W

the twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the form of the Roman capital letter which we call U. Most of the modern languages of Europe do not have the letter w. In English, it performs the double office of a consonant and a vowel, being a consonant at the beginning of words and syllables, as in wail, forward, and a vowel at the end of syllables, as in new, vow; but it never occurs at the end of a syllable except when united to another vowel. Many nations have a difficulty in pronouncing the consonantal w. Londoners of the lower class are remarkable for their confusion of w and v, the one being substituted for the other with the most amusing perversity, as weal for veal, and veal for weal; wine for vine, and vine for wine, &c. See Principles of Pronunciation, §§ 100–103.