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Xenophobic Xmas X-pats X-cruciate X-ray Xylosaurs
Initial Mockups
Sketches
Research
No Typekit fonts for print begin with X
Evolution
| Greek Chi | Etruscan :X |
|---|---|
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In Ancient Greek, ‘Χ’ and ‘Ψ’ were among several variants of the same letter, used originally for /kʰ/ and later, in western areas such as Arcadia, as a simplification of the digraph ‘ΧΣ’ for/ks/. The Etruscans took over ‘Χ’ from western Greek, and it therefore stands for /ks/ in Etruscan and Latin.
There are very few English words that start with ⟨x⟩ (the least amount of any letter). When ⟨x⟩ does start a word, it is usually pronounced /z/ (e.g. xylophone, xenophobia, and xanthan). Many of the words that start with ⟨x⟩ are of Greek origin, or standardized trademarks (Xerox) or acronyms (XC). In abbreviations, it can represent “trans-” (e.g. XMIT for transmit, XFER for transfer), “cross-” (e.g. X-ing for crossing, XREF for cross-reference), “Christ-” as shorthand for the labarum (e.g.Xmas for Christmas, Xian for Christian), the “crys-” in crystal (XTAL), or various words starting with “ex-” (e.g. XL for extra large, XOR for exclusive-or).
