X

X, or x, is the twenty-fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ex (pronounced Template:IPAc-en), plural exes.

History

Western Greek Chi	Etruscan X	Latin X
File:Greek Chi normal.svg	File:EtruscanX-01.svg	File:Capitalis monumentalis X.SVG

The letter Template:Angbr, representing , was inherited from the Etruscan alphabet. It perhaps originated in the Template:Angbr of the Euboean alphabet or another Western Greek alphabet, which also represented . Its relationship with the Template:Angbr of the Eastern Greek alphabets, which represented , is uncertain.

The pronunciation of in the Romance languages underwent sound changes, with various outcomes:

• French: (e.g. laisser from laxare)
• Italian: (e.g. asse from axem) and, in some cases, (e.g. lasciare from laxare)
• Portuguese: (e.g. eixo from axem)
• Romanian: (e.g. coapsă from coxa) and (e.g. lăsa from laxare)
• Old Spanish:
  • Spanish: (e.g. cuja from coxa)

In Old Spanish, Template:Angbr came to represent , which it still represents in most Iberian languages and in the orthographies of other languages influenced by Spanish, such as Nahuatl. In French (with a few exceptions), Italian, Romanian, and modern Spanish, Template:Angbr was replaced by other letters.

The use of Template:Angbr to represent was reintroduced to the Romance languages via Latin loanwords. In many words, the was voiced as .

Use in writing systems

Pronunciation of Template:Angbr by language

Orthography	Phonemes	Environment
Asturian	Template:IPAslink,
Afar	Template:IPAslink
Albanian	Template:IPAslink
Azeri	Template:IPAslink
Basque	Template:IPAslink
Catalan	Template:IPAslink	Usually (word-initially, after consonants, i, au, or eu, in some surnames such as Rexach)
Template:Nwr (Pinyin)	Template:IPAslink
Cou	Template:IPAslink ~ Template:IPAslink
Dutch		Usually, mainly used in loanwords
	Template:IPAslink	In Texel
English		Usually; before an unstressed vowel
		Before a stressed vowel
	Template:IPAslink	Word-initially
	Template:IPAslink	Don Quixote, Oaxaca, and words derived from Classical Nahuatl/Nahuatl
Esperanto	in digraphs only as a substitute for a diacritic	cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, ux are used as substitutes for ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ where these characters are not available, see X-convention
French		Usually; in Aix- (prefix or name of several places)
		Mainly in the prefix ex- followed by a vowel; sometimes word-initially
	Silent	Word-finally with no liaison
	Template:IPAslink	Word-finally with liaison; in sixième (6th) and dixième (10th)
	Template:IPAslink	In six (6), dix (10), Auxerre, and Bruxelles (Brussels)
Galician	Template:IPAslink	Usually
		Some learned loanwords
German		Mainly used in loanwords
Indonesian	Template:IPAslink	In the beginning of a word, mainly used in loanwords for science
		In the middle or the end of a word, although words borrowed with the letter x in the middle or the end of a word are always replaced by the letters 'ks'. For example, the word 'maximum' and 'climax' in Indonesian would be 'maksimal' and 'klimaks'. Letter x on the middle or the end of a word only occurs in names. Mainly used in loanwords for science.
Italian		Mainly used in learned loanwords
Kurdish	Template:IPAslink
Lao romanization	Template:IPAslink	A "low consonant", affects the tone of the following vowel
Leonese	Template:IPAslink
Ligurian	Template:IPAslink
Maltese	Template:IPAslink
Mayan (ALMG)	Template:IPAslink
Nahuatl	Template:IPAslink
Nguni	Template:IPAslink
Norwegian		Archaic
Occitan	Template:IPAslink	Usually
	Template:IPAslink	Before consonants
		In the prefix ex- before vowels in the Provençal, Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine, and Niçard dialects
		Before Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr in the Auvergnat dialect
Oromo	Template:IPAslink
Pirahã	Template:IPAslink
Polish		Unused in Polish orthography, except in loanwords.
Portuguese	Template:IPAslink	Usually, always when word-initially
		Found between vowels in some words, mainly in those that entered the language recently
	Template:IPAslink	When preceded by Template:Angbr and succeeded by a consonant
	Template:IPAslink	In the prefixes Template:Angbr when before a vowel and Template:Angbr
		Optionally in the prefix hexa-, although most dialects just pronounce this prefix's Template:Angbr as or Template:IPAslink
Sardinian	Template:IPAslink
Sicilian	Template:IPAslink	Old Sicilian words and names, e.g. Craxi and Giancaxio
		Loanwords
Somali	Template:IPAslink
Spanish		Usually
	Template:IPAslink	Word-initially
	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	In some names and words
Swedish
Uzbek	Template:IPAslink
Venetian	Template:IPAslink	Usually
	Template:IPAslink	In Venexia, "Venice"
Vietnamese	Template:IPAslink

English

In English orthography, Template:Angbr is typically pronounced as the voiceless consonant cluster Template:IPAc-en when it follows the stressed vowel (e.g. ox), and the voiced consonant Template:IPAc-en when it precedes the stressed vowel (e.g. exam). It is also pronounced Template:IPAc-en when it precedes a silent Template:Angbr and a stressed vowel (e.g. exhaust). Due to yod-coalescence, the sequence Template:Angbr before a vowel can be pronounced Template:IPAc-en resulting from earlier Template:IPAc-en, e.g. in -xion(-), -xious(-). Similarly, the sequence Template:Angbr can be pronounced with Template:IPAc-en (e.g. flexure, sexual) or Template:IPAc-en (in luxury and its derivatives). Due to NG-coalescence, the sequence Template:Angbr can be pronounced Template:IPAc-en in anxiety.

When Template:Angbr ends a word, it is always Template:IPAc-en (e.g. fax), except in loan words such as faux. When Template:Angbr does start a word, it is usually pronounced 'z' (e.g. xylophone, xanthan). When starting in some names or as its own representation, it is pronounced 'eks', in rare recent loanwords or foreign proper names, it can also be pronounced Template:IPAc-en (e.g. the obsolete Vietnamese monetary unit xu) or Template:IPAc-en (e.g. Chinese names starting with Xi, like Xiaomi or Xinjiang). Many of the words that start with Template:Angbr are of Greek origin, standardized trademarks (Xerox), or acronyms (XC).

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-" (e.g. Xmas for Christmas, Xian for Christian), the "crys-" in crystal (XTAL), "by" (SXSW for South by Southwest), or various words starting with "ex-" (e.g. XL for extra large, XOR for exclusive-or, or the extinction symbol).

X is the third least frequently used letter in English (after Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr), with a frequency of about 0.15% in words. There are very few English words that start with Template:Angbr (the fewest of any letter).

Romance languages

In Latin, Template:Angbr stood for . In the Romance languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, Template:Angbr has other pronunciations:

• In Catalan, Template:Angbr has three pronunciations; the most common is Template:IPAslink; as in xarop ('syrup'). Others are: ; fixar ('to fix'), ; examen. In addition, Template:IPAslink gets voiced to Template:IPAblink before voiced consonants; caixmir. Catalan also has the digraph Template:Angbr, pronounced Template:IPAslink.
• In Galician and Leonese, Template:Angbr is pronounced Template:IPAslink in most cases (often used in place of etymological g or j). The pronunciation occurs in learned words, such as 'taxativo' (taxing). However, Galician speakers tend to pronounce it Template:IPAslink, especially when it appears before plosives, such as in externo ('external').
• In French, Template:Angbr usually represents or (primarily in words beginning with ex- followed by a vowel) . It is pronounced Template:IPAslink in some city names such as Bruxelles (although some people pronounce it 'ks') or Auxerre; it is nevertheless pronounced in Aix, the name of several towns. At the ends of other words, it is silent (or Template:IPAslink in liaison if the next word starts with a vowel). Two exceptions are pronounced Template:IPAslink: six ('six') and dix ('ten'). It is pronounced Template:IPAslink in sixième and dixième.
• In Italian, Template:Angbr is either pronounced , as in extra, uxorio, xilofono, or , as in exogamia, when it is preceded by Template:Angbr and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably Venetian, it represents the voiced sibilant Template:IPAslink. It is also used, mainly amongst young people, as a short written form for "per" (meaning "for"); for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This is because in Italian, the multiplication sign is called "per". However, Template:Angbr is found only in loanwords, as it is not part of the standard Italian alphabet; in most words with Template:Angbr, 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 Portuguese, Template:Angbr has four main pronunciations; the most common is Template:IPAslink, as in xícara ('cup'). The other sounds are: as in flexão ('flexion'); Template:IPAslink, when preceded by E and followed by a consonant, as in contexto (Template:IPAslink in European Portuguese), and in a small number of other words, such as próximo (close/next); and (the rarest) Template:IPAslink, which occurs in the prefix "ex-" before a vowel, as in exagerado ('exaggerated'). A rare fifth sound is , coexisting with Template:IPAslink and as acceptable pronunciations in exantema and in words with the Greek prefix 'hexa-'.
• In Sardinian and Ligurian, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink.
• In Old Spanish, Template:Angbr was pronounced Template:IPAslink, as it is still currently in other Iberian Romance languages. Later, the sound evolved to a Template:IPAslink sound. In modern Spanish, due to a spelling reform, whenever Template:Angbr is used for the Template:IPAslink sound it has been replaced with Template:Angbr, including in words that originally had Template:Angbr such as ejemplo or ejercicio, though Template:Angbr is still retained for some names (notably "México", even though "Méjico" may sometimes be used in Spain). Presently, Template:Angbr represents the sound Template:IPAslink (word-initially), or the consonant cluster (e.g. oxígeno, examen). Rarely, it can be pronounced Template:IPAslink as in Old Spanish in some proper nouns such as Raxel (a variant of Rachel) and Uxmal.
• In Venetian, Template:Angbr represents the voiced alveolar sibilant Template:IPAslink, much like in Portuguese 'exagerado', English 'xylophone' or in the French 'sixième'. Examples from medieval texts include raxon ('reason'), prexon ('prison'), dexerto ('desert'), and chaxa or caxa ('home'). Nowadays, the best-known word is xe (is/are). The most notable exception to this rule is the name Venexia, , in which Template:Angbr has evolved from the initial voiced sibilant Template:IPAslink to the present-day voiceless sibilant Template:IPAslink.

Other languages

In languages which adopted the Latin alphabet later, Template:Angbr is used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by Latin or its descendants, but in others for unrelated consonants. Since the various Romance pronunciations of Template:Angbr can often be written in other ways, the letter becomes available for other sounds.

• In Albanian, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink while the digraph Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink.
• It represents Template:IPAslink (voiceless velar fricative) in Apache, Azerbaijani, Kurdish (Hawar alphabet), Georgian (when Latinized), Lojban, Pashto (when Latinized), Tatar (Jaꞑalif, Zamanälif, official romanization of 2012), Uzbek, and Uyghur (Latin script).
• In Basque, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink. Additionally, the digraph Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink.
• In Hanyu Pinyin, Standard Chinese's official transcription system in China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan, the letter Template:Angbr represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative Template:IPAslink, for instance in 'Xi', .
• In Dutch, Template:Angbr usually represents , except in the name of the island of Texel, which is pronounced Tessel. This is because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all sounds have been replaced by Template:IPAslink sounds. Words with an Template:Angbr in the Dutch language are nowadays usually loanwords. In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, family names with Template:Angbr are not uncommon (e.g. Dierckxa and Hendrickx).
• In Esperanto, the x-convention replaces Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr with x-suffixes: Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr.
• In German, generally pronounced ; in native words, however, such as Ochs or wachsen, the cluster is often written Template:Angbr.
• In transliterations of Indian languages, primarily Indo-Aryan languages, Template:Angbr represents the consonant cluster in alternate spellings of words containing 'क्ष' (kṣ), especially names such as Laxmi and Dixit. Less frequently, Template:Angbr is used to represent 'ख़' Template:IPAslink.
• In Lao, based on romanization of Lao consonants, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink, while appears to be homophonous with Template:Angbr, it is a "low consonant" and affects the tone of the following vowel, e.g. in Lan Xang.
• In Maltese, Template:Angbr is pronounced Template:IPAslink or, in some cases, Template:IPAslink (only in loanwords such as 'televixin', and not for all speakers).
• In Nahuatl, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink.
• In Nguni languages, Template:Angbr represents the alveolar lateral click Template:IPAslink.
• In Norwegian, Template:Angbr is generally pronounced , but since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to spell it out as Template:Angbr; it may still be retained in personal names, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language. Usage in Danish and Finnish is similar (while Swedish, on the other hand, makes frequent use of Template:Angbr in native words as well as in loanwords).
• In Pirahã, Template:Angbr symbolizes the glottal stop Template:IPAslink.
• In Polish, Template:Angbr was used prior to 19th century both in loanwords and native words and was pronounced or , e.g. xiążę, xięstwo (now książę, księstwo). This was later replaced by Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr in almost all words and remained only in a few loanwords as 'xenia' (xenien), surnames as Axentowicz, Rexemowski, and Xiężopolski, names as Xawery, and Xymena, and abbreviations.
• In Vietnamese, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPAslink. This sound was Template:IPAblink in Middle Vietnamese, resembling the Portuguese Template:IPAslink, spelled Template:Angbr.

An illustrative example of Template:Angbr as a "leftover" letter is the differing usage in three different Cushitic languages:

• Afar: voiced alveolar implosive Template:IPAslink
• Oromo: alveolar ejective Template:IPAslink
• Somali: voiceless pharyngeal fricative Template:IPAslink

Other systems

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, Template:Angbr IPA represents a voiceless velar fricative.

Other uses

• X mark has a widely accepted meaning of "negative" or "wrong".
• The Roman numeral X represents the number 10.
• In mathematics, x is commonly used as the name for an independent variable or unknown value. The modern tradition of using x, y, and z to represent an unknown (incognita) was introduced by René Descartes in La Géométrie (1637). As a result of its use in algebra, X is often used to represent unknowns in other circumstances (e.g. X-rays, The X-Files, and The Man from Planet X).
• On some identification documents, the letter X represents a non-binary gender, where F means female and M means male.
• In the Cartesian coordinate system, x is used to refer to the horizontal axis.
• It is also sometimes used as a typographic approximation for the multiplication sign, Template:Char. In mathematical typesetting, x meaning an algebraic variable is normally in italic type ($x$), partly to avoid confusion with the multiplication symbol. In fonts containing both x (the letter) and × (the multiplication sign), the two glyphs are dissimilar.
• It can be used as an abbreviation for 'between' in the context of historical dating; e.g. "1483 x 1485".
• Maps and other images sometimes use an X to label a specific location, leading to the expression "X marks the spot".
• In art or fashion, the use of X indicates a collaboration by two or more artists, e.g. Aaron Koblin x Takashi Kawashima. This application, which originated in Japan, now extends to other kinds of collaboration outside the art world. This usage mimics the use of a similar mark in denoting botanical hybrids, for which scientifically the multiplication × is used, but informally, a lowercase "x" is also used.
• At the end of a letter or other correspondence, 'x' can mean a kiss; the earliest example of this usage cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1878.
• An X rating denotes media, such as movies, that are intended for adults only.
• In the Korean language, a series of Xs is used as a visual bleep censor for subtitles and captions, serving the same role as an asterisk (*).
• In the C programming language, "x" preceded by zero (as in 0x or 0X) is used to denote hexadecimal literal values.
• X is commonly used as a prefix term in nouns related to the X Window System and Unix.

Related characters

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet

• X with diacritics: Ẍ ẍ Ẋ ẋ X̂ x̂ ᶍ
• IPA-specific symbols related to X: Template:IPA link
• Teuthonista phonetic transcription-specific symbols related to X:
  • Template:Unichar
  • Template:Unichar
  • Template:Unichar
  • Template:Unichar
• Template:Not a typo : Modifier letter small x is used for phonetic transcription
• Template:Not a typo : Subscript small x is used in Indo-European studies

Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets

• Χ χ : Greek letter Chi, from which the following derive:
  • Ꭓ ꭓ : Latin chi
  • Х х : Cyrillic letter Kha
  • Template:Script : Coptic letter Khe, which derives from Greek Chi
  • Template:Script : Gothic letter enguz, which derives from Greek Chi
  • 𐌗 : Old Italic X, which derives from Greek Chi, and is the ancestor of modern Latin X
    • Template:Script : Runic letter Gyfu, which may derive from old Italic X
• Ξ ξ : Greek letter Xi, which was used in place of Chi in the Eastern (and the modern) Greek alphabets

Other representations

Computing

• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar

See also

• Template:Anl

External links

• Template:Sister-inline
• Template:Sister-inline
• Template:Sister-inline
• Template:Cite AmCyc