Often times, when you see 20th century buildings with words inscribed in them, the letter "u" is often replaced with the letter "v." It's quite striking, and in my mind completely non-sensical.
I'm sure it's some sort of tradition, but where did it come from? Why was it considered so important to all these builders to permanently inscribe improperly spelled words into their masterpieces?
Was it superstition? Prestige?
There must have been a good reason. Where did the tradition come from and why did it come about?
2006-11-24 12:14:34 · 3 answers · asked by adrock 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Yes, there is indeed a very good reason. It is because the archetechtural style is "neo-classical", and this means mimicking the ancient Greek and Roman style. The inscriptions in Roman times were written in the Roman alphabet, which is not identical with our own alphabet. Specifically, the modern letters u,v, and w were all rolled into one letter, written "v". This why u,v,and w all appear together in one spot in our alphabet. Other non-Roman letters include "j" which in Latin was combined with "i", and this is why j comes right after i in our alphabet. There was also no "y", which we borrowed directly from the Greek. This is why the French call this letter "ee-grec" meaning "Greek ee".
2006-11-24 12:28:13 · answer #1 · answered by Sciencenut 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure why the pratice is in place. The V is actually the way a U is written in classical Latin. That and it's easier to inscribe a V than a U in masonry or stone.
2006-11-24 12:18:55 · answer #2 · answered by smilindave1 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
U IS A V, USED AS A DESCRIPTIVE IN GREEK AND ROMAN, SOMETIMES IN LATIN. LF
2006-11-24 12:37:09 · answer #3 · answered by lefang 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋