09/14/2026
Love this! 1️⃣1️⃣
📖 What's story of eleven and twelve? Did you ever wonder why we didn't name these numbers "one-teen" and "two-teen" when they're just like thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...?
I did. Here's the scoop from Old English to Middle English to our Present-Day English words.
These words have a Germanic origin and their Old English spellings reflect the meaning of "one left" after 10 and "two left" after 10.
🔎Looking at these in Etymonline.com and then in the Oxford English Dictionary online, it's interesting to see how many different forms there were of the Old English spelling and Middle English spelling of these two number words.
Old English spellings weren't standardized. The spelling variations were often regional, and they existed even among those in the same area. Before a printing press or a dictionary, who was to say what was "correct" English spelling?
❤ What I love is that in the etymology (a word's history and origin) there are clues to the meaning connections to our Present-Day English spelling.
How do we get from "one left" to "eleven" and "two left" to "twelve"? The Old English was enleoFan that evolved to Middle English elleoVene and eventually to eleven. Twelve came from Old English twelf and was spelled in Middle English.
We know there is a connection with and .
Look at
🔎leave & left
🔎believe & belief
🔎five & fifteen
🔎calf & calves
🔎twelve & twelfth
💋 Notice what your lips are doing when you say /f/ and when you say /v/. Where does the air flow? What distinguishes /f/ from /v/? Say both and place your hand on your throat.
Spelling Connections make for Happy Spelling!
