W

W is the twenty-third letter of the modern Latin alphabet.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

W was invented in the 7th century by Anglo-Saxon writers, it was originally a double U (hence its English name). The Latin /w/ sound developed into Romance /v/; therefore V no longer adequately represented Germanic /w/. In German - like in Romance - the phoneme /w/ was lost, this is why German W represents /v/ rather than /w/. In Dutch, W is an approximant (with the exception of words with EEUW, which have [-e:w]).

In the Swedish and Finnish alphabets, "W" is seen as a variant of "V" and not a separate letter. It is however recognised and maintained in names, like "William".

W is also:

• a symbol for the element tungsten, after its German name, Wolfram
• a symbol for the Watt, the SI unit for power.
• the American 1973 film, W[?]