But that was not always the case.ĭuring the Victorian era (1837–1901), both zee and zed were used in present-day Ontario however, promoters of “the Queen’s English” found such examples of North American English to be vulgar or even rude. Zed is perhaps the most iconic instance of Canadians preferring the British term to the American. For the most part, however, Canadian English follows the American influence, with Canadians preferring flashlight to torch and diaper to nappy, for example. While British and American English have distinct vocabularies, Canadian English vocabulary is informed by both. Others argue that zee follows the rhyme pattern of the “Alphabet Song” - copyrighted in Boston in 1835 - making the song, and the alphabet, easier to learn. Some argue that Americans sought to distinguish themselves from the British, particularly as they fought for their independence ( see American Revolution). While different pronunciations for the letter were used in the United States, the famed American lexicographer Noah Webster wrote in An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) that, “It is pronounced zee.” The motivation behind Americans adopting zee is debated.
Regardless, zee made its way to the British colonies in North America. It’s thought that zee was last used in England during the late 17th century however, usage is difficult to trace, because pronunciations for letters were not often written down. The earliest citation is from a 1677 language textbook, A New Spelling Book by Thomas Lye, a Nonconformist minister and teacher in London, England. The pronunciation zee is a 17th-century variant of zed. The earliest citation for zed dates to 15th-century Middle English: “ zed, which is the laste lettre of the a-b-c.” In fact, Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) includes the entry: “ zed, more commonly izzard or uzzard” ( see Early Dictionaries). There were many historic names for the letter Z, including zad, zard, ezed, ezod, izod, izzard and uzzard.
According to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd edition), the word zed is derived from the French word for the same letter, zède, as well as from the Latin and Greek word for the letter zeta.
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