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From: nol2105%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Robert E. Zabloudil)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Octothorpes
Message-ID: <12057@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 12 Sep 90 15:44:58 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 638, Message 9 of 13


In article <12004@accuvax.nwu.edu> dai@icxn.com (Davidson Corry)
writes:
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 635, Message 9 of 13

*>In article <11513@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jeremy Grodberg (jgro@cad.berkeley.
*>edu) writes:

*>I have also seen # as "thorn" or "thorne", but I believe this is a
*>mistake, either a misspelling "octothorne", or a misapplication of the
*>name of the Norse rune for the "th" sound, still used in Icelandic.  I
*>_think_ the rune is
*>                       \/
*>                       /

*>but maybe we have someone on the net from Reykjavik who can help
*>me out... <grin>

I'm not Icelandic (as you may have surmised from my name), but I've
done some reading on early English (Anglo-Saxon).

Our 'th sound', or thorn, was written at one time with a letter that,
as you show, indeed looked much like the modern y.  If you've ever
seen those cute little signs that say *Ye Olde Shoppe*, that's
actually a carryover from Old English.  Of couse, if you pronounce it
as you know it's really written, you get interviewed by polite
gentlemen in white coats.


Bob Zabloudil
DSAC-OLC

std.disclaimer claimed, of course