A Necessary History of the Oddest Letter: W
3 hours ago
- The letter W originated in the 6th century as a doubled U (UU) in Frankish Latin texts to represent the Germanic /w/ sound, which had no Latin equivalent after the fall of Rome.
- In Old English, the runic letter wynn (Ƿ) was also used for /w/, but it was gradually replaced by W after the Norman Conquest due to French and Latin influence.
- The sound /w/ was present in ancient Latin and Greek but later lost or altered; English preserved it due to its migration to Britain.
- W also arose from earlier G in Middle English (e.g., fugol → fowl) and was used to indicate vowel shifts, such as in town and cow after the Great Vowel Shift.
- The letter W has a rounding effect on following vowels, as seen in was vs. has, a modern development not present in Shakespeare's time.
- English spelling inconsistently uses OW and OU for the same shifted vowel (e.g., now vs. hour), with a half-hearted rule placing OW at word ends.
- The name 'double U' reflects its origin from two Us, while French calls it 'double vé' due to the later split of V and U.