c. 1600 AD - Present

Modern English

The Modern English alphabet consists of 26 letters derived from the Latin alphabet, standardized during the Early Modern English period (c. 1500-1700 CE). Unlike its Latin ancestor, Modern English includes the letters J, U, and W, which were medieval additions. The letter J (originally a variant of I) was distinguished as a separate letter by the 17th century to represent the /dʒ/ sound. Similarly, U (originally a variant of V) became its own letter for the vowel /u/, while V retained the consonant /v/ sound. The letter W evolved from a doubling of V or U (hence its name "double-U") to represent the /w/ sound. Modern English orthography is notoriously irregular, with the same letter often representing multiple sounds (e.g., "a" in "cat," "cake," "call," "about") and the same sound often spelled multiple ways (e.g., /i:/ in "see," "sea," "receive," "key"). This complexity arose from the Great Vowel Shift (15th-18th centuries), French and Latin influences, and the fact that spelling was largely fixed before pronunciation changes completed. Despite these irregularities, the English alphabet has become one of the most widely used writing systems globally.