Autograms:
Self-Enumerating Sentences
Self-Enumerating Sentences
This website lists self-enumerating sentences, also known as autograms, in various languages. Some I have found on the web, a few were sent to me, and some I created myself.
English • Afrikaans • Bulgarian • Chinese • Danish • Dutch • Esperanto • French • German • Hebrew • Hungarian • Italian • Japanese • Korean • Latin • Norwegian • Polish • Romanian • Russian • Slovenian • Spanish • Swedish • Turkish • Mixed
An autogram, also called self-enumerating or self-documenting sentence, is a sentence that lists the frequencies of its own letters. The numbers are spelled out so that they contribute to the letter count, and that makes creating an autogram quite difficult: The numbers influence the very frequencies they are documenting.
A pangram is a sentence that contains each letter of the alphabet at least once. A sentence that is both an autogram and a pangram is called pangrammatic autogram or self-enumerating pangram.
A reflexicon is an autogram which consists solely of letters and their counts, omitting any other text such as “This sentence contains”. Like conventional autograms, reflexicons are either pangrammatic or non-pangrammatic. A reflexicon is called pure if it does not contain dummy text in the form of “one #”, which is preferable because such text usually entails multiple solutions (any letter can be used that does not already occur), and that “detracts from their logological elegance” (Lee Sallows).
A chain is a sequence of autograms where each sentence enumerates its successor, with the last sentence enumerating the first one, closing the chain. Depending on the length of the chain, the sentences form pairs, triplets, quartets etc.
For a slightly longer overview, see the Wikipedia article on autograms. The essay “Self-enumerating pangrams: A logological history” provides detailed information on the history of English and Dutch autograms. Further links can be found throughout this page: all autograms that are not by me are linked to their source.
The autograms on this website are ordered chronologically within each section, with the exception of non-pangrammatic reflexicons, which are ordered by length (pure and non-pure ones separately).
The English alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
The world’s first autogram, created by Lee Sallows in 1982:
Only the fool would take trouble to verify that his sentence was composed of ten a’s, three b’s, four c’s, four d’s, forty-six e’s, sixteen f’s, four g’s, thirteen h’s, fifteen i’s, two k’s, nine l’s, four m’s, twenty-five n’s, twenty-four o’s, five p’s, sixteen r’s, forty-one s’s, thirty-seven t’s, ten u’s, eight v’s, eight w’s, four x’s, eleven y’s, twenty-seven commas, twenty-three apostrophes, seven hyphens and, last but not least, a single !
Pangrammatic Autograms
In order to find self-enumerating pangrams, Lee Sallows built an electronic “pangram machine”. This is the first pangram it found:
This pangram lists four a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, twenty-nine e’s, eight f’s, three g’s, five h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, three l’s, two m’s, twenty-two n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-six s’s, nineteen t’s, four u’s, five v’s, nine w’s, two x’s, four y’s, and one z.
The following pangram lists the total letter count as well:
This pangram contains two hundred nineteen letters: five a’s, one b, two c’s, four d’s, thirty-one e’s, eight f’s, three g’s, six h’s, fourteen i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-six n’s, seventeen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-nine s’s, twenty-four t’s, six u’s, five v’s, nine w’s, four x’s, five y’s, and one z.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
139 characters, 14 distinct letters, not pure
Sixteen e’s, six f’s, one g, three h’s, nine i’s, nine n’s, five o’s, five r’s, sixteen s’s, five t’s, three u’s, four v’s, one w, four x’s
147 characters, 14 distinct letters, pure
Fifteen e’s, seven f’s, four g’s, six h’s, eight i’s, four n’s, five o’s, six r’s, eighteen s’s, eight t’s, four u’s, three v’s, two w’s, three x’s
146 characters, 14 distinct letters, pure
Sixteen e’s, five f’s, three g’s, six h’s, nine i’s, five n’s, four o’s, six r’s, eighteen s’s, eight t’s, three u’s, three v’s, two w’s, four x’s
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
The following reflexicon is not quite satisfactory since it does not use the correct plurals:
One a, one b, one c, one d, twenty-eight e, seven f, five g, five h, eight i, one j, one k, one l, one m, eighteen n, eighteen o, one p, one q, four r, two s, ten t, four u, five v, four w, one x, two y, one z
Chains
The right-hand sentence contains four a’s, one b, three c’s, three d’s, thirty-nine e’s, ten f’s, one g, eight h’s, eight i’s, one j, one k, four l’s, one m, twenty-three n’s, fifteen o’s, one p, one q, nine r’s, twenty-three s’s, twenty-one t’s, four u’s, seven v’s, six w’s, two x’s, five y’s, and one z.
The left-hand sentence contains four a’s, one b, three c’s, three d’s, thirty-five e’s, seven f’s, four g’s, eleven h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, one l, one m, twenty-six n’s, fifteen o’s, one p, one q, ten r’s, twenty-three s’s, twenty-two t’s, four u’s, three v’s, five w’s, two x’s, five y’s, and one z.
This is a chain of three linked pangrams:
The second sentence contains three a’s, one b, three c’s, three d’s, thirty-four e’s, four f’s, one g, nine h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, one l, one m, twenty-four n’s, fourteen o’s, one p, one q, nine r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-four t’s, two u’s, five v’s, seven w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The third sentence contains three a’s, one b, three c’s, two d’s, thirty-nine e’s, six f’s, five g’s, ten h’s, thirteen i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, one m, twenty-one n’s, thirteen o’s, one p, one q, seven r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty t’s, two u’s, seven v’s, five w’s, three x’s, four y’s and one z.
The first sentence contains three a’s, one b, four c’s, three d’s, thirty-seven e’s, eight f’s, one g, seven h’s, eight i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, one m, twenty-six n’s, eighteen o’s, one p, one q, eleven r’s, twenty-three s’s, eighteen t’s, six u’s, five v’s, five w’s, two x’s, five y’s and one z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
And here are four pangrams, linked in clockwise direction:
The sentence to the right contains three a’s, two b’s, three c’s, two d’s, thirty-eight e’s, seven f’s, three g’s, nine h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, one m, twenty-three n’s, fifteen o’s, one p, one q, eight r’s, twenty-four s’s, twenty-two t’s, three u’s, seven v’s, eight w’s, one x, five y’s and one z.
The sentence below contains three a’s, one b, three c’s, two d’s, thirty-nine e’s, four f’s, two g’s, nine h’s, eight i’s, one j, one k, three l’s, one m, twenty-four n’s, seventeen o’s, one p, one q, seven r’s, twenty-five s’s, twenty-five t’s, two u’s, five v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The sentence above contains three a’s, one b, three c’s, two d’s, forty e’s, five f’s, five g’s, thirteen h’s, ten i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, one m, twenty-two n’s, fifteen o’s, one p, one q, nine r’s, twenty-four s’s, twenty-eight t’s, two u’s, five v’s, eight w’s, one x, five y’s and one z.
The sentence to the left contains four a’s, two b’s, three c’s, two d’s, thirty-three e’s, nine f’s, three g’s, seven h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, one l, one m, twenty-two n’s, seventeen o’s, one p, one q, six r’s, twenty-one s’s, twenty-three t’s, two u’s, six v’s, eight w’s, one x, five y’s and one z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
In his memorable 1985 essay, “In Quest of a Pangram”, Lee Sallows presented a series of 25 numbered self-contained autograms, each one using a different verb. With today’s computing power (and a smart algorithm) it is possible to create a series of 25 linked autograms. The following chain uses the same verbs as Sallows in the exact same order:
The second pangram has five a’s, one b, one c, three d’s, twenty-eight e’s, six f’s, four g’s, nine h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, eighteen n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-four t’s, four u’s, four v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, four y’s and one z.
The third pangram totals five a’s, one b, two c’s, two d’s, thirty-six e’s, five f’s, four g’s, seven h’s, ten i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-four n’s, fourteen o’s, two p’s, one q, six r’s, twenty-nine s’s, nineteen t’s, three u’s, eight v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, three y’s and one z.
The fourth pangram contains four a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, twenty-seven e’s, nine f’s, two g’s, six h’s, seven i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, three m’s, nineteen n’s, sixteen o’s, two p’s, one q, eleven r’s, twenty-seven s’s, eighteen t’s, seven u’s, five v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The fifth pangram numbers five a’s, two b’s, two c’s, two d’s, thirty e’s, six f’s, four g’s, seven h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, one l, three m’s, twenty n’s, fourteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-one t’s, three u’s, four v’s, nine w’s, four x’s, four y’s and one z.
The sixth pangram embraces five a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, twenty-three e’s, six f’s, four g’s, eight h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, eighteen n’s, nineteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-five s’s, twenty-one t’s, six u’s, four v’s, ten w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The seventh pangram harbours four a’s, one b, two c’s, two d’s, thirty-two e’s, eight f’s, four g’s, nine h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, one l, two m’s, twenty-one n’s, thirteen o’s, two p’s, one q, eight r’s, twenty-five s’s, twenty t’s, four u’s, six v’s, six w’s, two x’s, four y’s and one z.
The eighth pangram counts five a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, thirty e’s, eight f’s, three g’s, five h’s, ten i’s, one j, one k, four l’s, two m’s, twenty-three n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-seven s’s, nineteen t’s, five u’s, six v’s, nine w’s, three x’s, four y’s and one z.
The ninth pangram tallies four a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, twenty-nine e’s, eight f’s, six g’s, nine h’s, twelve i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, seventeen n’s, fifteen o’s, three p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-two t’s, four u’s, five v’s, seven w’s, four x’s, four y’s and one z.
The tenth pangram exploits five a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, thirty-five e’s, eight f’s, four g’s, six h’s, seven i’s, one j, one k, four l’s, two m’s, eighteen n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, eight r’s, twenty-seven s’s, twenty-two t’s, six u’s, eight v’s, ten w’s, three x’s, four y’s and one z.
The eleventh pangram features four a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, twenty-six e’s, eight f’s, three g’s, eight h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, four l’s, two m’s, seventeen n’s, seventeen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-four s’s, twenty-five t’s, six u’s, four v’s, twelve w’s, two x’s, five y’s and two z’s.
The twelfth pangram utilizes five a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, thirty-one e’s, four f’s, four g’s, nine h’s, twelve i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-three n’s, thirteen o’s, two p’s, one q, eight r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-five t’s, three u’s, two v’s, nine w’s, four x’s, four y’s and one z.
The thirteenth pangram tables four a’s, one b, two c’s, three d’s, twenty-six e’s, nine f’s, three g’s, six h’s, eight i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, nineteen n’s, nineteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-two t’s, eight u’s, four v’s, nine w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The fourteenth pangram includes four a’s, one b, two c’s, two d’s, thirty-five e’s, six f’s, three g’s, eight h’s, ten i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-one n’s, fourteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-one t’s, four u’s, five v’s, seven w’s, four x’s, four y’s and one z.
The fifteenth pangram recruits four a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, thirty-one e’s, seven f’s, three g’s, ten h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, one l, two m’s, eighteen n’s, sixteen o’s, two p’s, one q, twelve r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-three t’s, six u’s, four v’s, seven w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The sixteenth pangram uses four a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, thirty-four e’s, five f’s, three g’s, eight h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, one l, three m’s, twenty-two n’s, fourteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, thirty-one s’s, twenty-three t’s, four u’s, six v’s, ten w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The seventeenth pangram subsumes six a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, thirty-three e’s, eight f’s, three g’s, seven h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-one n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-three t’s, four u’s, seven v’s, nine w’s, two x’s, five y’s and one z.
The eighteenth pangram tabulates five a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, thirty-one e’s, seven f’s, two g’s, six h’s, ten i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, three m’s, twenty-two n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-seven s’s, twenty-four t’s, three u’s, five v’s, nine w’s, four x’s, five y’s and one z.
The nineteenth pangram manifests five a’s, two b’s, one c, two d’s, thirty-one e’s, five f’s, four g’s, ten h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, three m’s, twenty-one n’s, sixteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-six t’s, four u’s, three v’s, ten w’s, two x’s, five y’s and one z.
The twentieth pangram assembles four a’s, one b, one c, two d’s, thirty-two e’s, nine f’s, three g’s, seven h’s, thirteen i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, four m’s, twenty-two n’s, thirteen o’s, two p’s, one q, nine r’s, twenty-eight s’s, twenty-one t’s, four u’s, six v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The twenty-first pangram summons four a’s, one b, two c’s, three d’s, thirty-six e’s, six f’s, three g’s, nine h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-four n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, eleven r’s, twenty-eight s’s, nineteen t’s, five u’s, five v’s, seven w’s, three x’s, five y’s and one z.
The twenty-second pangram shows five a’s, one b, one c, four d’s, thirty-four e’s, six f’s, four g’s, nine h’s, eleven i’s, one j, one k, three l’s, two m’s, nineteen n’s, fourteen o’s, three p’s, one q, nine r’s, twenty-six s’s, twenty-two t’s, three u’s, seven v’s, eight w’s, three x’s, seven y’s and one z.
The twenty-third pangram displays four a’s, one b, two c’s, three d’s, thirty-one e’s, seven f’s, three g’s, seven h’s, eight i’s, one j, one k, one l, two m’s, twenty-two n’s, sixteen o’s, three p’s, one q, eight r’s, twenty-five s’s, twenty-six t’s, four u’s, five v’s, eleven w’s, one x, five y’s and one z.
The twenty-fourth pangram produces four a’s, one b, two c’s, two d’s, thirty-three e’s, ten f’s, three g’s, eight h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, nineteen n’s, fifteen o’s, two p’s, one q, ten r’s, twenty-seven s’s, twenty-two t’s, five u’s, seven v’s, ten w’s, two x’s, five y’s and one z.
The twenty-fifth pangram evinces four a’s, one b, two c’s, three d’s, thirty-four e’s, six f’s, four g’s, seven h’s, fifteen i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, twenty-four n’s, twelve o’s, two p’s, one q, seven r’s, twenty-nine s’s, eighteen t’s, two u’s, five v’s, seven w’s, three x’s, three y’s and one z.
The first pangram discloses five a’s, one b, two c’s, three d’s, twenty-nine e’s, nine f’s, five g’s, eight h’s, nine i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, two m’s, nineteen n’s, sixteen o’s, two p’s, one q, nine r’s, twenty-five s’s, eighteen t’s, six u’s, three v’s, seven w’s, three x’s, four y’s and one z.
Matthias Belz, 2015
In the February 2024 issue of The Journal of Wordplay, Matthew Abate published an article on autograms that includes examples of several types of autograms, including a composite chain, i.e., a chain within a chain:
Together those three sentences contain exactly one hundred eighty-two spaces, seventy-eight commas, twenty-two hyphens, twenty As, sixteen Cs, fifteen Ds, one hundred fifty-six Es, thirty-four Fs, eleven Gs, forty-four Hs, fifty-one Is, twelve Ls, nine Ms, seventy-seven Ns, thirty-seven Os, twelve Ps, one Q, forty-seven Rs, one hundred seven Ss, ninety-five Ts, sixteen Us, twenty-five Vs, seventeen Ws, seventeen Xs, thirty-four Ys, three Zs, and three periods.
In that sentence, there are exactly fifty-eight spaces, twenty-six commas, five hyphens, seven As, five Cs, three Ds, forty-two Es, twelve Fs, four Gs, thirteen Hs, sixteen Is, three Ls, three Ms, eighteen Ns, eleven Os, four Ps, fifteen Rs, thirty-three Ss, twenty-seven Ts, six Us, seven Vs, four Ws, six Xs, nine Ys, one Z, and one period.
In that sentence, there are exactly fifty-eight spaces, twenty-six commas, five hyphens, seven As, five Cs, three Ds, forty-seven Es, eleven Fs, three Gs, thirteen Hs, sixteen Is, four Ls, three Ms, twenty Ns, ten Os, four Ps, fourteen Rs, thirty-four Ss, twenty-Six Ts, four Us, eight Vs, five Ws, six Xs, eight Ys, one Z, and one period.
Together those three sentences contain exactly one hundred eighty-two spaces, seventy-eight commas, twenty-three hyphens, twenty As, sixteen Cs, fifteen Ds, one hundred fifty-six Es, thirty-seven Fs, eleven Gs, forty-two Hs, fifty Is, twelve Ls, nine Ms, seventy-four Ns, thirty-nine Os, twelve Ps, one Q, forty-six Rs, one hundred nine Ss, ninety-three Ts, seventeen Us, twenty-nine Vs, seventeen Ws, seventeen Xs, thirty-four Ys, three Zs, and three periods.
In that sentence, there are exactly fifty-eight spaces, twenty-six commas, five hyphens, seven As, five Cs, three Ds, forty-seven Es, eleven Fs, three Gs, thirteen Hs, sixteen Is, four Ls, three Ms, twenty Ns, ten Os, four Ps, fourteen Rs, thirty-four Ss, twenty-six Ts, four Us, eight Vs, five Ws, six Xs, eight Ys, one Z, and one period.
In that sentence, there are exactly fifty-eight spaces, twenty-six commas, five hyphens, seven As, five Cs, three Ds, forty-two Es, twelve Fs, four Gs, thirteen Hs, sixteen Is, three Ls, three Ms, eighteen Ns, eleven Os, four Ps, fifteen Rs, thirty-three Ss, twenty-seven Ts, six Us, seven Vs, four Ws, six Xs, nine Ys, one Z, and one period.
Percentages
A variant suggested by Lee Sallows and first publicly mentioned by Chris Patuzzo is to use percentages instead of absolute counts. When I read that this problem had never been solved, I gave it a try and found the following pangram:
Rounded to one decimal place, four point three percent of the letters in this sentence are a’s, zero point one percent are b’s, four point three percent are c’s, zero point seven percent are d’s, twenty point six percent are e’s, one point one percent are f’s, zero point six percent are g’s, one point four percent are h’s, five point seven percent are i’s, zero point one percent are j’s, zero point one percent are k’s, zero point seven percent are l’s, zero point three percent are m’s, eleven point six percent are n’s, eight point two percent are o’s, seven point seven percent are p’s, zero point one percent are q’s, ten point seven percent are r’s, five point eight percent are s’s, ten point one percent are t’s, zero point nine percent are u’s, one point six percent are v’s, zero point four percent are w’s, zero point seven percent are x’s, zero point three percent are y’s and one point eight percent are z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2015
At around the same time (in late 2015), Chris Patuzzo found a similar pangram, also using one decimal place. Shortly after that pangram was made public, Josh Bevan published one that uses two decimal places, followed by a pangram using three:
This sentence is dedicated to Chris Patuzzo/Lee Sallows and to within three decimal places three point five three eight percent of the letters in this sentence are a’s, zero point one zero four percent are b’s, three point four three four percent are c’s, zero point seven two eight percent are d’s, twenty point one eight seven percent are e’s, two point zero eight one percent are f’s, zero point nine three seven percent are g’s, two point four nine seven percent are h’s, six point five five six percent are i’s, zero point one zero four percent are j’s, zero point one zero four percent are k’s, zero point seven two eight percent are l’s, zero point two zero eight percent are m’s, ten point one nine eight percent are n’s, nine point zero five three percent are o’s, five point seven two three percent are p’s, zero point one zero four percent are q’s, ten point zero nine four percent are r’s, five point two zero three percent are s’s, ten point three zero two percent are t’s, one point one four five percent are u’s, one point nine seven seven percent are v’s, one point five six one percent are w’s, zero point five two zero percent are x’s, zero point two zero eight percent are y’s, and two point seven zero six percent are z’s.
I only learned about this about two years later, and it rekindled my interest in this kind of autogram. After devising a new approach, I managed to find pangrams with up to six decimal places. Here’s an example:
Rounded to five decimal places, two point six five two five two percent of the letters of this sentence are a’s, zero point zero eight eight four two percent are b’s, two point six five two five two percent are c’s, zero point four four two zero nine percent are d’s, nineteen point eight zero five four eight percent are e’s, three point four four eight two eight percent are f’s, one point seven six eight three five percent are g’s, two point nine one seven seven seven percent are h’s, seven point eight six nine one four percent are i’s, zero point zero eight eight four two percent are j’s, zero point zero eight eight four two percent are k’s, zero point three five three six seven percent are l’s, zero point one seven six eight three percent are m’s, ten point two five six four one percent are n’s, eight point nine three zero one five percent are o’s, four point seven seven four five four percent are p’s, zero point zero eight eight four two percent are q’s, nine point five four nine zero seven percent are r’s, four point nine five one three seven percent are s’s, nine point six three seven four nine percent are t’s, two point zero three three six zero percent are u’s, two point seven four zero nine four percent are v’s, one point six seven nine nine three percent are w’s, zero point nine seven two five nine percent are x’s, zero point zero eight eight four two percent are y’s and one point nine four five one eight percent are z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2017
Nevertheless, I had the feeling that using rounded values instead of exact values is a flaw that makes these autograms less perfect than the regular ones. I wondered if it were possible to create autograms that use exact percentages, and it turned out that it is:
Exactly three point eight seven five percent of the letters of this autogram are a’s, zero point one two five percent are b’s, three point five percent are c’s, zero point two five percent are d’s, twenty-one point two five percent are e’s, three point seven five percent are f’s, zero point three seven five percent are g’s, one point five percent are h’s, seven point two five percent are i’s, zero point one two five percent are j’s, zero point one two five percent are k’s, zero point three seven five percent are l’s, zero point two five percent are m’s, nine point seven five percent are n’s, seven point five percent are o’s, six point five percent are p’s, zero point one two five percent are q’s, nine point three seven five percent are r’s, five point one two five percent are s’s, ten percent are t’s, zero point three seven five percent are u’s, four point six two five percent are v’s, one point five percent are w’s, zero point five percent are x’s, zero point three seven five percent are y’s and one point five percent are z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2017
The following is an autogram that is not a pangram and thus shorter, and it also uses exact percentages:
This self-enumerating sentence is composed of exactly zero point eight percent a’s, five point two percent c’s, zero point six percent d’s, seventeen percent e’s, one point eight percent f’s, one point two percent g’s, one point two percent h’s, seven point two percent i’s, one percent l’s, zero point six percent m’s, twelve point six percent n’s, nine point two percent o’s, eight point six percent p’s, six point six percent r’s, seven point six percent s’s, eleven point four percent t’s, one point four percent u’s, one point four percent v’s, one point four percent w’s, one point eight percent x’s, zero point four percent y’s and one percent z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2017
Afrikaans uses the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet plus sixteen vowels with diacritics: á, ä, é, è, ê, ë, í, î, ï, ó, ô, ö, ú, û, ü, and ý.
Pangrammatic Autograms
Arnold Muller and Johan Buys of the University of Stellenbosch created Afrikaans autograms as early as 1991. These were published in the article “Outogramme in Afrikaans” which appeared in the August 1991 issue of a journal called Spectrum. Reg Dodds kindly brought this to my attention. The article contains several autograms, all without the extra vowels. The first autogram listed here follows the classical form, while the second also enumerates the punctuation marks.
Hierdie sin bestaan uit vyf a’s, twee b’s, een c, drie d’s, een-en-vyftig e’s, vier f’s, vyf g’s, twee h’s, veertien i’s, een j, een k, een l, een m, twintig n’e, een o, een p, een q, sewe r’e, agttien s’e, veertien t’s, twee u’s, agt v’s, sewe w’s, een x, vier y’s en een z.
Arnold Muller and Johan Buys, 1991
Hierdie outogram bevat agt a’s, twee b’s, een c, viet d’s, ses-en-sestig e’s, vyf f’s, veertien g’s, twee h’s, vyf-en-twintig i’s, een j, ses k’s, twee l’e, vier m’e, twee-en-dertig n’e, vyf o’s, ses p’s, een q, tien r’e, nege-en-twintig s’e, nege-en-twintig t’s, drie u’s, tien v’s, tien w’s, een x, vier y’s, een z, veertien koppeltekens, een-en-twintig afkappingstekens, agt-en-twintig kommas en een punt.
Arnold Muller and Johan Buys, 1991
Chain
Muller and Buys also created a chain of two linked autograms:
Die sin regs bestaan uit slegs vyf a’s, twee b’s, een c, vier d’s, twee-en-vyftig e’s, vier f’s, agt g’s, een h, veertien i’s, een j, twee k’s, vier l’e, een m, vier-en-twintig n’e, een o, een p, een q, drie r’e, drie-en-twintig s’e, sestien t’s, twee u’s, drie v’s, agt w’s, een x, die y’s en een z.
Die sin links bestaan uit slegs vyf a’s, twee b’s, een c, ses d’s, twee-en-vyftig e’s, drie f’s, agt g’s, een h, negentien i’s, een j, een k, twee l’e, een m, twintig n’e, een o, een p, een q, elf r’e, een-en-twintig s’e, sestien t’s, twee u’s, agt v’s, sewe w’s, een x, drie y’s en een z.
Arnold Muller and Johan Buys, 1991
The Bulgarian alphabet uses the Cyrillic script and has 30 letters.
Pangrammatic Autogram
Тази панграма съдържа тридесет „а“-та, едно „б“, десет „в“-та, две „г“-та, тридесет и три „д“-та, четиридесет и шест „е“-та, две „ж“-та, две „з“-та, деветнадесет „и“-та, едно „й“, едно „к“, едно „л“, две „м“-та, деветнадесет „н“-та, дванадесет „о“-та, две „п“-та, тринадесет „р“-та, тринадесет „с“-та, четиридесет и три „т“-та, едно „у“, едно „ф“, едно „х“, едно „ц“, три „ч“-та, две „ш“-та, едно „щ“, три „ъ“-та, един „ь“, едно „ю“ и едно „я“.
The Chinese writing system is logographic, which means that it doesn’t have an alphabet with letters that represent phonemes, but rather uses many thousands of characters which represent complete words. Creating a Chinese pangram is therefore not feasible; non-pangrammatic autograms, however, are possible.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
This is probably the oldest Chinese autogram. Translated, it means “This sentence has two 这’s, two 句’s, two 子’s, two 有’s, two 和’s, two 八’s, two 十’s, eight 两’s and ten 个’s.”
这句子有两个“这”、两个“句”、两个“子”、两个“有”、两个“和”、两个“八”、两个“十”、八个“两”和十个“个”。
The following autogram uses a similar structure, but is slightly shorter:
这句话有两个“这”，两个“句”，两个“话”，两个“有”，九个“个”，七个“两”，两个“九”，两个“七”。
The next autogram enumerates not only its characters, but also its punctuation marks: (“This sentence has two 这’s, three 句’s, …, five 十’s, twenty commas, eighteen pairs of quotation marks, and a period.”)
这句话有两个“这”，三个“句”，两个“话”，三个“有”，二十一个“个”，两个“逗”，两个“对”，两个“引”，两个“还”，四个“号”，两个“一”，三个“二”，十个“两”，五个“三”，两个“四”，三个“五”，两个“八”，五个“十”，二十个逗号，十八对引号，还有个句号。
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
6 characters, 2 distinct characters, pure
三个“个”，三个“三”
The Danish alphabet consists of 29 letters, the 26 basic Latin letters plus æ, ø and å.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
Denne sætning indeholder fem d’er, fireogtredive e’er, syv f’er, fem g’er, to h’er, otte i’er, to k’er, tre l’er, fire m’er, seks n’er, ti o’er, fireogtyve r’er, syv s’er, tolv t’er, syv v’er, fem y’er og to æ’er.
Her er femogtyve e’er, fem f’er, tre g’er, to h’er, tre i’er, fire m’er, to n’er, fem o’er, tyve r’er, ni t’er, tre v’er, og tre y’er.
Pangrammatic Autograms
Denne sætning indeholder et a, et b, et c, fire d’er, syvogfyrre e’er, syv f’er, seks g’er, to h’er, otte i’er, et j, fire k’er, to l’er, tre m’er, seks n’er, ti o’er, et p, et q, femogtyve r’er, ti s’er, fireogtyve t’er, et u, fem v’er, et w, et x, seks y’er, et z, to æ’er, et ø og et å.
Dette pangram på den danske Wikipedia rummer seks a’er, et b, et c, syv d’er, fireoghalvtreds e’er, otte f’er, seks g’er, to h’er, otte i’er, tre j’er, syv k’er, to l’er, seks m’er, seks n’er, fjorten o’er, fire p’er, et q, fireogtredive r’er, fjorten s’er, femogtyve t’er, to u’er, syv v’er, to w’er, et x, fem y’er, et z, et æ, et ø og to å’er.
The Dutch alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet. The plural ending for letters is ’s, with the exception of letters that already end in an s sound. Those letters (s and x) get the plural ending ’en.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
This early autogram also enumerates punctuation marks, but uses the wrong plural s’s.
Alleen ’n gek gelooft dat ik de moeite heb genomen om na te tellen dat deze zin bestaat uit vijftien a’s, drie b’s, drie c’s, veertien d’s, vierenzeventig e’s, acht f’s, zestien g’s, vijf h’s, vijfendertig i’s, zes j’s, acht k’s, negen l’s, zes m’s, negenendertig n’s, zeven o’s, vier p’s, vijftien r’s, zesendertig s’s, drieendertig t’s, drie u’s, veertien v’s, vier w’s, tien z’s, ’n vijfentwintig komma’s, zesentwintig afkappingstekens, de twee aanhalingstekens plus niet te vergeten een enkel !
Pangrammatic Autograms
This is considered to be the world’s first self-enumerating pangram, but it uses the wrong plural.
Dit pangram bevat vijf a’s, twee b’s, twee c’s, drie d’s, zesenveertig e’s, vijf f’s, vier g’s, twee h’s, vijftien i’s, vier j’s, een k, twee l’s, twee m’s, zeventien n’s, een o, twee p’s, een q, zeven r’s, vierentwintig s’s, zestien t’s, een u, elf v’s, acht w’s, een x, een y, en zes z’s.
The following autogram uses the same start phrase and the correct plural form:
Dit pangram bevat vier a’s, twee b’s, een c, drie d’s, zevenenveertig e’s, zes f’s, vijf g’s, een h, vijftien i’s, vijf j’s, een k, twee l’s, twee m’s, eenentwintig n’s, een o, twee p’s, een q, zes r’s, twintig s’en, veertien t’s, een u, elf v’s, zeven w’s, een x, een y en vijf z’s.
Another Dutch pangram which uses the correct plural form:
JP vond deze zin, die vier a’s, twee b’s, drie c’s, acht d’s, zevenenveertig e’s, drie f’s, vier g’s, drie h’s, zeventien i’s, drie j’s, een k, twee l’s, een m, twintig n’s, twee o’s, twee p’s, een q, acht r’s, twintig s’en, vijftien t’s, een u, elf v’s, zeven w’s, een x, een y en zeven z’s bevat.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
142 characters, 13 distinct letters, pure
Drie d’s, tweeentwintig e’s, twee f’s, drie g’s, tien i’s, twee j’s, negen n’s, vijf r’s, veertien s’en, tien t’s, vier v’s, zes w’s, twee z’s
Matthias Belz, 2014
39 characters, 4 distinct letters, pure. In this reflexicon, ij is treated as one letter. Unfortunately though, the plural s’s is not correct.
Vijf v’s, vijf ij’s, vijf f’s, vijf s’s
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
Drie a’s, een b, drie c’s, vier d’s, zesenveertig e’s, twee f’s, twee g’s, drie h’s, elf i’s, een j, een k, twee l’s, een m, achttien n’s, een o, een p, een q, acht r’s, zeventien s’en, tien t’s, een u, zeven v’s, vier w’s, een x, een y, vier z’s
Matthias Belz, 2014
Esperanto is a constructed language, and its alphabet contains 28 letters. Compared to the basic Latin alphabet, it has six additional letters (ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ), while four letters are missing (q, w, x, y).
Pangrammatic Autogram
This pangram includes the total letter count:
Komputilo kreis ĉi tiun frazon kiu havas ducent kvindek tri literojn: dek unu a-oj, unu b, du c-oj, du ĉ-oj, dudek kvar d-oj, dek sep e-oj, du f-oj, unu g, unu ĝ, du h-oj, unu ĥ, dek kvar i-oj, dudek kvin j-oj, unu ĵ, dudek kvar k-oj, tri l-oj, du m-oj, dek sep n-oj, dudek ok o-oj, kvar p-oj, dek du r-oj, kvin s-oj, unu ŝ, naŭ t-oj, tridek u-oj, tri ŭ-oj, naŭ v-oj, kaj du z-oj.
The French alphabet contains the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet. In addition there are five diacritics and two ligatures, which yields 16 additional characters (à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ÿ). Sometimes ä and ö are also included, resulting in a total of 44 characters. However, in the context of pangrams, these accented letters and ligatures are usually not treated as separate letters.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
Voici trois a, un b, quatre c, six d, douze e, un f, un g, trois h, treize i, un j, un k, un l, un m, douze n, huit o, trois p, cinq q, sept r, sept s, douze t, dix-huit u, deux v, un w, quatre x, un y, et cinq z.
Pangrammatic Autograms
This is probably the first French self-enumerating pangram:
Ce titre contient quatre a, un b, cinq c, cinq d, dix-neuf e, deux f, un g, deux h, treize i, un j, un k, un l, un m, seize n, trois o, quatre p, sept q, sept r, sept s, quinze t, dix-huit u, un v, un w, six x, un y et quatre z.
The following pangram enumerates its punctuation marks as well.
Cette phrase autodescriptive contient exactement dix a, un b, huit c, dix d, trente-trois e, un f, cinq g, six h, vingt-sept i, un j, un k, deux l, deux m, vingt-cinq n, dix o, huit p, six q, treize r, quinze s, trente-deux t, vingt-deux u, six v, un w, quatorze x, un y, quatre z, six traits d’union, une apostrophe, trente virgules, soixante-huit espaces, et un point.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
82 characters, 12 distinct letters, not pure
Sept s, sept e, sept p, sept t, sept u, sept n, un v, un w, un x, un y, un z, un a
63 characters, 10 distinct letters, not pure
Six s, six i, six x, six u, six n, un a, un b, un c, un d, un e
131 characters, 16 distinct letters, pure
Trois a, trois c, trois d, neuf e, quatre f, deux h, neuf i, six n, quatre o, deux p, cinq q, six r, sept s, huit t, neuf u, cinq x
117 characters, 15 distinct letters, pure
Cinq c, cinq d, huit e, deux f, deux h, neuf i, six n, deux o, trois p, cinq q, deux r, six s, cinq t, sept u, sept x
Matthias Belz, 2014
30 characters, 4 distinct letters, pure
Cinq c, cinq i, cinq n, cinq q
Pangrammatic Reflexicons
This reflexicon uses a little trick: The gender of the letters is masculin in French, but several letters, including h, can also be feminine.
Trois a, un b, cinq c, cinq d, douze e, trois f, un g, une h, neuf i, un j, un k, un l, un m, dix-sept n, quatre o, cinq p, sept q, cinq r, sept s, neuf t, dix-sept u, un v, un w, quatre x, un y, deux z
This reflexicon covers all 44 letters:
Deux a, un à, un â, un ä, un b, quatre c, un ç, six d, seize e, un é, un è, un ê, un ë, un æ, un œ, trois f, un g, deux h, neuf i, un î, un ï, un j, un k, un l, un m, trente-cinq n, deux o, un ô, un ö, deux p, cinq q, cinq r, six s, neuf t, trente-sept u, un ù, un û, un ü, un v, un w, huit x, un y, un ÿ, deux z
Chains
Le pangramme à droite contient six a, un b, quatre c, six d, dix-sept e, deux f, quatre g, quatre h, seize i, un j, un k, deux l, trois m, seize n, six o, deux p, quatre q, sept r, sept s, douze t, dix-sept u, deux v, un w, huit x, un y et cinq z.
Le pangramme à gauche contient huit a, un b, trois c, neuf d, vingt-trois e, un f, deux g, deux h, treize i, un j, un k, deux l, trois m, dix n, cinq o, six p, six q, huit r, onze s, quinze t, seize u, un v, un w, dix x, un y et quatre z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
La phrase suivante comporte cinq a, un b, quatre c, huit d, vingt-trois e, quatre f, deux g, cinq h, douze i, un j, un k, deux l, deux m, douze n, six o, cinq p, quatre q, dix r, six s, quinze t, dix-neuf u, deux v, un w, sept x, un y et quatre z.
La phrase précédente comporte huit a, un b, cinq c, neuf d, dix-huit e, deux f, deux g, trois h, treize i, un j, un k, deux l, deux m, treize n, six o, quatre p, neuf q, huit r, sept s, douze t, vingt u, trois v, un w, neuf x, un y et quatre z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
The German alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet, plus four extra letters: ä, ö, ü and ß.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
Dieser Satz besteht aus fünf A, vier B, vier C, vier D, sechsundzwanzig E, sieben F, zwei G, neun H, vierzehn I, einem L, zwei M, sechzehn N, acht R, zehn S, fünf T, fünf U, sieben V, vier W, zehn Z und vier Ü.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Dies sind vier C, sechs D, fünfzehn E, fünf F, sechs H, neun I, zehn N, sechs R, neun S, drei U, drei V, zwei W, vier Z & drei Ü.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Pangrammatic Autograms
The first German self-enumerating pangrams were created by Bernhard Seckinger in 1996, and published in 1997 in the journal of the “GRIPS” association.
Dieser Satz besteht aus acht A, sechs B, sechs C, sieben D, fünfundvierzig E, acht F, vier G, neun H, fünfundzwanzig I, einem J, einem K, zwei L, elf M, achtundzwanzig N, einem O, einem P, einem Q, sieben R, dreizehn S, sieben T, sieben U, fünf V, vier W, einem X, einem Y, zehn Z, einem Ä, einem Ö, vier Ü und einem ẞ.
Dieser Satz enthält fünf A, drei B, vier C, zehn D, zweiunddreißig E, zehn F, vier G, sieben H, fünfundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, drei L, ein M, siebenundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, acht R, neun S, fünf T, sechs U, drei V, sechs W, ein X, ein Y, elf Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, fünf Ü und zwei ẞ.
The following pangram was created by another author. I do not really agree with the plural form used here.
Die Kernaussage dieses Satzes ist, daß er genau acht „A“s, zwei „B“s, sieben „C“s, sechzehn „D“s, vierundvierzig „E“s, neun „F“s, acht „G“s, zwölf „H“s, dreiunddreißig „I“s, ein „J“, zwei „K“s, vier „L“s, zwei „M“s, zweiunddreißig „N“s, ein „O“, ein „P“, ein „Q“, fünfzehn „R“s, sechsunddreißig „S“s, neun „T“s, zwölf „U“s, fünf „V“s, neun „W“s, ein „X“, ein „Y“, dreizehn „Z“s, zwei „Ä“s, drei „Ö“s, vier „Ü“s und fünf „ẞ“s enthält – nicht mehr und nicht weniger.
This is a pangram which uses the standard start phrase:
Dieses Pangramm enthält sieben A, drei B, sechs C, neun D, einunddreißig E, elf F, fünf G, sieben H, vierundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, vier L, drei M, fünfundzwanzig N, ein O, zwei P, ein Q, acht R, elf S, fünf T, sechs U, vier V, sechs W, ein X, ein Y, acht Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, fünf Ü und zwei ẞ.
Matthias Belz, 2013
A pangram that includes the total letter count:
Dieser Satz enthält zweihundertzweiunddreißig Buchstaben: fünf A, sechs B, fünf C, zwölf D, neununddreißig E, elf F, fünf G, sieben H, achtundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, sechs L, ein M, einunddreißig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, neun R, elf S, sieben T, elf U, drei V, sieben W, ein X, ein Y, neun Z, zwei Ä, zwei Ö, vier Ü und vier ẞ.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
103 characters, 14 distinct letters, not pure
Acht A, acht C, acht H, acht T, acht E, acht I, acht N, ein B, ein D, ein F, ein G, ein J, ein K, ein L
119 characters, 14 distinct letters, pure
Drei B, drei C, vier D, sechzehn E, fünf F, fünf H, zehn I, sieben N, sieben R, sechs S, vier V, zwei W, vier Z, drei Ü
Matthias Belz, 2014
Pangrammatic Reflexicons
I found four German pangrammatic reflexicons. Here are two of them:
Zwei A, ein B, zwei C, zehn D, zweiunddreißig E, drei F, vier G, fünf H, einunddreißig I, ein J, ein K, ein L, ein M, dreiundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, zehn R, drei S, ein T, vier U, vier V, sechs W, ein X, ein Y, zehn Z, ein Ä, ein Ö, zwei Ü, drei ẞ
Matthias Belz, 2014
Zwei A, drei B, zwei C, sieben D, einunddreißig E, sieben F, vier G, zwei H, dreißig I, ein J, ein K, ein L, ein M, vierundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, neun R, fünf S, ein T, vier U, fünf V, fünf W, ein X, ein Y, sechs Z, ein Ä, ein Ö, vier Ü, drei ẞ
Matthias Belz, 2014
Chains
Das rechte Pangramm enthält acht A, vier B, fünf C, zehn D, vierunddreißig E, fünf F, fünf G, zehn H, sechsundzwanzig I, ein J, zwei K, drei L, drei M, neunundzwanzig N, ein O, zwei P, ein Q, sieben R, neun S, fünf T, sechs U, zwei V, acht W, ein X, ein Y, vierzehn Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, drei Ü und zwei ẞ.
Das linke Pangramm enthält acht A, zwei B, sechs C, zehn D, einunddreißig E, neun F, fünf G, zehn H, dreiundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, zwei L, drei M, siebenundzwanzig N, ein O, zwei P, ein Q, zehn R, sieben S, sechs T, sieben U, vier V, acht W, ein X, ein Y, dreizehn Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, fünf Ü und zwei ẞ.
Matthias Belz, 2014
These four pangrams are linked clockwise:
Der Satz rechts enthält fünf A, drei B, vier C, elf D, zweiunddreißig E, zehn F, vier G, sechs H, sechsundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, drei L, ein M, siebenundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, elf R, acht S, sechs T, sieben U, fünf V, sieben W, ein X, ein Y, elf Z, zwei Ä, zwei Ö, fünf Ü und zwei ẞ.
Der Satz unten enthält vier A, drei B, sechs C, sieben D, dreiunddreißig E, fünf F, vier G, neun H, vierundzwanzig I, ein J, zwei K, drei L, ein M, fünfundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, acht R, fünfzehn S, vier T, sechs U, fünf V, sieben W, ein X, ein Y, zwölf Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, drei Ü und zwei ẞ.
Der Satz oben enthält fünf A, vier B, sechs C, neun D, vierunddreißig E, zehn F, vier G, acht H, vierundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, fünf L, ein M, dreiundzwanzig N, ein O, ein P, ein Q, acht R, zwölf S, sechs T, fünf U, drei V, sieben W, ein X, ein Y, elf Z, zwei Ä, ein Ö, vier Ü und zwei ẞ.
Der Satz links enthält sechs A, drei B, fünf C, neun D, dreißig E, neun F, vier G, sieben H, vierundzwanzig I, ein J, ein K, vier L, ein M, fünfundzwanzig N, zwei O, ein P, ein Q, zehn R, sieben S, sechs T, sechs U, sechs V, sechs W, ein X, ein Y, zehn Z, zwei Ä, zwei Ö, vier Ü und zwei ẞ.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Percentages
The following autogram uses exact percentages:
Dieser selbstbeschreibende Satz enthält genau fünf Prozent a, eins Komma zwei Prozent b, zwei Komma sechs Prozent c, eins Komma zwei Prozent d, dreizehn Komma vier Prozent e, eins Komma acht Prozent f, null Komma vier Prozent g, drei Prozent h, fünf Komma zwei Prozent i, drei Komma sechs Prozent k, eins Komma acht Prozent l, sieben Prozent m, neun Komma zwei Prozent n, acht Komma sechs Prozent o, fünf Prozent p, sechs Komma sechs Prozent r, fünf Komma zwei Prozent s, sechs Komma acht Prozent t, eins Komma zwei Prozent u, null Komma acht Prozent v, zwei Prozent w, sieben Prozent z, null Komma vier Prozent ä sowie ein Prozent ü.
Matthias Belz, 2020
The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters. It has just one case, but five letters have a special final form which is used at the end of a word. In Hebrew, it’s possible to use Hebrew numerals to represent the counts themselves as letters. This method is used by all autograms in this section.
In general, several variations are conceivable for autograms in Hebrew. Eyal Gruss provided the following comments regarding the autograms created by him and Noam Dovev:
- We used the letters themselves, but the second letter may also be spelled out, that is ב vs. בית (as in b vs. bee)
- We did not add plural indicators, but one could add ים- where relevant (as in two A vs. two A’s)
- We did not distinguish between letters in normal form or final form (מ vs. ם), but count them as the same letter (as they indeed are)
- Traditionally, the Hebrew counting system uses a religious convention which makes special changes to circumvent letter combinations spelling the name of god. Namely י"ה and י"ו are replaced by ט"ו and ט"ז respectively (That is, instead of writing 15 as 10+5 one would use 9+6). I did not adhere to this convention, and just used the letters for their face values.
- Rather than using Hebrew numerals, one may find autograms of conventional form, spelling out the number-words as usual.
Pangrammatic Autogram
The following autogram by Eyal Gruss uses the preamble “This pangram includes …”. Further examples with other preambles can be found on his website.
פנגרמה זאת כוללת: ט' א, י' ב, ה' ג, א' ד, ג' ה, ב' ו, ב' ז, א' ח, ב' ט, ב' י, ב' כ, ג' ל, ב' מ, ב' נ, א' ס, א' ע, ב' פ, א' צ, א' ק, ב' ר, א' ש, ג' ת.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
4 characters, 1 distinct letter, pure
ב' ב
N.N.
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
The first and shortest pangrammatic reflexicon in Hebrew was found by Noam Dovev:
י”ח א, ד’ ב, א’ ג, ב’ ד, א’ ה, א’ ו, א’ ז, ב’ ח, א’ ט, ב’ י, א’ כ, א’ ל, א’ מ, א’ נ, א’ ס, א’ ע, א’ פ, א’ צ, א’ ק, א’ ר, א’ ש, א’ ת.
The greater (or extended) Hungarian alphabet consists of 44 letters. The extra letters compared to the basic Latin alphabet are the vowels á, é, í, ó, ö, ő, ú, ü and ű, the digraphs cs, dz, gy, ly, ny, sz, ty and zs, and the trigraph dzs. The smaller Hungarian alphabet has 40 letters and is missing the letters q, w, x and y.
Pangrammatic Autograms
This pangram, the first Hungarian autogram, uses the extended Hungarian alphabet, but without the nine combined letters.
Ebben a mondatban nyolc a, egy á, öt b, nyolc c, kettő d, huszonhét e, hat é, egy f, tizenhét g, kilenc h, hat i, egy í, egy j, nyolc k, nyolc l, kettő m, tizenkilenc n, kilenc o, egy ó, négy ö, öt ő, egy p, egy q, egy r, öt s, huszonegy t, négy u, egy ú, egy ü, kettő ű, kettő v, egy w, egy x, huszonegy y és hat z betű van.
Viktor Kovacs, 2019
The Italian alphabet uses a subset of 21 letters of the basic Latin alphabet. The missing letters j, k, w, x and y only occur in loanwords and foreign names, and are generally not used in pangrams.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
This autogram uses one of the foreign letters, j. However, una j could easily be replaced by e.g. una l, making this a valid autogram for the 21 letter alphabet.
Questa frase ha nove a, una b, sette c, undici d, sedici e, due f, una g, due h, dodici i, una j, sette n, otto o, cinque q, quattro r, sette s, quattordici t, dodici u, e due v.
Another, rather short, Italian autogram:
Questa frase contiene cinque a, otto c, otto d, dodici e, due f, quattordici i, sei n, dodici o, sette q, quattro r, cinque s, quindici t e otto u.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Pangrammatic Autograms
This pangram contains all five foreign letters.
Questa frase ha diciannove a, una b, nove c, dieci d, quattordici e, due f, una g, due h, diciotto i, una j, una k, una l, una m, diciotto n, dieci o, una p, sette q, cinque r, quattro s, quindici t, venti u, quattro v, una w, una x, una y, e una z.
The following two pangrams use the 21 letter alphabet:
Questo pangramma contiene tredici a, una b, dieci c, undici d, ventidue e, una f, due g, una h, diciannove i, una l, tre m, quattordici n, sei o, due p, cinque q, sette r, sette s, diciassette t, quattordici u, tre v e una z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
In questa frase ci sono tredici a, una b, dieci c, dieci d, quattordici e, due f, una g, una h, venti i, una l, una m, tredici n, nove o, una p, sei q, otto r, cinque s, quattordici t, quattordici u, tre v ed una z.
Peter Hayes, 2019
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
98 characters, 12 distinct letters, pure
Tre a, tre c, quattro d, otto e, sei i, due n, otto o, quattro q, sei r, tre s, dodici t, cinque u
Matthias Belz, 2014
94 characters, 11 distinct letters, pure
Sette c, cinque d, dodici e, dieci i, cinque n, due o, cinque q, tre r, tre s, cinque t, sei u
Peter Hayes, 2019
30 characters, 4 distinct letters, pure
Sette e, tre r, tre s, sette t
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
This pangrammatic reflexicon uses the 21 letter alphabet:
Dieci a, una b, sei c, dieci d, nove e, una f, una g, una h, dodici i, una l, una m, undici n, otto o, una p, due q, tre r, due s, otto t, quattordici u, due v, una z
Matthias Belz, 2014
Japanese is commonly written in a mixture of three scripts: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana and katakana consist of 46 characters each, while there are thousands of kanji characters. Numbers can be written in Arabic numerals or kanji.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
The first Japanese autogram was created by Tomoyuki Tanaka. It appeared in the Japanese edition of Douglas Hofstadter’s book Metamagical Themas, where it was printed vertically. Macaulay Curtis kindly provided the following translation and comments: “In this sentence, in addition to ‘こ’ appearing 2 times, ‘の’ appears 2 times, ‘文’ appears 2 times, ‘章’ appears 2 times, ‘に’ appears 3 times, ‘は’ appears 30 times, ‘が’ appears 2 times, ‘回’ appears 29 times, ‘現’ appears 3 times, ‘れ’ appears 3 times, ‘る’ appears 3 times, ‘他’ appears 2 times, ‘カ’ appears 3 times, ‘ギ’ appears 2 times, ‘ッ’ appears 2 times, ‘コ’ appears 2 times, ‘組’ appears 2 times, ‘1’ appears 2 times, ‘2’ appears 17 times, ‘3’ appears 7 times, ‘7’ appears 2 times, ‘17’ appears 2 times, ‘28’ appears 2 times, ‘29’ appears 3 times, ‘30’ appears 2 times, 28 pairs of quotation marks appear, ‘、’ appears 29 times, ‘。’ appears 2 times, and ‘＊’ appears 1 time.” Mr. Tanaka’s autogram uses katakana, hiragana, kanji and Arabic numerals. He counts two-digit Arabic numbers (‘17’, etc.) as a single character, which is acceptable when the sentence is written vertically, but perhaps not when written horizontally.
この文章には「こ」が２回現れる他に、「の」は２回、「文」は２回、「章」は２回、「に」は３回、「は」は30回、「が」は２回、「回」は29回、「現」は３回、「れ」は３回、「る」は３回、「他」は２回、「カ」は３回、「ギ」は２回、「ッ」は２回、「コ」は２回、「組」は２回、「１」は２回、「２」は17回、「３」は７回、「７」は２回、「17」は２回、「28」は２回、「29」は３回、「30」は２回、カギカッコは28組、「、」は29回、「。」は２回、「＊」は１回現れる。
Tomoyuki Tanaka, c. 1990
The following autogram by Mr. Curtis uses only hiragana and kanji, and translates as “In this sentence there are two each of ‘こ’, ‘の’, ‘文’, ‘章’, ‘に’, ‘は’, ‘あ’, ‘り’, ‘ま’, ‘す’, ‘二’, ‘三’, ‘五’, ‘六’, and ‘八’, three each of ‘そ’, ‘ぞ’, and ‘ず’, five ‘れ’, six ‘が’, and eight ‘つ’.”
この文章には「こ」「の」「文」「章」「に」「は」「あ」「り」「ま」「す」「二」「三」「五」「六」「八」がそれぞれ二つずつ、「そ」「ぞ」「ず」がそれぞれ三つずつ、「れ」が五つ、「が」が六つ、「つ」が八つあります。
Macaulay Curtis, 2022
The Korean alphabet (called Hangul) has 40 letters (jamos): 19 consonants und 21 vowels.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
Kang Seonghoon sent me the following two Korean autograms, and he also kindly provided accompanying notes. About the first autogram, he wrote:
Devised by Poo-Sung Park in 2007, this autogram only refers to consonant jamos (ㄱ through ㅎ). Each jamo was represented in isolation. I consider this to be the first Korean autogram ever.
The autogram has the following structure: “This sentence has fifteen ㄱs, ten ㄴs […] and six ㅎs.”
이 문장에는 ㄱ이 열다섯 개, ㄴ이 열 개, ㄷ이 여섯 개, ㄹ이 다섯 개, ㅁ이 세 개, ㅂ이 한 개, ㅅ이 열다섯 개,
ㅇ이 스물네 개, ㅈ이 두 개, ㅊ이 한 개, ㅋ이 한 개, ㅌ이 한 개, ㅍ이 한 개, ㅎ이 여섯 개 있다.
Pangrammatic Autogram
The following autogram is a pangram in the sense that it uses all consonants and vowels. It does not, however, use all Hangul syllables (of which there are 11,172). Kang Seonghoon explains:
Devised by Jimin Park in 2012, this autogram correctly refers to all consonants, vowels, punctuations and even spaces. Consonant jamos are spoken, while vowel jamos are written as is (if they were spoken, there would be one more ieung [ㅇ] per jamo: ㅏ would become 아 for example). It should be noted that there are two different counting methods for complex jamos in use, though they do match the instinct of typical Koreans:
- Consonant clusters (e.g. ㄼ is made of ㄹ and ㅂ) are separately counted. In Korean phonology they refer to phonomes that can be mutated by neighboring jamos, so ㄼ will be pronounced either as ㄹ or as ㅂ. They do not have separate names, so ㄼ’s name is simply ㄹㅂ (rieul-bieup).
- Compound vowels (e.g. ㅔ is conceptually made of ㅓ and ㅣ) are counted as their own. In Korean phonology they sometimes represent vowels in the (conceptual) middle of two basic vowels (so ㅔ /e/ is roughly between ㅓ /ʌ/ and ㅣ /i/), or just diphongs (e.g. ㅘ /wa/ has ㅗ /o/ which got converted to a glide). The autogram only contains the former which are normally considered as individual vowels.
The structure of this autogram is: “This sentence contains fifty-five giyeoks, twenty-four nieuns […] twenty-four eu’s, thirty-nine i’s, ninety-six spaces, thirty commas, and one period.”
이 문장에는 기역이 쉰다섯 개, 니은이 스물네 개, 디귿이 일곱 개, 리을이 열여덟 개, 미음이 아홉 개, 비읍이 열 개,
시옷이 스물여섯 개, 이응이 쉰 개, 지읒이 세 개, 치읓이 세 개, 키읔이 두 개, 티읕이 두 개, 피읖이 네 개, 히읗이
열네 개, ㅏ가 서른세 개, ㅐ가 서른세 개, ㅑ가 한 개, ㅒ가 한 개, ㅓ가 아홉 개, ㅔ가 열한 개, ㅕ가 열한 개,
ㅖ가 한 개, ㅗ가 아홉 개, ㅛ가 세 개, ㅜ가 열 개, ㅠ가 한 개, ㅡ가 스물네 개, ㅣ가 서른아홉 개, 공백이 아흔여섯
개, 쉼표가 서른 개, 그리고 마침표가 한 개 있습니다.
The Latin alphabet has evolved over hundreds of years. Wikipedia lists the following stages:
- Original alphabet: A B C D E F Z H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X (21 letters, missing are G, J, U, W, Y)
- Old Latin period: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X (21 letters, missing are J, U, W, Y, Z)
- Classical Latin period: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z (23 letters, missing are J, U, W)
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
Considering U a variant form of V, the following autogram is valid for both the Old Latin and the Classical Latin alphabet:
IN HAC SENTENTIA SUNT NOUEM A, UNA B, OCTO C, NOUEM D, UIGINTI UNA E, DUAE G, DUAE H, UNDECIM I, OCTO M, TREDECIM N, SEPTEM O, DUAE P, QUINQUE Q, DUAE R, QUINQUE S, DECEM T, ET SEDECIM U.
Pangrammatic Autograms
This is intended to be a pangram, but with the missing letters J, K, V, W, Y, it does not match any of the three alphabets mentioned above.
IN HAC SENTENTIA SUNT TREDECIM A, UNA B, QUATTUOR C, SEX D, UIGINTI E, UNA F, QUINQUE G, DUAE H, DUODEUIGINTI I, UNA L, SEX M, SEPTENDECIM N, SEPTEM O, QUATTUOR P, SEPTEM Q, SEX R, NOUEM S, UIGINTI UNA T, UIGINTI QUATTUOR U, QUATTUOR X, ET UNA Z.
This pangram uses the alphabet of the Classical Latin period, and uses roman numerals instead of spelled out numbers.
IN HAC SENTENTIA SVNT III A, I B, II C, I D, IV E, I F, I G, II H, XXXII I, I K, I L, I M, V N, I O, I P, I Q, I R, III S, V T, VII V, IV X, I Y ET I Z.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
146 characters, 15 distinct letters, pure
Quattuor a, sex c, quattuor d, quindecim e, quinque i, sex m, tres n, octo o, tres p, septem q, septem r, octo s, quattuordecim t, decem u, tres x
The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters, the 26 basic Latin letters plus æ, ø and å. There are two official standards for written Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
In Bokmål:
Denne statusen består av tre a-er, to b-er, to d-er, trettiåtte e-er, tre f-er, to g-er, fire i-er, fem j-er, tre k-er, en l, to m-er, sju n-er, sju o-er, tjueseks r-er, ti s-er, tjueen t-er, seks u-er, to v-er, en y og tre å-er.
In Nynorsk:
Denne nynorske setninga inneheld tjueein a-ar, ein c, tre d-ar, tjueseks e-ar, tre f-ar, tre g-ar, to h-ar, åtte i-ar, sju j-ar, fem k-ar, to l-ar, to m-ar, fjorten n-ar, åtte o-ar, ein p, tjueseks r-ar, ti s-ar, tjue t-ar, seks u-ar, ein v, to y-ar og tre å-ar.
Pangrammatic Autograms
The following pangram is in Bokmål:
Dette er et pangram bestående av fire a-er, to b-er, en c, tre d-er, femtifire e-er, åtte f-er, tre g-er, en h, seks i-er, fire j-er, to k-er, en l, fem m-er, fjorten n-er, sju o-er, to p-er, en q, trettitre r-er, fem s-er, tjuetre t-er, tre u-er, to v-er, en w, en x, en y, en z, en æ, en ø og tre å-er.
This pangram is also in Bokmål, and includes the total letter count:
I dette to-hundre-og-tjuefem bokstaver lange pangrammet finner man seks a-er, to b-er, en c, tre d-er, femtiseks e-er, sju f-er, fem g-er, to h-er, ni i-er, fem j-er, seks k-er, fire l-er, åtte m-er, nitten n-er, ti o-er, to p-er, en q, tjueni r-er, elleve s-er, tjueto t-er, seks u-er, tre v-er, en w, en x, en y, en z, en æ, en ø, og to å-er.
The following is a pangram in Nynorsk which includes the total letter count:
Denne setninga inneheld heile to-hundre-og-trettini bokstavar: tjuefire a-ar, to b-ar, ein c, fire d-ar, trettisju e-ar, ni f-ar, fire g-ar, fire h-ar, tjuefem i-ar, sju j-ar, to k-ar, tre l-ar, fire m-ar, tjueein n-ar, ni o-ar, ein p, ein q, trettitre r-ar, fem s-ar, tjuefem t-ar, åtte u-ar, to v-ar, ein w, ein x, ein y, ein z, ein æ, ein ø og to å-ar.
The Polish alphabet consists of 32 letters. Compared to the basic Latin alphabet, there are nine extra letters: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, and ż. On the other hand, three letters are missing: q, v, and x.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
30 characters, 4 distinct letters, pure
Pięć p, pięć i, pięć ę, pięć ć
Tomasz Żak, 2020
43 characters, 5 distinct letters, pure
Sześć s, sześć z, sześć e, sześć ś, sześć ć
Tomasz Żak, 2020
The Romanian alphabet has 31 letters, the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet plus ă, â, î, ș and ț.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
218 characters, 15 distinct letters, pure
Șapte a-uri, patru ă-uri, zece c-uri, trei d-uri, șaisprezece e-uri, treizecișiunu i-uri, cinci n-uri, cinci o-uri, șase p-uri, douăzecișitrei r-uri, patru s-uri, opt ș-uri, nouă t-uri, douăzecișitrei u-uri, șase z-uri
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
Șase a-uri, cinci ă-uri, un â, un b, unsprezece c-uri, trei d-uri, nouăsprezece e-uri, un f, un g, un h, treizecișiunu i-uri, un î, un j, un k, un l, un m, douăzecișitrei n-uri, șase o-uri, șapte p-uri, un q, douăzecișitrei r-uri, cinci s-uri, opt ș-uri, nouă t-uri, un ț, patruzeci u-uri, un v, un w, un x, un y, șapte z-uri
Adrian Toncean, 2019
The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters from the Cyrillic script.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
в этом предложении восемнадцать а, одиннадцать в, девятнадцать д, четырнадцать е, два ж, девять и, два л, пять м, одиннадцать н, девять о, четыре п, семь р, шесть с, двадцать одно т, восемь ц, три ч, три ш, три ы, пятнадцать ь, два э и шесть я.
Leo Broukhis, 2015
Pangrammatic Autograms
This autogram, probably the earliest Russian example, has the form “i letters x, j letters y, …”:
В этом предложении есть сорок четыре буквы а, тридцать четыре буквы б, сорок четыре буквы в, одна буква г, тридцать четыре буквы д, двадцать семь букв е, одна буква ё, две буквы ж, одна буква з, тринадцать букв и, одна буква й, тридцать шесть букв к, две буквы л, шесть букв м, девятнадцать букв н, двадцать букв о, три буквы п, восемнадцать букв р, одиннадцать букв с, тридцать шесть букв т, тридцать четыре буквы у, одна буква ф, одна буква х, пятнадцать букв ц, семь букв ч, четыре буквы ш, одна буква щ, одна буква ъ, восемнадцать букв ы, двадцать одна буква ь, две буквы э, одна буква ю, и три буквы я.
The following autogram refrains from the repetitive use of “letters”.
в этом предложении двадцать а, одно б, четырнадцать в, одно г, тридцать два д, семнадцать е, два ж, одно з, девять и, одно й, одно к, два л, шесть м, восемнадцать н, двадцать восемь о, три п, девять р, семь с, двадцать три т, одно у, одно ф, одно х, девять ц, четыре ч, три ш, одно щ, один ъ, четыре ы, шестнадцать ь, два э, одно ю, пять я и одно ё.
Leo Broukhis, 2015
Three Cyrillic letters (й, ъ and ь) have descriptive names. The next pangram makes use of these:
в этой фразе предъявлены: двадцать пять а, две б, двадцать две в, две г, тридцать шесть д, тридцать одна е, одна ж, четыре з, десять и, две буквы и краткое, семь к, две л, шесть м, четырнадцать н, одиннадцать о, три п, двенадцать р, десять с, двадцать семь т, две у, две ф, две х, десять ц, четыре ч, три ш, одна щ, один твёрдый знак, семь ы, девятнадцать мягких знаков, две э, одна ю, восемь я и две ё.
Leo Broukhis, 2015
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicons
157 characters, 18 distinct letters, pure
семь а, пять в, девять д, одиннадцать е, пять и, три м, пять н, две о, шесть п, пять р, пять с, шестнадцать т, четыре ц, две ч, три ш, две ы, тринадцать ь, семь я
Leo Broukhis, 2015
30 characters, 4 distinct letters, pure
пять п, пять т, пять ь, пять я
3 characters, 1 distinct letter (once with and once without diacritic), pure. Cyrillic numerals, which were in use in Russia until the early 18th century, allow to construct the shortest possible reflexicon:
в҃ в
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
тридцать два а, одна б, одиннадцать в, одна г, тридцать два д, восемь е, одна ж, одна з, шесть и, одно й, одна к, одна л, четыре м, двадцать одна н, двадцать два о, пять п, пять р, шесть с, восемнадцать т, одна у, одна ф, одна х, восемь ц, два ч, три ш, одна щ, один ъ, два ы, пятнадцать ь, одна э, одна ю, пять я, одна ё
Leo Broukhis, 2015
The Slovenian alphabet has 25 letters. Compared to the basic Latin alphabet, the extra letters are č, š and ž, and the missing letters are q, w, x and y.
Pangrammatic Autogram
Ta stavek, narejen s pomočjo računalnika, vsebuje petindvajset a-jev, dva b-ja, en c, tri č-je, osemnajst d-jev, sedeminpetdeset e-jev, en f, en g, dva h-ja, šestnajst i-jev, dvaintrideset j-jev, tri k-je, dva l-ja, sedem m-jev, enaindvajset n-jev, šest o-jev, šest p-jev, devet r-jev, triindvajset s-jev, pet š-jev, osemindvajset t-jev, tri u-je, devetindvajset v-jev, dva z-ja, en ž in šestdeset praznih mest.
The Spanish alphabet consists of 27 letters, the additional letter being ñ. There were two more additional letters, ch and ll, but since 1994 they are no longer considered to be separate letters.
The plural form of the letters is complicated. I encountered five variants:
- dos a, …, tres z: This is not correct
- dos a’s, …, tres z’s: This would be correct for English, but it is not for Spanish
- dos veces la letra a, …, tres veces la letra z: This is a kind of a workaround, grammatically correct, but not very elegant
- dos letras a, …, tres letras z: Another workaround, but shorter
- dos aes, …, tres zetas: Using spelled out letter names is the most idiomatic way of handling the plurals of letters
To make matters even more complicated, different letter names are customary in different parts of the world. For example, v is called uve, ve, ve corta or ve baja, w is called uve doble, ve doble or doble ve, and y is either called i griega or ye. The Real Academia Española recommends the following letter names: a, be, ce, de, e, efe, ge, hache, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, cu, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve doble, equis, ye, zeta.
Non-Pangrammatic Autograms
The following autogram appeared in the Spanish edition of “I Am a Strange Loop” by Douglas Hofstadter. It is not a pangram, but cleverly addresses that fact. One letter name deviates from the official names (íes griegas).
Esta frase no es un pangrama, porque contiene veinticinco aes, dos bes, diecinueve ces, ocho des, sesenta es, tres efes, cuatro ges, cuatro haches, veinticinco íes, una jota, una ka, cinco eles, dos emes, veinticuatro enes, una eñe, veintidós oes, cuatro pes, tres cus, quince erres, treinta y siete eses, veintidós tes, dieciocho ues, nueve uves, tres íes griegas y una zeta, pero faltan la uve doble y la equis.
This autogram uses one of the mentioned workarounds for the plurals.
Esta frase contiene veinticinco letras a, trece letras c, siete letras d, cuarenta y tres letras e, dos letras f, dos letras h, diecinueve letras i, dieciocho letras l, trece letras n, diez letras o, veinticinco letras r, veintinueve letras s, treinta y una letras t, seis letras u, seis letras v, cuatro letras y y dos letras z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Pangrammatic Autograms
This is the first published Spanish self-enumerating pangram, and it also includes the total letter count, but it has two serious flaws: the ñ is missing, and the plural of the letters is simply wrong.
Esta frase contiene exactamente doscientas treinta y cinco letras : veinte a’s, una b, dieciséis c’s, trece d’s, treinta e’s, dos f’s, una g, una h, diecinueve i’s, una j, una k, dos l’s, dos m’s, veintidós n’s, catorce o’s, una p, una q, diez r’s, treinta y tres s’s, diecinueve t’s, doce u’s, cinco v’s, una w, dos x’s, cuatro y’s, y dos z’s.
This is probably the first true Spanish self-enumerating pangram, although it is a bit cumbersome.
Esta frase usa setenta y ocho veces la letra «a», una vez la letra «b», treinta veces la letra «c», seis veces la letra «d», noventa y nueve veces la letra «e», dos veces la letra «f», una vez la letra «g», tres veces la letra «h», dieciocho veces la letra «i», una vez la letra «j», una vez la letra «k», cincuenta y cinco veces la letra «l», una vez la letra «m», veintiséis veces la letra «n», una vez la letra «ñ», doce veces la letra «o», una vez la letra «p», una vez la letra «q», treinta y seis veces la letra «r», treinta y cuatro veces la letra «s», cuarenta y seis veces la letra «t», diecisiete veces la letra «u», treinta y dos veces la letra «v», una vez la letra «w», una vez la letra «x», nueve veces la letra «y» y once veces la letra «z».
Another Spanish pangram which uses an incorrect plural:
Este pangrama tiene dieciséis a, una b, quince c, once d, dieciocho e, una f, dos g, dos h, trece i, una j, una k, una l, dos m, dieciséis n, una ñ, catorce o, dos p, dos q, cinco r, catorce s, seis t, doce u, una v, una w, una x, dos y y una z.
A true Spanish pangram using the shorter of the two workarounds:
Este pangrama tiene cuarenta y siete letras a, una letra b, trece letras c, siete letras d, cincuenta y seis letras e, una letra f, dos letras g, dos letras h, diecinueve letras i, una letra j, una letra k, veintiocho letras l, dos letras m, veintitrés letras n, una letra ñ, once letras o, dos letras p, dos letras q, treinta y seis letras r, treinta y seis letras s, cuarenta y cinco letras t, quince letras u, cuatro letras v, una letra w, una letra x, siete letras y y una letra z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
To create a pangram that uses spelled out letter names, it is necessary to include the letters w and x in the introductory phrase:
Este pangrama para Wikipedia contiene exactamente veintiséis aes, dos bes, diecisiete ces, doce des, cincuenta y nueve es, una efe, dos ges, cuatro haches, veintitrés ies, una jota, dos kas, dos eles, tres emes, veintidós enes, una eñe, veinte oes, cuatro pes, una cu, once erres, treinta y cuatro eses, veintidós tes, dieciocho ues, ocho uves, una uve doble, una equis, cuatro yes y una zeta.
Matthias Belz, 2014
The following pangram uses the more common letter name i griega instead of ye. It was originally published in two tweets.
Estos dos tweets tienen en conjunto exactamente veintidós aes, dos bes, trece ces, doce des, sesenta y una es, una efe, tres ges, tres haches, veintiuna íes, dos jotas, una ka, dos eles, dos emes, veinticinco enes, una eñe, diecisiete oes, una pe, una cu, siete erres, cuarenta eses, veintiuna tes, dieciocho úes, seis uves, una uve doble, una equis, dos íes griegas y una zeta.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
This reflexicon mentions every letter, but does not contain w or x, so it is not a pangram.
Diecisiete aes, dos bes, nueve ces, siete des, cincuenta y seis es, una efe, tres ges, tres haches, veintiuna ies, una jota, una ka, dos eles, una eme, veintitrés enes, una eñe, ocho oes, una pe, dos cus, siete erres, treinta y seis eses, quince tes, diecinueve ues, seis uves, ninguna uve doble, ninguna equis, tres yes, una zeta
Matthias Belz, 2014
Pangrammatic Reflexicon
True pangrammatic reflexicons in Spanish are impossible when using spelled out letter names, because the letters w and x do not occur in any of those names, nor in any numbers.
The following reflexicon does not handle the plurals correctly. It uses the old 29 letter alphabet.
Diecinueve a, una b, diez c, una ch, cinco d, dieciséis e, una f, una g, una h, catorce i, una j, una k, una l, una ll, una m, veintitrés n, una ñ, seis o, una p, una q, cuatro r, nueve s, seis t, veinte u, cinco v, una w, una x, una y, dos z
The Swedish alphabet consists of 29 letters, the 26 basic Latin letters plus å, ä and ö.
Pangrammatic Autogram
Detta pangram innehåller sex a:n, ett b, två c:n, två d:n, tjugotre e:n, tre f, fyra g:n, tre h:n, tre i:n, sju j:n, ett k, tre l, tre m, tjugo n, sex o:n, två p:n, ett q, tretton r, sju s, trettioåtta t:n, sju u:n, fem v:n, ett w, tre x, två y:n, ett z, sju å:n, ett ä och ett ö.
Non-Pangrammatic Reflexicon
118 characters, 14 distinct letters, pure
Tre a:n, åtta e:n, fem f, två i:n, fyra m, tio n, tre o:n, fem r, två s, tretton t:n, fem v:n, två x, två y:n, sex å:n
The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters. Three letters of the basic Latin alphabet (q, w and x) do not occur, and there are six additional letters: ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü.
Non-Pangrammatic Autogram
Bu cümlede beş a, yedi b, iki c, beş ç, beş d, on e, dört ı, on i, beş k, beş l, iki m, üç n, üç o, üç ö, dört r, altı ş, altı t, iki u, altı ü, üç v ve iki y var.
Pangrammatic Autograms
Bu cümle üç a, dokuz b, iki c, yedi ç, on d, dokuz e, bir f, bir g, bir ğ, bir h, üç ı, yirmi üç i, bir j, sekiz k, dört l, üç m, üç n, altı o, beş ö, bir p, on dört r, iki s, iki ş, yedi t, dört u, yedi ü, iki v, altı y ve dört z içeriyor.
Bu cümlede otuz üç tane a, on bir tane b, iki tane c, yedi tane ç, yedi tane d, kırk bir tane e, iki tane f, bir tane g, bir tane ğ, iki tane h, üç tane ı, yirmi yedi tane i, bir tane j, on tane k, üç tane l, üç tane m, otuz üç tane n, yedi tane o, iki tane ö, bir tane p, on iki tane r, iki tane s, dört tane ş, otuz beş tane t, beş tane u, sekiz tane ü, üç tane v, altı tane y ve beş tane z harfi var.
When two or more autograms enumerate each other, they do not have to be in the same language. However, they have to share the same alphabet, usually the basic Latin alphabet.
Pairs
Since the first autograms arose from a friendly rivalry between a Dutchman (Rudy Kousbroek) and an Englishman (Lee Sallows), I decided to create a Dutch/English pair:
De Engelse zin bestaat uit twee a’s, een b, vier c’s, drie d’s, dertig e’s, acht f’s, twee g’s, zeven h’s, dertien i’s, een j, een k, een l, een m, negentien n’s, zestien o’s, een p, een q, vier r’s, achtentwintig s’en, negentien t’s, twee u’s, drie v’s, zes w’s, zeven x’en, vier y’s en een z.
The Dutch sentence consists of five a’s, two b’s, three c’s, six d’s, fifty-three e’s, one f, six g’s, three h’s, fifteen i’s, one j, one k, two l’s, one m, twenty-six n’s, one o, one p, one q, eight r’s, twenty-one s’s, sixteen t’s, two u’s, six v’s, five w’s, one x, one y and six z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2014
The following is a English/German pair. This was quite tricky, because the imposed restriction to the basic Latin alphabet prevents the usage of many numbers in the German sentence: 5 (fünf), 12 (zwölf), 15, 25, 30 to 39 (…dreißig), 45 etc. Of course it would be possible to write “fuenf”, “zwoelf” etc. instead, but I do not find this satisfactory. So I searched until I found a pair that uses none of the problematic numbers.
The German pangram has eight a’s, one b, five c’s, ten d’s, thirty-one e’s, two f’s, six g’s, nine h’s, twenty-three i’s, one j, one k, three l’s, three m’s, twenty-six n’s, one o, two p’s, one q, nine r’s, nine s’s, two t’s, eight u’s, four v’s, eight w’s, one x, one y and fourteen z’s.
Das englische Pangramm hat sechs A, ein B, ein C, zwei D, neunundzwanzig E, vier F, sechs G, zehn H, elf I, ein J, ein K, ein L, drei M, zweiundzwanzig N, vierzehn O, zwei P, ein Q, neun R, dreiundzwanzig S, neunzehn T, drei U, zwei V, sechs W, drei X, vier Y und ein Z.
Matthias Belz, 2014
A Spanish/English pair:
La frase Inglesa usa tres aes, una be, dos ces, dos des, treinta y dos es, diez efes, dos ges, seis haches, ocho ies, una jota, una ka, una ele, una eme, veintitrés enes, dieciocho oes, dos pes, una cu, nueve erres, treinta eses, veinte tes, siete ues, cuatro uves, seis uves dobles, dos equis, cuatro yes y una zeta.
The Spanish sentence uses twenty a’s, two b’s, eight c’s, ten d’s, forty-seven e’s, two f’s, two g’s, four h’s, fourteen i’s, one j, one k, four l’s, one m, fourteen n’s, fifteen o’s, one p, one q, nine r’s, thirty-seven s’s, fourteen t’s, sixteen u’s, five v’s, no w’s, no x’s, three y’s and two z’s.
Matthias Belz, 2014
Quartet
In clockwise direction: English → French → Spanish → German (→ English)
The sentence in French contains nine a’s, one b, three c’s, eleven d’s, twenty-five e’s, two f’s, four g’s, two h’s, twelve i’s, one j, one k, three l’s, two m’s, seventeen n’s, six o’s, eight p’s, six q’s, eight r’s, eleven s’s, fourteen t’s, eighteen u’s, three v’s, one w, ten x’s, one y and four z’s.
La phrase en espagnol comporte vingt et un a, deux b, seize c, sept d, quarante-neuf e, deux f, un g, trois h, quinze i, un j, un k, quatre l, deux m, vingt-deux n, quinze o, un p, un q, six r, trente-deux s, dix t, dix-sept u, cinq v, pas de w, pas d’x, trois y et deux z.
Der englische Satz besteht aus drei A, einem B, vier C, zwei D, vierzig E, sechs F, vier G, neun H, zehn I, einem J, einem K, vier L, einem M, dreiundzwanzig N, dreizehn O, einem P, einem Q, acht R, siebenundzwanzig S, neunzehn T, vier U, sechs V, sechs W, drei X, zwei Y und einem Z.
La frase en alemán contiene seis aes, tres bes, seis ces, nueve des, cuarenta y una es, una efe, cinco ges, diez haches, veinticuatro ies, una jota, una ka, dos eles, ocho emes, veintidós enes, una o, una pe, una cu, once erres, doce eses, cinco tes, siete ues, seis uves, cinco uves dobles, una equis, una ye y doce zetas.
Matthias Belz, 2014
July 2024
- English: added composite chain
September 2023
- Afrikaans: added new section with three autograms
March 2023
- Hebrew: added new section with three autograms
August 2022
- Spanish: added a pangram
June 2022
- Spanish: clarified the text about the letter names, and corrected a few typos
January 2022
- Japanese: added new section with two autograms
September 2021
- Esperanto: added new section with one autogram
July 2021
- Chinese: added new section with four autograms
November 2020
- Polish: added new section with two reflexicons
May 2020
- German: added an autogram using percentages
- Spanish: added a non-pangrammatic autogram
- Turkish: added a non-pangrammatic autogram
September 2019
- Hungarian: added new section with one autogram
May 2019
- Latin: added a reflexicon
- Romanian: added a pangrammatic reflexicon
April 2019
- Romanian: added new section with one autogram
- Swedish: added a reflexicon
January 2019
- Italian: added a pangram and a reflexicon
- Korean: added new section with two autograms
January 2018
- English: added four more autograms using percentages
November 2015
- Bulgarian: added new section with one autogram
- English: added a pangram using percentages
- Norwegian: added new section with five autograms
January 2015
- English: added a chain with 25 pangrams
- Russian: added new section with eight autograms
December 2014
- Slovenian: added new section with one autogram
October 2014
- initial version
If you spot a mistake, can contribute an autogram in a new language, or have any other comments, please
let me know (activate JavaScript to see the e-mail address). Among the languages missing autograms are Arabic, Czech, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Portuguese, and Ukrainian.