W ::
W () the
twenty-third letter of the
English alphabet, is
usually a
consonant, but
sometimes it is a
vowel, forming the
second element of
certain diphthongs, as in few, how. It takes its
written form and its name from the
repetition of a V, this being the
original form of the Roman
capital letter which we call U.
Etymologically it is most
related to v and u. See V, and U. Some of the
uneducated classes in
England, especially in
London, confuse w and v,
substituting the one for the
other, as weal