Relative Frequencies of Letters in Other Languages
| Letter | French | German | Spanish | Portuguese | Esperanto | Italian | Turkish | Swedish | Polish | Dutch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | 7.636% | 6.51% | 12.53% | 14.63% | 12.12% | 11.74% | 11.68% | 9.3% | 8.0% | 7.49% |
| b | 0.901% | 1.89% | 1.42% | 1.04% | 0.98% | 0.92% | 2.95% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.58% |
| c | 3.260% | 3.06% | 4.68% | 3.88% | 0.78% | 4.5% | 0.97% | 1.3% | 3.8% | 1.24% |
| d | 3.669% | 5.08% | 5.86% | 4.99% | 3.04% | 3.73% | 4.87% | 4.5% | 3.0% | 5.93% |
| e | 14.715% | 17.40% | 13.68% | 12.57% | 8.99% | 11.79% | 9.01% | 9.9% | 6.9% | 18.91% |
| f | 1.066% | 1.66% | 0.69% | 1.02% | 1.03% | 0.95% | 0.44% | 2.0% | 0.1% | 0.81% |
| g | 0.866% | 3.01% | 1.01% | 1.30% | 1.17% | 1.64% | 1.34% | 3.3% | 1.0% | 3.40% |
| h | 0.737% | 4.76% | 0.70% | 1.28% | 0.38% | 1.54% | 1.14% | 2.1% | 1.0% | 2.38% |
| i | 7.529% | 7.55% | 6.25% | 6.18% | 10.01% | 11.28% | 8.27%* | 5.1% | 7.0% | 6.50% |
| j | 0.545% | 0.27% | 0.44% | 0.40% | 3.50% | 0.00% | 0.01% | 0.7% | 1.9% | 1.46% |
| k | 0.049% | 1.21% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 4.16% | 0.00% | 4.71% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 2.25% |
| l | 5.456% | 3.44% | 4.97% | 2.78% | 6.14% | 6.51% | 5.75% | 5.2% | 3.1% | 3.57% |
| m | 2.968% | 2.53% | 3.15% | 4.74% | 2.99% | 2.51% | 3.74% | 3.5% | 2.4% | 2.21% |
| n | 7.095% | 9.78% | 6.71% | 5.05% | 7.96% | 6.88% | 7.23% | 8.8% | 4.7% | 10.03% |
| o | 5.378% | 2.51% | 8.68% | 10.73% | 8.78% | 9.83% | 2.45% | 4.1% | 7.1% | 6.06% |
| p | 3.021% | 0.79% | 2.51% | 2.52% | 2.74% | 3.05% | 0.79% | 1.7% | 2.4% | 1.57% |
| q | 1.362% | 0.02% | 0.88% | 1.20% | 0.00% | 0.51% | 0 | 0.007% | - | 0.009% |
| r | 6.553% | 7.00% | 6.87% | 6.53% | 5.91% | 6.37% | 6.95% | 8.3% | 3.5% | 6.41% |
| s | 7.948% | 7.27% | 7.98% | 7.81% | 6.09% | 4.98% | 2.95% | 6.3% | 3.8% | 3.73% |
| t | 7.244% | 6.15% | 4.63% | 4.74% | 5.27% | 5.62% | 3.09% | 8.7% | 2.4% | 6.79% |
| u | 6.311% | 4.35% | 3.93% | 4.63% | 3.18% | 3.01% | 3.43% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.99% |
| v | 1.628% | 0.67% | 0.90% | 1.67% | 1.90% | 2.10% | 0.98% | 2.4% | - | 2.85% |
| w | 0.114% | 1.89% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0 | 0.03% | 3.6% | 1.52% |
| x | 0.387% | 0.03% | 0.22% | 0.21% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0 | 0.1% | - | 0.04% |
| y | 0.308% | 0.04% | 0.90% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.37% | 0.6% | 3.2% | 0.035% |
| z | 0.136% | 1.13% | 0.52% | 0.47% | 0.50% | 0.49% | 1.50% | 0.02% | 5.1% | 1.39% |
| à | 0.486% | 0 | 0 | see a | 0 | see a | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | see a |
| å | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.6% | 0 | - |
| ä | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1% | 0 | see a |
| ą | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see a | - |
| œ | 0.018% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ç | 0.085% | 0 | 0 | see c | 0 | 0 | 1.26% | 0 | 0 | - |
| ĉ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.66% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ć | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see c | - |
| è | 0.271% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see e | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | see e |
| é | 1.904% | 0 | 0 | see e | 0 | see e | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | see e |
| ê | 0.225% | 0 | 0 | see e | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ë | 0.001% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see e |
| ę | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see e | - |
| ĝ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.69% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ğ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.13% | 0 | 0 | - |
| ĥ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.02% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| î | 0.045% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ì | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see i | 0 | 0 | 0 | see i |
| ï | 0.005% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see i |
| ı | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.20%* | 0 | 0 | - |
| ĵ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.12% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ł | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see l | - |
| ñ | 0 | 0 | 0.31% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ń | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see n | - |
| ò | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see o | 0 | 0 | 0 | see o |
| ö | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.87% | 1.5% | 0 | see o |
| ó | 0 | - | 0 | see o | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see o | see o |
| ŝ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.38% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ş | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.94% | 0 | 0 | - |
| ś | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see s | - |
| ß | 0 | 0.31% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ù | 0.058% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see u | 0 | 0 | 0 | see u |
| ŭ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.52% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| ü | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.99% | 0 | 0 | see u |
| ź | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | see z | - |
| ż | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.7% | - |
*See Dotted and dotless I
The figure below illustrates the frequency distributions of the 26 most common Latin letters across some languages.
Based on these tables, the 'etaoin shrdlu'-equivalent results for each language is as follows:
- French: 'esait nrulo'; (Indo-European: Romance; traditionally, 'esartinulop' is used, in part for its ease of pronunciation)
- Spanish: 'eaosr nidlc'; (Indo-European: Romance)
- Portuguese: 'aeosr indmt' (Indo-European: Romance)
- Italian: 'eaion lrtsc'; (Indo-European: Romance)
- Esperanto: 'aieon lsrtk' (artificial language – influenced by Indo-European languages, Romance, Germanic mostly)
- German: 'enisr atdhu'; (Indo-European: Germanic)
- Swedish: 'eantr slido'; (Indo-European: Germanic)
- Turkish: 'aeinr ldkmu'; (Altaic: Turkic)
- Dutch: 'enati rodsl'; (Indo-European: Germanic)
- Polish: 'aoiez nscwr'; (Indo-European: Slavic)
All these languages use a basically similar 25+ character alphabet.
Read more about this topic: Letter Frequency
Famous quotes containing the words relative, letters and/or languages:
“And since the average lifetime—the relative longevity—is far greater for memories of poetic sensations than for those of heartbreaks, since the very long time that the grief I felt then because of Gilbert, it has been outlived by the pleasure I feel, whenever I wish to read, as in a sort of sundial, the minutes between twelve fifteen and one o’clock, in the month of May, upon remembering myself chatting ... with Madame Swann under the reflection of a cradle of wisteria.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls.
For, thus friends absent speak.”
—John Donne (c. 1572–1631)
“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.”
—J.G. (James Graham)