There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. But how did they get there, and why do they look the way they do? Michael Rosen looks for answers in his new book Alphabetical.

It may come as a surprise that the English language has over the centuries dropped as many as ten letters from its arsenals, bringing its strength down to 26 from 36. The video above, by Gregory ...

Where it comes from: The letters h and v merged. In English: Although we used to have hw (or hƿ) all over the place — respelled now as wh — we never used this letter. Don't know ƕy not! 6. ƣ ...