why is it that bush house in london is written as 'bvsh house'?

Answer 1

The letters "U" and "V" of the Roman alphabet originated from a single Phoenician consonant. It wasn't until about the 17th century that the difference in English print was made between "U" as a vowel and "V" as a consonant.

The use of "V" for "U" has continued into the present for some stone inscriptions.

The classical style of a building's architecture is reflected in the classical use of "V" for "U". For instance, the classical facade of the Bush House in London bears the inscription "BVSH HOVSE".

(sources: McArthur, Tom,ed.. The Oxford Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. REF 420 OXF

Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. REF 420 CRY)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/in_depth/buildings/bush_house.shtml
Designed by Harvey Corbett, Bush House was built in 1923 with further wings added between 1928 and 1935. The building was originally constructed for an Anglo-American trading organisation headed by Irving T. Bush, after whom it is named.

Bush House occupies a dramatic position at the bottom of Kingsway in central London, connected to the Strand on its southern façade. Its particularly impressive portico is flanked by two male statues symbolising Anglo-American friendship, sculpted by the American artist Malvina Hoffman. Over a Celtic altar at the centre of the portico is the inscription ‘Dedicated to the friendship of English-speaking peoples'

Answer 2

Bush House London

Answer 3

Actually it is "BVSH HOUSE", not "bush house".

This may seem minor, but it is important. While it is true that in the late Middle Ages the forms "u" and "v" were used interrchangeably, this ONLY applies to the lower case forms. For the upper case there was ONLY the form "V"; capital "U" did not appear till the 1700s (in imitation of the lower case form), at the time when the use of "u" for the vowel and "v" for the consonant was adopted.

Thus inscriptions would always use "V" never "U" --written in all upper case letters (which was, of course, the norm, for ANCIENT inscriptions in Latin, etc., since in ancient times there were no lower case letters!

So when in modern times an inscription is carved in all upper case letters (as with "BVSH HOUSE") it is not unusual for it to mimic the ancient form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V#The_letter

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On the development of "lower case" or "minuscule" letter forms from the later Roman cursive of the 3rd to 7th centuries (esp. through the Carolingian minuscules) see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuscule
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_minuscule#Creation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_cursive

Answer 4

There was no U in the original Roman/Latin alphabet (as pointed out V was used), many buildings built in the neo-Classical style which seek to emulate the grandeur and authority of those times therefore carve lettering in the same way.

Answer 5

In medieval times, the letters "U" and "V" were used interchangeably. These letters were not given separate alphabetical listings in English dictionaries until about 1800. In recent times, many sculptors have used the "V" in place of "U" for artistic reasons, such as to represent the permanence and long-time significance of their work.

Answer 6

The symbols 'u' and 'v' were often used interchangeably in the past, particularly when carving. Its much easier to carve a 'v' than a 'u'. From the context, it should be obvious whether the vowel 'u' or the consonant 's' is being used. Another switch you sometimes see is the symbol 'l' instead of 's'.

Answer 7

if you will notice most court houses made of marble are also spelled "covrt" it is becaus theold time stone masons had a difficult time making a "U" and using the "V" instead was approved by the masons of the time, so it started a trend and none of us want to buck the trend.

Answer 8

Maybe the same reason why the perfume Bulgari is spelt Bvlgari??