The History of English Podcast cover image

Episode 161: Y U and I Have a Problem

The History of English Podcast

00:00

The W Sound in Old English and Early Modern English

In Middle English and Early Modern English it was still common for people to pronounce an H sound before a W as HWA. Most of the words with that pronunciation were spelled with H-W or H-WIN in Old English using that Old English letter WIN. But those letters were reversed in Middle English, thereby becoming WH.

Transcript
Play full episode

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app