Bingley, Yorkshire.
_Letters U, V, W._--Could any correspondent of the "N. & Q." give us any
clear idea of the manner in which we ought to judge of those letters as
they are printed from old MSS. or in old books. Is there any rule known by
which their pronunciation can be determined? For instance, how was the name
of Wales supposed to have been pronounced four hundred years ago, or the
name Walter? How could two such different sounds as _U_ and _V_ now
represent, come by the old printers both to be denoted by _V_? And is it
supposed that our present mode of pronouncing some words is taken from
their spelling in books? We see this done in foreign names every day by
persons who have no means of ascertaining the correct pronunciation. Can it
have been done extensively in the ordinary words of the language? Or can it
be possible, that the confusion between the printed _V_ and _W_ and _U_ has
produced the confusion in pronouncing such words now beginning with _W_,
which some classes of her Majesty's subjects are said to pronounce as if
they commenced with _V_? I ask for information: and to know if the question
has anywhere been discussed, in which case perhaps some one can refer me to
it.