# What is up with those funny two-letter combo letters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339 "2001-03-17T04:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/1 "2001-03-17T04:02:25Z")
You know, like “AE” all stuck together (as in Encyclopaedia Britannica) and the French “oe” in the word “soeur”. I actually don’t really care about the “oe” because it rarely affects me, but that “AE”… what IS it? How is one supposed to pronounce it? Why use it? How can you make it come up on the keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/2 "2001-03-17T04:09:16Z")
I know how to make the Æ pretty easily, but I am not sure what it is for. Here is a list of the double-letters that are accessible on the standard 104key Windows keyboard… [list] Æ = Alt + 0198 ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/3 "2001-03-17T04:12:05Z")
They’re called **ligatures.** ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/4 "2001-03-17T04:13:40Z")
oops…didn’t mean to press Submit…🙂 to continue [ul] [li]Æ = Alt+0198[/li][li]æ = Alt+0230[/li][li]Œ = Alt+0140[/li][/ul] All of these keystrokes must be done while the Alt key is held down, and the numbres need to be pressed on the **NUMBERPAD** , not the top row All I really know is that those are latin letters. Iam not sure about pronunciation or usage in modern English. sorry about the doubl-submit ---
**Author:** ![AETBOND417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@AETBOND417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AETBOND417)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/5 "2001-03-17T05:11:23Z")
Without Æ we couldn’t write the name of the **Tool** song, Ænima. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/6 "2001-03-17T05:20:59Z")
Here’s something regarding the pronunciation bit: > [@](#): > > A ligature combines two known symbols into a single letter. Printer’s ligatures do not change the sound values of the component letters. Given that, check out this definition from [dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=ligature): > [@](#): > > A single type, containing two or more letters; as, [ae], [AE], [filig], [fllig], [ffllig], etc.; So what the heck are all those examples after “ae”? “ffllig”??? Is this one of those things they add to a dictionary so they can copyright it? ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/7 "2001-03-17T06:04:39Z")
Æ æ Nifty, I can do it! I have nothing to add, really…Hi, Jeffie! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/8 "2001-03-17T06:06:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ÆTBOND417 \* > \*\*Without Æ we couldn’t write the name of the **Tool** song, Ænima. \*\* Or, of course, the masterpiece album that it’s on, _Ænima_. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/9 "2001-03-17T06:06:14Z")
The “AE” letter is called “æsh” and is pronounced ‘ash’. It was found in Anglo-Saxon (old English), is found in some Northern European languages (Icelandic comes to mind), and is frequently used in Latin. It was pronounced in A-S like either a short ‘a’ or short ‘e’, depending on the word. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/10 "2001-03-17T06:07:33Z")
The song is “Ænema”, the album is _Ænima_. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/11 "2001-03-17T08:03:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \* > \*\*The “AE” letter is called “æsh” and is pronounced ‘ash’. It was found in Anglo-Saxon (old English), is found in some Northern European languages (Icelandic comes to mind), and is frequently used in Latin. It was pronounced in A-S like either a short ‘a’ or short ‘e’, depending on the word. \*\* According to Wheelock’s Latin, AE is pronounced like the “ye” of “bye.” Hence “Caesar” is pronounced the same as “Kaiser.” -Ben ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/12 "2001-03-17T08:10:46Z")
Ahh…the “dreaded” Wheelock. I was ticked off when I missed a translation exercise early on in that book. I translated the Latin sentence into English _like it said to_ (imagine that!). Problem was, Wheelock translated it into German: _Mein Kampf_ How was I supposed to know? My Latin teacher hated him. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/13 "2001-03-17T10:53:34Z")
smack fu – i hope i’m understanding your question right, but those “fflig” examples are ligatures as well. Let’s quickly explain how this works. If you have the combination “fi” on most typefaces (especially serifed ones) the tip of the “f” will run into the dot of the “i.” So many serifed typefaces include ligatures for this letter combination. In a ligatured versions, the ball that hangs from the tip of the “f” will act as the dot of the “i.” In the other examples, an “ff” will sometimes be ligatured and printed as a single character, with one cross bar and the tip of the first “f” not hanging down, but seamless running into the next “f” “fl” is another example in which the tip of the “f” just drops down into the “l.” And “ffl” and the such as in words like “baffling” are combination of the above ligatures. These are not really made to be fancy or cute. They’re there to improve legibility. In the days of setting type by hand, they were routinely used, and every good font set would include the standard ligatures like “fi” and “ff.” Your Quark Xpress also has these ligatures built in, and I believe most decent electronic font sets have them. Pay attention to the type around you, and I’m sure you will see examples of these ligatures. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/14 "2001-03-17T19:46:42Z")
> [@](#): > > According to Wheelock’s Latin And that is quite valid for Latin, where the Greek AIGYPTOS became the Latin AEGYPTUS, ligatured to ÆGYPTUS, and continued appearing in (at least British) English as Ægypt well into this century. As noted by **Dijon Warlock** , however, the æsh was used in several Northern European langauges–including older English–to indicate the short a (or short e in some dialects). The most frequent appearance of the æsh, today, would tend to be in borrowings from Latinized Greek where English is generally dropping the “a” from the combination, leaving a long “e” sound, (Ægypt–Egypt, encyclopædia–\>encyclopedia), or, occasionally, leaving the “a”, but eliminating the ligature, and having a long “e”, short “i”, or even a schwa sound, (Aeolian, Aegean). The Anglo-Saxon æsh generally became the simple short “a” quite a while ago, although we have kept æsh for both the name of the symbol and the pronunciation of the symbol. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-those-funny-two-letter-combo-letters/58339/15 "2001-03-17T20:33:06Z")
OK, duh. So **pulykamell** , you’re saying that a [ffllig] is just a ffl ligature. That the “lig” part just represents “ligature”. So shouldn’t it also be aelig for consistency? 🙂