X

X, x [Called ‘eks’]. The 24th LETTER of the Roman ALPHABET as used for English. It was adapted from the Greek letter chi/khi (X) by the Romans, with the value /ks/.

Sound value

Phonetically, x as used in English is redundant, its standard value /ks/ being equally represented by cc in vaccine, ks in treks, cs in tocsin, and cks in socks, allowing such homophones as lax/lacks and cox/cocks. However, x is not always pronounced as ks, different environments inducing the alternatives /gz/ in example and /z/ in xenophobia.

Initial X and EX-

(1) No vernacular English word begins with the sound /ks/, and the pronunciation is /z/ for initial x is such GREEK-derived bases as xantho- yellow, xeno- foreign, xero- dry, xylo- wood, and such names as Xanthippe and Xerxes. (2) Older SPANISH x as in Mexico, Texas is kept, with English pronunciation as ks, although in Spain these are today written Méjico, Tejas, and pronounced with a velar fricative /x/, as in ScoE loch. (3) When initial x stands for the letter x (Xmas, X-ray), it is pronounced ‘eks’. (4) X in the LATIN prefix ex- may be pronounced voiceless as /ks/ (typically when stressed, as in export, extra) or voiced as /gz/ (typically before a stressed vowel, as in exact, exist). In practice, however, voicing is often inconsistent, both realizations being heard in exit. The c in initial exc- (excel, excite) is assimilated into the voiceless value of x, while following h is usually assimilated into the voiced realization (exhaust, exhibit, but voicelessly in exhibition). A following root beginning with s loses the s (ex + sert becomes exert) and the x is voiced.

Medial X

(1) In medial position, x is typically voiceless (maxim, vexatious, elixir, toxin, approximate, buxom, axle, sexton), but when an i-glide follows (whether represented by i with a following vowel, or by u with the value in music), the glide may be assimilated and x sounded as ksh (noxious, luxury, sexual), a palatalizing effect paralleled in other spelling patterns such as fractious, actual. (2) Voicing of this sound may occur medially before a stressed syllable, ‘gzh’ rather than ‘ksh’ being often heard in luxurious. (3) Anxious parallels noxious (though with the preceding n velarized as ‘ng’), but in the noun anxiety the i is not assimilated, the n remains velarized, and x is voiced but loses its /k/, being pronounced /z/. (4) English usually retains x as derived from Latin, as in exit from exitus and crucifixion from crucifixio/crucifixionis, but, since the 17c, connexion, inflexion (the etymologically appropriate spellings) have increasingly been written connection and inflection, probably by analogy with direction. Complexion and fluxion do not have alternative forms.

Final and silent X

(1) Final x is common and except in recent loans has the value /ks/, usually after a short vowel (BrE axe, AmE ax, flax, relax, climax, wax, index, flex, complex, sex, vex, fix, mix, six, executrix, phalanx, jinx, ox, box, fox, pox, flux, crux), but in coax, hoax after a long vowel. Final /ks/ is normally spelt x in English, except when the /s/ is an inflection: contrast tax/tacks. (2) In French loans, final x is typically silent (choux, prix, Montreux) or pronounced /z/ if a plural inflection (tableaux). Sioux is modelled on French with silent x, although Amerindian in origin. (3) Latin morphology sometimes affects final x. When the plural of appendix, index, matrix, vortex follows Latin, x becomes c in appendices, indices, matrices, vortices. However, regular English pluralizing with -es (appendixes, indexes, matrixes) is common, though sometimes implying a distinct sense of the word concerned: for example, appendices in books, appendixes in the body. (4) Similarly, the Latin feminine suffix -trix is occasionally used as a counterpart to masculine -tor rather than the commoner French-derived -tress, as in dominatrix, executrix, victrix, as against actress, benefactress.

Miscellaneous

(1) X sometimes alternates with sk by metathesis: Manx for earlier Mansk; piskey as a variant of pixie; ax as a dialect form of ask. (2) Buxom was formerly bucksome and pox derives from the plural of pock. Comparably, a recent tendency in commercial spelling reduces the morphologically distinct cs, cks to x: fax for facts and facsimile, pix for pictures, sox for socks, trux for trucks. (3) Disyllables ending in x include technical terms from Latin (helix, vortex) and, apparently as a consequence, many commercial and trade names (Kleenex, Tampax, Xerox). See C, K.