E (letter)

Note, the symbol e may also refer to the base of the exponential functions - see e (math) or E (disambiguation)

E is the fifth letter of the English alphabet. Its name is pronounced ee.

Use in English

E shows various vowel sounds - or is silent.

The short sound (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English phonemes): véry, héad, bést, dén, wéll, péck, néck, Bén, déath, mérry, chérish, cléft, beréft, behést, bétter, wéather sunny = whéther if, ahéad, bléd (cf. blêed) néxt, guést, thére (*dhãre). This is also the sound of said (séd).

The long sound: bêat win = bêet sugar, bêach sand = bêech tree, hêat, nêat, têeth, glêe, spêak, Pêter, explêtive, delêted, relìêf, grìêve, dêar, wêary, crêam, bê is = bêe insect, bêacon, trêe, thrêe, êat, and unstressed in cóffêe, tóffêe, and the Latin aê (sometimes printed æ) nébulaê, fŏrmulaê, nôvaê, Aêschylus, and unstressed in aesthétic.

Note that ea occurs for both sounds: déath, bréadth, héad, bréath noun, cf. brêathe verb, bêat, wrêath, spêak. Compare lêap present, léapt past.

Unstressed (not finally) e sounds like í: becòme (final one silent) rewård, delîght, mállet, tícket. And also in contracted forms (especially BrE): he’s (= hís) she’s (*shízz - though in careful speech the sound here would be ê). e has this sound stressed in pretty (*prítty).

è is usually found before i followed by certain consonants: vèil, vèin, Sínn Fèin (Sh-) slèigh snow (= slây kill) wèigh kilo (= wây manner) wèight kilo (= wâit delay, cf. heîght) dèign, rèign monarch = rèin horse (= râin wet) bèige (-zh-) nèigh, fèint pretend (= fâint swoon). It is unstressed in fŏyèr (silent r).

è is also found before y: thèy (cf. théir) prèy victim (= prây God) whèy eat = wèigh kilo (= wây manner) grèy (AmE grây). And alone, from French: crèpe, fète. Also: dô-rè-mì. è and â can coincide to show the same sound: greât, breâk (cf. stéady, bêad).

The sound is eî in most BrE in eîther and neîther although some speakers, especially AmE, say êither and nêither. eî is rare but also occurs in heîght, seîsmic, feîsty, Bruneî, and O’Reîlly. After c and w, the sound of ei is normally ê: cêiling, recêive, concêit, decêit, recêipt (*recêit), wêir, wêird (and also sêize, Shêila, Nêil). But we have already seen wèigh and wèight and a spelling exception is wìêld (as with fìêld).

er is usually unstressed schwa, with r sounded in AmE and Scottish English: fóster, āfter, wörker, fàrmer, quícker. But it is like a stressed schwa in cërtain, bërth ship (cf. bïrth born), nërve, sërve, mërchant, nërd, and as -ëar- in hëard. The same sound can be found spelt differently in shïrt, bürn and wörth.

eû and eŵ are both pronounced û = yoû in most words, though not after the liquid sounds r and l: Ándreŵ Leŵis does not have the y sound in either name.

eû is Greek for ‘well’, and it begins lots of words: eûlogy, euthanâsia, eûcharist (-k) eûphemism. This combination occurs in other words as well: Teûton, queûe line (= cûe theatre, snooker, *kyû). A following r can modify it to eù: either neùron, Eùrope, pleùrisy are more commonly heard than neûron, Eûrope, pleûrisy.

eŵ is used finally, and is therefore more common: vieŵ, feŵ, deŵ, Keŵ, Jeŵ, peŵ, neŵ, seŵer, neŵer, vieŵer, yeŵ tree (= yoû me) - cf. rewård (rí-). sew needle, however, is pronounced like sô therefore.

Before v the sound is usually short, é, it being very rare to double the letter v: lévy, bévy, séven, eléven, and: léaven, héaven. The long sound is in êven, belìêve, lêave, and clêave.

-èy, pronounced â, occurs at the end of some words of one or two syllables: thèy, whèy, obèy, purvèy, prèy victim; but this final sound is more usually spelt -ây: prây God, sây, dây, delây, wây, stây. In ósprey, both -èy and -êy are heard.

See also

• Letter (alphabet)
• Alphabet
• Writing system
• Orthography
• Written language
• Writing