The Letter Z

The letter Z is the last letter of the Latin alphabet but is not based on the last letter of the Greek alphabet – Omega. It is actually based on the letter Zeta, which was taken from the Phoenician letter Zayin. The letter Zeta looks a lot like the letter Z as we know it, but the letter Zayin closely resembles our letter I.

There are thoughts that the Semantic letter meant weapon and was the seventh letter. It is the last consonant of the alphabet and is commonly replaced by the letter S, especially when considering the different types of English languages that there are. For example, the American English with use Z when it comes to words like “realize” and “patronize” but the UK English will use the letter S for those words instead – realize becomes realise.

There are different sounds for the letter. In the majority of English dialects, the letter Z is pronounced as “zed”. However, in the 17^th century England, it was pronounced “Zee”, which is something that the US English has taken.

It is traditionally written as an N turned clockwise by 90 degrees. However, there are times that it may be mistaken for the number 2, which is why it is not used for number plates and vehicle identification numbers. For some, the letter is written with a horizontal line in the middle to denote that it is a Z and not the number 2. The letter is usually written the same for the upper case and the lower case, but there are times that the lower case is written with a tale at the bottom. This is traditionally the case for joined up handwriting and originates from the Early Modern Blackletter.

There are very few words that will begin with the letter Z in the English language and is one of the rarest letters used at all, especially when it comes to UK English. There are times that words sound like they are spelled with the letter Z but have an S instead, such as chose and choose.

Using the letter Z together, in the case of zzzz, denotes that someone is sleeping. This is due to the sound of snoring can sometimes sound like that.

When used in scrabble, the letter is worth 10 points. This is the highest amount of points that any letter is worth. However, there is only one so it is worth thinking carefully about placing it. If you have it from the start of the game, choose carefully and look out for the bonus tiles. However, if you are coming close to the end of the game, you will just want to get rid of it instead of worrying about those 10 points being taken from your total score.