W
W
W is the 23rd letter of the modern Latin alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. It is a consonant in the English language and is used in various other languages as well. The letter W is unique in that it is one of the few letters in the English alphabet that has a name that does not correspond to its phonetic sound.
History[edit | edit source]
The letter W originated from the digraph "VV" used in the Old English alphabet. It was later replaced by the single character "W" in the Middle Ages. The letter W was introduced to the Latin alphabet by the Normans and has since become a standard letter in the English alphabet.
Usage in English[edit | edit source]
In English, W is used to represent a variety of sounds, most commonly the voiced labio-velar approximant /w/. It appears in many common words such as "water," "window," and "world." The letter W is also used in various digraphs such as "wh" and "wr."
Phonetic Representation[edit | edit source]
In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the letter W is represented by the symbol [w]. It is classified as a voiced labio-velar approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the velum and the lips.
Variants[edit | edit source]
The letter W has several variants in different languages and scripts:
- In German, W is pronounced as /v/.
- In Welsh, W can function as a vowel, representing the sounds /u/ and /ʊ/.
- In Polish, W is pronounced as /v/.
Computing Codes[edit | edit source]
In Unicode, the capital W is encoded at U+0057 and the lowercase w is encoded at U+0077. In ASCII, the capital W is represented by the decimal code 87 and the lowercase w by the decimal code 119.
Related Letters and Characters[edit | edit source]
- V: The letter V is closely related to W, as W originated from a double V.
- U: The letter U is also related, as it shares a similar shape and historical development with V and W.
See Also[edit | edit source]
 | This article related to the Latin alphabet is a stub. You can help WikiMD by expanding it. |
Search WikiMD
Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound) available.
Advertise on WikiMD
|
WikiMD's Wellness Encyclopedia |
| Let Food Be Thy Medicine Medicine Thy Food - Hippocrates |
Translate this page: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
தமிழ்,
తెలుగు,
Urdu,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
বাংলা
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
Greek,
português do Brasil,
polski,
română,
русский,
Nederlands,
norsk,
svenska,
suomi,
Italian
Middle Eastern & African
عربى,
Turkish,
Persian,
Hebrew,
Afrikaans,
isiZulu,
Kiswahili,
Other
Bulgarian,
Hungarian,
Czech,
Swedish,
മലയാളം,
मराठी,
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ,
ગુજરાતી,
Portuguese,
Ukrainian
WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.
Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.
Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD
