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:
“She went in there to muse on being rid
Of relative beneath the coffin lid.
No one was by. She stuck her tongue out; slid.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“Do not write me studied letters but ramble as you please.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“It is time for dead languages to be quiet.”
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)