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:
“The ungentlemanly expressions and gasconading conduct of yours relative to me yesterday was in true character of yourself and unmask you to the world and plainly show that they were ebullitions of a base mind ... and flow from a source devoid of every refined sentiment or delicate sensations.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
“Noli me tangere for Caesar’s I am,
And wild for to hold though I seem tame.””
—Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503?–1542)
“It is time for dead languages to be quiet.”
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)