Try as you might to find a letter of the alphabet that has had a more tumultuous history than the letter Z, you’d be hard-pressed to find one. In fact, you won’t find any. Some loved it, and others despised it, the letter Z almost disappeared at one point, because the Russians today had nothing to wear with tanks and they were sitting at home. Fortunately for her, the letter Z has withstood the ravages of time, and we still use it today, although she managed to get into other scandals again, only she knows how. But we will talk briefly about its stormy history later.

The first to think of turning the Z sound into a letter were representatives of the proto-Semitic population that inhabited the Middle East about four millennia ago. That they were Canaanites, that they were the mysterious Hyksos who also conquered part of Egypt about 3700 years ago, is not known for sure. It is only certain that the letter Z appears later in the Phoenician alphabet in the form of zain. It was the seventh letter of the alphabet and was also translated as “sword” or, later, various derogatory terms referring to a certain part of the male body. Since then it has been a restless letter.

On the Phoenician chain, the letter Z reached the ancient Greeks, where it enjoyed great respect, in the variant “zeta”, because the Greeks loved it so much. They loved her so much that even their most powerful god, Zeus, had a name that started with her. A little further north of the Greeks, in the territory of the Getae, we do not know whether writing existed, but sound had perhaps the greatest success since it had been in the world. Whether it was a stork, a vezura, a pea, a colt, Zalmoxis, Hebelezis, or Sarmizegetusa, you wandered in vain through the lexical wealth of the days to come, if you did not put a Z there, just enough to shake the melodiousness. words and leave a pledge of one’s own heritage, one might even say zonal.

Romanians banned the letter Z

After so much love for the letter Z in the Greek and Geth world, it also reached Latin territory, where it seemed to be stuck. Appius Claudius Cecus, the consul and later dictator, had a personal connection to the aforementioned letter. Tsek is a nickname, it meant “blind”, because that’s what happened to the man in his old age. Until he became blind, Appius did many good and useful things for the Romans. For example, he initiated the construction of the first major road in ancient Rome, the Via Appia, which, as is easy to understand, bears his name. Another initiative was related to the construction of the first Roman aqueduct, Aqua Appia, also named in his honor.

Sometime near the end of his life, Appius Claudius developed a great passion for grammar and spelling. So he discovered that the letter Z, borrowed from the Greeks, does not actually appear in the Latin lexicon, except in words taken from the Greek language. In fact, the letter Z was pronounced as “Ț” modeled after the two z’s in modern writing. When they pronounced it correctly, the Romans shuddered as if they had “the smile of a corpse,” according to Appius ad litteram. Therefore, he demanded and managed to remove the letter Z from the alphabet. This happened around 300 BC.

For about 200 years, the frenzy continued until Marcus Fabius Quintilian, a famous Roman rhetorician, demanded the reinstatement of the letter Z in the alphabet. It was imitated by Cicero and others, and this is how it came back for all of us to use today. It is true that from the starting position, seventh, Z had to settle for only the last position, but it was still something. By the way, then the letter G was also changed, the one that took the initial place of Z in the alphabet, because we still use the Latin alphabet.

Among Quintilian’s arguments, which are truly moving, we will mention the one who said that the letter Z not only does not make the face grimace, but on the contrary, adds a smile, but also enriches the language thanks to the original pronunciation of some terms. derived from the Greek line, such as “marshmallow.” Here, too, he was right, and this was one of the strong arguments by which he won his case.

Neo-Nazi and anti-Nazi symbol at the same time

Later, when Europe underwent major changes during the Middle Ages, only grammar and the letter Z stopped burning them. They had other problems, this was really the last of them. But it also reached the northern peoples, where it found its place among the trident-shaped runes. It was pronounced “algiz,” but what it symbolized was unclear. But Hitler’s Nazis claimed to know, and look how the runic Z took on its first modern connotations. Probably, it can be said that he was revived a little in the 20th century, and a little later, when the character of Zorro appeared on the world stage and inscribed himself on the chest of his opponents. But it did not keep who knows what fashion, because children quickly change models.

Returning to the Nazi interpretation, for example, when it was placed with the tip up, the corresponding rune symbolized life. Therefore, it was applied to the red cross of ambulances, doctors, paramedics, etc. It was also captured by the first Nazi paramilitary group, the Sturmabteilung. Raised up, the same Z rune symbolized death, so instead of a cross it was applied to Nazi graves or profile announcements. It was mainly used to commemorate the victims of the SS troops. It should also be said that the second interpretation, with the symbol of death, belongs to the Austrian occultist of the 19th century, Guido von List, a follower of the neo-pagan direction.

On that chain was the symbol in question, a trident with the tip down, which, by the way, was pronounced “Yr,” not just another Nazi symbol, but primarily a neo-Nazi one. You can find it in some hard rock bands, but also in neo-Nazi organizations that still exist in some places. You may be interested to know that this symbol has recently been used in Ukraine by various groups with radical right-wing views, often in combination with the previously mentioned symbol of life, as well as other runes with Nazi overtones. Another reason for the motivation of “denazification” given by the Russians.

And last but not least: the Russians decided to place the letter Z on their Ukrainian military equipment. It is not known exactly what it symbolizes. It is certain that it was applied along with the letters V, A and O to distinguish the Russian technique from the Ukrainian one, to which it is strikingly similar. A variant, but purely speculative, says that the Russian Z comes from “zapad”, which means “west”. Another says it comes from “for the victory,” meaning “for the victory.” In general, the letter Z has become a symbol of the Russian invasion, so several countries even considered banning it. Not really, but only as a symbol.

So the poor letter Z from the phallic symbol, and later the smiles of the dead, became not only a symbol of neo-Nazis, but also of military invasion. Let someone else say that this is really not a complicated story!