[P align=left]The "zee" pronunciation is reinforced especially by the "Alphabet Song," a piece of doggerel set to music that ends with these lines:
[P align=left]ell em en oh pee cue, ar ess tee,
yoo vee double-yoo, eks wye zee.
Now I know my ey bee sees,
Next time, won't you sing with me?
[P align=left]The rhyme of "zee" with "tee" is ruined if it is pronounced "zed," a fact that seems so salient that many Ontario nursery school teachers retain it in the song even though they would never use it elsewhere.
[P align=left]Something like the power of rhyme must have been involved in propagating the American pronunciation. LOL
[P align=left]
[P align=left]"The letter name zee, now American, was not invented in America, as several bumptious and jingoist American websites suggest. The letter has actually had eight or more names during its long sojourn at the bottom of the English alphabet: zad, zard, zed, zee, ezed, ezod, izod, izzard, uzzard. One of those names is zee, a dialect form last heard in England during the late seventeenth century. That name was brought to America by British immigrants, perhaps not on the Mayflower but very early indeed in American history.
[P align=left]One of the small matters is the name of the last letter of the alphabet. 'Z' is called "zed" everywhere in the world, not only in English but also in French, German, and most other languages, except in the United States , where it is called "zee." Hence "zee" is an American shibboleth."
[P align=left]My linguistic pet peeve is 'AN' historical event. I don't understand it. I actually remember when it went through 'the change'. Caught on like wildfire in the media, and seems to now be accepted as normal or correct.
