Right, it’s the old English Thorn, which we used for the “th” sound. It got phased out around the invention of the printing press, first being replaced with “y” (the -> ye) and then we just decided to change the spelling entirely. There’s a whole history to it, I can’t do it justice ATM.
So it makes a “th” and “the” sound?
Right, it’s the old English Thorn, which we used for the “th” sound. It got phased out around the invention of the printing press, first being replaced with “y” (the -> ye) and then we just decided to change the spelling entirely. There’s a whole history to it, I can’t do it justice ATM.