes used wynn. Over time, however, "uu" evolved into the modern "w," and wynn was phased out during the Middle English period.

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Yogh had a rather confusing role. It could represent several sounds: a throaty "gh" like in "night," a "y" as in "yes," or even a soft "g" like in "genre," depending on context and region. It looked like the number 3 and was used heavily in Middle English.

As spelling and pronunciation evolved, these sounds were either lost or spelled differently (gh, y, j, or g).

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Ash is a fusion of "a" and "e," borrowed from Latin and used in Old English words like æthel (noble). It represented a distinct vowel sound, somewhere between "a" and "e," like the short "a" in cat.

In early English texts, it was treated as a letter in its own right. Over time, as English spelling standardized, ash was replaced by "a" or "e" depending on pronunciation.

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Think of Ethel as a relative of ash. This ligature combines "o" and "e" and shows up in Latin borrowings like fœtus, œuvre, and œconomy. As spelling was standardized, it got the axe in favor of plain old "oe" or even just "e."

You’ll still spot it in French and in stylized English writing.

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This curious mark, which resembles a 7, means "and." Created by Cicero’s secretary Tiro in ancient Rome, it became a popular shorthand used by monks and scribes throughout the medieval world, including in Old English.

In Ireland, it persisted longer than almost anywhere else, until the more elegant ampersand (&) eventually took its place.

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Well, we know this one! But as a symbol, not as a letter from the alphabet. Once upon a time, schoolchildren recited it after "Z": X, Y, Z, and "per se and," which eventually morphed into the word "ampersand."

The symbol itself is a ligature of the Latin word et, meaning "and."

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This one looked like a medieval mashup of a "g" and a "z," and was mostly found in Irish and Old English manuscripts.

It served the same purpose as today’s "g." It stuck around until the Carolingian script took over, giving us the more familiar "g" we know today.

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At first glance, the Long S (ſ) looks like a stretched-out "f" missing its crossbar, but it’s an "s" in disguise. This character was used at the start and middle of words (e.g., ſunshine, bleſſing), but never at the end.

The character was ubiquitous in English printing until the late 1700s, when it was gradually replaced by the modern "s."

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The letter itself sounded like the "ng" at the end of "fang" or "sing."

The letter resembles an "n" with a tail and remains in use today in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and in languages such as Sami and Māori. However, English spelling never officially adopted it.

10 weird historical events that no one has been able to explain (yet)

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Who doesn't like a good mystery? And if the mystery isn’t a work of fiction but the result of a true story, even better! The great unsolved enigmas of history are absolutely fascinating. Some have been solved over time, but there are still many old secrets for which neither scientists nor historians have found an explanation—yet. Time-travel with us as we uncover 10 of the biggest historical mysteries that will probably never be cracked!

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Bermeja Island is mentioned in navigation texts written by European travelers and appears in cartography from the 16th to 19th centuries. Old maps place it off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula; however, multiple searches over the years have yielded no concrete evidence of its existence.

So, what happened to Isla Bermeja? Was it a cartographic error? Did it sink due to a tidal wave? Because of its geopolitical significance, some have even suggested that it was blown up by the CIA! A 2009 study by the Autonomous University of Mexico concluded that Isla Bermeja does not exist today, nor were any traces found at its supposed coordinates. Yet, it will forever remain a mystery that will surely keep many entertained.

Credit: Credit: Big Ear Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1977, Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope, used in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, detected a signal now known as the Wow! signal. While reviewing the data, astronomer Jerry R. Ehman noticed a sequence represented as "6EQUJ5." Baffled by the anomaly, he circled it and wrote "Wow!" in the margins.

The signal lasted 72 seconds and, unfortunately, has never been repeated. To this day, no one can fully explain the phenomenon, although some suggest it may have come from a man-made source. Still, the Wow! signal remains one of the strongest candidates for potential extraterrestrial contact ever detected.

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How is it possible for an entire village to vanish without a trace? Believe it or not, this is said to have happened nearly a century ago. According to lore, a small Inuit village in Canada was well known among fur trappers who visited regularly to trade. But in 1930, something very strange supposedly occurred.

A hunter named Joe Labelle claimed he visited the village one day and couldn’t find a single person. Reports said there were guns and food left behind, and even claims that the graves in the cemetery were empty. A thorough investigation, however, found no conclusive evidence of what happened to the villagers. Some witnesses from nearby towns even reported seeing a huge green light. Theories ranged from mass migration to extraterrestrial abductions. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has since dismissed the case as an urban legend. Some still believe the story to be true.

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We know thousands of shipwreck stories, but this one is quite unique. The MV Joyita, designed to be nearly unsinkable, was found adrift in the South Pacific, practically unharmed, but the crew had disappeared completely.

In October 1955, the American merchant vessel left the port of Apia in Samoa with 16 crew members and 9 passengers bound for the Tokelau Islands. After days without news, a rescue mission was launched. Five weeks later, the Joyita was spotted more than 600 miles west of its intended route. The vessel was partially submerged, and there was no sign of the passengers or crew. Four tons of cargo and all three life rafts were missing. They were never seen again.

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Do you know where one of the best-preserved mummies was found? Hint: not in Egypt. Xin Zhui, the Marquise of Dai during the Western Han Dynasty in China, was discovered in her tomb at Mawangdui 2,000 years after her death, along with hundreds of valuable documents and artifacts.

What makes this mummy so extraordinary is how well-preserved her body is. Her organs and veins remain intact, and she still has hair and even eyelashes. Scientists analyzed the fluid present in the coffin and discovered it was acidic and contained salt and magnesium. They believe this mysterious liquid may have been responsible for preserving Xin Zhui so well. What they don’t know is whether it was intentionally poured into the coffin or came from the body itself.

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The United States has its fair share of presidents who died while in office, but none of our 45 presidents have ever disappeared without a trace. Did you know that this actually happened in The Land Down Under?

Harold Edward Holt was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He loved the ocean and spearfishing. During a weekend trip with friends, Holt visited the remote Cheviot Beach to take a swim. Rough sea conditions that day caused him to be swept away by the waves, and he never reappeared. Despite an intensive search, his body was never found, which has given rise to numerous conspiracy theories. Ironically, Australians built the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre in Melbourne in his honor.

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Many famous criminals have managed to remain unidentified for decades, but the D.B. Cooper case is something else entirely. In 1971, Cooper boarded a flight from Portland to Seattle. Shortly after takeoff, he showed a flight attendant a device he claimed was a bomb and demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in cash.

The crew landed to meet Cooper’s demands in exchange for the passengers and then took off again. As the plane flew over southwestern Washington, Cooper jumped into the cold, rainy night carrying his haul. His whereabouts and true identity were never discovered, although it is likely he didn’t survive the jump. In 1980, some of the ransom money was found near the Columbia River. Although the FBI officially closed the case in 2016, amateur sleuths continue to try to crack it.

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Can you imagine an epidemic where the main symptom is uncontrollable dancing? Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? Yet this really happened during the Middle Ages. In 1518, a dancing plague struck Strasbourg, Alsace, in what is now France. This strange condition affected up to 400 people, making them dance frantically for weeks. It is said that some even died of heart attacks, exhaustion, or strokes.

Doctors and authorities tried all kinds of measures to stop the spread. They even banned music for a while! To this day, scientists are not certain what caused this bizarre condition: it may have been food poisoning from toxins in the ergot fungus, or perhaps a case of stress-induced mass hysteria.

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The Voynich manuscript is a codex written roughly 500 years ago in an unknown language and writing system by an anonymous author. Known as Voynichese, the manuscript was named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish bibliophile and antiquarian who purchased it in 1912.

Radiocarbon testing has shown that it dates to the early 15th century. Many cryptographers and codebreakers have attempted to decipher its roughly 240 pages without success. The manuscript contains diagrams and illustrations of unknown plants and astrological symbols. Some believe it may be a made-up language, a secret code, a work of fiction, or even a hoax. If you think you can solve this mystery, the Voynich manuscript is available for viewing at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

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Similar to the Voynich manuscript, the Phaistos Disc is a fired clay disc believed to have been created during the Bronze Age. It was discovered by an Italian archaeologist in the basement of a palace in Crete, Greece, in 1908.

What makes this disc fascinating is that it contains a mysterious message. Stamped into the clay is a set of signs, forming a text that many scientists have tried to decipher—without success. It is considered an early attempt at printing, a technological innovation that would not become widespread for several centuries. While enthusiasts still hope the enigma can be solved, this is unlikely unless other documents are discovered to provide context.