List of one-letter English words

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The English language has three one-letter words, aside from the self-reference discussed below.

1 Words
2 Abbreviations
3 Self-reference: every letter is a word
4 See also

[edit] Words

a – an indefinite article
I – the first person singular nominative pronoun
O – an interjection, used in the translation of the vocative case of Latin, commonly used in poetry

Both I and O are always capitalized when used.

[edit] Abbreviations

The word E is the shortest English neologism and is a Spivak pronoun meaning he or she. It, along with X, is also a common abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy.

In gangsta rap culture, G is a valid word, a contraction of "gangster", used as a term of respect.

There are also various single letter words used as abbreviations in text-speak and related uses:

a – "eh" (a popular Canadian phrase)
b – "be" or "bee"
c – "sea" or "see"
d – "dee"
f – "fat"
I – "eye"
k – "okay"
n – "in" or "and"
o – "oh"
p – "pea" (small green vegetable) or "pee" (to urinate)
q – "cue" or "queue"
r – "are"
t – "tea" or less commonly "tee"
u – "you"
v – "very"
w – "with"
x – part of the phrase "x out" or "ex-girlfriend/boyfriend"
y – "why"

Various digits have also been pressed into service in this manner:

1 – "won"
2 – "to", "too". Can also be used as part of a word. Example: 2moro (tomorrow).
4 – "for" – Can also be used as part of a word. Examples: a4d, 4cast, 4give, 4got, 4m, 4mer, 4milk, 4most, 4t, 4tell, and b4.
8 – "ate" – Can also be used as part of a word. Examples: l8r, navig8, m8, w8, sk8, veget8, anim8, and copul8.

[edit] Self-reference: every letter is a word

Large dictionaries list each letter as a single-letter word. Each such word is defined as a noun, denoting the letter with which it is spelled. This blurs the use-mention distinction:

mentioning the letter:

"Psychology" starts with a 'p'.
using as a word:

"Psychology" starts with a p.

The plural form of these nouns are often shown with an apostrophe: e.g."Egg" has two g's. Some consider this practice erroneous and advocate capitalizing the letter and adding a lowercase S, as in "Double Os are more common than double Vs." [1]

Some single-letter words have additional meanings, describing an object that is shaped like the letter ("the road came to a 'T'", "an L-shaped couch", "make your mouth into an O") or used in idiomatic expressions ("Are all the i's dotted and t's crossed?").