June 15, 2015

Horse 1917 - Let's Mess Wiþ Ðis

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3121512/Why-never-sleep-job-Dozing-office-worker-victim-online-prank-colleagues-turn-nap-series-memes.html
Writer Haukur Viðar Alfreðsson thought nothing of taking a quick nap while working at the Brandenburg design agency in Iceland, but little did he know he was about to become an internet meme
- Daily Mail, 12þ Jun 2015

I don't þink for a second ðat ðe story of Islandic worker Haukur Viðar Alfreðsson taking a nap, falling asleep and being turned into a meme by his co-workers is remotely newswoðy but I do þink ðat Ðe Daily Mail's article which included ðe letter Eþ is.

Ðe English Language wiþ its 26 letters, used to have a few more but wiþ ðe advent of movable type and ðe printing press which mostly came from Germany, it lost a few including ðe two letters Þorn (Thorn - Þ, þ) and Eþ (Eth - Ð, ð) and I þink ðat it would be brilliant if we rescued ðem from obscurity.

As it stands, ðe characters ðat we substitute for boþ eþ and þorn are the idiotic combination of "th". Neiðher T or H ever make anything approaching either sound of "th".
Ðere are of course two sounds which are represented by eþ and þorn  and ðey are easy enough to explain because English already has a pair of cousins which illustrate ðe point.

Þink of ðe letters "z" and "s". What I want you to do is to place the palm of your hand gently on your þroat.
If you make a rolling z sound, which is found in words such as "is", "has" and "zoo", your þroat does vibrate. We call this a "voiced" sound.
If you make a rolling s sound, like ðat of a snake and found in words such as "seven", "super" and "bus", your throat doesn't vibrate very much at all. We call this a "devoiced" sound.

If you make a rolling "th" sound, like ðat found in words such as "that", "there" and "those", ðen ðey are voiced sounds. Ðis used to be represented by ðe letter Eþ.(Eth - Ð, ð)
If you make a rolling "th" sound, like ðat found in words such as "think", "with" and "those", ðen ðey are devoiced sounds. Ðis used to be represented by ðe letter Þorn.(Thorn - Þ, þ)

Ðe þing is ðat English doesn't seem to have a problem wiþ having two letters for the voiced and devoiced sounds which "z" and "s" represent but for the voiced and devoiced sounds which "ð" and "þ" used to represent, we ðrew ðem boþ away and replaced ðem wiþ two letters to make ðe dipþong "th" which neiðer does justice to voiced sounds.
I would like to see Ð and Þ restored to ðeir rightful places in ðe English Language because as ðis post proves, ðe letters exist and ðey are not difficult to deal wiþ.

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