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The letter T is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, preceded by s and followed by u. Its name in English is tee /tiː/. It is the most commonly used consonant, and the second-most common letter, in the English language.
History
Egyptian Hieroglyph
Proto-Semitic T
Phoenician T
Etruscan T
Greek Tau
Tâw was the last letter of the Western Semitic, Hebrew, and (at an early stage, Greek) alphabets. It still is the last letter in Hebrew. It probably represented a cross. Thus, in early Greek manuscripts the letter was written +. Its name in Semitic meant simply "mark" or "sign." In Ezekiel 9:4 (written around 590 b.c.), God places a thau (as the ancient Hebrew version is transcribed) on the foreheads of the faithful. Later, in Revelations 7:3, 9:4, and 14:1, God expresses his preference for those with the mark. The symbol was probably taken from an Egyptian hieroglyph(X) used as a check mark. The Egyptian's had a uniliteral sign for t, but it was represented by a loaf:
The use of hieroglyphs died out around 390 a.d.. Demotic (used from the early 7th century b.c., to around a.d. 476) was a cursive form of hieroglyphic writing and used ∠. Coptic (an extinct language representing the final evolution of Egyptian used from about 100 until the 14th century) replaced this letter with a Hellenic tav (File:Coptic Tav.GIF), although it was pronounced /d/ before m. They also had tee (File:Coptic Tee.GIF), representing /ti/.
The sound value of Semitic Taw,Greek alphabetTαυ (Tau),Old Italic and Latin T has remained fairly constant, representing IPA /t/ in each of these; and it has also kept its original basic shape in all of these alphabets; although in the Greek found at Cadmea, T is confused with M. On the tomb of Bene Hezir, dated around 100 b.c., thau (as transcribed from Old Hebrew) it has obtained its modern form of ת. T was the nineteenth letter in the ancient Roman and Greek alphabets. Although /θ/ and /ð/ are represented by th in modern English, in Latin there was no such sound. The Romans had rejected the Etruscan theta, File:Etruscan Theta.gif (at the time, it represented an aspirated /tʰ/). In Greek loanwords into Latin, TH was used to represent theta but most Romans pronounced it /t/. (See also th below.)
In combinations such as Gratian, and Dalmatian, the Latin /t/ became /ts/, and then /s/. This was represented in orthography as in Latin gratia, Italian grazia, French grâce, Latin nationem, Italian nazione, Old French and Spanish nacion. In French and English spelling the Latin t in most cases has been restored, e.g. nation; but the sound was not. This has since changed in English to /sj/, and then /ʃ/. After s, the original sound of t has remained, as in bestial,Christian,Erastian.
A much more recent change, "as yet scarcely recognized by orthoepists" (N.E.D., 1910), is the development of the sound ch /tʃ/ from t followed by u with its diphthongal or name sound /juː/, in such combinations as -tual,-tue,-tuous, and especially -ture, as in nature /ˈneɪtʊə(ɹ)/.
Form
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There are two types of letters: arched and round. Round letters, like p, q, or c are similar to o, but narrower. T is an arched letter, like m, n, or a.
T is one of the simplest letters in form. Thus, t is one of the first letters beginning calligraphers learn. However, the lowercase form does include a short ascender (stroke above the letter's main body). These are often made too long. The base corresponds to the height of a lowercase x (hence, its x-height). The ascender is shorter in some scripts than with b,d,h,k,f, or l. It has no descenders, as with j,y,g, or q. In all scripts except blackletter, most ascenders are written taller than the capital letter. T ascenders, however, are shorter. Another aspect that makes T so simple is that--in most typefaces--it is straight sided, unlike a, o, y, q, etc. and like l, m, i, n, and u. Because it is not very curved, the x height can be curtailed easily. But, caution should be taken when modifying a t in the body of text, as doing so can make it hard to read. The capital T is straight stemmed, like H, I, F, or E; and unlike X, Y, Z, G, or Q. Below is an example of a blackletter (also known as Gothic) t.
Spacing between a t and another letter is generally equivalent to the space within the letter. This is called a counter in typography and negative space in drawing circles.
The capital T, unlike B or O, is an asymmetric letter. It is also rectangle-based, like U, V, or X. This means that it can be contained within a rectangle ¾ the width of a circle (like the one to the right). Circular letters like C, Q, and D fill the circle. When writing a Roman capital T, the top crossbar is drawn first, then the downstroke, and then the bottom serif (if used). The serif is a separate stroke so the letter retains it's straight lines. All horizontal strokes are written left-to-right and the pen is held at a horizontal angle of 30 degrees. Capital letters are the easiest to modify because they are more balanced, and large enough to still be readable. But, a Roman capital cannot be modified without changing the style. Once a letter related to t is modified, t can be changed with more ease.
Rustic capital Ts were first seen in the first century a.d. and remained popular until the sixth century, after which it persisted in titles until the twelfth. The process of writing a rustic capital was more laborious than a Roman capital, even though majority opinion holds them to be less elegant:
The word cursive can mean one of two things: "connected" or "informal." As an informal letter, the cursive majuscule T used by the Romans was the first T to have a curled downstroke: File:Roman Cursive Majuscule T.gif.
Versal capital Ts were often used in illuminated manuscripts as initial letters. Their name comes from their use as the first letters of verses. They are built up over many strokes. The sides are drawn first with a pen, and then the middle is filled in with a brush. The sides of the stem are slightly bent, bending inward, then out again. It uses hairline (very thin) serifs.
Gothic capital Ts, popular from the early 800s until the 1400s (and in Germany until the 1900s), are written differently. For one, the top crossbar is drawn last. The downstroke comes first, then the bowl flourish:
Gothic letters have been criticized as being hard to read. Nevertheless, they are more compact, saving space and reducing time spent measuring space between letters. When written. The pen is held at an angle of 30 degrees. Here are some other ways a majuscule capital Gothic T was drawn:
The Italic style was invented by Niccoli Niccolò (1364 – 1437). It lended itself to flourishes for initial letters at the top of pages. Here are some examples of such a style: File:Italic Flourished Majuscule Ts.gif
The popular roman (serifed) ts of today (e.g., Times New Roman) are descended from Antiqua, designed by Konrad Sweynheim and Arnold Pannartz in the mid-1400s. The following are some Roman styles of t in use today, ordered by their first appearance. The country of its designer is given followed by its date of invention:
The Italic, Roman, and black-letter font families were the only styles in use until the 1832, when a fourth--sans serif--was introduced. These letters are without serifs and stand upright.
Certain 20th-century artistic movements, such as Dada and Bauhaus had an influence on the design of new fonts. Paul Renner of Germany's futura typeface (1927) was closely associated with Bauhaus principles: File:Futura T.GIF. Eric Gill of England designed the Gill Sans typeface (1927), which was also identified with this movement, although it is more ornate:File:Gill Sans T.GIF. The unique Metro T was designed by the American designer William Addison Dwiggins in the late 1920s: File:Metro T.GIF. The art-deco-inspired Industria T, designed by Neville Brody in 1984 for the graphically daring English magazine The Face was also new: File:Industria T.gif. The Lithos T designed by Adobe Systems in 1989 was unique for the thinness of its lines:File:Lithos T.GIF. The Shadow T, File:Shadow T.gif, was designed by Herbert Bayer (1900-1985).
Miniscule
The Roman cursive (informal) miniscule t (used from ca. 300 to 600 a.d.) was often drawn with the crossbar below the top of the letter: File:Roman Cursive Miniscule T.gif.
The half uncial originated in the 500s and was popular in England from 600 to about 1150. It marked a departure from the uncial version (used from the second century on), which looked much like a small capital T. It closely resembled a lower-case t, but it was not written together with capitals. Instead, a letter beginning a sentence was enlarged (though not always). The first script to use true upper- and lower-case forms together was Carolingian miniscule (used from the a.d. 700s on). Likewise, Greek only used upper-case Ts until the a.d. 800s.
Normally, a manuscript-style, lower-case t is written in two strokes. The half-uncial and the Gothic t are exceptions to this, both of which are written in three. The half-uncial t's downstroke was also much more curved. Below is a Gothic t:
Some write a simplified Gothic with two strokes, although this version can lead to the mistake of waiting too long to turn the pen's nib, resulting in a downstroke that is too long. Some also added hairlines apparently with a crow quill afterward (as shown in the first diagram above). When writing Gothic letters, the pen is held at a horizontal angle of 40 degrees. A softer script was in use in southern Europe around the same time, called Rotunda:File:Rotunda T.gif. Germany developed another type of black letter, called Fraktur, which remained popular from the mid-1400s: File:Fraktur T.gif; File:Fraktur T 2.gif.
The Carolingian miniscule t looks like a small-capital t with a curved tail. It was a combination of the half uncial and cursive ts: File:Carolingian Miniscule t.gif. A variation of this had a crossbar below the top of the letter.
Insular miniscule ts look similar to this, except that the tail tapers off, and then grows again at the very end. This is called a fishtail serif.
Some writers have used terminal stroke flourishes to fill in lines at the end of paragraphs. These have been used on all letters, including t. These are avoided for very large gaps.
The ts above are written much like copperplate letters (popular in the 18th century), except uppercase copperplate crossbars are usually more curved on the left. The ascenders on lowercase copperplate ts don't rise so high, either. (They usually rise midway between the x height and the cap height.) Finally, copperplate ts have different thicknesses for the downstroke versus the crossbar and connectives (connecting lines). The latter two are thin and the former is thick and squared at the top (called a shade). Copperplate letters are also very slanted (about 36º). Because of this slant, some writers used special pen holders that kept the end at the proper angle.
In cursive scripts, the t is drawn with a thin-pointed pen, unlike most of the earlier examples, which are drawn with wider nibs. Thus, the pen angle can be changed to face the direction of each stroke. In cursive scripts such as these, connectives are at the bottom of each side of a letter. In Italic cursive, they (called joins here) are often heavier and at the top: File:Italic Cursive T.gif
Unlike copperplate, Italics usually only slant about 10º, so it is easy to overexagerrate the angle. When such letters are written, the pen is held at an angle of 45º.
Other styles
The forms t can take are numberless. Here is a small sample:
(1) Syllables containing a stressed short vowel double a final t before a suffix that begins with a vowel: mat/matted/matting,bet/betting,fit/fitted/fitter/fittest,rot/rotted/rotting,cut/cutting/cutter,regret/regretted/regretting (contrast wait/waited/waiting,visit/visited/visiting). Format commonly has formatted/formatting, while benefit is found with benefited/benefiting and, less commonly, benefitted/benefitting. (2)Disyllables commonly have medial tt following a stressed short vowel: batter,better,bitten,bottle,butter. (3)t is doubled when the Latin prefixad- is assimilated to a stem beginning with t:attain,attend,attract. (4) Some cognate words vary in their doubling: Britain/Brittany,catty/caterwaul,letter/literate,matter/material. (5) Few words other than proper names end in tt:watt originated in the proper name Watt;matt,nett are alternatives for mat (not shiny), net (not gross); mitt is a clipped form of mitten;putt originated as a Scottish variant of put; butt (noun) may have retained double t so as to be distinguished from but.
Inflectional t
(1) Regular verbs form their past tense with -(e)d, but many irregular verbs use t:deal/dealt,feel/felt. (2) Some have alternative forms, especially in British English (burnt/burned,learnt/learned,spoilt/spoiled), the t-versions often being favoured as adjectival forms (burnt papers,badly learnt lines,spoilt food). (3) Some reduce a doubled consonant before t:smelt/smelled,spelt/spelled,spilt/spilled, and formerly also past/passed. (4) Some shorten their stem vowel (but not its spelling) before t:dreamt/dreamed,leant/leaned,leapt/leaped. (5) Many shorten sound and spelling before t:cleave/cleft,creep/crept,feel/felt,keep/kept,kneel/knelt,leave/left,lose/lost,shoot/shot,sleep/slept,sweep/swept,weep/wept. (6) Some substitute -t for final -d in their root: bend/bent,build/built,gild/gilt (also gilded), gird/girt (also girded), lend/lent,rend/rent,send/sent,spend/spent. (7) Some make more substantial changes to the vowel and/or final consonant of the stem in adding -aught or -ought:beseech/besought,bring/brought,buy/bought,catch/caught,seek/sought,teach/taught,think/thought. (8) Some have stems with final -t which is preserved without inflection in all tenses: burst,cast,cost,cut,hit,hurt,let,put,quit,set,shut,slit,split,thrust. (9) Some change their stem-vowel, but not final t:fight/fought,light/lit,meet/met.
Epenthetic t
(1) The letter t and sound /t/ have sometimes intruded in words originally without them: peasant,tapestry (from French paysan,tapisserie). (2) In against,amidst,amongst,betwixt,whilst,t has arisen parasitically, perhaps by analogy with the superlativeinflection of adjectives.
Variations
Some variation occurs between t and other letters in related words, as between benefit/beneficial,space/spatial,extent/extend/extension (contrast retention).
Morphological th
The ending -th was formerly a present-tense verb inflection (for example, maketh for Modern English makes), and occurs as the ordinal ending for numerals (fourth,fifth,twentieth,hundredth,thousandth, but with written assimilation of preceding t in eighth, from eight). It creates abstract nouns from several common adjectives often suggesting measurement: breadth,depth,length,strength,warmth,width (but only t after gh in drought,height,sight).
Contractions
’t
(1) A shortened form of it, initially or finally, as in ’tis, ’twas, ’twere, ’twill, ’twould; do’t, see’t, on’t. It was formerly often written without apostrophe as one word. (2) A dialectal shortened form of the relative pronoun or conjunctionthat. The first recorded usage of this is in March, 1867 in the Our Young Folks, page 130.
t’
(1) a shortened form of to, before a vowel, formerly in use, often combined with the following word, as tabandon "to abandon," tabyde "to abide"; so taxe "to ask," tescape, t’attempt; also, with omission of h, tave, tafe, "to have," ta to hae, "to have"; tadwellyd "to have dwelt," talyved "to have lived," etc. The first recorded usage of this is around 1200 in The Ormulum. (2) North England dialectal form of the, before a vowel or consonant: as in t’airm, t’bairn, t’bottle, t’faarm, t’heart, t’man, t’measter; sometimes also written without apostrophe: tman, tnail, trasps, twasp.
In other languages
In general, /t/ is a very common sound outside of English, but /θ/ is rare. Several varieties of a t-sound occur in different languages, according as the flow of the breath is stopped by bringing the tip or front of the tongue into contact with different points between the edge of the upper teeth and the roof of the palate. Thus, contact of the tip of the tongue with the teeth gives the true dental t, which is common in continental European languages, and very distinct in Anglo-Irish. The Indian languages, Aryan as well as Dravidian, distinguish two kinds of t, the dental, and the retracted or "cerebral" (mūrdhanya), in Sanskrit त and ट, of which the latter is formed by contact of the retracted tip of the tongue with the roof of the palate. The English t is formed between these two extreme positions, the contact being with the back of the gum or the front margin of the palate; its sound is much closer to the cerebral than to the dental, and in representation of English words, the cerebral is regularly put for English t. In the Roman transliteration of Indian words it is usual to write t for the dental, and to distinguish the cerebral as . The Semitic languages also distinguish two t-sounds, one, the Hebrew tau (ת), Arabic ta (ت) dental; the other, Hebrew teth (ט), Arabic a (ط), said to be formed by contact of the blade of the tongue with the palate; this also has been romanized as , though distinguished in Urdu from the cerebral . Hebrew also has ד (daleth) and ז (zayin), which can easily be confused with ts, but are pronounced /d/ and /z/, respectively.
In ancient Greek, the aspirate θ was a voiceless stop followed by a strong expiration: τ^{h} as in hothouse, (though here h is in a different syllable from the stop). Thus, θέλω was τ̔έλω, Cp. ἐφ' ᾧ for ἐπ(ὶ) ̔ῷ, etc. Thus, thelô was telô. After a.d 300 (probably) θ became a spirant, as th in theatre. The neglect of the h in Latin representations of θ possibly shows that this sound consisted of a stop + h. Thus, tus = θύος. In late Laconian θ passed into ς (σηρίον ̂ θηρίον "wild beast"). τ become θ when the next word began with rough breathing: τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ̂ θἠμέρᾳ, the day. Attic has ττ for σς of Ionic and most other dialects: πρά̄ττω "do" for πρά̄σσω, θάλαττα, "sea" for θάλασσα, κρείττων "stronger" for κρείσσων. ττ is used for that σς which is regularly formed by κ or χ and ι (sometimes by τ, θ, and ι). βτ, φτ become πτ: (τετρῑβ-ται) τέτρῑπται "has been rubbed" from τρί̄β-ω "rub"; (γεγραφ-ται) γέγραπται "has been written" from γράφ-ω "write." γτ, χτ become κτ: (λελεγ-ται) λέλεκται has been said from λέγ-ω "say"; (βεβρεχ-ται) βέβρεκται "has been moistened" from βρέχ-ω "moisten." πθ, βθ become φθ: (ἐπεμπ-θην) ἐπέμφθην "I was sent" from πέμπ-ω "send"; (ἐτρῑβ-θη) ἐτρί̄φθη "it was rubbed" (τρί̄β-ω "rub"). κθ, γθ become χθ: (ἐπλεκ-θη) ἐπλέχθη "it was plaited" (πλέκ-ω "plait") (ἐλεγ-θη) ἐλέχθη it was said (λέγ-ω "say"). ττ, τθ remain unchanged in ̓ Αττικός, ̓ Ατθίς "Attic," and in κατθανεῖν "die." δ and θ become τ before ς: ποδ-σι, ὀρνῑθ-σι become ποτ-σι, ὀρνῑτ-σι. κ, χ become ττ (= σς 78): φυλάττω "guard" for φυλακ-ω (cp. φυλακή "guard"), ταράττω "disturb" for ταραχ-ω (cp. ταραχή "disorder"). τ, θ after long vowels, diphthongs, and consonants become ς; after short vowels τ, θ become σς (not = ττ), which is simplified to ς. In the above cases τ passed into τς. Thus παντ-α, παντσα, πανσσα, πάνσα (Cretan, Thessalian), πα̂σα. τ, θ become ττ: μέλιττα bee from μελιτ-ια (cp. μέλι, -ιτος honey), κορύττω "equip" from κορυθ-ω (cp. κόρυς, -υθος "helmet"). χαρίεσσα "graceful" and other feminine adjectives in -εσσα are poetical, and therefore do not assume the native Attic prose form in ττ. ττ from τ, θ is due to analogy, chiefly of ττ from κ. τ before final ι often becomes ς. Thus, τίθησι "places" for τίθητι; also in πλούσιος "rich" for πλουτ-ιος (cp. πλου̂τος "wealth"). ντ before final ι becomes νς, which drops n: ἔχουσι "they have" for ἔχοντι. Ioric often retains τ (τίθητι, ἔχοντι). σέ is not from (Dor.) τέ (cp. Lat. te), no is σοί from τοί. A smooth stop, as τ, brought before the rough breathing by elision, crasis, or in forming compounds, is made rough, becoming an aspirate (θ). New Ionic generally leaves τ before the rough breathing: ἀπ' οὑ̂, μετίημι, τοὔτερον. But in compounds θ may appear: μέθοδος "method" (μετά "after" + ὁδός "way"). In reduplication initial θ is changed to τ. Thus, πέφευγα for φε-φευ-γα, perfect of φεύγω "flee," τί-θη-μι "place" for θι-θη-μι, κέ-χη-να for χε-χη-να perf. of χάσκω "gape." In the first aorist passive imperative -θι becomes -τι after -θη-, as in λύ-θη-τι for λυ-θη-θι; elsewhere -θι is retained (γνω̂θι). In the aoristpassive, θε- and θυ- are changed to τε- and τυ- in ἐ-τέ-θην was placed (τίθημι) and ἐ-τύ-θην was sacrificed (θύ̄ω).
In Russian, the letter тэ (te) (T, lowercase т) is the twentieth letter, preceded by С and followed by У. It is pronounced /t/, except before b, where it becomes /tʲ/. The sound /ts/ is represented by Ц (tse). These two letters are easily written as a ligature: Ҵ, ҵ. In the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, т is the twenty-second letter. Its name is т and it has the sound of the English t. It is preceded by С and followed by Ћ. Abkhaz, Ҭ and ҭ represent /t/, while Т and т represent /t'/. Roman Catholic slavs used the Glagolitictverdo----for /t/ and tsi----for /ts/ until the 17th century. These symbols probably share the same origin as the Cyrillic ones.
German has no /θ/ sound, and th is pronounced /t/. In Icelandic Template:Latinx and Template:Latinx were used promiscuously in the older manuscripts, the very oldest using Template:Latinx almost exclusively. In Modern Icelandic Template:Latinx is written initially to express the sound of a hard th,Template:Latinx medially and finally to express that of soft th; and there can be no doubt that this usage corresponds with the old pronunciation: Template:Latinxing "parliament," faTemplate:Latinxir "father," viTemplate:Latinx "against." In such combinations as pTemplate:Latinx the Template:Latinx must of course be pronounced /Template:Latinx/. Z often stands for Template:Latinxs as well as ts, as in Template:LatinxerTemplate:Latinxykkizk "ye seem" = *Template:LatinxykkiTemplate:Latinx-sk, Vest-firzkr (belonging to the West Firths) = -*firTemplate:Latinxskr (forTemplate:Latinxr, "firth"). Inflectional t is generally doubled after a long accented vowel: far "few" neuter fatt (compare allr "all," neut. allt), sa "I saw," satt "thou sawest". There are two classes of verbs in Icelandic: strong and weak. Strong verbs are conjugated partly by means of gradation, weak verbs by adding Template:Latinx (d, t). The Template:Latinx of the plural is dropped before Template:Latinxit (ye two) and Template:Latinxer (ye): gefi Template:Latinxer, gafu Template:Latinxit. There is a middle voice, which ends in -mk in the first person singular and plural, the resulting ts and Template:Latinxs being written z. There are three conjugations of weak verbs. All those of the first conjugation have mutated vowels in the present, and form their preterite with Template:Latinx (d, t). The preterite often has an i before the Template:Latinx. The inflectional Template:Latinx becomes d after long syllables ending in l or n: sigla "sail," siglda; nefna "name," nefnda, nefndr. Unlike most Germanic countries, Iceland didn't use runes very often before 1200. The runic letter tiwaz,, was used from a.d. 200 to about 1200 in Germanic writing. The oldest inscriptions are in Denmark. It was probably derived from either the Eruscan or Greek t. Like all runes, its thickness is consistent throughout. The letter remained unchanged until it was replaced by t. In England, it has been found from between the mid-6th and the mid-10th century. In Scandinavia, no runic manuscript writings exist beyond the 1200s, although runic inscriptions from as recently as the 1600s.
Celtic as spoken in the British Isles was sometimes written with runes, but usually in the ogham alphabet from a.d. 300 or so on. T was represented in ogham by the letter tinne:File:Tinne.png. Oghams began to fall out of use with the coming of Christianity in a.d. 400s, and became extinct in the 600s. In Irish Gaelic, there are /t/ and /t'/, the apostrophe in the latter representing an ejective sound (that is, produced on a flow of air initiated by an upward movement of the larynx).
Of East-Asian languages, the Thai, ฏ (to patak) and ต (to tao) are pronounced /t/. ฐ, ฒ, ท, and ธ are pronounced /tʰ/ (a voiceless alveolar plositive). In the Korean Hangul alphabet, ᄃ (tikeut), is pronounced /t/, ㅌ (thieuth) is /tʰ/, and ㄸ (ssangtikeut) is /'t/, having more emphasis and muscular tension during pronunciation. There is also ㅜ, which represents /u/. T in Chamorro is pronounced /t/, and there is no /θ/ in that language.
As for other languages, in Albanian, th is considered a distinct letter, and given the 29th position in the alphabet, between T and U. It represents a voiceless dental fricative (/θ/). In Eastern Armenian, there is Ե--in lowercase ե--but they represent /e/ (In Western, /ε/). տ and Տ represent /t/. /tʰ/ is represented by Թ, թ. /tz/ is ծ, Ծ. In Western Armenian, /t/ is represented by Դ--in lowercase, դ--and թ--in lowercase, Թ. ձ, Ձ is /ts/. ը and Ը are /ut/, and ց and Ց are /tz/. In other words, Western Armenian alphabet has five t-like sounds. In Finnish, t is pronounced /t/, and there is no /θ/ sound.
Italic languages
As an initial, t is, in pure Latin words, followed by no consonant except r: traho, tremo, tribuo, etc.; the combinations tl and tm are found only in words borrowed from the Greek: Tlepolemus, tmesis, Tmolus. Hence an initial t occurring in the ancient language before l (like an initial d before v,) is rejected in classical Latin: lātus (participle of fero) for tlatus, from root tol- of tollo, tuli; compare with TLAÔ, tlêtos; even when softened by a sibilant, the combination of t and l in stlata (genus navigii), stlembus (gravis, tardus), stlis, stlocus, was avoided, and, except in the formal language of law, which retained stlitibus judicandis, the forms lis, locus remained the only ones in use, though the transitional form slis occurs twice in very old inscriptions. Before a vowel or r, the original Indo-European t always retained its place and character. Between two vowels t and tt were frequently confounded, and in some words the double letter became established, although the original form had but one t; thus, quattuor, cottidie, littera, stand in the best manuscripts and inscriptions.
The aspiration of t did not come into general use till the golden age; hence, CARTACINIENSIS, on the Columna Rostrata; whereas in Cicero we have Carthago, like Cethegus, etc.
T is assimilated to s in passus from patior, quassus from quatio, fassus from fateor, missus from mitto, equestris from eques (equit-), etc. It is wholly suppressed before s in usus, from utor; in many nominatives of the third declension ending in s: civitas (root civitat,genitivecivitatis), quies (quiet, quietis), lis (lit, litis), dos (dot, dotis), salus (salut, salutis), amans (amant, amantis), mens (ment, mentis), etc.; and likewise in flexi, flexus, from flecto, and before other letters, in remus, compare ratis; Greek eretmos; in penna; root pat-, "to fly"; Greek petomai, etc. In late Latin the vulgar language often dropped t before r and before vowels; hence such forms as mari, quaraginta, donaus, are found for matri, quatriginta (quad-), donatus, in inscriptions; compare the French mère, quarante, and donné.
T is the most common consonant--and second-most common letter--in English. In French, it is the second-most common consonant, and the fifth-commonest letter. In that language, t is pronounced as in English. Linked ds are pronounced the same (as in vendil). In Spanish, te (pronounced /te/) is the seventh-most common consonant, and the 11th-most common letter. In that language, t is pronounced /t̪/, with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the top row of teeth, rather than the alveolar ridge above the top row. Like all Spanish plositive consonants, t is pronounced with slightly less force in the middle of a word than as an initial. This has caused it to disappear in certain cases (e.g., Latin tantum > Spanish tan, "such";) and change into it's softer relative, d, in others (Latin pratum > prado, "field"; acutem > agudo, "sharp"). Where it has changed into a d in Spanish, it has been dropped in French (L. rotam > Sp. rueda > Fr. roue; L. setam > seda > soie). The pair ct in Latin largely became ch /tʃ/ in Spanish (e.g., noctem > noche "night"; lactum > leche, "milk"; etc.) The letters t and h, are not found together in Spanish, except in some proper nouns and foreign words (mainly Greek). Even this practice, however, is dying out. TT is usually changed to t, even when writing foreign words.
Further, it is rare for a word to end in t in Spanish. In Catalan, the opposite is true.
Among the American-Indian, Inuktitut (a language in the Inuit branch of the Aleut-Inuit family) has a soft t sound close to d. There is no /θ/ sound in that language. Tutelo (a Siouan language) has /t/, although to the exclusion of /b/, /d/, /g/, and /θ/. In Chippeway (an Algonquian language), there is /t/, although /r/, /x/, /v/, and /f/ are absent.
In Nootka, there is a sound peculiar to the language, and very predominant in it, which has been noticed by other writers, particularly by Mr. Anderson, surgeon under Captain Cook's command, in 1778. It has been greatly misrepresented by the use of too many letters in a vain attempt to give its full force. The test of all such attempts is to pronounce the word so written to a native, and see if it is recognized by him. The sound — which has one or two of what may be called cognate forms — may be spelt most correctly, although still inadequately, by tl, tlh, or lh. In pronouncing, care must be taken not to introduce a vowel; and in giving the l sound the breath must be prolonged between the tongue and roof of the mouth, thus introducing the h with almost, but not quite, a hissing sound. Instances of these sounds are presented in the words Moolshitl, in which the tl is not to be pronounced Hahquatlh, and Hisoolh.
Abbreviations and symbols
T- is used as a prefix for an object that is shaped like the capital letter T, such as T-shirt, T-bone, and T-joint.
T stands for an October 1 through 15 discovery, in the provisional designation of a comet (e.g. C/1847 T1, Miss Mitchell's Comet) or asteroid (e.g. (4047) 1964 TT2).
T stands for the "time of perihelion passage," an orbital parameter placing the object on its orbit.
Training-mission vehicle (Department of Defense symbol)
In music,
Talon (heel of the bow)
Tasto (The key of a keyboard instrument; or the fingerboard of a bowed string instrument)
Tendre (tender)
Tenor
Treble
Trillo (trill)
Tutti (sing or play together)
In naming, various proper names, as Thomas, Timothy, Titus, Theresa, etc.
At NASA,
Thermostabilized
Throttle command
Previously "Test" . Today it is synonymous with time for launch. Current time in relation to the launch is commonly given as "T minus (remaining time)".
In navies,
Military sealift command ship (when precedes vessel classification)
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--for /t/ and tsi--
--for /ts/ until the 17th century. These symbols probably share the same origin as the Cyrillic ones.
, was used from a.d. 200 to about 1200 in Germanic writing. The oldest inscriptions are in Denmark. It was probably derived from either the Eruscan or Greek t. Like all runes, its thickness is consistent throughout. The letter remained unchanged until it was replaced by t. In England, it has been found from between the mid-6th and the mid-10th century. In Scandinavia, no runic manuscript writings exist beyond the 1200s, although runic inscriptions from as recently as the 1600s.
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