Re: Y not? (was: Of Haa/hhet & other matters)

J. 'Mach' Wust wrote:


> Do you know how the |y|-pronunciations developed in Scandinavia?
It was borrowed from Old English.  It seems the Anglo-Saxon
scribes took |Y| to be a ligature of |V| and |I|, and hence
a good choice for /y/.  This ligature interpretation is also
given by the Icelandic First Grammarian in the 12th century.

BTW the English letter-name /wai/, going back to Old English
/Wi:/ rests on this digraph hupothesis.

--

/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

         Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant!
                                             (Tacitus)