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    Untitled 2

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    Definition and usage

    Further information: Grapheme, Glyph, and Character (symbol)


    A letter is a type of grapheme, which is a contrastive unit in a writing system. The contemporary English-language
    alphabet consists of twenty-six letters, each of which corresponds to one or more sounds. Letters are combined to
    form words. A letter is classified as either a consonant or a vowel, depending on how its sound is produced
    (vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y and w— with y and w only sometimes classed as vowels[clarification needed]). The
    basic Roman alphabet is used by hundreds of languages around the world.[3]

    There are more phonemes in English–about 44–than there are letters of the alphabet.[4] A letter may therefore be
    associated with more than one phoneme, with the phoneme determined by the surrounding letters or etymology of
    the word. Regional accents have a significant effect; the letter a can range from five to twelve sounds depending
    on the origin of the speaker.[5] As an example of positional effects, the letter c is pronounced [k] before a, o, u, or
    consonants (e.g. critical), but is pronounced [s] before e, i, or y (e.g. democracy). Conversely, the same phoneme
    may be shared by more than one letter, as shown by the c and s in fence and tense.

    A sequence of graphemes representing a phoneme is called a polygraph. A digraph is a case of polygraphy


    consisting of two graphemes.[6] Examples of digraphs in English include ch, sh, and th. A phoneme can also be
    represented by three letters, called a trigraph[citation needed]. An example is the combination sch in German.

    Specific names are associated with letters, which may differ with language, dialect, and history. Z, for example, is
    usually called zed in all English-speaking countries except the US, where it is named zee. As elements of
    alphabets, letters have prescribed orders, although this too may vary by language. In Spanish, for instance, ñ is a
    separate letter, sorted after n. In English, n and ñ are classified alike[citation needed].

    Letters may also have a numerical or quantitative value. This applies to Roman numerals and the letters of other
    writing systems. In English, Arabic numerals are typically used instead of letters. Greek and Roman letters are
    used as mathematical symbols in equations and expressions[citation needed].

    People and objects are sometimes named after letters, for one of these reasons:

    The letter is an abbreviation, e.g. "G-man" as slang for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, arose as short for
    "Government Man"
    Alphabetical order used as a counting system, e.g. Plan A, Plan B, etc.; alpha ray, beta ray, gamma ray, etc.
    The shape of the letter, e.g. A-clamp, A-frame, D-ring, F-clamp, G-clamp, H-block, H engine, O-ring, R-clip, U
    engine, U-bend, V engine, W engine, X engine, Z-drive, a river delta, omega block
    Other reasons, e.g. X-ray after "x the unknown" in algebra, because the discoverer did not know what they were

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