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

From:Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
Date:Monday, January 24, 2005, 15:06
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)