Why is the letter W pronounced as "Double U" when it neither starts with D nor does it resemble the letter U?

Question

Why is the letter W pronounced as "Double U" when it neither starts with D nor does it resemble the letter U at all when if anything it looks like two v's placed next to each other? Every other letter in the english alphabet has a name that represents the short or long sound it makes except for W.

Why not call and pronounce the letter "Wha" or something or to parody the existing name such as, "Wubblewoo?" It's such a simple question it's mind boggling that no one has ever pondered this or desired for some educational or languistic authority to correct it.

Answer 1

"V" used to be "U" -- So a Double-V is actually "Double-You" (so to speak. You may see, at times, University spelled Vniversity.

"During the late middle ages, two forms of "v" developed, which were both used for modern u and v. The pointed form "v" was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form "u" was used in the middle or end, regardless of sound. So whereas valor and excuse appeared as in modern printing, "have" and "upon" were printed haue and vpon. Eventually, in the 1700s, to differentiate between the consonant and vowel sounds, the "v" form was used to represent the consonant, and "u" the vowel sound, giving us the modern letter "u". Capital "U" appeared at this time; previously, V was used in all cases."

Answer 2

Trust me, I think a good portion of people have wondered about that. I know I did in elementary. As to why, I don't know. But then again, why is it that each word we say sound the way they do? And why are the rules in grammar the way they are when half the time they don't make any sense?

As for the last person - they may be on to something - maybe WAY back in the day the W actually looked like 2 Us put together but as time went on, it changed to looking like 2 Vs put together. Heck, look at the various ways they spell last names - that was the middle ages when it varied just because of how each scribe would spell words. (For example: Bernard & Barnard).

Answer 3

the v's are just a modern interpretation...it isn't ahrd to imagine the vs with soft undersides (thus becoming "u"s). The way the letters are shaped now are different from the past, and continue changing. Probably two "u"s turned into two "v"s over time, but we keep the old name. We could maybe start calling it a doublevee or something. I would enjoy that.

Answer 4

You answered your own question. In fact the letter "W" is pronounce that way because the letter came from the letter U as it looks like two U

Answer 5

The letter "u" was written as a "v". Two "u"s were used to indicate the sound because the Latin alphabet did not have a letter for "w". So it looked like two "v"s, but meant double-u.

Answer 6

Well, actually, it's just modern type style that makes it look like a double v instead of a double u. Other languages do call it a double v on occasion. And I think it actually does make a modified "U" sound.

Answer 7

In Spanish people refer to W as both "doble U" and "doble V." There is no necessity for W in words that are native to the language, because the W sound (as in our English today) can be represented as "U+A" = Wah, "U+E" = Weh, etc. See Wikipedia's article on 'W.'

Answer 8

The English language has many quirks; this is one of them. Pronunciation is especially difficult for non-English speakers to learn - I was an immigrant! For example, the "gh" in "rough" is pronounced "f," but in "ought," it is silent. And so on. There are a lot of strange things going on in various languages - as in my mother tongue, Hungarian.

Answer 9

I believe the double U came from the hand written from.

Answer 10

I've always wondered why it takes to words to describe one letter. I guess it's because is looks like to u's next to eachother. UU