S
There is a common legend explaining S, the letter with the hissing sound. Because of its curved shape and its hissing sound many people believe it to be derived from a snake. Its real history is easily followed from Phoenician “shin” or “sin” (teeth) to the present day. Its form closely resembled our W. The Greeks made it perpendicular for their “sigma” and the Romans simplified and curved it giving S (ess).
T
Our twentieth letter, T, is particularly interesting because it is derived from “tahv” a mark or cross made by people who could not write, and no doubt their signature frequently resembled it. We must not forget that even Charlemagne and other kings of the middle ages had to make their mark or trace their initials through stencil plates. The only change of “tahv” to Greek “tau,” and to Roman T (tay) was the raising of the cross bar.
U-V-Y
The letters U, V and Y were all taken from the letter “Upsilon,” and it may have been derived from the queer Hebrew form of “Ayin” which closely resembles Y. The letters U and V were interchangeable. Upsilon, known as the “Samian letter,” was used by Pythagoras as an emblem to represent the parting of the ways—the young man making a choice in life.
W
Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers contributed two letters, W (wen) and another often confused with Y, called “thorn.” These were introduced during the thirteenth century. The French always called the former letter double vay, and in English it may be said to represent double U, as its name indicates. The letter “thorn” had the value of the digraph “th,” and “ye” in old English should be pronounced “the” like the definite article.
X-Z
Although we have no direct need for the letter X, for Z can be substituted for it when it is used as an initial letter, and “ks” when used elsewhere, it has remained in the alphabet since its frequent use by the Greeks. It came from the Roman X (eex) which may have been derived from the Greek “ksi.” The latter resembles the Phoenician character “samech,” meaning a post or support.