Editing X (section)

== Use in writing systems ==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+ Pronunciation of {{angbr|x}} by language
! Orthography
! Phonemes
! Environment
|-
! [[Asturian orthography|Asturian]]
| {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, {{IPA|/ks/}}
|
|-
! [[Afar language|Afar]]
|{{IPAslink|ɖ}}
|
|-
! [[Albanian orthography|Albanian]]
|{{IPAslink|dz}}
|
|-
! [[Azerbaijani alphabet|Azeri]]
|{{IPAslink|x}}
|
|-
! [[Basque orthography|Basque]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Catalan orthography|Catalan]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|Usually (word-initially, after consonants, ''i'', ''au'', or ''eu'', in some surnames such as ''[[Rexach]]'')
|-
|{{IPA|/gz/}}
|
|-
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|
|-
! {{nwr|[[Standard Chinese]]}} ([[Pinyin]])
|{{IPAslink|ɕ}}
|
|-
! [[Tsou language|Cou]]
|{{IPAslink|ɨ}} ~ {{IPAslink|ʉ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Dutch orthography|Dutch]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Usually, mainly used in loanwords
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|In ''[[Texel]]''
|-
! rowspan="4" | [[English orthography|English]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Usually; before an unstressed vowel
|-
|{{IPA|/gz/}}
|Before a stressed vowel
|-
|{{IPAslink|z}}
|Word-initially
|-
|{{IPAslink|h}}
|''[[Don Quixote]]'', ''[[Oaxaca]]'', and words derived from [[Classical Nahuatl]]/[[Nahuatl]]
|-
! [[Esperanto orthography|Esperanto]]
|''in digraphs only as a substitute for a diacritic''
|''cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, ux'' are used as substitutes for ''ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ'' where these characters are not available, see [[X-convention]]
|-
! rowspan="5" |[[French orthography|French]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Usually; in ''[[Aix (disambiguation)#France|Aix-]]'' (prefix or name of several places)
|-
|{{IPA|/gz/}}
|Mainly in the [[prefix]] ex- followed by a vowel; sometimes word-initially
|-
|Silent
|[[Final-obstruent devoicing|Word-finally]] with no liaison
|-
|{{IPAslink|z}}
|Word-finally with [[Liaison (French)|liaison]]; in ''sixième'' (6th) and ''dixième'' (10th)
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|In ''six'' ([[6]]), ''dix'' ([[10]]), ''[[Auxerre]]'', and ''Bruxelles'' ([[Brussels]])
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Galician alphabet|Galician]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|Usually
|-
|{{IPA|/(k)s/}}
|Some learned loanwords
|-
! [[German orthography|German]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Mainly used in loanwords
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Indonesian orthography|Indonesian]]
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|In the beginning of a word, mainly used in [[loanword]]s for science
|-
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|In the middle or the end of a word, although words borrowed with the letter x in the middle or the end of a word are always replaced by the letters 'ks'. For example, the word 'maximum' and 'climax' in Indonesian would be 'maksimal' and 'klimaks'. Letter x on the middle or the end of a word only occurs in names. Mainly used in loanwords for science.
|-
! [[Italian orthography|Italian]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Mainly used in learned loanwords
|-
! [[Kurdish orthography|Kurdish]]
|{{IPAslink|x}}
|
|-
! [[Lao language|Lao]] romanization
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|A "low consonant", affects the tone of the following vowel
|-
! [[Leonese dialect|Leonese]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
|-
! [[Ligurian language|Ligurian]]
|{{IPAslink|ʒ}}
|
|-
! [[Maltese orthography|Maltese]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
|-
! [[Mayan languages|Mayan]] ([[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala|ALMG]])
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
|-
! [[Nahuatl orthography|Nahuatl]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
|-
! [[Nguni language|Nguni]]
|{{IPAslink|ǁ}}
|
|-
! [[Norwegian orthography|Norwegian]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Archaic
|-
! rowspan="4" | [[Occitan orthography|Occitan]]
|{{IPAslink|t͡s}}
|Usually
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|Before consonants
|-
|{{IPA|/ɡz/}}
|In the prefix ''ex''- before vowels in the [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]], [[Limousin dialect|Limousin]], [[Auvergnat]], [[Vivaro-Alpine]], and [[Niçard]] dialects
|-
|{{IPA|/ɡʒ/}}
|Before {{angbr|i}} and {{angbr|u}} in the [[Auvergnat]] dialect
|-
! [[Oromo language|Oromo]]
|{{IPAslink|tʼ}}
|
|-
! [[Pirahã language|Pirahã]]
|{{IPAslink|ʔ}}
|
|-
! [[Polish orthography|Polish]]
|{{IPA|/ks ~ gz/}}
|Unused in Polish orthography, except in loanwords.
|-
! rowspan="5" | [[Portuguese orthography|Portuguese]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|Usually, always when word-initially
|-
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|Found between vowels in some words, mainly in those that entered the language recently
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|When preceded by {{angbr|e}} and succeeded by a consonant
|-
|{{IPAslink|z}}
|In the [[prefix]]es {{angbr|ex}} when before a vowel and {{angbr|exo}}
|-
|{{IPA|/gz/}}
|Optionally in the [[prefix]] [[Numeral prefix|''hexa''-]], although most dialects just pronounce this prefix's {{angbr|x}} as {{IPA|/ks/}} or {{IPAslink|z}}
|-
! [[Sardinian alphabet|Sardinian]]
|{{IPAslink|ʒ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Sicilian orthography|Sicilian]]
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|Old Sicilian words and names, e.g. [[Bettino Craxi|''Craxi'']] and [[Joppolo Giancaxio|''Giancaxio'']]
|-
|{{IPA|/k(ə)s(ə)/}}
|Loanwords
|-
! [[Somali orthography|Somali]]
|{{IPAslink|ħ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Spanish orthography|Spanish]]
|{{IPA|/(k)s/}}
|Usually
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|Word-initially
|-
|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}, {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}, {{IPAslink|x}}
|In some names and words
|-
! [[Swedish orthography|Swedish]]
|{{IPA|/ks/}}
|
|-
! [[Uzbek alphabet|Uzbek]]
|{{IPAslink|χ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Venetian orthography|Venetian]]
|{{IPAslink|z}}
|Usually
|-
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|In ''Venexia'', "[[Venice]]"
|-
! [[Vietnamese orthography|Vietnamese]]
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|
|}

===English===
In [[English orthography]], {{angbr|x}} is typically pronounced as the voiceless [[consonant cluster]] {{IPAc-en|k|s}} when it follows the stressed vowel (e.g. ''ox''), and the voiced consonant {{IPAc-en|ɡ|z}} when it precedes the stressed vowel (e.g. ''exam''). It is also pronounced {{IPAc-en|ɡ|z}} when it precedes a silent {{angbr|h}} and a stressed vowel (e.g. ''exhaust'').<ref name="Venezky1970">{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Venezky|title=The Structure of English Orthography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mrt_G_RrJykC&pg=PA5|date=1 January 1970|location=[[The Hague]]|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-080447-8|page=40|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427105102/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mrt_G_RrJykC&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to [[yod-coalescence]], the sequence {{angbr|xi}} before a vowel can be pronounced {{IPAc-en|k|ʃ}} resulting from earlier {{IPAc-en|k|s|j}}, e.g. in ''-xion(-)'', ''-xious(-)''. Similarly, the sequence {{angbr|xu}} can be pronounced with {{IPAc-en|k|ʃ}} (e.g. ''flexure'', ''sexual'') or {{IPAc-en|ɡ|ʒ}} (in ''luxury'' and its derivatives).<!-- Oxford gives /ˈlʌkʃ(ə)ri/--> Due to [[NG-coalescence]], the sequence {{angbr|nx}} can be pronounced {{IPAc-en|ŋ|z}} in ''anxiety''.

When {{angbr|x}} ends a word, it is always {{IPAc-en|k|s}} (e.g. ''fax''), except in loan words such as ''faux''. When {{angbr|x}} does start a word, it is usually pronounced 'z' (e.g. ''xylophone'', ''xanthan''). When starting in some names or as its own representation, it is pronounced 'eks', in rare recent loanwords or foreign proper names, it can also be pronounced {{IPAc-en|s}} (e.g. the obsolete Vietnamese monetary unit ''[[wiktionary:xu|xu]]'') or {{IPAc-en|ʃ}} (e.g. Chinese names starting with ''Xi'', like [[Xiaomi]] or [[Xinjiang]]). Many of the words that start with {{angbr|x}} are of [[Greek language|Greek]] origin, standardized trademarks (''[[Xerox]]''), or acronyms (''XC'').

In abbreviations, it can represent "trans-" (e.g. ''XMIT'' for transmit, ''XFER'' for transfer), "cross-" (e.g. ''X-ing'' for crossing, ''XREF'' for [[cross-reference]]), "Christ-" (e.g. ''Xmas'' for [[Christmas]], ''Xian'' for [[Christians|Christian]]), the "crys-" in crystal (''XTAL''), "by" (''SXSW'' for [[South by Southwest]]), or various words starting with "ex-" (e.g. ''XL'' for extra large, ''XOR'' for [[Exclusive disjunction|exclusive-or]], or the [[extinction symbol]]).

X is the [[Letter frequency|third least frequently used letter]] in English (after {{angbr|q}} and {{angbr|z}}), with a frequency of about 0.15% in words.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Mička |first=Pavel |title=Letter frequency (English) |url=http://en.algoritmy.net/article/40379/Letter-frequency-English |website=Algoritmy.net |access-date=9 February 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304152631/http://en.algoritmy.net/article/40379/Letter-frequency-English |url-status=live }}</ref> There are very few English words that start with {{angbr|x}} (the fewest of any letter).

===Romance languages===
In Latin, {{angbr|x}} stood for {{IPA|/ks/}}. In the [[Romance languages]], as a result of assorted phonetic changes, {{angbr|x}} has other pronunciations:
*In [[Catalan language|Catalan]], {{angbr|x}} has three pronunciations; the most common is {{IPAslink|ʃ}}; as in ''xarop'' ('syrup'). Others are: {{IPA|/ks/}}; ''fixar'' ('to fix'), {{IPA|/ɡz/}}; ''examen''. In addition, {{IPAslink|ʃ}} gets voiced to {{IPAblink|ʒ}} before voiced consonants; ''caixmir''. Catalan also has the digraph {{angbr|tx}}, pronounced {{IPAslink|tʃ}}.
*In [[Galician language|Galician]] and [[Leonese language|Leonese]], {{angbr|x}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|ʃ}} in most cases (often used in place of etymological ''g'' or ''j''). The pronunciation {{IPA|/ks/}} occurs in learned words, such as '<nowiki/>''taxativo''<nowiki/>' (taxing). However, Galician speakers tend to pronounce it {{IPAslink|s}}, especially when it appears before plosives, such as in ''externo'' <nowiki/>('external').
*In [[French language|French]], {{angbr|x}} usually represents {{IPA|/ks/}} or (primarily in words beginning with ex- followed by a vowel) {{IPA|/ɡz/}}. It is pronounced {{IPAslink|s}} in some city names such as ''[[Brussels|Bruxelles]]'' (although some people pronounce it 'ks') or ''[[Auxerre]]''; it is nevertheless pronounced {{IPA|/ks/}} in [[Aix (disambiguation)|Aix]], the name of several towns. At the ends of other words, it is silent (or {{IPAslink|z}} in [[Liaison (French)|liaison]] if the next word starts with a vowel). Two exceptions are pronounced {{IPAslink|s}}: ''six'' ('six') and ''dix'' ('ten'). It is pronounced {{IPAslink|z}} in ''sixième'' and ''dixième''.
*In [[Italian language|Italian]], {{angbr|x}} is either pronounced {{IPA|/ks/}}, as in ''extra'', ''uxorio'', ''xilofono'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dizionario.rai.it |title=Dizionario di ortografia e pronunzia |trans-title=Dictionary of Spelling and Pronunciation |language=it |website=Dizionario di ortografia e pronunzia |access-date=9 February 2014 |archive-date=16 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416110248/http://www.dizionario.rai.it/ |url-status=live }}</ref> or {{IPA|/ɡz/}}, as in ''exogamia'', when it is preceded by {{angbr|e}} and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably [[Venetian language|Venetian]], it represents the voiced [[sibilant]] {{IPAslink|z}}. It is also used, mainly amongst young people, as a short written form for "per" (meaning "for"); for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This is because in Italian, the [[×|multiplication sign]] is called "per". However, {{angbr|x}} is found only in [[loanword]]s, as it is not part of the standard [[Italian alphabet]]; in most words with {{angbr|x}}, this letter may be replaced with 's' or 'ss' (with different pronunciation: ''xilofono''/''silofono'', ''taxi''/''tassì'') or, rarely, by 'cs' (with the same pronunciation: ''claxon''/''[[:it:clacson|clacson]]'').
*In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{angbr|x}} has four main pronunciations; the most common is {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, as in ''xícara'' ('cup'). The other sounds are: {{IPA|/ks/}} as in ''flexão'' ('flexion'); {{IPAslink|s}}, when preceded by E and followed by a consonant, as in ''contexto'' ({{IPAslink|ʃ}} in European Portuguese), and in a small number of other words, such as ''próximo'' (close/next); and (the rarest) {{IPAslink|z}}, which occurs in the prefix "ex-" before a vowel, as in ''exagerado'' ('exaggerated'). A rare fifth sound is {{IPA|/ɡz/}}, coexisting with {{IPAslink|z}} and {{IPA|/ks/}} as acceptable pronunciations in ''exantema'' and in words with the Greek prefix 'hexa-'.
*In [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|ʒ}}.
*In [[Old Spanish]], {{angbr|x}} was pronounced {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, as it is still currently in other [[Iberian Romance languages]]. Later, the sound evolved to a {{IPAslink|x}} sound. In modern [[Spanish language|Spanish]], due to a spelling reform, whenever {{angbr|x}} is used for the {{IPAslink|x}} sound it has been replaced with {{angbr|j}}, including in words that originally had {{angbr|x}} such as ''ejemplo'' or ''ejercicio'', though {{angbr|x}} is still retained for some names (notably "México", even though "Méjico" may sometimes be used in Spain). Presently, {{angbr|x}} represents the sound {{IPAslink|s}} (word-initially), or the consonant cluster {{IPA|/ks/}} (e.g. ''oxígeno'', ''examen''). Rarely, it can be pronounced {{IPAslink|ʃ}} as in Old Spanish in some proper nouns such as ''Raxel'' (a variant of ''[[Rachel]]'') and ''[[Uxmal]]''.
*In [[Venetian language|Venetian]], {{angbr|x}} represents the voiced alveolar sibilant {{IPAslink|z}}, much like in Portuguese 'exagerado', English 'xylophone' or in the French 'sixième'. Examples from medieval texts include ''raxon'' ('reason'), ''prexon'' ('prison'), ''dexerto'' ('desert'), and ''chaxa'' or ''caxa'' ('home'). Nowadays, the best-known word is ''xe'' (is/are). The most notable exception to this rule is the name ''Venexia'', {{IPA|/veˈnɛsja/}}, in which {{angbr|x}} has evolved from the initial voiced sibilant {{IPAslink|z}} to the present-day voiceless sibilant {{IPAslink|s}}.

===Other languages===
In languages which adopted the [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]] later, {{angbr|x}} is used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by Latin or its descendants, but in others for unrelated consonants. Since the various Romance pronunciations of {{angbr|x}} can often be written in other ways, the letter becomes available for other sounds.
*In [[Albanian language|Albanian]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|dz}} while the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angbr|xh}} represents {{IPAslink|dʒ}}.
*It represents {{IPAslink|x}} ([[voiceless velar fricative]]) in [[Apache]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (Hawar alphabet), [[Georgian language|Georgian]] (when Latinized), [[Lojban]], [[Pashto]] (when Latinized), [[Tatar language|Tatar]] (Jaꞑalif, Zamanälif, official romanization of 2012), [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]], and [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] ([[Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin script]]).
*In [[Basque language|Basque]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|ʃ}}. Additionally, the digraph {{angbr|tx}} represents {{IPAslink|tʃ}}.
*In [[Hanyu Pinyin]], [[Standard Chinese]]'s official transcription system in China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan, the letter {{angbr|x}} represents the [[voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative]] {{IPAslink|ɕ}}, for instance in '[[Xi (surname)|Xi]]', {{IPA|/ɕi/}}.
*In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], {{angbr|x}} usually represents {{IPA|/ks/}}, except in the name of the island of [[Texel]], which is pronounced ''Tessel''. This is because of [[Dutch language#Historical sound changes|historical sound-changes in Dutch]], where all {{IPA|/ks/}} sounds have been replaced by {{IPAslink|s}} sounds. Words with an {{angbr|x}} in the Dutch language are nowadays usually [[loanword]]s. In the [[Languages of Belgium|Dutch-speaking part of Belgium]], [[family name]]s with {{angbr|x}} are not uncommon (e.g. ''Dierckxa'' and ''Hendrickx'').
*In [[Esperanto]], the [[x-convention]] replaces {{angbr|[[ĉ]]}}, {{angbr|[[ĝ]]}}, {{angbr|[[ĥ]]}}, {{angbr|[[ĵ]]}}, {{angbr|[[ŝ]]}}, and {{angbr|[[ŭ]]}} with x-suffixes: {{angbr|cx}}, {{angbr|gx}}, {{angbr|hx}}, {{angbr|jx}}, {{angbr|sx}}, and {{angbr|ux}}.
*In [[German language|German]], generally pronounced {{IPA|/ks/}}; in native words, however, such as ''Ochs'' or ''wachsen'',  the cluster {{IPA|/ks/}} is often written {{angbr|chs}}.
*In transliterations of [[Languages of India|Indian languages]], primarily Indo-Aryan languages, {{angbr|x}} represents the consonant cluster {{IPA|[kʃ]}} in alternate spellings of words containing 'क्ष' (kṣ), especially names such as [[Laxmi]] and [[Dikshit|Dixit]]. Less frequently, {{angbr|x}} is used to represent 'ख़' {{IPAslink|x}}.
*In [[Lao language|Lao]], based on [[romanization of Lao#Consonants|romanization of Lao consonants]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|s}}, while appears to be homophonous with {{angbr|s}}, it is a "low consonant" and affects the tone of the following vowel, e.g. in [[Lan Xang]].
*In [[Maltese language|Maltese]], {{angbr|x}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|ʃ}} or, in some cases, {{IPAslink|ʒ}} (only in loanwords such as 'televixin', and not for all speakers).
*In [[Nahuatl]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|ʃ}}.
*In [[Nguni languages]], {{angbr|x}} represents the [[alveolar lateral click]] {{IPAslink|ǁ}}.
*In [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], {{angbr|x}} is generally pronounced {{IPA|/ks/}}, but since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to spell it out as {{angbr|ks}}; it may still be retained in personal names, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and [[SMS language]]. Usage in [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]] is similar (while [[Swedish language|Swedish]], on the other hand, makes frequent use of {{angbr|x}} in native words as well as in loanwords).
*In [[Pirahã language|Pirahã]], {{angbr|x}} symbolizes the [[glottal stop]] {{IPAslink|ʔ}}.
*In [[Polish language|Polish]], {{angbr|x}} was used prior to 19th century both in loanwords and native words and was pronounced {{IPA|/ks/}} or {{IPA|/ɡz/}}, e.g. ''xiążę'', ''xięstwo'' (now ''książę'', ''księstwo''). This was later replaced by {{angbr|ks}} and {{angbr|gz}} in almost all words and remained only in a few loanwords as 'xenia' (''xenien''), surnames as ''Axentowicz'', ''Rexemowski'', and ''Xiężopolski'', names as ''Xawery'', and ''Xymena'', and abbreviations.
*In [[Vietnamese alphabet#Consonants|Vietnamese]], {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPAslink|s}}. This sound was {{IPAblink|ɕ}} in Middle Vietnamese, resembling the Portuguese {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, spelled {{angbr|x}}.

An illustrative example of {{angbr|x}} as a "leftover" letter is the differing usage in three different [[Cushitic languages]]:
*[[Afar language|Afar]]: [[voiced alveolar implosive]] {{IPAslink|ɗ}}
*[[Oromo language|Oromo]]: [[alveolar ejective]] {{IPAslink|tʼ}}
*[[Somali language|Somali]]: [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] {{IPAslink|ħ}}

===Other systems===
In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], {{angbr IPA|x}} represents a [[voiceless velar fricative]].