Talk:The ABC Song

message: My mother used to teach me the alphabet through a song similar to a military chant. I think it went:
:A B C D E and F
:G H I J K L M
:N O P Q R S T
:U V W X Y Z  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.240.55.173 (talk) 17:42, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: alphabet chant

message: A version supposedly favoured at one time in California, either by the state university or the DOE, grouped the letters thus:
:A B C D E F G 
:H I J K L M N 
:O P Q, R S T
:U V W X Y Z
and otherwise used the usual closing lines and the French melody. Thought it worth a mention. knoodelhed 04:05, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alternate grouping 

message: Is there anything else which requires verification within this article?  The  template is resting atop this article, but I'm not sure why its there or what needs to be sourced exactly.  Can't sleep, clown will eat me 23:13, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This template has been removed since no one has specified why it was still needed.  If there are specific concerns please address them here on this talk page.  Can't sleep, clown will eat me 19:07, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Verify template

message: "Klaustrophobia" could not be used in the K-word line: First, the correct spelling begins with a C.  Second, even if the word were intentionally misspelled as a joke, that joke works only in writing:  someone hearing this song could not tell the difference between a K and a hard C.
Incidentally, the lyrics look as if this were a parody of the love song "A, You're Adorable" (although it imitates only part of the original).  Should the article mention this?   ISNorden 16:11, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misspelling in "summer camp" alphabet song 

message: ===The Atomic Alphabet (?)===
I originally posted this segment of this other "alphabet song" on the article page.  I have now removed it to this talk page because I realized that it does not help the article.  The song in question is not an actual alphabet song used by or for children, AND it is not well-known.  It is a punk song that happens to use the alphabet, in a way reminiscent of children's alphabet songs, for artistic purposes.
Initially, I had hoped someone would add an attribution for this song, because I cannot find any mention of it online.  No one has added an attribution, underscoring that the song really is obscure or forgotten.
An alphabet song, heard once on the radio (1980s?):
:A is for the atom bomb
:B  for bee and bone
C for civilazation
D. for (sounds like, but is not...) diroccimont
E for evolution
F for fighting mother nature
:G, I love you baby
:H, I hate you too'
I I idolize you 
J I jappadize you
K I keep for you to keepin while I'm going
L for Lover
M is for the morning
N is for the night
O for omen
P for people
Q for quiet life
R for revolution
S for something steady
T for two and tea for me like the twidle..............
U for universal 
V for victory
W for wonder who can mister
X be
Y for me and me for you
Z for Zero Z for Zoo z for Zulu here we go
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw xyz
then repeat,
then alfabet backwards...
--Whiner01 03:10, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Other lesser-known alphabet songs

message: I originally posted this segment of this other "alphabet song" on the article page.  I have now removed it to this talk page because I realized that it does not help the article.  The song in question is not an actual alphabet song used by or for children, AND it is not well-known.  It is a punk song that happens to use the alphabet, in a way reminiscent of children's alphabet songs, for artistic purposes.
Initially, I had hoped someone would add an attribution for this song, because I cannot find any mention of it online.  No one has added an attribution, underscoring that the song really is obscure or forgotten.
An alphabet song, heard once on the radio (1980s?):
:A is for the atom bomb
:B  for bee and bone
C for civilazation
D. for (sounds like, but is not...) diroccimont
E for evolution
F for fighting mother nature
:G, I love you baby
:H, I hate you too'
I I idolize you 
J I jappadize you
K I keep for you to keepin while I'm going
L for Lover
M is for the morning
N is for the night
O for omen
P for people
Q for quiet life
R for revolution
S for something steady
T for two and tea for me like the twidle..............
U for universal 
V for victory
W for wonder who can mister
X be
Y for me and me for you
Z for Zero Z for Zoo z for Zulu here we go
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw xyz
then repeat,
then alfabet backwards...
--Whiner01 03:10, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: The Atomic Alphabet (?)

message: From the History of the page:
11:06, 1 December 2006 PBS (The Latin alphabet means more and less than the 26 letters of the English alphabet, See Italian alphabet and Danish alphabet for examples.
The English alphabet uses 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, but different alphabets which are based on the Roman alphabet letters, use more or less letters than the English alphabet. I think this confusion arises because for historical reasons the computer and telecommunications industries based their "Basic Latin alphabet" on the 26 letters of the English alphabet (see Latin alphabet and international standards and ISO/IEC 646). If during the 1960's Italy had dominated the computer and telecommunication industry then the number of letters in the Basic Latin alphabet might well have bee the 21 used in the Italian alphabet. So I think to equate the Latin alphabet with the English alphabet is a systemic bias that people who are fimilar with installing software on PCs make. --PBS 11:30, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[English alphabet]] 

message: Here's a version I can't find any reference for, but I definitely knew this long before Sesame St came along.  Not very educational, but if I or anyone can find a ref, maybe we can put it into the article somewhere?
 a-b-c-d-e-f-g,
 h-i-j-k-lmnop,
 lmnop is watching me,
 so I can't say my a-b-c.
--Nigelj 14:11, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Here's a version 

message: Okay so in this article, the origins of the song are explicitly stated but what I'm left wondering is where the order of the alphabet came from...
Logically, most would put the song ordered with vowels first then consonants or vice-versa but the consonants and vowels are mixed in the rhymes used to remember them in every country no matter what language. So, did the order occur because of the rhyme or was it something else??
:Actually, the Latin alphabet got most of its letter order from the Greek alphabet, which got most of its order from the Phoenician alphabet, etc. going back to the fourteenth century BC. I don't know how it originated, but alphabetical order is clearly much older than the song. Lunaibis (talk) 20:11, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origins of Letter Order 

message: There is one my wife knows which goes like this:
 A b-C d-E f-G h-I j-K l-M
 (clap clap)
 N-o P-q R-s T-u V W-X-Y-Z
It's sung at a much faster tempo and also separates all the letters, including the L-M-N-O-P run (even so far as including two quick claps in between it). - Gohst 11:33, 24 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Different version again 

message: Why has somebody given the section the heading "In other languages"?  The first one has been given in English.  Is this a song in German that somebody has translated to English here, what Germans use when learning English, or what?
The Japan one doesn't have any words given, so it could be in almost any language that uses the Latin alphabet, and Japanese doesn't.  Which is it?  And are the "many variations of the last two ""now I know my A-B-C's"" lines" sung in English, translated to Japanese or what? -- Smjg (talk) 16:59, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just added .  Moreover, if they really are "in other languages" as stated, we should give the words both in the other language and translated into English. -- Smjg (talk) 21:28, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Germany and Japan 

message: Balkans (ex Yu) would probably read English letters right if they write them like this:
:  A (ej), B (bi), C (si), D (di), E (i), F (ef), G (dži), H (ejdž), I (aj), J (džej), K (kej), L (el), M (em), N (en), O (ou), P (pi), Q (kju), R (ar), S (es), T (ti), U (ju), V (vi), W (dabl ju), X (eks), Y (vaj), Z (zi)
It looks ugly, I know, but it's useful for those who don't have speakers! :) --Popski (talk) 11:37, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Balkans Version - Write As You Read 

message: To me, this is /eɪ/ /ɑ:/ /ɑ:/, leaving the /æ/ sound unmentioned.  Is this the way it's meant to be?  If so, why has /ɑ:/ been written in two different ways?
Moreover, what are the asterisks meant to mean in the same lyrics?  What is a "leading sound", anyway? -- Smjg (talk) 18:03, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ay Aa Ah? 

message: Jerome (4th century) in his Epistle CVII "ad Laetam" mentions an alphabet song ("canticum") as well as ivory or boxwood blocks with letters on them when giving advice to a friend on how to educate her daughter. It seems these things are pretty old. Rwflammang (talk) 21:46, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Jerome

message: I've lived in Australia my entire life, and never heard anything like this. Can anyone cite it? We're typically taught the ordinary lyrics. 58.161.181.60 (talk) 13:55, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "In Other Languages" - Australia 

message: What's up with the weird pronunciation guide next to the lyrics of the song? It makes sense to clarify letter pronunciation, especially for any letters which may be variable (like 'Z'), but do we really need a guide on how to pronounce the last two lines? Looks like somebody has been smoking a little too much IPA. — atchius (msg) 19:12, 2 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation 

message: Surely a quick mention of Dickie Valentine's 1955 Christmas Alphabet is worthy here, even though it only spells out Christmas, rather than the alphabet:
:C is for the Candy trimmed around the Christmas tree 
:H is for the Happiness with all the family 
:R is for the Reindeer prancing by the window pane 
:I is for the Icing on the cake as sweet as sugar cane 
:S is for the Stocking on the chimney wall 
:T is for the Toys beneath the tree so tall 
:M is for the Mistletoe where every one is kissed 
:A is for the Angels who make up the Christmas list 
:S is for old Santa who makes every kid his pet 
:Be good and he'll bring you everything in your Christmas Alphabet 
Skinsmoke (talk) 08:40, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Christmas Alphabet 

message: The modern tune used to sing along to the alphabet is Mozart's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. What was sung before this was composed?
Shtanto (talk) 21:40, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Name that Tune 

message: How can the article mention Sesame Street without mentioning Big Bird's alphabet song?!
...Ab-ker def-gee jekyll man-op-qua stoove wux-zee!
It's even got it's own Wikipedia page, so I think it deserves a mention.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.104.54.248 (talk) 15:52, 13 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Big Bird's alphabet song? 

message: Why and where does this article need additional citations for verification? What references does it need and how should they be added? Hyacinth (talk) 06:38, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Additional citations

message: As touched on in the above header '[[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Alphabet_song#The_alphabet_song.3F|The alphabet song?]]' the article refers to US tradition only. The standard alphabet tune here in the UK is, as I understand it, that of 'Jack and Jill went up the hill,' altho the difference of context can make it unrecognisable to hearers.--91.198.180.76 (talk) 15:26, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  POV  

message: In Australia (for me anyway) Baa Baa Black Sheep has a different, slightly more complex melody than Twinkle Twinkle. It is similar though, with minor differences in the sixth and eighth bars and only the second and seventh bars significantly differing. We don't repeat the opening lines at the end of the song stopping after "One for the little boy who lives down the lane" in the eighth bar. I think the reference to Baa Baa should be "similar to" Baa Baa, not "the same as" or maybe just delete it and leave the Twinkle reference.  Danielklein (talk) 11:28, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Same here. Where Twinkle enunciates little in two syllables with one percussed note each; in Black Sheep, the corresponding position is occupied by have you any, which is *four* syllables. Nuttyskin (talk) 14:29, 20 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Baa Baa Black Sheep 

message: The examples in the excerpt I've pasted below do not demonstrate anything about the accommodation of "zed" that they claim to demonstrate.
Aside from the omission of a period after "z" in the second version, how are they different from each other?
 Variants of the song exist to accommodate the zed pronunciation. One variation shortens the second line and lengthens the last, to form a near-rhyme between N and zed:
    a-b-c-d-e-f-g
    h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p
    q-r-s
    t-u-v
    w, x
    y and z.
    Now, I know my ABCs.
    Next time, won't you sing with me?
 In UK
    a-b-c-d-e-f-g
    h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p
    q-r-s
    t-u-v
    w, x
    y and z
    Now, I know my ABCs.
    Next time, won't you sing with me?
--23.119.204.117 (talk) 19:11, 20 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rhyming Zed? 

message: Have you ever heard this version? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.66.235.65 (talk) 13:13, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: The logo alphabet?

message: In dutch, W has one syllable and so their song goes like this:
ABCDEFG, HIJKLMNOP, QRSTUVW, XYZ. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.71.121.148 (talk) 15:08, 28 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dutch 

message: Since you are talking about the actual pronunciation in both cases, why do you use slashes for the first one and brackets for second one? What is [ˈkaːkɛ] supposed to mean anyway? The underlying phonemic form which used to exist in older English? The whole sentence doesn't make any sense. The alphabet song does not choose a particular pronunciation for each letter due to a language's morphophonemic variation. Stop using fancy words you don't know. Letter names predate the song and of course, it's not comfortable to consonants without vowels and English vowel names not "particular", they are just what are historically as long vowels. --188.99.140.78 (talk) 16:33, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. The alphabetic principle, and whatnot, described there has nothing to do with the alphabet song, which just states the names of the letters, which may or may not be used in writing according to the alphabetic principle. So, I'm deleting that part. 151.141.81.91 (talk) 01:35, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  /ˈkeɪk/, not [ˈkaːkɛ] 

message: There has been an ongoing editing war in section Pronunciation of "Z" about whether or not to label the W lyrics as "dub-a-U" or "doub-le-U" and (in the text a little further down) about whether or not most English people pronounce that L. FWIW, AFAIK a frequent pronunciation is "dubbllyou" with a syllabic L (I mean, syllables dub-bl-you). I've never heard it pronounced "dub-a-you" but maybe that syllabic L sound, when coming out of a Brit's mouth, sounds like a schwa to American ears. In any case, IMHO an agreement ought to be reached about how to formulate the lyrics and the text, and then the article set according to the result, rather than perpetually edit-warring back and forth. — Tonymec (talk) 22:45, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Editing war