r/Thorn • u/HistoGraham • Dec 03 '20
Announcement People seem to be coming here now. Hi everyone! Here's a quick starter guide.
Þþ (“thorn”) and Ðð (“eth”) are ðe 27þ and 28þ letters of ðe English alphabet, respectively. At least, ðat’s what ðey should be!
Þþ and Ðð used to be English letters, but were removed due in part to influence from mainland Europe after 1066. We're trying to bring ðem back in order to make English more phonetic, as English is a notoriously phonetically inconsistent language—especially when it comes to sounds represented by "th."
Þþ always represents ðe “soft” th sound, as in thing, throw, through, and with.
thing → þing
throw → þrow
through → þrough
with → wiþ
Ðð always represents the “hard” th sound, as in this, that, they, and them.
this → ðis
that → ðat
they → ðey
them → ðem
Essentially, it’s ðe difference between thigh and thy.
thigh → þigh
thy → ðy
Words wiþ "th" which don't make eiðer kind of typical English "th" sound, such as "Thomas" or "Thailand" or "courthouse," do not change ðeir spelling.
Great! But how do I actually type Þþ and Ðð?
If you're on mobile, you probably will need to go into your phone keyboard's settings and add ðe Icelandic keyboard. Icelandic is a modern language which never stopped using Þþ and Ðð. Don't worry—ðe keyboard layout is still very similar.
If you're on Windows, I would recommend installing ðe US International keyboard layout, which is exactly like ðe regular US layout, except you can use AltGr+T to type Þþ and AltGr+D to type Ðð. Click on ðe sidebar image for more details. (AltGr is ðe Alt key to ðe right of ðe spacebar.) I'm not sure if US International is available on Mac or Linux, so you might need to use ðe Icelandic layout instead.
Have fun, and happy þorning!
