W

W, orw, is the twenty-thirdletterof theLatin alphabet, used in themodern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English isdouble-u,pluraldouble-ues.
Double-u, whose name reflects stages in the letter's evolution when it was considered two of the same letter, a double U, is the only modern English letter whose name has more than one syllable.It is also the only English letter whose name is not pronounced with any of the sounds that the letter typically makes in words, with the exception ofHfor some speakers.
Some speakers shorten the name "double u" into "dub-u" or just "dub"; for example,University of Wisconsin,University of Washington,University of Wyoming,University of Waterloo,University of the Western CapeandUniversity of Western Australiaare all known colloquially as "U Dub", and the automobile companyVolkswagen, abbreviated "VW", is sometimes pronounced "V-Dub".The fact that many website URLs require a "www." prefix has been influential in promoting these shortened pronunciations.
In otherWest Germanic languages, its name is monosyllabic: GermanWe/veː/, Dutchwee/ʋeː/. In many languages, its name literally means "double v": Portugueseduplo vê,Spanishdoble ve(though it can be spelleduve doble),Frenchdouble vé,Icelandictvöfalt vaff,Czechdvojité vé,Estoniankaksisvee,Finnishkaksois-vee, etc.
Theclassical Latin alphabet, from which the modern European alphabets derived, did not have the "W" character. The "W" sounds were represented by the Latin letter "V" (at the time, not yet distinct from "U").
The sounds/w/(spelled⟨V⟩) and/b/(spelled⟨B⟩) ofClassical Latindeveloped into thevoiced bilabial fricative/β/betweenvowelsinEarly Medieval Latin. Therefore,⟨V⟩no longer adequately represented thevoiced labial-velar approximantsound/w/ofGermanic phonology.
TheGermanic/w/phoneme was, therefore, written as⟨VV⟩or⟨uu⟩(⟨u⟩and⟨v⟩becoming distinct only by theEarly Modern period) by the earliest writers ofOld EnglishandOld High German, in the 7th or 8th centuries.Gothic(notLatin-based), by contrast, had simply used a letter based on the GreekΥfor the same sound in the 4th century. The digraph⟨VV⟩/⟨uu⟩was also used inMedieval Latinto represent Germanic names, including Gothic ones likeWamba.
It is from this⟨uu⟩digraphthat the modern name "double U" derives. The digraph was commonly used in the spelling of Old High German but only in the earliest texts in Old English, where the/w/sound soon came to be represented by borrowing therune⟨ᚹ⟩, adapted as the Latin letterwynn:⟨ƿ⟩. In earlyMiddle English, following the 11th-centuryNorman Conquest,⟨uu⟩regained popularity; by 1300, it had taken wynn's place in common use.
Scribal realisation of the digraph could look like a pair of Vs whose branches crossed in the middle: both forms (separate and crossed) appear, for instance, in the "running text" (in Latin) of theBayeux tapestryin proper names such as EDVVARDVS and VVILLELMVS (or the same with crossed Vs). Another realisation (common inroundhand,kurrentandblackletter) takes the form of an⟨n⟩whose rightmost branch curved around, as in a cursive⟨v⟩(viz.w.{\displaystyle {\mathfrak {w}}.})It was used up to the nineteenth century in Britain and continues to be familiar in Germany.
Thus, the shift from the digraph⟨VV⟩to the distinct ligature⟨W⟩was gradual and was only apparent inabecedaria, explicit listings of all individual letters. It was probably considered a separate letter by the 14th century in bothMiddle EnglishandMiddle Germanorthography. However, it remained an outsider, not really considered part of the Latin alphabet proper, as expressed byValentin Ickelshamerin the 16th century, who complained that:
InMiddle High German(and possibly already in late Old High German), the West Germanic phoneme/w/became realized as[v]; this is why, today, the German⟨w⟩represents that sound.
English uses⟨w⟩to represent/w/. There are also a number of words beginning with a written⟨w⟩that issilentin most dialects before a (pronounced)⟨r⟩, remaining from usage inOld Englishin which the⟨w⟩was pronounced:wreak,wrap,wreck,wrench,wroth,wrinkle, etc. Certain dialects ofScottish Englishstill distinguish this digraph.⟨w⟩represents a vowel sound,/oʊ/, in the wordpwn, and in the Welsh loanwordscwmandcrwth, it retains the Welsh pronunciation,/ʊ/.⟨w⟩is also used in digraphs:⟨aw⟩/ɔː/,⟨ew⟩/(j)uː/,⟨ow⟩/aʊ,oʊ/, wherein it is usually an orthographicallographof⟨u⟩in final positions. It is thefifteenth most frequently used letterin the English language, with a frequency of about 2.56% in words.
In Europe languages with⟨w⟩in native words are in a central-western European zone between Cornwall and Poland: English,German,Low German,Dutch,Frisian,Welsh,Cornish,Breton,Walloon,Polish,Kashubian,Sorbian,Wymysorys,ResianandScandinavian dialects. German, Polish, Wymysorys and Kashubian use it for thevoiced labiodental fricative/v/(with Polish, related Kashubian and Wymysorys usingŁfor/w/, except in conservative and some eastern Polish speech, where Ł still represents thedark Lsound.), and Dutch uses it for/ʋ/. Unlike its use in other languages, the letter is used inWelshandCornishto represent the vowel/u/as well as the related approximant consonant/w/.
The following languages historically used⟨w⟩for/v/in native words, but later replaced it by⟨v⟩:Swedish,Finnish,Czech,Slovak,Latvian,Lithuanian,Estonian,Ukrainian ŁatynkaandBelarusian Łacinka. It is also used in modern systems ofRomanization of Belarusianfor the letter⟨ў⟩, for example in the BGN/PCGNsystem, in contrast to the letter⟨ŭ⟩, which is used in theInstruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script.
In Swedish and Finnish, traces of this old usage may still be found in proper names. InHungarianremains in some aristocratic surnames, e.g.Wesselényi.
ModernGerman dialectsgenerally have only[v]or[ʋ]for West Germanic/w/, but[w]or[β̞]is still heard allophonically for⟨w⟩, especially in the clusters⟨schw⟩,⟨zw⟩, and⟨qu⟩. Some Bavarian dialects preserve a "light" initial[w], such as inwuoz(Standard Germanweiß[vaɪs]'[I] know'). The Classical Latin[β]is heard in the Southern German greetingServus('hello' or 'goodbye').
InDutch,⟨w⟩became alabiodental approximant/ʋ/(with the exception of words with -⟨eeuw⟩, which have/eːβ/, or other diphthongs containing -⟨uw⟩). In many Dutch-speaking areas, such asFlandersandSuriname, the/β/pronunciation (or in some areas a/ɥ/pronunciation, e.g. Belgian-Dutchwater/'ɥaːtər/"water",wit/ɥɪt/"white",eeuw/eːɥ/"century", etc.) is used at all times.
InFinnish,⟨w⟩is sometimes seen as a variant of⟨v⟩and not a separate letter, but it is a part of official alphabet. It is, however, recognized and maintained in the spelling of some old names, reflecting an earlier German spelling standard, and in some modern loan words. In all cases, it is pronounced/ʋ/. The first edition of theKalevalahad its title spelledKalewala.
InDanish,NorwegianandSwedish,⟨w⟩is named double-v and not double-u. In these languages, the letter only exists in old names, loanwords and foreign words. (Foreign words are distinguished from loanwords by having a significantly lower level of integration in the language.) It is usually pronounced/v/, but in some words of English origin, it may be pronounced/w/.The letter was officially introduced in the Danish and Swedish alphabets as late as 1980 and 2006, respectively, despite having been in use for much longer. It had been recognized since the conception of modern Norwegian with the earliest official orthography rules of 1907.⟨W⟩was earlier seen as a variant of⟨v⟩, and⟨w⟩as a letter (double-v) is still commonly replaced by⟨v⟩in speech (e.g.WCbeing pronounced asVC,wwwasVVV,WHOasVHO, etc.). The two letters were sorted as equals before⟨w⟩was officially recognized, and that practice is still recommended when sorting names in Sweden.In modern slang, some native speakers may pronounce⟨w⟩more closely to the origin of the loanword than the official/v/pronunciation.
Multiple dialects of Swedish and Danish use the sound, however. In Denmark, notably inJutland, the northern half uses it extensively intraditional dialect, and in multiple places in Sweden. It is used in southern Swedish; for example, the words "wesp" (wisp) and "wann" (water) are traditionally used inHalland.In northern and western Sweden, there are also dialects with/w/.Elfdalianis a good example, which is one of many dialects where theOld Norse differencebetween v (/w/) and f (/v/or/f/) is preserved. Thus, "warg" from Old Norse "vargr", but "åvå" from Old Norse "hafa".
In the alphabets of most modern Romance languages,⟨w⟩is used mostly in foreign names and words recently borrowed (Italianil watt, Spanishel kiwi). In Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese,[w]is a non-syllabic variant of/u/, spelled⟨u⟩. In Italian, while the letter⟨w⟩is not considered part of the standardItalian alphabet, the character is often used in place ofViva(hooray for...), generally in the form in which the branches of the Vs cross in the middle, at least inhandwriting(in fact it could be considered amonogram).The same symbol written upside down indicatesabbasso(down with...). In French,⟨w⟩is also used mostly in foreign names and words recently borrowed such aswagonorweek(-)end, but in the first case it is pronounced[v](because of its German origin; except in Belgium, where it is pronounced [w]) and in the second[w]. In most northern French dialects, the former⟨w⟩turned finally to⟨v⟩, but still exists as a remnant in the place-names ofRomance Flanders,Picardie,Artois,Champagne,Romance Lorraineand sometimes elsewhere (Normandy,Île-de-France), and in the surnames from the same regions. Walloon as it sounds conserves the⟨w⟩pronounced[w]. The digraph⟨ou⟩is used to render⟨w⟩in rare French words such asouest"west" and to spell Arabic names transliterated-wiin English, but-ouiin French (compare Arabic surnameBadawi/ Badaoui). In all these languages, as in Scandinavian languages mentioned above, the letter is named "double v" (French/dubləve/, Spanish/'dɔble'uβe/) though in Belgium the name/we/is also used.
InIndonesian, the letter "w" is calledwé. The letter names in Indonesian are always the same with the sounds they produce, especially the consonants.
TheJapanese languageuses "W", pronounceddaburu, as an ideogram meaning "double".It is also used in internet slang to indicate laughter (likeLOL), derived from the wordwarau(笑う, meaning "to laugh").
In Italian, while the letter⟨w⟩is not considered part of the standardItalian alphabet, the character is often used in place ofViva(hooray for...), generally in the form in which the branches of the Vs cross in the middle, at least inhandwriting(in fact, it could be considered amonogram).The same symbol written upside down indicatesabbasso(down with...).
In theKokborok language,⟨w⟩represents theopen-mid back rounded vowel/ɔ/.
In Turkey, the use of the⟨w⟩was banned between 1928 and 2013which was a problem for theKurdish population in Turkeyas the⟨w⟩was a letter of theKurdish alphabet.The use of the letter⟨w⟩in the wordNewroz, the Kurdish new year, was forbidden,and names which included the letter were not able to be used.In 2008, a court inGaziantepreasoned the use of the letter⟨w⟩would incite civil unrest.
InVietnamese,⟨w⟩is calledvê đúporvê kép(lit.'double V'), from the Frenchdouble vé. It is not included in the standardVietnamese alphabet, but it is often used as a substitute forqu-inliterary dialectand very informal writing.It's also commonly used for abbreviatingƯin formal documents, for exampleTrung Ươngis abbreviated as TWeven in official documents and document ID number, derived from theVietnamese Telex input methodthat usually interpret a single "w" into Vietnamese character "ư".
"W" is the 24th letter in theModern Filipino Alphabetand has its English name. However, in the old Filipino alphabet,Abakada, it was the 19th letter and had the name "wah".
InWasho, lower-case⟨w⟩represents a typical/w/sound, while upper-case⟨W⟩represents avoicelessw sound, like the difference between Englishweatherandwhetherfor those who maintain the distinction.
In theInternational Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨w⟩ is used for thevoiced labial-velar approximant.
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