third least frequently used letter in English (after and ), with a frequency of about 0.15% in words. Other languages In Latin, stood for . In some languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, handwriting adaptations or simply spelling convention, has other pronunciations: In Basque, represents . Additionally there is the digraph . In Dutch, usually represents , except in the name of the island of Texel, which is pronounced Tessel. This is because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all sounds have been replaced by sounds. Words with an in the Dutch language are nowadays usually loanwords. In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, family names with are not uncommon (e.g. Dierckx, Hendrickx, Koninckx, Sterckx, Vranckx). In Norwegian, is generally pronounced , but since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to spell it out as ; it may still be retained in personal names, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language. Usage in Danish and Finnish is similar (while Swedish, on the other hand, makes frequent use of in native words as well as in loanwords). In German, generally pronounced ; in native words, however, such as Ochs or wachsen, the cluster is often written . , silent (or in liaison if the next word starts with a vowel). Three exceptions are pronounced : six ("six"), dix ("ten") and in some city names such as Bruxelles (although some people pronounce it 'ks') or Auxerre; it is fully pronounced in Aix, the name of several towns. It is pronounced in sixième and dixième. Otherwise or (primarily in words beginning with ex- followed by a vowel) . In Italian, is either pronounced , as in extra, uxorio, xilofono, or , as exogamia, when it is preceded by and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably Venetian, it represents the voiced sibilant . It is also used, mainly amongst the young people, as a short written form for "per", meaning "for": for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This is because in Italian the multiplication sign (similar to ) is called "per". However, is found only in loanwords, as it is not part of the standard Italian alphabet; in most words with , this letter may be replaced with 's' or 'ss' (with different pronunciation: xilofono/silofono, taxi/tassì) or, rarely, by 'cs' (with the same pronunciation: claxon/clacson). In Old Spanish, was pronounced , as