Which of these symbols is the lowercase letter eth?
Answerð
Eth is written ð in lowercase; þ is thorn, æ is ash and ø is used in Danish and Norwegian.
Language · Facts & stats
Eth facts & stats
7 fact-checked facts about the letter eth, each with the reason behind it. 5 more are in today's round and join this page after it closes.
The basics
Eth was used to write which historical language?
AnswerOld English
Scribes writing Old English used ð and þ for the 'th' sounds that Latin letters lacked.
Going deeper
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, ð stands for the 'th' sound in which word?
Answerthis
IPA ð is the voiced 'th' in 'this'; the voiceless 'th' in 'thin' uses a different symbol.
Which letter did Old English use alongside eth for 'th' sounds?
AnswerThorn (þ)
Old English scribes used both eth and thorn for 'th' sounds; wynn was 'w', yogh a 'g/y' sound and ash a vowel.
The "ye" in old-style signs like "Ye Olde Shoppe" came from which letter?
AnswerThorn, written in a way that looked like y
Early printers often used 'y' to stand in for thorn, so 'ye' was really 'the'.
Expert level
Which IPA symbol represents the voiceless 'th' sound in 'thin'?
Answerθ
The IPA uses θ (theta) for the voiceless 'th' in 'thin' and ð for the voiced one in 'this'.
Besides Icelandic, which modern national language uses ð in its alphabet?
AnswerFaroese
Faroese, spoken in the Faroe Islands, also keeps the letter ð in its alphabet alongside Icelandic.
Know these cold?Today's round is five questions like these, 20 seconds each. Your streak and level follow you to every arena.Play today's round