Dead letters in the English alphabet - photo

[Altair]

Dead letters in the English alphabet.




Previously:

1961 IBM Selectric typewriter - GIF
Andersson and Sorensen braille typewriter - photo
Remington noiseless typewriter mechanism - GIF
1912 Blickensderfer typewriter - GIF
Japanese typewriter - video

[IntheGroove]

How about one of you scholars using those in a sentence...

[mklotz]

The integral sign in calculus is based on the long S. Leibniz developed the methods of calculus contemporary with Newton and it's Leibniz's notation that we use today.
The integral is conceptually an extended Sum of infinitesimally small differentials so it's logical to abbreviate it with the letter 'S'. The German word for a sum is Summe so Leibniz would have used 'S'.

In the German alte Schrift (old writing) the letter 's' looks like an English lower case 'f' without the cross bar - very like the modern integral sign which derives from it. The long 's' persisted into the time of George Washington. Some of his diaries are on exhibit at Mount Vernon and the long 's' is very apparent.

[odd one]

& is still on my keyboard & I tend to use it occasionally, perhaps incorrectly sometimes...........did not know I was keeping it alive.

[Toolmaker51]

How about one of you scholars using those in a sentence...

They'd have to be equally developed scholars and programmers. Pen or pencil maybe, problematic generating those with a keyboard, even using symbols available in Word..... The last sentence caused a laugh, "no longer a sound in English language".
Though we've gained a few pointless noises.

[wimton]

In the C language (and its derivatives), & denotes the address of a variable.

[mklotz]

The most interesting thing about the ampersand is how it got its name. This quote from the Wikipedia article on the ampersand describes it...

Traditionally in English, when spelling aloud, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("A", "I", and, "O") was prefixed with the Latin expression per se ('by itself'), as in "per se A". 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.

[Toolmaker51]

Shakespeare, 1599; and potentially another playwright Richard Edes, 1582; that manuscript is lost.
But who hasn't heard "Et tu, Brute? is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?"."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_tu,_Brute%3F

[mklotz]

I attended high school during the era when Latin was still taught therein. It wasn't my favorite subject then but now, as an adult, I often marvel at what an asset it was in coming to grips with the English language.

[Toolmaker51]

While not precisely 'Dead Letters', our English stands test of time, but I miss it being colorfully used.

Myself, Shakespeare was fun (not easy, but...) to read because so many if not endless creative phrases.
The very best modern example, that hordes agree with, comes with "Oh Brother Where Art Thou". I can't watch or read it without laughing repeatedly, despite countless runs, but not as normal comedy; it is brilliant.
The script celebrates those writer's (Coen Brothers) inner Bard throughout, one scene closely with Et Tu question....

------------------------------
Everett is stunned.

EVERETT
So you're against me now, too!... Is
that how it is, boys?

Silence. No one wants to meet Everett's eye. He is saddened.

EVERETT
The whole world and God Almighty...
and now you. Well, maybe I deserve
this. Boys, I... I know I've made
some tactical mistakes. But if you'll
just stick with me; I need your help.
And I've got a plan. Believe me,
boys, we can fix this thing! I can
get my wife back! We can get outta
here!
-------------------------------------------------------------------

For those wishing more, actual script here at https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/o_brother.html Even the descriptive setups for scenes, just so dang good.