The following Canadian letters have a distinct property in common. Can you tell what it is?

a b c g i j o p q r t u y

From the above set, a further breakdown into two groups is possible. The first group contains the letters a, c, and g, while the second group contains the rest. The separating factor is related to the common property that all the letters share. Can you get that too?

Perhaps the reason Cory referred to the list of letters as Canadian is that the word eh is often associated with Canadians and it is pronounced as the letter a.
  
The letters in the list have the property that each, when pronounced, are also words in the English language:

a: a, eh
b: be, bee
c: sea, see, si
g: ge*, gee, jee
i: ai, ay, aye, eye, I
j: jay
o: o, oh, owe
p: pea, pee
q: cue, queue
r: ar, are
t: tea, tee, ti
u: ewe, yew, you
y: why, wye*

*ge is the Old English second person nominative plural, i.e., an archaic form of the Modern English you;
 wye* (obsolete - a kind of crotch)

Other letters that share this property are e, k, l, m, n and x.
ee ([Scottish] eye)
cay (a small, low island or reef in the ocean)
el (an elevated railway or train) and ell (a former textile measure of 45 inches [England] or 37 inches [Scotland]; an extension at the end and at right angles to a building)
em (a linear unit used in printing [1/6 inch])
en (a linear unit used in printing [1/12 inch]), in (something fashionable; toward the inside), and inn (a hotel)
ex (a former spouse)

d, s, and v are also letters with a pronunciation that can represent words. Yet, these words, other than representing the letter, are almost used solely to define something that has the shape of that letter. (c, l, o and y are also letters, as a word [cee, ell, o and wye] may define something that has the shape of the letter). 

a, c and g belong to the group of letters {a, c, g, i, k, q, u} that has at least one associated word in pronunciation that does not include the letter in the spelling of the word:
a (eh), c (sea, see, si), g (jee), i (ay, aye, eye), k (cay), q (cue), and u (ewe, yew).

Edited on September 22, 2008, 2:52 am

Posted by Dej Mar on 2008-09-21 14:20:32