this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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And why is the W silent anyways?

top 32 comments
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Tuwu, what’s this?

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 1 points 1 hour ago

It is sometimes done in German. The word is Zwei, but it's somewhat common to say Zwo instead for clarity. The w is pronounced.

I guess the" tw" sound isn't used as frequently in English. It happens in between.

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 38 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

Oh-neh

Twah

Three is fine

Fah-oor

Feevey

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 28 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

The ⟨W⟩ is silent now, but it wasn't until 1500 or so. Back then the word was pronounced /two:/; it would almost rhyme with contemporary "toe". But then that /o:/ became /u:/ (the modern pronunciation), due to the Great Vowel Shift, and since /w/ and /u/ are really similar they fused together.

@FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world mentioned that in a few associated words that ⟨W⟩ letter still represents an actual /w/ phoneme, note how the following vowel is different - that blocked the "fusion".

[–] FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world 28 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

Curiously in words related to 'two' the W is often pronounced!

Twin, Twixt, Between, Twelve etc

[–] boydster@sh.itjust.works 19 points 5 hours ago

Oh. My. God. I am so disappointed in myself that I never realized these words were all related before. Thank you for this gift.

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

By the argument, is the w in "two" actually silent? What would it sounds like when pronounced? I think it would sound like "two" already does.

[–] cannedtuna@lemmy.world 13 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

It would sound like “twu” as in “twu wuv”

[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago
[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 3 points 4 hours ago

Lol.

OK, Impressive Clergyman!

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 12 points 5 hours ago

It sounds exactly like "to" which means the w is silent.

It is not pronounced at all like any of the other example words given.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 6 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I don't necessarily think so. If the W was pronounced, I think it would sound something more like 'tawoo' or 'teewoo'

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 10 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] BatrickPateman@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Spell out that thang!

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 4 points 4 hours ago

I wonder if perhaps an older dialect used to pronounce the W. Lots of words have changed spelling or pronunciation over the years, so I'm curious if that might be the case with "two", too.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Side question?

Does twelve basically mean two eleven?

[–] FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Twelve's root is in meaning "two left". And similarly eleven's origin is meaning "one left". In both cases left over from ten, the base unit of counting.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Interesting. This sorta makes sense actually.

Curious though, do you have a reference link?

[–] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

The last time I was with a woman it was actually twoo, it was quite magical, I tell ya.

[–] shovingleopardnsfw@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (2 children)
[–] over_clox@lemmy.world -1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Okay, unless you want to taunt someone into trying to hijack your Google account or track your info, you should edit your comment link to remove the ? and everything after that.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world -1 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

You do realize the ?si shit is your private YT token right?

[–] chtk@feddit.nl 6 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

My dude, chill. It's 'just' an analytics tracking id.

I do usually remove them before sharing. But no, it's absolutely useless for hijacking an account.

Interesting. Do you have any more info on the SourceID token and how it can compromise an account?

[–] 667@lemmy.radio 7 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Wait until you learn about words stating with a silent p, like pterodactyl and ptoilet.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

ptoilet?

That's gonna phuck with my sychology!

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago

So, basically the owl from the tootsie roll commercials.

One....ah-ToWHO.....three!

crunch

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 1 points 4 hours ago