the ampersand was removed from the alphabet in 1965.
the ampersand was removed from the alphabet in 1965.
when was the ampersand removed from the alphabet?
1965
traditionally, when reciting the alphabet in english-speaking schools, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("a", "i", and, at one point, "o") was repeated with the latin expression "per se" ("by itself"). this habit was useful in spelling where a word or syllable was repeated after spelling; e.g. "d, o, g—dog" would be clear but simply saying "a—a" would be confusing without the clarifying "per se" added. it was also common practice to add the "&" sign at the end of the alphabet as if it were the 27th letter, pronounced as the latin "et" or later in english as "and". as a result, the recitation of the alphabet would end in "x, y, z, "and per se and"". this last phrase was routinely slurred to "ampersand" and the term had entered common english usage by 1837. however, in contrast to the 26 letters, the ampersand does not represent a speech sound—although other characters that were dropped from the english alphabet did, such as the old english thorn, wynn, and eth.
ampersand
the ampersand often appeared as a character at the end of the latin alphabet, as for example in byrhtferð's list of letters from 1011. similarly, "&" was regarded as the 27th letter of the english alphabet, as taught to children in the us and elsewhere. an example may be seen in m. b. moore's 1863 book "the dixie primer, for the little folks". in her 1859 novel "adam bede", george eliot refers to this when she makes jacob storey say: "he thought it [z] had only been put to finish off th' alphabet like; though ampusand would ha' done as well, for what he could see." the popular nursery rhyme apple pie abc finishes with the lines "x, y, z, and ampersand, all wished for a piece in hand".
ampersand