The Origin Story Of The Ñ-The Most Mysterious Letter in Spanish

A little squiggle over the letter n has been around for more than 800 years — and its story involves medieval monks, a Spanish king, and tech companies that once tried to erase it from keyboards. Without it, “Happy New Year” in Spanish flips into something you definitely don’t want to wish your grandma.

In this episode of The Mysteries of Latin America, Andrew uncovers the journey of the letter Ñ — from Roman scribes to medieval Spain, from typewriters to computer keyboards, and from linguistic quirk to a global symbol of culture, identity, and pride.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

If you’d like to dig deeper into the history of the Ñ:

• Real Academia Española (RAE) – Ortografía de la lengua española (1741 and later editions)

• Penny, Ralph. A History of the Spanish Language (Cambridge University Press, 2002)

• Lapesa, Rafael. Historia de la lengua española (Gredos, 1981)

• García Márquez, Gabriel – various essays and speeches on the defense of the Ñ (notably after Spain’s EEC debates in the 1980s)

• Vergne, Aida. “¿Se va la Ñ?” Metro Puerto Rico (2013, April Fool’s prank article)

• Hualde, José Ignacio. The Sounds of Spanish (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

• Puente, Manuel Alvar. El español: orígenes y evolución (Espasa-Calpe, 1992)