History

Usage

• Basque: as a spelling for [ʃ].
• Dutch: The island of Texel is pronounced as Tessel. This is because ss was written with a ligature closely resembling the x.
• English: X is a double consonant or, rather, a sign for the compound consonants [ks]; or sometimes when followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel, or when followed by silent h and an accented vowel [gz] (for example exhaust, exam); usually [z] at the beginnings of words (for example xylophone), and in some compounds keeps the [z] sound, as in (for example meta-xylene). It also makes the sound [kʃ] in words ending in -xion (typically used only in British-based spellings of the language; American spellings tend to use -ction). It can also represent the sounds [gʒ] or [kʃ], for example, in the words luxury and sexual, respectively. When the letter X begins a word in the English language such as xynene and a z sound is created the X is said to be silent. Final x is always [ks] (for example ax/axe) except in loan words such as faux (see French, below).
• French: at the ends of words, silent (or [z] in liaison if the next word starts with a vowel). This usage arose as a handwriting alteration of final -us. Two exceptions are pronounced [s]: six and dix.
• In Italian, X is always, as in the words uxorio, extra, xilofono. It is also used, mainly amongst younger generations as a short form for "per" meaning "for", for example, x sempre (forever).
• In Norwegian, X is generally pronounced [ks], but since the nineteenth century there has been a tendency to spell it out as ks whenever possible; it may still be retained in names of people, though it's fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language.
• Spanish: In Old Spanish, X was pronounced [ʃ], as it's still currently in other Iberian languages. Later, the sound evolved to a hard [x] sound. In modern Spanish, the hard [x] sound is spelled with a j, or with a g before e and i, though x is still retained for some names (notably México, which alternates with Méjico). Now, X represents the sound [s] (word-initially), or the consonat clusters [ks] and [gs] (for example oxígeno, examen). Even rarer; like in Old Spanish, the x can be pronounced as [ʃ] in modern day in some proper nouns such as Raxel (a variant of Rachel) and Xelajú. In American and seseo Spanish, the xc in excelente is pronounced as [ks] but in Spain, this combination is pronounced [ksθ].
• In Portuguese, x can have four sounds: the most common is [ʃ], as in 'xícara' (cup). The other sounds are: [ks] as in 'fênix/fénix' (phoenix) and s, as in 'extra' (extra). The most rare is [z], as in 'exagerado' (exaggerate).
• In Albanian, x represents [dz], while the digraph xh represents [dʒ].
• Polish doesn't use X. In loanwords, X is either replaced by ks like in 'ekstra' (extra), or gz like in 'egzotyczny' (exotic).
• In the German and Italian languages, X is used mainly in foreign loan words.
• In Maltese x is pronounced [ʃ]
• In Vietnamese x is pronounced [s]