X - Linguistic Usage

Linguistic Usage

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, represents a voiceless velar fricative.

In Latin, X stood for . In some languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, handwriting adaptations or simply spelling convention, X has other pronunciations:

• Basque: as a spelling for . Additionally there is the digraph tx .
• Dutch: X usually represents, except when it's used for the island of Texel, which is pronounced Tessel. This is because of a historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all -x- sounds have been replaced with -s- sounds. Words with an -x- in the Dutch language are nowadays usually loanwords.
• English: X is typically a sign for the compound consonants ; or sometimes when followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel, or when followed by silent h and an accented vowel (e.g. exhaust, exam); usually at the beginnings of words (e.g. xylophone, Xenon), and in some compounds keeps the sound, as in (e.g. meta-xylene). It also makes the sound in words ending in -xion (typically used only in British-based spellings of the language; American spellings tend to use -ction). Before i or u it can also represent the sounds or, for example, in the words luxury and sexual, respectively: these result from earlier and . Final x is always (e.g. ax/axe) except in loan words such as faux (see French, below).
  In abbreviations, it can represent "trans-" (e.g. XMIT for transmit, XFER for transfer), "cross-" (e.g. X-ing for crossing; XREF for cross-reference), "Christ" as short hand for the labarum (e.g. Xmas for Christmas; Xian for Christian), the "Crys" in Crystal (XTAL), or various words starting with "ex" (e.g. XL for extra large; XOR for exclusive-or).
  There are very few English words that start with X – the least amount of any letter. Many of the words that do start with X are either standardized trademarks (XEROX) or acronyms (XC). No words in the Basic English vocabulary begin with X, but it occurs in words beginning with other letters. It is often found in a word with an E before it. X is the third most rarely used letter in the English language.
• French: at the ends of words, silent (or in liaison if the next word starts with a vowel). This usage arose as a handwriting alteration of final -us. Three exceptions are pronounced : six ("six"), dix ("ten") and Bruxelles. It is pronounced in sixième and dixième.
• In Italian, X is either pronounced, as in extra, uxorio, xilofono, or, as exogamia, when it is preceded by e and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably Venetian, it represents the voiced sibilant . It is also used, mainly amongst the young, as a short written form for "per", meaning "for": for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This because in Italian the multiplication sign (similar to x) is called "per". However, X is only found in loanwords, as it is not part of the standard Italian alphabet; in most words with X, this letter may be replaced with S or SS (with different pronunciation: xilofono/silofono, taxi/tassì) or, rarely, by CS (with the same pronunciation: claxon/clacson).
• In Norwegian, X is generally pronounced, but since the nineteenth century there has been a tendency to spell it out as ks whenever possible; it may still be retained in names of people, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language. Usage in Danish, German and Finnish is similar.
• Spanish: In Old Spanish, X was pronounced, as it is still currently in other Iberian Romance languages. Later, the sound evolved to a hard sound. In modern Spanish, the hard sound is spelled with a j, or with a g before e and i, though x is still retained for some names (notably México, which alternates with Méjico). Now, X represents the sound (word-initially), or the consonant cluster (e.g. oxígeno, examen). Even more rarely, the x can be pronounced as in Old Spanish in some proper nouns such as Raxel (a variant of Rachel) and Uxmal.
• In Galician (a language related to Portuguese and spoken in Northwestern Spain), and Leonese, used in Spain, x is pronounced in most cases. In learned words, such as 'taxativo' (taxing), the x is pronounced . However, Galician speakers tend to pronounce it, especially when it appears in implosive position, such as in 'externo' (external).
• In Catalan, x has three sounds; the most common is ; as in 'xarop' (syrup). Other sounds are: ; 'fixar' (to fix), ; 'examen'. In addition gets voiced to before voiced consonants; 'caixmir'. Catalan also has the digraph tx, pronounced .
• In Portuguese, x has four sounds; the most common is, as in 'xícara' (cup). The other sounds are: as in 'fênix/fénix' (phoenix), as in 'próximo' (close/next), and (the rarest), as in 'exagerado' (exaggerate).
• In Venetian it represents the voiced alveolar sibilant much like in Portuguese 'exagerado', English 'xylophone' or in the French 'sixième'. Examples from medieval texts include raxon (reason), prexon (prison), dexerto (desert), chaxa/caxa (home). Nowadays, the best-known word is xe (is/are). The most notable exception to this rule is the name Venexia in which x has evolved from the initial voiced sibilant to the present day voiceless sibilant.
• In Uyghur (Latin script), x represents the sound .
• In Albanian, x represents, while the digraph xh represents .
• In Maltese, x is pronounced or, in some cases, (only in loanwords such as 'televixin', and not for all speakers).

Additionally, in languages for which the Latin alphabet has been adapted only recently, x has been used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by European usage, but in others, for consonants uncommon in Europe. For these no Latin letter stands out as an obvious choice, and since most of the various European pronunciations of x can be written by other means, the letter becomes available for more unusual sounds.

• X represents in e.g. Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Lojban, Tatar, Uzbek, Pashto and Uyghur (Latin script).
• Esperanto: The x-convention replaces ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, and ŭ with cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, and ux.
• In Hindi, x represents the sound in alternate spellings of words containing क्ष, especially names such as Laxmi and Dixit.
• In Nahuatl, x represents .
• Nguni languages: x represents the alveolar lateral click .
• In Pirahã, x symbolizes the glottal stop .
• An illustrating example of x as a "leftover" letter is differing usage in three different East Cushitic languages:
  • Afar language: voiced alveolar implosive
  • Oromo language: alveolar ejective
  • Somali language: voiceless pharyngeal fricative