x = ks, which are used instead.
y always consonantal, as in yea (Fr. ligne would be re-written lēny).
zh, as s in pleasure = Fr. j.
THE NEW
GRESHAM ENCYCLOPEDIA
VOLUME I
A, the first letter in many alphabets. The sound most commonly belonging to it, as in French, Italian, German, &c., is that which is heard in father, pronounced short or long. In English the letter is made to represent at least seven sounds, as in father, mat, mate, mare, many, ball, what, besides being used in such digraphs as ea in heat, oa in boat.—A, in music, is the sixth note in the diatonic scale of C, and stands when in perfect tune to the latter note in the ratio of 3/5 to 1. The second string of the violin is tuned to this note.
A 1, a symbol attached to vessels of the highest class in Lloyd's register of shipping, A referring to the hull of the vessel, 1 to the rigging and whole equipment. When A 1 has a number prefixed, as 100 A 1, 90 A 1, the number denotes that the vessel is built according to certain specifications. See Shipbuilding.
Aa (ä) (Old Ger. aha, water; allied to Lat. aqua, water), the name of a great many streams of Central and Northern Europe.