John Larrysson's Column: W Words from Other Languages
文章日期：2022年4月1日
In the Middle English period the Old English W had been spelt differently by the Norman French nobility (who ruled England). Latin and its alphabet had no W, so languages descended from it, such as French, have no native W words. They didn't use the Old English W letter, Ƿ. While the Old English W sound remains, the Ƿ letter was unfamiliar. Words like true, rue and hue had a W sound and were spelt with a W in Old English treowe, hreowan and hiw (spelt with wynn as treoǷe, hreoǷan and hiǷ). Their spelling and pronunciation got changed to match French spelling patterns to create the Modern English words.
The Norman nobility also did the reverse. There are a few Modern English words with a middle or final W that are of French and not of Old English origin. These include allow, pew, tweezers and view. The Normans started to use the UU spelling and then W for French words that had a W-like sound.
W words borrowed from Modern German have another problem. In German the W is pronounced with a V sound. In English these words are randomly pronounced either with a W sound or a V sound. The word wiener (a sausage) is pronounced with a W sound on its own, but a V sound in wiener schnitzel (breaded porkchop). Edelweiss (flower) and wunderkind (talented child) have a V sound. Waltz and wolfram (tungsten) have a W sound. Many W words borrowed from Modern German are unsettled and are pronounced with either a W or a V sound; these include rottweiler (dog), wurst, bratwurst and liverwurst (sausages).
The Dutch gave us bulwark (protective wall), coleslaw (salad) and wagon. Unlike in High German these words are used without any confusion over pronunciation, which should be natural because Dutch and Old English are both Low German dialects. (Low refers to low lands near the sea, not low status. Modern German comes from the hills dialect or High German.)
Exotic words with a W sound tended to be spelt with a W when English took them and added them to the language. Hong Kong English brought us wok, chow mein and godown. Words such as bungalow and shawl came from India. The Tupi people of Brazil, by way of the Portuguese, gave us the cashew nut. Many words were added, but were adapted into English and no problems for the letter W happened to English by adding them.
[Summary of W Spelling Patterns]
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‧Pronouncing The letter Y At The End Of A Word
‧The letter Y & The Double Vowel Rule
‧The Last Letter is a Foreigner
‧Silent letters and why English spelling is such a mess (1): Old English
‧Silent letters and why English spelling is such a mess (2): Fake Latin
‧I Both Love and Hate Spell-Checkers
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by John Larrysson [email protected]
A native English speaker who has been teaching practical English in Hong Kong for over two decades.
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