That


That is a function word used in the English language for several grammatical purposes.
These include:
In the first two uses the word is usually pronounced weakly, as, whereas in the other uses it is pronounced.
In the Old English language that was spelled þæt. It was also abbreviated as a letter Thorn, þ, with the ascender crossed, ꝥ. In Middle English, the letter Ash, æ, was replaced with the letter a, so that that was spelled þat, or sometimes þet. The ascender of the þ was reduced, which necessitated writing a small t above the letter to abbreviate the word that. In later Middle English and Early Modern English the þ evolved into a y shape, so that the word was spelled yat and the abbreviation for that was a y with a small t above it. This abbreviation can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the King James Version of the Bible in places such as II Corinthians 13:7.