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W's historical legacy

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    W's historical legacy

    When did V break off and form its own letter? What does U have to do with it? Why does everyone confuse these letters?

    The Romans said W for V but wrote V instead of U. The Germans say W like V and call it double-V, while the English say double-U but write two V's and say something unlike either U or V. And the Italians abstained from using W at all, maybe because they realized how silly the Romans sounded saying weni instead of veni when it plainly said veni. It's a fucking mess.

    #2
    W's historical legacy

    The Germans say W like V and call it double-V
    No they don't. The letter V is pronounced fau, W is pronounced Veh.

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      #3
      W's historical legacy

      When did V break off and form its own letter?

      It was W that seceded (or invented really.) It was originally a ligature (two connected characters) of two Vs and employed to represent Germanic sounds that didn't exist in Latin. Eventually it received Major Alphabet League status sometime in the middle-ages.

      What does U have to do with it?

      U was originally a variant of V, so the former was established as vowel and the latter as consonant to prevent confusion. A similar divorce occurred between J and I. Both took place quite recently, late Renaissance-ish or thereabouts.

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        #4
        W's historical legacy

        That must have been a bugger for you, AdC, having to change your ID Book.

        [/ageist gag]

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          #5
          W's historical legacy

          Heh! God will get you for that.

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            #6
            W's historical legacy

            G.Man wants a hyphen wrote:
            The Germans say W like V and call it double-V
            No they don't. The letter V is pronounced fau, W is pronounced Veh.
            Does that mean VWs are FauVehs?

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              #7
              W's historical legacy

              Oh, it's the French who call it 'double vé'. I get France and Germany confused all the time.

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                #8
                W's historical legacy

                Yes, FauVeh is the proper way to say VW.

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                  #9
                  W's historical legacy

                  BrunoMaggiore wrote:
                  Oh, it's the French who call it 'double vé'. I get France and Germany confused all the time.
                  Yeah, we're the same with the US and Mexico.

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